Fredon Township bought the equipment to help maintain Bear Brook GC while a buyer is sought for the closed course.
Fredon Township has purchased some of the golf course equipment owned by Bear Brook Golf Club of Newton, N.J., to keep up minimal maintenance on the closed property as an enticement for a potential purchaser of the 18-hole course, the New Jersey Herald reports.
Mayor Carl Lazzaro said the township spent less than $30,000 at a public auction at which other equipment from the course was also sold.
“We didn’t get anything we really can’t use. We can use it in the park,” Lazzaro told the Herald. The only exception was walk-behind mowers designed to close-cut putting greens, but Lazzaro said those could easily be sold to existing golf courses, or to a buyer of Bear Brook.
By keeping up maintenance, the course, which did not open this year, can more easily be reopened under new ownership, the Herald reported. Without upkeep, the special grasses used for the greens would be quickly overgrown by native species and need to be replaced.
A Township committee had authorized purchase of some of the golf course equipment directly from the owner, Gale & Kitson, Fredon Golf LLC. However, the auctioneer contracted to sell the equipment would not allow a pre-sale, so the township made the purchases during the public auction over the weekend, spending less than was originally authorized.
The Township Committee scheduled an executive session with its professional staff for August 15, to go over issues surrounding the golf course.
One possible option is purchase of the golf course property by the township, Mayor Lazzaro told the Herald, but there are outstanding tax liens on the course property and other issues, such as the water and wastewater systems within the Bear Brook development.
“We’re doing our jobs,” Lazzaro said. “We are doing the due diligence and looking at all aspects of this.”
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