Bids for golf operations coming

Omaha is close to teeing up its request for companies to bid on running the municipal golf courses.

City officials are less than two weeks away from soliciting bids, said Parks Administrator Steve Scarpello. If a bid is successful, a City Council vote could come early next year.

A consultant recommended that Omaha seek a firm to fully run the city’s seven municipal courses in order to stem financial losses. The city still would own the course land, which cannot be sold under state law.

Once the request is sent out, companies will be given about a month to bid, Scarpello said. City officials then will review the bids and determine whether any company meets the city’s requirements.

If a bid is up to snuff, the city will negotiate a contract with the company. Any agreement would need to be approved by the City Council, said Scarpello and City Attorney Paul Kratz.

If a bid is acceptable, Scarpello hopes to have an agreement in front of the council by the end of January. But he said nothing is certain.

“We have no idea as to whether or not we’re going to contract out the golf courses,” Scarpello said. “Right now we have a study, and the study said go out for (proposals).”

Scarpello said he has received “several calls from companies around the country that are interested” in bidding.

However, a lot will hinge on whether companies want to completely take over the courses — as recommended by the consultant — or whether they just want to manage the courses.

The consultant did not recommend simply turning over the course management because the city still would be responsible for many of the costs of running the courses.

The benefits of a private takeover include shifting all operation costs and risks to the company and providing a reliable revenue stream to the city through contract fees. The bidding companies will be asked to tell the city how much they would be willing to pay Omaha for the right to oversee the municipal courses, Scarpello said.

The city’s golf fund, which is supported by greens fees, cart rentals and concessions, has been in the red for years. Through last year the fund had amassed $760,000 in losses.

If such losses continued, the city might be forced to subsidize golf operations with tax money.

All four of the city’s nine-hole courses are propped up financially by profits from Omaha’s three city-run 18-hole courses.

Scarpello said Omaha’s Park and Recreation Board and the Omaha Public Golfers Association, a group of volunteers who assist with course activities, would be briefed on any agreements before they go to the council for a vote.

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