LYNN — The management team that oversees and maintains the Gannon Municipal Golf Course and its amenities is hoping to ink a new five-year contract with the city.
The City of Lynn is seeking to lease the property to a firm that would provide professional management and maintenance for the 190-acre golf course, along with operating and managing the banquet/restaurant facilities, bar concession, function hall, pro shop and snack shop.
Gannon Golf Course, located on Great Woods Road and built in 1929, has been put out to bid for the second time, as required by the state to comply with bid laws for open space, following unanimous approval from the Lynn Park Commission Tuesday night. The lease period would be from Jan. 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2023, with a possible one-year extension.
“It’s something we have to do,” said Steven Babbitt, commission chairman, following the vote. “(We) would have liked a little more time.”
Before the city’s requirement to put the property out to bid, the Gannon Building Association, a non-profit, had a long-term lease to manage the golf course.
“The Gannon Municipal Golf Course is an 18-hole championship layout course,” reads the city’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for the property. “It is the City of Lynn’s goal to have a top rated, quality, attractive and affordable facility. The RFP process will help determine the most qualified proposer with golf management and food and beverage service experience.”
Golf Facilities Management Inc. (GFMI), co-owned by Chris Carter and Steve Murphy, has been overseeing the property since being awarded a five-year contract in Dec. 2013.
Carter said that contract expires in December and the firm intends to submit a bid to the city. City officials said preference will not be given to the current management firm.
“We’re very anxious,” Carter said. “We’re excited. We’ve had five years there and it’s been a great relationship with the city. We’re excited about this process and we’re very hopeful to put a good bid in and renew our contract with the city.”
Carter said the firm pays $425,000 annually with its current lease, along with an additional $39,000 revenue share to the city from an increase in membership rates put in place about a year ago. Under the new RFP, 50 percent of revenue generated from potential rate increases would go to the city.
Michael Bertino, the city’s chief financial officer, has asked that only bids higher than $464,000 be accepted, or higher than the amount the current firm is paying, according to assistant city solicitor James Lamanna.
Bertino has required that 35 percent of the lease revenue go into the the city’s general fund, which is up from the 10 to 12 percent required during the last bid process, as officials look toward balancing their fiscal year 2020 budget after having to exhaust a $14 million loan through the state to balance their FY18 and FY19 budgets.
“It is not a secret the city of Lynn is in a tough financial position,” Lamanna said.
Sean Cronin, senior deputy commissioner of local services for the Department of Revenue, who oversees the city’s budget, has relayed to city officials that in order to achieve a balanced budget, they need to have better revenue from both the Gannon Golf Course and the Lynn Auditorium, Lamanna said.
The remaining 65 percent of the lease revenue would go toward the city’s revolving account for Gannon, which are funds that go toward fixing the course. Lamanna said the account is one of the more flush in the city — it consisted of $2 million in concession over five years, of which the city has already spent about half.
The city was forced to dip into the fund for a separate purpose last year, using $250,000 of those funds to balance its budget, according to Lamanna, leaving about $700,000 remaining.
City officials are anticipating another $300,000 will be used from the fund for Phase 2 of a Master Plan for Gannon the park commission developed with the help of GFMI, which includes repairs and upgrades to the course. Part of the firm’s contract included paying $25,000 the first year to hire a contractor to complete the plan.
Phase 1, which was completed from the spring at a cost of approximately $300,000, included upgrades to the first six holes. The second phase is for upgrades to another six holes on the opposite side of the course. A project to replace all of the irrigation, pipes and sprinkler heads on the entire golf course is needed, which is estimated to cost $1.5 to $2 million, but there’s no tentative start date on that, according to Carter.
“We understand the more we improve the facility, the more business and the more golfers will play it,” Carter said.
According to the RFP, the successful bidder will be required to bring the snack shack, which lacks a sewer system and hot water, into compliance with sanitary codes.
Michael Donovan, the city’s Inspectional Services Department chief, has relayed that the plan should be to knock down the snack shack and build a modular with a utility connection, which he estimated would cost $100,000, Lamanna says. Successful bidders will also be required to pay that amount after a commission vote to include that in the RFP.
In addition, the new RFP requires that any repairs more than $10,000 will be borne by the firm selected rather than the city, which is up from $5,000.
Respondents are required to make a bid deposit of 10 percent of the base bid for the first lease year to the city, and a performance bond of $250,000 is required from the successful bidder, according to the RFP.
Under its current contract with the city, GFMI enlisted Gannon Building Association to run the 19th hole, or bar, and hired Diamonds Catering to provide food and run the function room.
GFMI was originally founded by Murphy and former Gannon Golf pro Mike Foster in 1987. The firm also runs Hillview Golf Course in North Reading and Beverly Golf & Tennis in Beverly. The firm brought on David Sibley as the Gannon golf pro and Patrick Manning as lead superintendent, with the latter overseen by Murphy, a city employee since 1976 who served as Gannon superintendent for 30 years.
If a different firm is selected through the RFP, that successful bidder would have to identify any subcontractors it plans to work with in its proposal. It’s the city’s preference that the firm hires a PGA-certified golf pro and a golf course superintendent with at least three to five years of experience. Bids could be rejected if the firms don’t have adequate experience in areas such as course and restaurant management.
“We will hopefully see some very professional bids or we might see some that (we) do not have the confidence (the firm could) run the golf course for the next five years,” Lamanna said.
