Town Plans Indian Hills Golf Course Lease Restructure
NEWINGTON - A Newington golf course is feeling the impact of the sport’s diminishing popularity, so the town is looking to restructure the lease it has with the tenants.

       Town Attorney Peter Boorman, along with Assessor Steve Juda, provided the Town Council with an update on the situation regarding the Indian Hills Golf Club at the body’s July 28 meeting.

       For Indian Hills, declining membership, consistent with state and national trends, has meant less money for maintenance and a significant decline in the value of the golf course itself. The property is owned by the town, which rents it out to Indian Hills.

       â€"The real value is in the course itself-it’s not in any of the buildings,” Boorman said. â€"We don’t want a situation where the most valuable asset is not being maintained properly.”

       Although Indian Hills is currently â€"holding its own” as far as membership goes, at one point its numbers had dropped from 275 to around 200, according to Boorman. Meanwhile, the course’s property value has diminished from it’s 2005 $4 million to $2.5 million, he said.

       In 2011 it was assessed at around 50 percent of its original $4 million value. As of last year it was down to $3.2 million, a figure that was later deemed to be too high, prompting the change to the current value. Boorman and Juda said that they expect that number to drop again next year.

       Its current $2.5 million value brings the rent down to an annual $62,650, or $5,220 per month. The club currently owes the town $22,324 in back rent. That will be reduced by $12,000 through the next year as long as Indian Hills continues conditions under a modified lease agreement that is allowing non-member town residents to golf more frequently while maintaining previous rates.

       â€"The trend is that the value of golf courses are in decline,” Juda said. â€"Demand for golf is less and people are playing less.”

       Around the country, similar golf courses have seen their values drop to between $1.6 million and $1.9 million, Boorman said.

       So a study group will be assembled to examine the issue and design a new model for the lease agreement, which currently stipulates that the club’s rent payments drop with any decline in the property’s value-Boorman said. Plans call for the process to include the Indian Hill tenants.

       â€"It’s going to take significant time to come up with what’s on par for the town and the tenants,” Boorman said.

       Indian Hills first sought a modification--an addendum--to the lease a year ago.

       â€"Indian Hills is an important feature in Newington,” Boorman said. â€"One of our goals is to maintain that beautiful facility, so we start with that goal of cooperation.”

       Councilor Maureen Klett asked if a full, comprehensive audit of the property was done before the latest value estimate. Boorman said that a private professional was hired in 2013 to enable the town to do that â€"in-house.” The current value of the course is based on financial statements obtained from Indian Hills on a quarterly basis, Juda said.

       â€"Until we see an audit, I’m not comfortable with reducing the value, which in an indirect way, has an effect on the taxpayers of this community,” Klett said.

      
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