The Select Board authorized Town Administrator Derek Sullivan to begin the process of soliciting requests for proposals for an entity to hold the conservation restriction on Little Harbor Country Club during its Tuesday night meeting.

Because the process with Little Harbor’s specific conservation restriction involves money, the town is required to release a request for proposals, board chair Judith Whiteside said.

“We need the [memorandum of understanding] before we can close on purchasing the real estate,” Whiteside said, referencing a future agreement between the town and future conservation restriction holder.

Board member Alan Slavin clarified that the town hasn’t had to issue a request for proposals in the recent past, as significant amounts of money were not involved. Slavin said in the past that the town may pay the holder of the conservation restriction $50,000 to cover the costs associated with the stewardship of the land.

The holder of the conservation restriction would help safeguard the use of the course and its open space, delineating what can and cannot be done with the land.

Wareham residents voted in last week’s Town Meeting to allow the town to purchase the 54-acre golf course for $2.3 million, with an additional $300,000 for related costs. The vote to purchase the club was combined with a related vote to use $2 million in community preservation funds to go toward the purchase of the land. Using community preservation funds ensures the land will be permanently preserved as open space, even if the golf course is discontinued in the future.

The golf course had been on the market for some time. After a potential deal with Mass Audubon fell through last summer after pushback from golfers and town officials, the course’s owners began closed-door negotiations with the Select Board. Officials pitched the idea to voters in January. 

The Wareham Land Trust has before been spoken of as a possible holder of the golf course’s conservation restriction. Kathy Pappalardo, president of the trust, spoke in favor of the purchase during last week’s Town Meeting that ultimately authorized the town to buy the course.

Board member Peter Teitelbaum praised the Wareham Land Trust’s work at Town Meeting, and he said he hopes the trust submits a proposal to the town.

Sullivan was authorized by a board vote to begin the soliciting process. Whiteside asked that Sullivan start soon, as the golf course is scheduled to open on April 1 and the town hopes to close on the real estate sale by May 1.

The board also discussed the creation of a future golf course advisory committee. No vote on the creation of the committee was made, though members agreed on the general idea of a five-member group that would work between town administration and the course’s future management company.

An initial steering committee, followed by a second, more permanent advisory committee was recommended by board member Jim Munise. Future discussion on the committee was put on the agenda for next week’s Select Board meeting.