Golf Vendor Suing County
The former operator of the Putnam National Golf Course is suing the county, accusing it of breach of contract among other complaints in a federal lawsuit filed this month.
RDC Golf Group, which entered into a lease to run the Mahopac golf course in April 2008, claims the county sought to force RDC into paying nearly $250,000 in interest obligations relating to public improvement bonds issued by the county before RDC entered the lease.
“The Golf Club, which is not a legal entity in any event, had and has no such legal obligation,” the lawsuit, received by the county May 6, states, arguing interest on the bonds is not considered an operating expense. The suit says a 2009 amended guaranty, drafted by the county, “contains confusing and inconsistent language which, upon information and belief, was intentionally inserted by County counsel in order to argue for implausible and overreaching interpretations of the Club Lease.”
The suit went on to accuse the county of failing to alleviate significant drainage issues, which it says in 2011 resulted in 8,000 lost rounds of golf and $300,000 in lost revenue and led the course to develop a reputation as “a wet course,” driving away business. It also says the facility was operating without a liquor license when the lease began, which prevented the club from selling alcohol during the 2008 golf season. The suit further accuses the county of illegally serving alcohol at the club after the termination of its contract with RDC.
Last summer, the county met with RDC to offer ideas of how to secure renewal of the club lease when it was set to end on Dec. 31 of that year, the suit states. The solutions the county offered were to let Libby Pataki, the county’s tourism director, take over the club’s marketing budget and to hire Nicholas DePerno, County Executive MaryEllen Odell’s director of constituent services, at $25 per hour as “an observer” with no direct tasks or duties, according to the lawsuit. DePerno stopped working for the club later that summer, telling the club “it could give a bad political appearance,” and returned his checks uncashed, the suit states.
RDC claims the county currently owes it $212,148.96 in management fees which were withheld to compensate for the interest payments on the bonds.
Odell told The Putnam Examiner RDC, which is based out of Monroe Township, N.J., is in fact in arrears with the county and the lawsuit is “nothing more than just sour grapes.”
“We’re quite confident that when this issue is resolved, it will be resolved in favor of the county,” Odell said. “We were very, very amendable to a working relationship with them. But it just deteriorated to the point that we weren’t confident in them.”
The county told the club last fall it hoped to transition the management to a different company, the suit states.
The club is now being run by Applied Golf of Millstone, N.J. and McCall Land Management of Poughkeepsie, while Homestyle Catering and Food Service of Yonkers handles the food and beverage services. The contracts were awarded in March.
“The truth is that the new operators that we have on board now have done more for that facility in this short period of time than RDC had done in the whole time we were in contract with them,” said Odell.
