WATERTOWN — Now that the deal is dead, Councilwoman Teresa R. Macaluso worries that the Watertown Golf Club will put its nearly 64 acres at Thompson Park on the market.
The golf club pulled out of a deal on Thursday for the city to acquire 63.84 acres after the proposed transaction became a political football.
Councilwoman Macaluso expects the golf club will try to sell the property.
“We just don’t know what will happen now,” she said. “It’s scary. It’s out of our hands. It’s in their hands.”
The city was interested in acquiring the property to prevent it from getting into the hands of a developer, who would turn it into housing.
The city and the golf club were in the early stages of negotiations when the deal fell through. Under the proposed deal, the city would purchase holes one through six and 16 to 18, which is adjacent to historic Thompson Park. The golf club would become a leaseholder and continue to run the 18-hole public golf course.
With overwhelming public opposition, City Council members pulled back from the deal, citing it should not include leasing the golf course back to its operators. Much of the criticism revolved around the secrecy of the deal.
When the acquisition first came up months ago, city officials never gave it a second thought about “who was going to run the golf club,” City Assessor Brian S. Phelps said Friday. During many discussions over several months, they focused on making sure that the land would end up in the city’s hands, so that it would always be protected and remain parkland, he said.
The fate of the land’s longtime future now remains in doubt.
David L. Mosher, a business consultant for the golf club, could not be reached for comment on Friday about what comes next for the property.
In a letter to City Manager Sharon A. Addison, the golf club said it dropped out of the negotiations because the public would continue to think that the deal was a bailout for its board.
Before the deal collapsed, negotiations had already proceeded with the city making an offer to the golf club board, Ms. Addison confirmed, declining to release the proposed price.
She surmises the golf cub will look for another entity to operate the golf course now that the nine holes won’t be sold to the city.
The Watertown Golf Club has leased the 66 acres — holes seven through 15 — from the city since it expanded from nine to 18 holes in the early 1960s.
The golf club is in the middle of a 22-year lease agreement with the city. In 2006, the city and the club extended the lease through 2029, with the club making annual payments currently at $9,318 and gradually increasing to $10,768 during the last four years of the agreement. The city will be paid $218,515 over the remaining time of the agreement.
The public golf club has owned the other holes since it formed in 1926, and it built and owns the clubhouse, pro shop and maintenance building.
With the potential acquisition still months before becoming public, the city hired Thurston, Casale & Ryan Real Estate Appraisal and Consulting, Syracuse, to complete an appraisal of the 18-hole public golf course. The firm was hired last November solely to conduct an appraisal for the city to acquire the land, Mr. Phelps said.
The Syracuse firm, which the city uses for all of its real estate appraisals, was paid $4,250 to complete the 74-page report.
The appraisers determined that all 18 holes, including the land it leases from the city, has a full market value of $591,000 and would be worth $810,000 if the golf club owned the entire course.
The three structures — the club house, pro shop and maintenance building — is valued at $208,000, according to the report. The entire golf course and three structures is currently assessed at $596,300.
The report did not include an appraised market value price for the holes that the city would purchase, Mr. Phelps said.
In his letter to the city manager, Mr. Mosher refuted accusations that the golf course was having financial difficulties, saying the business is profitable and revenues are up this year in excess of 10 percent.
He also said many of the golf club’s 30 stockholders are active golfers and members of the local community. They also volunteer at the club.
With no serious negotiations occurring behind closed doors, no proposals were made until after Ms. Addison announced last week in a press release that the city aimed to purchase the property, Mr. Mosher wrote in his withdrawal letter.
“The ‘process’ that so many people seem to object to, has not yet started in my judgment,” he wrote.
Only “some brainstorming” during two or three discussions, along with some appropriate research took place, he said.