The open greens on “invaluable” city land situated above Flathead Lake could be subject to a change in oversight after the Polson City Commission discussed its interest in leasing it during a workshop on Wednesday, May 20.  

The commission had previously received two lease proposals for the Polson Bay Golf Course, one from a for-profit company, MIXT Industries, and one from the local non-profit, Polson Bay Golf Association. Both offer distinct benefits, and during the proposal workshop meetings, the commission heard many public comments favoring different directions for the course.  

The commission workshop started off strong, with a range of opinions from the commissioners. Commissioner Lisa Rehard believes the first step if the commission is interested in moving forward with a lease is to get legal work done to determine the proper procedure.  

Rehard noted that she has many questions, some of which include whether the water rights are transferable, whether this lease would require a citizen election and whether the original nine would be legally leaseable, since it was gifted to the city. Rehard said they are a long way from signing a lease, and without a permanent city manager, it’s “all hands on deck.”  

“This is a complex issue, and there’s a lot of moving parts,” she said. “The contract is a long way from being anything that anybody can actually use, and that kind of work is really labor-intensive.”  

Mayor Laura Dever and Commissioner Jake Holley agreed with Rehard that waiting until they have a city manager would be the best option. However, other commissioners, such as Lori Schrader-Young, said it is a long process and that it should start even with an interim city manager.  

While Commissioners Tracie McDonald and Jen Ruggless quickly expressed their support for the association leasing the course, Mayor Dever explained that the purpose of this workshop is not to choose which party to lease it to, but to determine whether the commission is interested. She added that if they were, she believes they would have to accept bids for it.  

However, Commissioner Carolyn Pardini asked whether they have to put out a bid, and Rehard said she was unsure, which is another reason why they need legal work done.  

Helping with the course in the meantime  

During the Association lease presentation meeting in March, it was noted that replacing broken equipment that requires immediate attention can move more quickly when a government agency is managing the course. This led Commissioner Holley to suggest during last week's meeting that the commission could work better with the Golf Advisory Board — a city board that works directly with course superintendent and general manager Pat Nowlen — to reduce friction points and bottlenecks.  

Rehard agreed that the board is not being used to their full benefit and this could help remove work from the city manager's plate, since that job also entails overseeing Bunkers Bar and Grill since its manager left, according to previous Leader reporting.  

In Schrader-Young’s push to start the lease process, she added that it could take months to hire a city manager, and McDonald agreed that she doesn’t want to stall this further. McDonald added that the community has reached out to ask that this process move forward.  

However, Dever said she isn’t sure where the language “stalled” comes from because the golf course has been operational for 90 years, “very successfully,” she added. Pardini agreed that it has been operational but said there are some bitter feelings about how the city has responded to the course. Pardini said options to get past those hard feelings are to either keep the management or transfer it to the Golf Association.  

“But I am tired of getting the phone calls from people who are frustrated [by] dealing with the city and with good cause,” she said.  

Constituents express their opinion  

Regarding the comments about public opinion the commissioners have received, Rehard said she has received many calls from people who want the city to keep managing it. She added that they just aren’t as public about it.  

Josh Maki, the Polson Bay Golf Association president, later asked if those opinions came from people who didn't want a for-profit company to take over.  

“It’s not just people who think that we're considering for-profit, it's people that know you and know what you're doing,” Rehard said. "You have more opposition out there than I think you realize.”  

Dever added that she has also received “unsolicited” comments from the public expressing a desire for the course to remain under city management. Rehard said that it’s not just golfers' interests the commission has to listen to; the commission owes a “duty of loyalty to the entire city.”  

Pardini added that it is probably the most vulnerable piece of property that the city owns, and it provides acres of open space to people who aren’t golfers.  

“We can't just go as we were; we’ve got to explore and see how we can make this whole thing better for our community,” McDonald said. “We have a beautiful golf course, you have the best piece of property, it's invaluable. You can't put a price tag on that.”  

However, Dever said you can put a price tag on the net revenue the city derived from the course, which she believes is about $2.5 million.  

“An entity that's netting a profit every year is not an entity that's not being well managed,” Dever said.  

McDonald responded saying it has nothing to do with the current managers at the course, but they could probably use help, resources or more money.  

According to previous Leader reporting the golf course enterprise fund raked in just over $2.4 million in the previous fiscal year and shows a profit of around $430,000. However, according to Ed Meece, the previous city manager, this money has to stay in the enterprise fund for golf course capital improvements.  

Finally, superintendent and general manager Nowlen made his first public comment.  

While Nowlen has taken a neutral position for the last 18 months, he said he is in favor of the local association. He said his reasoning comes from its members being invested in the course, unlike most members of city government. 

He said in 20 years it has been a long road with scar tissue and a lot of “animosity.” He has worked under five different city managers and many different commissioners. Some of these commissioners have shown much interest and tried to assert direction; he has also had city managers who have never stepped on the course.  

The course used to operate under an association, and Nowlen added that he worked under that group until it dissolved around 2012.  

Nowlen explained that municipal courses are slowly disappearing and being leased like this, and that’s the “best situation they can get.” Nowlen added that most municipal courses in big cities are subsidized by taxes, which is not the case in Polson.  

“We’re doing just fine, we’re making a profit, and we’re doing it well,” Nowlen said. “What we’re not doing well is keeping up with capital improvement. We’re not keeping up with competitive wages.”  

Nowlen said he makes 50% of what course superintendents in Montana make, and those are not also general managers. He added that the money he and his staff earn is generally determined by the size of the town, not by how well he does his job.  

“My question is, what is the next city manager going to want to do, what's the next commission going to want to do, what's their opinion, and I trust an elected board of golfers of members of my golf course to run and operate and make those decisions,” he said.  

Moving forward  

Rehard said she couldn’t make a decision until the legal work was done and added that the city attorney is too busy to handle this. She would also like someone who is an expert in municipal law and provides an objective outside opinion. 

The commission decided that Dever, Rehard and Interim City Manager George Simpson would have a phone conversation with attorney Jordan Crosby, who has worked with the city before. Rehard explained that once her questions are answered, they can create an actual scope of work for Crosby, if she is interested in this project, or with another attorney. 

“After that phone conversation, we will have a better idea of our path forward. At that point, we'll know what we're going to put on the agenda,” Rehard said.