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Golf course board pins hopes on restaurant
Published 11:18am Monday, November 19, 2012Pebble Lake Golf Course board members are confident taking over ownership of the golf course restaurant should eventually get the course over the financial difficulties it currently is in, vice president Aaron Sletten said Friday.
Pending Fergus Falls City Council approval, Pebble Lake Golf Course will have their line of credit doubled from $150,000 to $300,000 and a $497,000 loan deferred for two years in order to make it through winter operating costs and get Tavern 59 up and running.
“We’re basically at the edge, and we’re getting over the hump,” said PLGC vice president Aaron Sletten. “This allows us to do what we need to do to make the changes we need to make.”
The course has lost $25,000 to $40,000 each year for the past four years, but Sletten said he projects to break even in 2013, and by 2014, the course should be able to start paying down their line of credit. The course is projected to have the city paid back five to eight years.
In order to get to that point, the PLGC Board has asked the council to approve an extension to the course’s line of credit from $150,000 to $300,000.
In order to get Tavern 59 ready to open, there will need to be some remodeling, and things like tables, chairs, dishes and kitchen upgrades need to be purchased.
Sletten said it is difficult to know how successful Tavern 59 will be, but he expects the restaurant to bring in $20,000 to $100,000 per year.
“We don’t know, but at the end of next year at this time, we will have a very good idea of where we are going to be,” he said.
The line’s current balance is at about $120,000, and Sletten said the course has no intention of getting all the way up to the potential $300,000 cap.
“We have a lot of stuff going on, and we just need to figure out what makes us money, and what makes sense and still takes care of our members,” he said.
The request will be taken to the City Council at 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
