The Marlton, N.J., club will entertain bids after passing an ordinance that would allow the lease of the club, potentially generating more revenue for the township. Existing catering and operations contracts were discussed as well, and the township is also willing to lease those services.
Lease bids for the township-owned Indian Spring Country Club in Marlton, N.J., opened this month, South Jersey Local News reported.
In July, the township council passed an ordinance that would allow for the potential lease of the club. Township counsel John Gillespie said leasing the club has the opportunity to generate more revenue for the township. He added that contracts are limited to five years, while lease agreements can be longer.
Mayor Randy Brown, who called the lease idea “cleaner and simpler,” said the township needed to bring in more revenue, South Jersey Local News reported.
The state’s Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres program states that since the land is for recreational use, the township could sign up to a 25-year lease contract for the club. Brown said the opportunity for long-term investment would be more attractive for prospective lessors.
The existing operations and catering contracts at the club were debated in an April meeting. Both contracts will be up for renewal on January 15, 2013 and both companies currently under contract, Vienna, Va.-based Billy Casper Golf (BCG) and Marlton-based Marco’s Catering, have requested one-year extensions, South Jersey Local News reported.
According to the ordinance, the township would be willing to lease either the catering services, operations or both.
The golf club was taken over by the township in the 1970s, but ran into financial trouble in the 1990s and ran its debt up to $1 million by 2003. The following year, the township issued contracts to privatize the operations and catering and hired BCG and Marco’s Catering, South Jersey Local News reported.
The council agreed to separate the capital improvement bid portion from the total lease bid, giving the council more options in awarding contracts.
The club generated about $1.96 million in revenue for the township in 2011. Of that total, catering accounted for $165,000, the operating surplus was $418,579 and the golf course itself brought in $1.38 million. BCG was paid $81,000 to manage the club in 2011, South Jersey Local News reported.
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