Boulder Creek contract to be bought out

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 9:26 a.m.

The Boulder City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to spend $500,000 to buy out the contract of the private firm that has been running the city's Boulder Creek Golf Club.

"I think this is as close as it can get in resolving the issue," City Attorney Dave Olsen said. "We'll get Triad on their way and Boulder City can get back to managing the golf course."

In addition to the payment to Triad Golf Management, the agreement would require the city to pay $6,176 to Triad for unpaid management fees, $51,590 to the construction company that built the golf course and $77,000 to cover the remainder of the course's contract with golf pro Stephanie Keever Loudon for marketing.

The city will pay a total of $634,766 to get out of the contract and is expected to run the course with city staff.

Triad is about 18 months into a 10-year contract under which the city was to pay the group $650,000 a year, plus bonuses based on profits, to run the course.

City officials have been unhappy with Triad because the course lost about $2.2 million and continues to lose thousands of dollars a month.

Olsen considers the buyout a deal compared with original negotiations.

"When we first started negotiations we were looking at $2.6 million," he said. "It's now down to $500,000. That's a lot of money saved."

The council also decided to keep a contract with TurfTech Inc. to maintain the golf course.

"TurfTech always did a wonderful job and the city is very pleased with the maintenance of the golf course they provided," Councilwoman Karla Burton. said.

However, the city reduced the contract with TurfTech from a 10-year obligation to a 90-day term agreement and a 15-month contract, Councilwoman Andrea Anderson said.

"This time, if it's not working, we can pull out," she said.