By Paul Leighton
BEVERLY — The high bid for the contract to run the Beverly Golf & Tennis Club would net the city $310,000 this year, barely more than half of the amount the city has been accustomed to earning from the club.
The only other two bidders would pay the city $275,000 and $228,121 in 2010. The city had been earning $600,000 per year from the two previous operators of the club.
The bid prices were released yesterday by the city in response to a public records request by The Salem News. Mayor Bill Scanlon is evaluating the bids and said yesterday that he will make his decision "soon."
Scanlon said he is also considering the option of the city taking over management of the club.
"We're debating whether to award a contract to one of those responders or to manage the course ourselves," he said.
The high bid of $310,000 was submitted by Golf Facilities Management, which runs Hillview Golf Course in North Reading. The payments would rise to $370,000 by the fifth year of the contract, according to the company's proposal.
Miller Golf Solutions, run by Paul Miller of Marblehead, would pay $275,000 in 2010 and increase that amount to $375,000 in 2014.
The third bidder, Virginia-based Billy Casper Golf, proposed a new arrangement in which the city would earn money based not on a flat fee but on revenues produced by the club.
Under that arrangement, the city would earn $228,121 in 2010 and $386,916 in 2014, according to the company's proposal. The company said it would invest $1 million in the club within the first 12 months of operation.
Bass River Golf Management, the company that ran the club the last two years, did not submit a price bid. The city advertised for a new operator after Bass River owner Manny Barros failed to pay the city the $600,000 management fee last year.
Scanlon has said the city will be able to recover what it is owed because it has attachments on property owned by Barros, who owns the Bass River Tennis Club in Beverly.
The companies' proposals were reviewed by a committee comprising the Beverly Golf and Tennis Commission, city Finance Director John Dunn, and Purchasing Director David Gelineau. The committee ranked the proposals and made its recommendation to Scanlon on Friday, commission Chairman Jeffrey Klein said.
The committee made its recommendation without looking at the price bids.
Scanlon told the City Council last month that he has not ruled out the possibility of the city taking over management of the club if the bids come in too low. But he also said, "I would be reluctant to do that if the other numbers are good because there are a lot more places to trip up than you might imagine."
The Beverly Golf & Tennis Club has an 18-hole golf course, 10 outdoor tennis courts, a restaurant, function rooms and a pub.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
