The city commission unanimously rejected the proposal to assign the lease to JA Hospitality in December 2024.

A mediated settlement, which relieved all alleged defaults, was reached Feb. 26. The commission then held a special public meeting March 27, to review and discuss the settlement.

According to the settlement, the city will pay Clifton and Ezell $4.5 million to terminate the lease, with the first payment of $750,000 to be paid by May 1. The balance of $3.75 million will be paid by Nov. 3.

Later in the meeting, Kennedy explained his No vote, saying that as a fiduciary and a licensed certified public accountant, the profits that the owners had pocketed — about $1 million a year over the last five years, he said — weighed on him.

[Ezell told VoxPopuli that the golf course averaged about $1.1 million net operating income a year for the past four years.]

“It is a given that if Forest Lake had been performing the maintenance that they should be performing, their profits wouldn't have been as high, and they have taken those profits,” Kennedy said. “I feel that not properly maintaining the golf course and taking those profits is potentially taking money away from the tax payers.

“I wanted to be very aggressive with that and push to get as much of that money back and not reward bad behavior. But it is a difficult business decision.”

Still, Kennedy said a lawsuit would not have been in the city’s best interest.

“It’s not that it costs more to litigate,” he said, “it costs a lot more.” He added that there was no guarantee the city would win if they did litigate. “Everyone has a different opinion.”

The city has already spent $250,000 in legal fees on this matter.

Kennedy said the mediated settlement was “absolutely the best mediated settlement if you’re going to do that,” but that he just couldn’t bring himself to vote for it.

Three professional golf-course management companies submitted proposals to operate the golf course for six months while the city searches for a permanent management company: Down to Earth, Hampton Golf and and Tamarack Golf.

Representatives from all three told commissioners they wanted to be considered for the permanent position. The city plans to send out a formal Request For Proposal later this month.

Down to Earth proposed a management fee of $8,000 a month and suggested “incremental price increases that aren’t noticed by the players” along with “player loyalty programs and regular games and competitions [that] can keep golfers returning time after time to their ‘home’ course.”

Hampton Golf proposed $16,500 a month — $12,000 to maintain the golf course and $4,500 for company operations, like accounting, payroll and marketing.

Tamarack, which reopened Stoneybrook West Golf Course in Winter Garden after its 2018 closure, proposed something altogether different: paying the city $10,000 per month while handling all operations and then retaining any net income.

Kennedy made a motion to approve Hampton Golf to take over Forest Lake, but it died for lack of a second. Then Oliver made a motion to approve Down to Earth. Kennedy seconded that motion. Down to Earth won the temporary operations job by a vote of 3-2 with Mayor Rusty Johnson and Commissioner Rosemary Wilsen dissenting.