Essex County Club (MA) uses land borrowed from town 100 years ago

[Martin Del Vecchio]

From the Gloucester Daily Times (http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_183224127.html):

Manchester: Golf club, town seek agreement over borrowed land

MANCHESTER — Negotiations are in the works between the Essex County Club and the town of Manchester to settle a century-old agreement that allows the exclusive private golf club to use a piece of town land for free.

According to Ginny Thompson, the principal assessor, the club is taxed only on the land that it owns. The land in question makes up the par-3 seventh hole that borders the Lincoln Street well. Thompson said she could not assess the worth of the land until she receives a survey of the borrowed area.

Town Administrator Wayne Melville said the club cannot be taxed on the seventh hole land because it does not own it. He said the club is not recompensing the town in any other way and the only record of the agreement exists in century-old meeting minutes.

"And so the county club has been able to use this land without any official documentation," said Manchester resident Adele Ervin, who helped bring the issue to the attention of today's officials, along with Tim Gates, a cameraman for Cape Ann TV, who discovered the issue.

The discussions which, presumably, will determine the value of the land and under what conditions the club will be able to continue its use, are going well, according to Melville.

"I am highly confident we will come up with an agreement with the club," he said yesterday.

The discussions are being conducted with club officials by Melville and Selectman Tom Kehoe. So far, they have had one meeting along with a number of correspondences by phone and e-mail.

Melville said last month that a framework was established to resolve the matter at the first meeting. Because the negotiations deal in the acquisition and disposition of properties, however, both Melville and Kehoe have commented that they were legally unable to discuss any details.

A second meeting is planned in the near future.

While these discussions seem very new, historically speaking, they began in the 1890s.

Back then, a now-defunct board called the Manchester Board of Water Commissioners, which was responsible for the local water supply, entered into an informal agreement with the Essex County Club that allowed it to use town land around the Lincoln Street well.

According to Ervin, the club did not have enough land for a full 18 holes, so it approached the town. An agreement was reached with the water commissioners; however, while there are records of the meeting minutes, there is no record of the agreement being voted on.

In the more than a century since then, the town, which had forgotten the matter, has allowed the club to borrow the land needed for the seventh hole, next to the Lincoln Street well, a major water source.

During the search for alternative tennis court sites earlier this year, said Ervin, this nugget of local history was unearthed by the research of Gates. He found records of meeting minutes in 1902, 1910 and 1911 that discussed the club's request to use a portion of land that was under the authority of the Board of Water Commissioners. He discovered there were no records of any payments made to the town for the use of the land.

"I thought that this was very interesting," said Gates.

At the time, Gates had been exploring the potential of building the tennis courts on land owned by the club. When the proposal was brought up at Town Meeting on April 8, the tennis court element was removed and it was decided that the agreement between the town and the club should be formally concluded.

"It's just a way of trying to get clarity," said Ervin.

Though Gates was the one who researched and wrote the proposal, because he had already spoken on a number of issues that night he had used up his limited speaking opportunities. So he asked Ervin to bring the proposal up, which she did because she felt that it was something the town needed to clear up.

When the water commission was dissolved, its authority over the water supply was inherited by the Board of Selectmen.

No officials at the Essex County Club could be reached for comment.

[Michael Powers]

In the more than a century since then, the town, which had forgotten the matter, has allowed the club to borrow the land needed for the seventh hole, next to the Lincoln Street well, a major water source.

During the search for alternative tennis court sites earlier this year, said Ervin, this nugget of local history was unearthed by the research of Gates. He found records of meeting minutes in 1902, 1910 and 1911 that discussed the club's request to use a portion of land that was under the authority of the Board of Water Commissioners. He discovered there were no records of any payments made to the town for the use of the land.

"I thought that this was very interesting," said Gates.

I worked at Essex for many years, and it was well known by staff and members that the land on #7 was owned by the town;  so much for a "nugget of local history".

The club made a deal with the town whereby the club would use the land in lieu of allowing a certain number of "Town Golfers".  There were around 50 of these guys and the club would permit them to play after 5:00 pm on weekdays in true quid pro quo fashion. 

Something tells me that if Essex starts paying taxes to the town for this land, that the Town Golfers will be gone. 

[Craig Sweet]

A par 3 hole?  How much land might that be? A couple of acres?  What do you suppose the tax rate might be?  I doubt it would cost the club more than the initiation fee for a new member.

