Just as Evesham officials prepare to accept proposals from private companies to take over management of Indian Spring Country Club, the debt-ridden municipal golf course is doing better than it has in years.
Privatization is one of the ways Evesham is considering to ease the heavy debt service needed to pay off capital projects started in the late 1990s, including a $4.4 million clubhouse. Debt service rocketed from $79,896 in 1995 to $936,957 in 2003.
Annual payments would have been close to $900,000 this year had the Township Council not canceled $450,000 in bond ordinances, saved $150,000 through job cuts, and negotiated a prepayment between $225,000 and $250,000 on a lease extension from the independent Municipal Utilities Authority.
Last month the council also approved a restructuring plan that would reduce the annual debt service to a little more than $350,000 in 2005 and require reduced payments for an additional five years.
The plan, which is subject to approval by the township's finance board, is scheduled for a public hearing on July 20.
The township will not see its annual payments dip below $827,000 a year until 2017, if steps are not taken.
Township manager Edward Sasdelli said that a request for proposals from private management companies would be advertised next Friday, and that the council would consider the bids in September.
Companies have three options: to bid to operate only the 18-hole course and its driving range; to run just the food and beverage service for the clubhouse banquet hall and restaurant, now handled by an independent caterer; or to take over the entire operation.
So far, six vendors have shown interest, he said.
Privatization could mean layoffs for some, or all, of Indian Spring's 11 full-time and numerous part-time employees.
But things are looking up for the golf course. Revenue through the first six months this year was $761,000, up from $585,000 over the same span last year, when the total revenue was $1.3 million.
Sasdelli said he was "pleased the revenue was up by that amount of money. If you include that we've reduced expenses by about $100,000, that's a significant swing."
So far this year, 21,000 rounds have been played on the course, an increase of 7,500 over the first six months of last year. In 2003, a total of 36,634 rounds were played, down from 54,993 in 2000.
Bill Torlucci, Indian Spring's business manager and head pro, said the course is averaging 200 rounds a day.
"At this time, I can't see a management company coming in here and pushing any more rounds through than we have."
Torlucci said that on two occasions, 300 rounds were played in a single day. "I thought those days were gone in this industry."
Factors such as the reducing of greens fees, no longer requiring rental of a motorized cart, and "pushing the right management buttons" contributed to Indian Spring's comeback, Torlucci said.
But the National Golf Foundation says golf is up nationally this year after two years of decline in the number of rounds - because of a weak economy and poor weather, especially in the Northeast. Through the first quarter this year, rounds were up 5.3 percent nationwide, and on average, courses in the Northeast enjoyed 10 more play days over last year.
So part of Indian Spring's resurgence also could be attributed to a national trend.
Still, Sasdelli said he believed the course's healthier numbers meant a private vendor would have to come up with a bid that "would have to represent a significant benefit to taxpayers for the council to stop what it's doing now and change gears and turn to the private sector."
Mayor Gus Tamburro called the golf course a "big, big item," and said the council is looking at it from a "totally different perspective than we were before. The problem was partly created by a lack of professional input into the golf course. Plus, we were overstaffed. We didn't know we were overstaffed. We thought everybody else was doing it. But we've learned a lot. Now we know what questions to ask."
Torlucci said that the golf course is now being operated the "way it's supposed to be at this time. The way it was supposed to be all along. Hopefully, it's not too little, too late."
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer