WATERTOWN — Former owner Michael E. Lundy will not be paying for some electrical issues found in the golf clubhouse several weeks after the city purchased the former Watertown Golf Club from him for $3.4 million in December.
That revelation came up during Monday night’s City Council meeting when Councilwoman Sarah V. Compo Pierce asked about progress on the electrical problems in the basement of the clubhouse at the Thompson Park Golf Course.
City Manager Kenneth A. Mix said that an electrical contractor conducted an inspection of the issues last week, determining that “quite a bit” of work needs to be done.
In a memo, NYTRIC Electrical Contractors of Watertown recommended that the entire electric system be replaced, Mr. Mix said Tuesday evening.
It was revealed on Monday night that Mr. Lundy will not be covering the costs of the work. After they were found on Feb. 7, Mr. Lundy promised that he would correct the problems.
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Mix explained that the electrical repairs aren’t part of the purchase agreement with Mr. Lundy, so the city will proceed with them “to get it done to our satisfaction.”
It was actually Mr. Mix’s idea for the city to foot the bill for the electric repairs, both he and Mr. Lundy said Tuesday.
“It was Ken’s idea” Mr. Lundy said.
The city wants to make sure that the repairs are done “for the operation of the golf club,” so it can open in May.
At this point, Mr. Mix doesn’t know how much they will cost or when they will be completed. The city plans to bring an electrical engineer into the clubhouse to determine that information, he said.
But all of that was a surprise to Councilman Cliff G. Olney III, who criticized the city manager’s handling of the situation.
He particularly wanted to know why Councilwoman Compo Pierce might have known on Monday night that the city will be undertaking the electrical work when he and the members of council did not.
He wonders whether it’s part of an orchestrated tactic to sabotage the golf club project. He’s asking Mr. Mix for a further explanation about why the change was made in who is doing the electrical repairs.
“It’s delay, delay, delay and a delay in the opening,” Mr. Olney said Tuesday morning.
However, Councilman Patrick J. Hickey, who also supported the purchase, said Tuesday that he “kind of understands” doing it this way to make sure that the work is done correctly, adding that he hopes it won’t cause the opening to be delayed.
Last month, Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith, who opposed the golf deal, initiated getting an independent electrical inspection done after the city learned about the issues in the basement.
On Feb. 21, council members approved the inspection by a 3-2 vote. Contacted Tuesday, Councilwoman Compo Pierce denied that she knew that the decision was made before asking about it at the council meeting, adding that she just wanted an update on the electrical issues.
Councilwoman Compo Pierce stressed the need for the electrical repairs and that “everything should be done to get the golf club up and running ASAP.”
But she also blamed council members Lisa A. Ruggiero, Hickey and Olney for not making sure that the clubhouse was in good shape before finalizing the deal to purchase it.
Mayor Smith said that Mr. Lundy wasn’t obligated to do the work because it wasn’t stipulated in the purchase agreement.
“Did they not read it? It’s not there,” the mayor said.
On Monday, the city and Mr. Lundy worked out an access agreement that will allow the former owner inside the building to retrieve some personal items and the city to use $100,000 that’s in an escrow account to make sure some other unrelated work gets finished.
To get ready for the opening, the city is responsible for working on the golf course’s irrigation system and the aeration of all 18 greens, to install an irrigation system and pump on the ninth green and the general cleanup and maintenance of the clubhouse and building.
So far, $40,000 of the escrow account will pay for all of that work, Mr. Mix said.
Half of the golf carts will be repaired and serviced between now and April 1 and the remaining will be completed by the end of April, he said.
The electrical repairs are just some of the crucial issues that the city is working on to get the golf course opened by May. 1.
This week, the city is conducting interviews for a full-time golf course manager to oversee the facility and employees to work at the golf course.
Later this week, the city also plans to meet with the owner of Spokes Craft Beer and Tapas to talk about a proposal to run the food and beverage operations at the clubhouse.
Last week, Spokes was the only business to submit a proposal to operate the clubhouse concessions. Owner Jamie Danielson proposed paying the city $1 to operate the clubhouse this season.
The city is also seeking golf tournaments to be held at the facility. So far, two organizations have contacted the city about having tournaments.
In recent months, the purchase of the golf course has caused heated debate in the community, mainly because of its $3.4 million price tag, while others support it because it will prevent the land in the historic park from ever being developed.
(2) comments
Remember what a fixer upper the hockey arena was?
The city owns the golf course. The city, including Compo Pierce, must make it work.
When Compo Pierce runs for mayor, I'll want to know what she did to make it work, not what she did to keep the controversy over owning it alive, not why she dwelled on and beat to death its challenges along the way, and not why her enthusiasm and commitment never matched her council peers.
You don't have to like the golf course, Compo Pierce, but you have to make it work. If you don't make it work, it will speak volumes about your mayoral capacity to make anything work.
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