Town officials have begun negotiating to allow alcohol to be served on a town-owned portion of the Quarry Hills golf course in exchange for concessions from the group developing the course.
Milton's lease with Quarry Hills Associates is being renegotiated to include more benefits for the town, said selectmen Chairman Charles McCarthy. He would not specify the town's demands.
"We had a discussion with Mr. Geilich, and we told him what we wanted in exchange for the right to consume alcohol," McCarthy said. "He'll take it back to his partners."
Quarry Hills Associates, a consortium of local developers, recently opened an 18-hole section of the course. The remaining nine holes are still be constructed. The course straddles the Milton-Quincy border, and is being built with $100 million in public money.
The golf course has lease agreements with Milton and Quincy. But because Milton is a dry town, golfers can only drink alcohol on the Quincy side, a confusing situation, with the course zigzagging town lines.
Although most of the course lies in Quincy, Milton residents have complained that their lease agreement with Quarry Hills is not as beneficial as Quincy's.
Town officials decided to use the alcohol ban as bargaining tool, voting in May to allow drinking on Milton's side of the green if the lease is renegotiated.
Stan Abrams of Senior Tour Players Inc., which manages the course, argued then that the ability to increase alcohol sales will increase Milton's revenue, because more players would be attracted to the course.
Milton's current lease allots 2 percent of greens' fees to the town. Quincy gets 10 percent of revenue from all golf play and clubhouse sales, with the exception of the pro shop. Revenue from golf cart rentals and the driving range is also excluded for 10 years.
Quarry Hills officials say they rely on an honor system to enforce Milton's alcohol ban, since there's no fence or line to delineate the border. There are also some signs prohibiting drinking on Milton's side and workers on border patrol to enforce the rule.
Source: The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.)
