GLENDALE, Ariz. — People living in the Arrowhead Ranch subdivision in Glendale have been complaining about the stench coming from a pond at Arrowhead Country Club for years. Now, that smell is causing some major trouble for the country club.
Stephen Kyle Bais, the superintendent for the golf course, is scheduled to be arraigned on criminal charges in Glendale Municipal Court on Monday, according to the court website. While the exact charges Bais is being arraigned on are not known, they could relate to a violation of a Glendale City Code related to the smell.
Chapter 25, Article II, Section 25-24, Subsection I says, "All property shall be kept free of noxious or objectionable stench or odors that disturb the sense of smell of two (2) or more independent witnesses who are not related."
12News spoke to some folks who live in Arrowhead Ranch in February, who described the smell as "Kind of like a raw sewage smell," and a "Sewage, toilet smell."
The smell apparently is coming from a pond on the sixth hole at the Arrowhead Country Club. One person, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, Graham, said the pond is about 200 yards long and 50 yards wide.
"The hole is beautiful, the view is beautiful and the smell takes it all away," Graham told 12News in February.
Residents in the neighborhood say the smell is constant, but can be worse depending on the weather.
"And you can smell it on the course or off the course," Graham said. "It's really depending on the wind. I've asked all the people and they smell it all over the place."
Arrowhead Ranch HOA President Helena Johnson-Bodine says the smell is especially brutal in the summer months.
"I live far away from the hole and I could smell it on my morning walks and we were hopeful that when it got colder it would at least subside and it was horrible," Johnson-Bodine said.
She added that the lakes in the area are filled with reclaimed sewer water, which has to be treated chemically. It's believed that the pond on the sixth hole isn't being properly treated, which is causing the stench, and that it can get so bad that people cannot go outside.
"When I first heard about what it was I contacted our council member, Lauren Tolmachoff, and she got right on it and began to investigate what was going on," Johnson-Bodine said.
However, due to the number of complaints, Johnson-Bodine and several others met with the then-Arrowhead Country Club General Manager in September 2023 to try and work on a solution.
"We're neighbors, we're in a partnership, we all want to succeed," Johnson-Bodine said. "We want everything to be beautiful, we want the golf course to be successful, what can we do to help you? He said he was for it and when I followed up, he ghosted me, and I never heard from him again."
12News reached out to the Arrowhead Country Club and owner Arcis Golf in February and received a statement, which says:
"We are currently working with Arizona Lake and Pond Management LLC to address the issue. Based on advice of these experts, we have been treating the lake to eradicate algae and reduce its ability to grow. We are currently awaiting lab results from lake water samples to more fully understand the root cause or causes of the unpleasant odor. During this process, we have been in contact with the City of Glendale, the Club's membership and nearby residents to keep them informed of the actions we are taking. We hope to have a solution in place within a couple of weeks."
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