At their March 26 meeting, the City Council approved a management agreement with Powell Catering Services of Harrison to assume operation of Rye Golf Club’s snack bar concessions beginning April 1.

By Bill Lawyer 

 
At their March 26 meeting, the City Council approved a management agreement with Powell Catering Services of Harrison to assume operation of Rye Golf Club’s snack bar concessions beginning April 1.

As explained in the preamble to the agreement, the Council has decided to carry out a separate request for proposals to hire a caterer to handle food services at Whitby Castle.  

Mayor Joe Sack explained that the Council and Golf Club Commission wanted to be sure that the snack bar program would be in place for the start of the season. They did not want it to be held up by the process of recruiting and hiring a caterer for the Castle.

Within the agreement, Powell Catering is referred to as the “Licensee,” and its operations are clearly separated from those that will be provided by the Whitby Castle “Caterer.”  

Under the terms of the one-year agreement, Powell will pay the City a license fee of $4,000 per month from April through September 2014. The Licensee is required to pay “all costs, expenses, and obligations of every kind relating to the Licensed Premises (except as otherwise specifically provided in this Agreement) which may arise or become due during the term of this Agreement shall be paid by the Licensee, and that the City shall be indemnified by the Licensee against such costs, expenses and obligations.”

The City will pay for “usual and customary utility charges” up to 115% of the average costs over the past two years; anything above that will be paid by the Licensee.

According to the agreement, the City Manager will be charged with monitoring the operations of the Licensee and making sure that the latter carries out all the bookkeeping and reporting tasks, as the agreement requires. These are spelled out in great detail in section five of the agreement.  

The rest of the ten-page document and one-page addendum deal with additional details regarding all aspects of the Licensee’s use of golf club facilities and equipment, personnel, maintenance, advertising, liquor, and related matters.  

In discussing the agreement prior to its unanimous approval by the Council, Mayor Sack and Councilmembers Kirstin Bucci and Terry McCartney stressed the hard work that was put into it by members of the Golf Club Commission and the RFP Committee.

They also said that Powell Catering was a “good, solid bidder.” McCartney noted the company runs Powell’s Clam Bar at 58 Halstead Avenue in Harrison, and the snack bars at the Saxon Woods Pool and Mini-Golf facilities.  

Owner Bill Powell’s wife Aly, who handles the bookkeeping and office management, said they provided the City of Rye with the contract they have with Westchester County for the Saxon Woods site, to be used as “a template” for the RGC management agreement.

Interviewed in his office at the Clam Bar, Mr. Powell (“Call me Bill”) said he is “delighted to be selected, and he looks forward to providing a wide range of services, including offering breakfast, to club members.”  

A graduate of the restaurant management program at SUNY Delhi, Mr. Powell has been in the restaurant and catering business since 1985. He says that he has “set up accounts, hired staff, and purchased the beverage cart for bringing snacks to golfers on the course – I’m ready to go.”

He will be consulting with the golf pro and club manager to develop a schedule and menu that fit the club’s needs. “I’m easy to work with and will do everything I can to make the operation a success,” he said.

He added that he’s glad there’s a one-year contract, so that they can take a good look at how things have worked at the end of September. “If I lose money, then we’ll adjust the agreement or I’ll just move on.”

As to any concerns about proper management and supervision, he said that he not only answers to the city manager, club manager and golf pro, but to all nine members of the Rye Golf Club Commission.   

Bill Powell said that he’s anxious to get started, and that he’ll do “whatever it takes to keep the club members happy. I’ll even help out with operations at Whitby if they need me to.”