City Council members voted unanimously to reject a proposal to continue leasing two city-owned golf courses to Flint City Golf LLC—at least under the terms of a proposed five-year contract. The deal for the private operator to continue running the Swartz Creek and Kearsley Lake golf courses doesn’t provide the city with enough money—slightly more than $15,000 annually—in return for the use of the properties, council members say.
The Flint, Mich. City Council rejected a proposal to continue leasing two city-owned golf courses to Flint City Golf LLC—at least under the terms of a proposed five-year contract, MLive.com reported. Council members voted unanimously to make the move at their Nov. 28 meeting, sending the proposal back to a committee for further discussion and potential revision.
“I don’t know what deal they had before I was elected, but no … I ain’t down with it,” said 3rd Ward council member Quincy Murphy.
Murphy and other council members said the deal for Flint City Golf to continue operating the Swartz Creek and Kearsley Lake golf courses doesn’t provide the city with enough money—slightly more than $15,000 annually—in return for the use of the properties, which are operated from April to October, MLive.com reported.
Under the terms of the proposal, Flint City Golf would have the option of renewing the agreement for an additional five years with payments increasing by 3 percent each year, MLive.com reported. An existing lease, which started in 2014 between the company and the city, is set to expire at the end of this year.
Flint Journal files say Flint City Golf was founded by Flint attorney Tom Warda and accountant Frank Preketes in a venture designed to keep the golf courses in Flint in operation following the appointment of Michael Brown as Flint’s emergency manager in November 2011, MLive.com reported. Within months of his appointment, Brown announced a series of moves he said were designed to improve the city’s finances, including an initial contract to lease Swartz Creek and Kearsley Lake to Flint City Golf. Darnell Earley, another former emergency manager, later extended that arrangement for an additional 10 years.
Even before emergency managers were appointed to shepherd Flint away from insolvency, critics had argued that the city should not be in the business of running golf courses, which were a drain on its general fund, MLive.com reported. Others have contended that the courses could have been revenue generators for Flint if they were run properly.
A representative of Flint City Golf said Nov. 29, that no one was available to comment on the latest lease proposal, MLive.com reported.
8th Ward Councilman Dennis Pfeiffer said the proposed annual lease payments of $8,305 for Swartz Creek and $6,921 for Kearsley Lake have not come close to keeping pace with their true market values, MLive.com reported.
“I’m not going to allow this to continue,” said Pfeiffer, who called Swartz Creek and Kearsley Lake “some of the most pristine property” in the city.
Pfeiffer said the proposed leases would be worth substantially more if the city requested proposals from other companies that may also be interested in operating the courses, MLive.com reported.
6th Ward Councilwoman Tonya Burns also said the current arrangement can’t be allowed to continue, MLive.com reported.
“I’m not a golfer but I had people who are interested in this property call [me] … I believe they would like to bid,” said Burns, who called the current lease rates “beyond a sweetheart deal.”
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