Officials ready to release funds for golf course purchase
May 3, 2022
A view of the Little Harbor Golf Course clubhouse. Photo by: Alexandra Weliever
The town is now closer than ever to officially purchasing the Little Harbor Country Club, as officials have met the conditions necessary to release Community Preservation Funds.
The Northeast Golf Companies has been selected to manage the property. The town will begin negotiations with the company later this week. The company currently runs two golf courses: Kings Crossing Golf Club in Rhode Island and The Orchards Golf Club in Connecticut
At a Special Town Meeting on Feb. 22, voters overwhelmingly approved a proposal to purchase the country club.
Town officials negotiated a $2.3 million purchase price for the club: $2 million for the land, plus $300,000 for the clubhouse and related equipment like golf carts.
The $2 million land purchase will be funded by Community Preservation Funds, which can be used for open space and outdoor recreation among other uses.
The Community Preservation Committee was in favor of the purchase, but set several conditions that the town had to meet before they would release the funds, related to a survey of the property, an appraisal of its value, an environmental study, and a conservation restriction.
Those conditions have been met, as the Select Board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, which will hold the conservation restriction on the land. The details of the conservation restriction are still being ironed out, and Select Board Chair Judith Whiteside said at the board’s May 2 meeting that it would likely be a number of months before the restriction is fully approved by the state.
On May 3, the board voted unanimously to assert that the conditions had been met.
That vote should clear the way for the Community Preservation Committee to release $1 million in funds. The other $1 million has been bonded out and will be repaid using Community Preservation Funds.
Community Preservation funds come from a surcharge on property taxes and can only be used — with Town Meeting approval — for outdoor recreation, historic preservation, open space and affordable housing.