[Michael Powers]

Craig,
It is not a big piece of land.  I am pretty certain that the tee is located on club property, and the hole is only 138 yds. from the back.  The green may also be on club property, maybe 1 acre or a little more. 

[Martin Del Vecchio]

The dispute has been resolved.  The club and the town have exchanged easements (rights-of-way)

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_239223356.html?keyword=topstory

Town, golf club set agreement over disputed land
By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer

MANCHESTER — A century-long dispute between the town and the Essex County Club over a slice of golf course land near Lincoln Street appears to have been settled with an exchange of legal right-of-ways between the two sides.

The deal, described as an "easement exchange," would allow golf to continue on the County Club's par-three seventh hole, a chunk of which the town claims it has owned without compensation since the 19th century. It has been agreed to in principle by club representatives and was approved by selectmen Monday night.

Under the agreement, the town would receive an easement on a slice of land on the north side of the club's property near Mill Street in exchange for allowing the club to continue play on the seventh hole. That Mill Street easement will allow the town to do street improvements and connect two water lines on land owned by the club.

The exact size of the parcels in question has not been determined, Town Administrator Wayne Melville said yesterday, but a survey of the land meant to finalize the boundaries would be conducted soon.

Questions about the use and ownership of the golf course have lingered for decades and were reignited this spring during debate about where the town should locate tennis courts for use by the Manchester Essex Regional School District.

A Town Meeting article proposed by Desmond Avenue resident Timothy Gates asked the town to leverage its ownership of part of the golf course to get the club to make some of its land available as a site for the courts.

The article was amended to direct selectmen to negotiate with the club over the land, but removed any reference to tennis courts.

The job of negotiating with the club was given to Melville and Selectman Thomas Kehoe, who met with representatives of the County Club twice over the summer and presented a letter to selectmen Monday night outlining the broad strokes of the deal.

The letter was not made available yesterday, Melville said, because it had not been signed by all board members yet.

For the agreement to be finalized, the County Club's Board of Governors will need to approve the concept and attorneys for both sides will be brought in to hammer out the precise language.

Melville yesterday declined to give any estimate of the size of either of the parcels involved in the easement swap until the results of the survey is completed.

The golf course land on and around the seventh hole is within a buffer zone surrounding a well supplying town drinking water, which is monitored by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

On the root cause of the dispute over the land, Melville said at the beginning of the 20th century the town was buying land for wells at the same time the club was buying land to make a golf course and this parcel fell into dispute.

The club and now-defunct Manchester Board of Water Commissioners entered into an informal agreement allowing the golf course to use the land free of charge, which continued until this year.

The County Club owns around 180 acres of land on the School Street parcel that includes the golf course. The land, including club building, is worth around $20 million according to the last assessment information on the town Web site.

The easements will not themselves have any direct effect on the club's property tax bill.

While town officials are calling the agreement a beneficial solution to a complex problem, Gates, the man who campaigned for negotiations on the land said yesterday that the town had not gotten enough for 100 years of uncompensated use.

"As far as we can tell, the club has been given the privilege of driving over and playing on water works land they have no legal right to," Gates said. "In addition to what happens for the future, there should be compensation for past usage."

The easement going back to the town on Mill Street was not sufficient compensation, Gates said, and should have been pursued by the town through a public land taking such as eminent domain.

Kehoe said he was happy that the negotiations with the club would provide something for both parties and had not resulted in acrimony and legal battles.

"I believe this will have the best impact on the largest number of people in town," Kehoe said. "The (Mill Street) parcel was a piece of land we were interested in at the beginning of discussions."

Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.

[Jason McNamara]

The club made a deal with the town whereby the club would use the land in lieu of allowing a certain number of "Town Golfers".  There were around 50 of these guys and the club would permit them to play after 5:00 pm on weekdays in true quid pro quo fashion. 

Do you mean "in exchange for," Michael?

[ChipRoyce]

If I were a 'town golfer', I would be mighty pissed at the guy who has made this  an issue.

The land ownership of this hole is not a long-lost-secret as the writer suggested. The agreement between the town and the club is well known among the citizenry.

What is not detailed in the article is the additional benefit to town residents afforded due to the land agreement. The Club established the "Town Golf" program which gives Manchester-by-the-Sea residents the ability to join the program and play one of the 9's (as designated by the starter) for a modest annual fee Sunday - Thursday nights between Memorial Day and Mid  October (?).

I participated in town golf from 2000-02  (quit Georgetown Club) and have to say that this was the best $500 ever spent.

Hoping now that the issue has  come to light, the town golf program continues.