Closer oversight over the Rye Golf Club operations has apparently paid off, as the budget deficit is not nearly as deep as forecast during the summer.

 

By Jon Craig

 

Closer oversight over the Rye Golf Club operations has apparently paid off, as the budget deficit is not nearly as deep as forecast during the summer.

 

“We’re in a much better position than in June,” City Manager Scott Pickup told the City Council Wednesday. “We projected a much larger deficit in June. We’ve been able to close that gap.”

 

During a City Council investigation of management and contract operations, officials have proposed closing restaurant operations at Whitby Castle in January and February — except for catering — and reducing hours in March and April. Also the city-owned Golf Club will shift from contract operations to using seasonal employees to supplement a full-time staff of seven people.

 

Salaries for seasonal help will increase by more than $800,000 under the proposed 2013 budget. Contract costs would be cut by $1.5 million next year. Expenses are projected to total $6.4 million in 2013, with revenue from food, dues, and fees projected to meet those costs. The next budget does not include any capital construction. Membership rates would remain the same.

 

Golf Commission Chairman John Duffy said, “We’re not going to stand still. We have to keep moving forward.”

 

Duffy said that if management is not changed, Commission members believe “we are going to have a problem. We’re hopeful that we can get through this.”

 

Golf Club Manager Scott Yandrasevich has been placed on a paid administrative leave. Concerns about how he spent Golf Club and city taxpayer money began surfacing in June. More than $1 million was paid earlier this year to RM Staffing & Events, for whom Yandrasevich consults and his wife works. RM Staffing was created in 2007, the same year Rye Golf took over management of the 160-year-old Whitby Castle and hired temporary help. The Club also paid excessive overtime to temporary staff in recent years.

 

One of the newest Golf Commission members, Chris O’Brien, said the Golf Club will hemorrhage members if management isn’t changed. “We’re prepared to put in the hours” to scrutinize spending and operations, O’Brien said. “It can’t be a one-man operation.’’

 

For example, Commission members recently learned the Club was paying $19,000-a-year above the national average for golf carts and locked into a 54-month lease.