Entrance to Suneagles Golf Club. Current course operator Atlantic Golf has won the award to continue to manage the course and the banquet facilities for the next 18-24 months.
It will be business as usual at Fort Monmouth’s Suneagles Golf Club this spring. This week the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority awarded current property manager and course operator Atlantic Golf Management Inc. with a new contract .
Atlantic Golf won out over another bidder Meticulous Golf Management Inc. by 53 points in the ranking system set by FMERA.
Meticulous Golf is one of the current bidders on the sale of the golf course. Read more about that here.
Atlantic Golf, which has run the course and Gibbs Hall for more than a year, will pay FMERA $250,000 for the length of the 18 month contract. The award is contingent upon a lease extension to FMERA by the Army, which still owns the golf course.
In an email statement Wednesday night, Steve Rice, CEO of Atlantic Golf Management, said,” We are once again energized to have the opportunity to manage operations at Suneagles Golf Club and work with FMERA. We are grateful that FMERA continues to support our efforts. We hope to provide further enhancements to the course so that our valued membership and patrons benefit.”
One factor that didn’t figure into the last contract was FEMA sponsored housing on Megill Drive on the golf course property. Residents displaced by Sandy have been given temporary housing in apartments on the property. Click here for a view inside this housing.
“The wildcard is that it is connected to FEMA using the housing,” said Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon, who sits on the FMERA board. To hedge how the involvement by the federal agency might impact the sale, FMERA’s board elected to amend the Atlantic Golf contract to include the allowance of an additional six one month extensions.
Executive Director Bruce Steadman said ideally FMERA would be ready to issue the RFP, or even close a deal, on the Megill housing “right at the 18 month period when FEMA vacates.”
FMERA Board Chairman James V. Gorman suggested it “keep pressure on FEMA” to make sure this timeline is met.
FEMA’s role in Fort Monmouth’s future came up again when housing advocate Phil Welch asked the board to consider tailoring plans for veterans housing at the Army post to include housing for families headed by veterans, rather than just individual.
Welch, of the Monmouth A-Team, pointed to recent FEMA improvements made to the lodge area in Oceanport, which now also temporarily house families displaced by Sandy.
Gorman said FMERA would consider the recommendation, but didn’t jump at the possibility of piggybacking on a FEMA project. “FEMA’s activities and their lack of reporting are a concern of this authority,” he said.
