The city of Bethlehem, Pa. has called for proposals to take over the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course in 2019 on a lease basis, and its Business Administrator says he has already received a “ton of e-mails” from parties interested in operating the course that sees 34,000 to 36,000 rounds played annually. In Utah, Parks and Recreation administrators are preparing requests for proposals that could lead to private operation of four popular golf facilities.
The city of Bethlehem, Pa. is exploring leasing its popular, but financially struggling municipal golf club, The Express-Times of Bethlehem reported. On April 6th, the city called for proposals from private operators interested in taking over the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course in 2019.
City Business Administrator Eric Evans, who as a councilman sounded the alarm on the money-losing course, told The Express-Times that the administration is pursuing two simultaneous tracks: seeking proposals and working with the union in hopes of keeping the course in city hands.
“The mayor has indicated he would like to continue controlling and operating it as a city course, but that it needs to be successful [in terms of] playing conditions and financially,” Evans said.
The city has not decided to lease the course out, but it wants all the information it can have, The Express-Times reported.
Last fall, the Bethlehem City Council held a public meeting to outline the available options to reverse the losses at the city’s 18- and 9-hole courses and driving range, The Express-Times reported.
Evans, who then chaired the council’s parks and recreation committee, favored exploring a private operator and negotiating a lease for the course, which had lost almost $1 million since 2009. He resigned from the council when he was named business administrator earlier this year, replacing retiring administrator David Brong.
“There is a lot of interest,” Evans told The Express-Times. “After the hearings last fall, I got a ton of e-mails.”
Bids from interested operators are due by 10 a.m. on Friday, June 8, The Express-Times reported. The city is making the course financials and details on all needed repairs—such as to sand traps, cart paths, bathrooms and parking lots—available to all bidders. The city is also holding mandatory course walk-throughs on May 17 and May 24, Evans said.
City financial documents show the course has operated from $35,105 in the red in 2009 to a high of $203,913 in 2014, The Express-Times reported. It lost $122,064 in 2016.
In 2017, the course took in $1.28 million, short of the budgeted $1.49 million, and only paid $15,000 of its $150,000 annual city overhead charge, according to city financials.
“They fell about $135,000 short of paying their share to the city,” Evans said. “They made all direct expenses.”
Bethlehem’s municipal course is one of the busiest in the region,The Express-Times reported, with 34,000 to 36,000 rounds played annually. But the tight finances mean the club has been unable to address the growing repairs list at its 18- and 9-hole courses and driving range.
The city is drafting in-house cost estimates for all of the needed work, The Express-Times reported, But in response to city council feedback, Mayor Bob Donchez pulled back on plans to spend $550,000 in city recreation fees from the 2018 budget to make repairs at the course.
While the city explores a private lease, the administration also continues to explore how to keep operations in city hands, The Express-Times reported.In addition to cost-cutting, Bethlehem brought in a consultant from the United States Golf Association for advice on ways to boost revenue, such as improving the pace of play on the course, Evans said,
But the course’s largest cost is its eight full-time employees, five of whom are members of the Bethlehem chapter of Local SEIU BJ32. The city is looking to restructure the course staffing and move to more seasonal workers, Evans said.
“We continue to talk to the union. We continue to have productive talks,” he told The Express-Times. “We are just trying to come to an understanding.”
The local’s President, Mike McGraw, could not be immediately reached to comment on the possible lease, The Express-Times reported.
If the course operations stay in city hands with fewer full-time employees, there is a hope that displaced course employees could be matched into other city jobs that open up, Evans said.
“If our negotiations fail and we move to a lease, I don’t know if that same promise is available,” he told The Express-Times.
“We are hoping to avoid that,” Evans added. “That is certainly not our goal.”
If a private operator takes over the course and doesn’t hire the union employees, they could take other vacant jobs in the city, The Express-Times reported. But Evans said the budget could not absorb all of those jobs.
Bethlehem already successfully leases the golf course restaurant to a private operator, The Express-Times noted. Councilman Bryan Callahan pushed during the budget process to try to model a course lease after the clubhouse’s agreement, but failed to garner full council support, due to the tight timeline.
In Utah, state Parks and Recreation administrators are preparing a request for proposals that may result in private operation of four popular golf facilities in the state, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Officials said that the request, targeted for release in about a month, won’t necessarily lead to the awarding of a contract, The Tribune reported. Utah golf organizations have resisted privatizing state and municipal courses, citing a history of green fees being raised in other states.
State Parks official Scott Strong, however, told The Tribune that “Fees charged by a potential contractor would be very similar to the current greens fees,” and would be subject to approval by the State Parks department.
The division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources operates four golf venues: the 36-hole Wasatch Mountain and 36-hole Soldier Hollow courses in Midway, Utah, the 18-hole Palisade course near Manti, and the nine-hole Green River course. If a contract is awarded, it would cover all four courses, The Tribune reported.
Utah is a rare state where most public golf courses have been built and managed by governmental agencies, The Tribune noted. The conversation about privatizing the State Parks courses began in 2011, stemming from a Utah Legislative Auditor General’s review of the division. Several legislators have followed up in recent years by asking that the division draft an RFP, according to Strong, the division’s Deputy Director of Business Management.
“Legislators aren’t telling us that the courses must be privatized,” Strong said. “They want us to determine whether or not privatizing the courses puts the division in an even better financial position.”
A contract will be awarded only if the division determines a private contractor can meet customer service expectations, maintenance standards and facility conditions while saving the state money, Strong added.
Wasatch Mountain, which celebrated a 50-year anniversary last summer with Gov. Gary Herbert playing in a commemorative event, is one of the state’s most popular courses, The Tribune noted. Soldier Hollow, a regular host of the Utah State Amateur tournament, is the only Utah course that has staged a United States Golf Association event, the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
State Parks golf professionals, superintendents and the courses have been recognized locally and nationally for their place in the Utah golf industry, Strong noted.
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