Officials are negotiating a two-year contract with the management company to operate Dryden and Creekside golf courses, both of which were previously managed by the locally based FM Golf. The council plans to have KemperSports managing the two golf courses by the middle of the month.
The Modesto City Council gave staff the go-ahead to negotiate a two-year contract with a management company for the operation of 18-hole Dryden and Creekside golf courses, the Modesto (Calif.) Bee reported.
City officials expect to bring contract details to the council next week for approval and expect to have KemperSports managing the two city golf courses by the middle of the month. KemperSports would replace Modesto-based FM Golf, which has managed the two courses since July 1, 2012, the Bee reported.
The city notified FM Golf on April 11 that it was giving its six months’ notice to terminate the contract October 11. As part of its deal with the city, FM Golf agreed to limit the general fund subsidy to the city’s golf fund to $250,000 and reimburse the city for any amount above that. City officials say Modesto provided a $522,552 subsidy to the golf fund for the fiscal year that ended June 30. Nearly all of that subsidy—$500,000—was for the annual payment for the debt issued to build Creekside, the Bee reported.
The council voted 6-0 to negotiate with KemperSports. Modesto officials lauded the proposed deal, saying KemperSports has the track record to succeed. But Chamber of Commerce CEO Cecil Russell expressed skepticism and wanted to know more about the proposal’s financial details and how it would reduce the city general fund’s support of golf, the Bee reported.
The proposed deal involves Valley Crest, which maintains the city’s three golf courses. The city’s third golf course, the nine-hole Modesto Municipal Golf Course, is managed by The First Tee, a youth golf nonprofit organization, and the Del Rio Foundation, the Bee reported.
As part of the deal, the city will extend Valley Crest’s contract to October 2015. Valley Crest will reduce what it charges the city annually by $50,000, from $1,600,642 to $1,550,642. But the city says it will need to increase the duties of an administrative analyst to oversee the new contract, at an annual cost of $45,886.
The deal calls for Valley Crest, not the city, to pay KemperSports’ management fee for running the two courses. A Valley Crest official at the meeting referred questions about the deal to his corporate office in Southern California. Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Director Julie Hannon has said Valley Crest is motivated to keep the city’s business, the Bee reported.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.