As the city of Annapolis, Md. and Anne Arundel (Md.) County try to negotiate the sale of the Crownsville, Md., course, a clause in a half-century-old lease has come to light which indicates that the county, which wants to buy the course from the city and has cited its disrepair in making a bid of $3.1 million, has always been responsible for its upkeep.
As the Annapolis (Md.) City Council moves toward the sale of Eisenhower Golf Course, a single paragraph in the half-century-old lease between the city and Anne Arundel County indicates that the county, which now seeks to buy the course, has always been responsible for all of its maintenance and upkeep.
As the Annapolis council prepares to consider selling the course at its meeting this week, the Capital Gazette reported that a condition might be set that the county would have to restore the course and its structures to “good condition and repair.”
In its bid to buy the golf course from the city for $3.1 million, the county has leaned heavily on the condition of the golf course as a reason it should be sold at that price, according to the Gazette. The county has stated that it would want to make up to $5 million in renovations to the 6,659-yard course in Crownsville, Md., using state funds targeted for development of recreational facilities and lands for the renovations.
However, the Gazette reported, the lease between the city and the county indicates the county is responsible for the repairs, whether it is the owner or not.
“The County agrees, at its sole cost and expense, to maintain the building and improvements of every description to be erected or made upon the demised premises in good condition and repair, and to perform all maintenance and repair, including such as are necessitated by ordinary wear and tear, and to deliver the demised premises to the city upon termination of this lease in good condition and repair,” the lease reads, according to the Gazette.
That lease was initially signed in 1966 and updated in 2015 to reflect a one-year extension. The amendment did not remove the maintenance requirements, the Gazette reported.
County officials told the Gazette that they interpreted “good condition and repair” to mean that the course was still usable. The course brought in $1.6 million in revenue with a net operating income of $325,476 in 2015. Those figures represented a drop from $1.7 million in revenue and $520,092 in net operating income in 2006, according to county reports.
“The county believes the golf course is in usable condition,” Owen McEvoy, a spokesman for County Executive Steve Schuh, told the Gazette.
While the county has now taken a position that the course is useable, the Gazette noted that a different position was taken in September, during a presentation to the Annapolis City Council that featured 11 slides of “challenges” facing the golf course. Those included inadequate drainage, the need to rebuild the course’s greens, and an upgrade of the irrigation system. Several slides showed detailed pictures of worn-out greens and a decaying clubhouse.
The county’s presentation, according to the Gazette, labeled the clubhouse, maintenance facility and cart paths as in “poor condition.”
Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides said he still supports the city’s plan to sell the course, telling the Gazette that even if the county repaired the course and gave it back to the city, the city shouldn’t be in the business of running a park in Crownsville.
Pantelides said he remained confident that the course would be sold to the county. But if the sale didn’t go through, he added, the city would hold the county to the terms of the lease.
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