By James Lomuscio
Since the Town of Westport purchased Longshore Park in 1960, the town has always maintained the golf course, from greens keeping to maintaining the fairways to raking the sand traps. The works.
The weather has provided challenges for maintenance of Westport’s Longshore golf course. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
But a resolution passed by the Parks and Recreation Commission Monday night—to pursue a contract with a golf maintenance firm after repeated maintenance problems on the course—ends the town’s hands-on involvement with the links, placing it in the hands of experts, according to Stuart McCarthy, Parks and Recreation director.
“There are a number of reasons, but the number one reason is the depth of expertise that these companies can bring to a golf course,” McCarthy said. “These companies are able to provide a depth of expertise, like having an agronomist on staff, telling us the best fertilizer to use.
“Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that?” he added. “It’s such a specialized field.”
According to McCarthy, the town is currently negotiating with its preferred pick from respondents to its RFP (request for proposals), California-based Valley Crest Golf Course Maintenance.
“We’re still negotiating, and it is our intent to continue negotiating with them,” McCarthy said.
He would not say what an outside maintenance company would cost the town. He did say that the chosen company would hire a staff to work at Longshore out of the town’s maintenance facility located in the middle of the 18-hole course.
The reason the commission and the Golf Advisory Committee, as well as the avid golfers who turned out in force at the meeting, pushed for the resolution, McCarthy said, is because the condition of the golf course has deteriorated in recent years, exacerbated by Storm Irene and Storm Sandy.
“And we had economic issues with our greens,” McCarthy said. “And the golf community has had great concern.
But McCarthy pointed out that his department has been exploring the idea of hiring an outside firm years before concerns were raised.
“Why wouldn’t you want to avail yourself of that expertise,” he said.
Great decision but it does raise a question. If we start paying for an outside firm, which we should, will we decrease the number of maintenance people on the staff? Will only our costs increase or we will save the corresponding costs by decreasing our personnel as they are no longer needed?
Anybody know?
I don’t know what fertilizer the town crew has been using, but I hope the new maintenance crew using the “best fertilizer” isn’t using some chemical contaminant that further contributes to pollution of the sound.