By Dan Murphy
A small, 12-acre golf course located next to the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown has now become a political football, with two judges tasked with deciding the fate of weather the course should open on Nov. 15, or whether the company hired by the Town to renovate and re-open the course should be allowed to finish the job and open next year.
In the middle of this dispute is Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater, who also is running for Assembly on Nov. 8. Slater has been pushing the company hired to renovate the course for play, RC Recreation Development, to open this year, and the Town’s Building Inspector and Town Attorney have issued violations that are now in Town Court.
RC has filed a lawsuit, alleging that Slater and Town Councilman Sergio Esposito, are attempting to breach a contract that gives them the right to finish and open the course with no set required date of opening.
The public-private partnership between the Town of Yorktown and RC dates to 2014, before Slater was elected Supervisor. In Sept. 2014 both sides signed a concession agreement, which granted RC “The sole and exclusive right to perform all tasks required to operate and maintain the [golf course]. The Town and Licensee agree that they shall cooperate reasonably with each other to permit Licensee to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement.”
The agreement had a 10-year term but did not include a required date to open the course. In 2018, Rocco Cambareri, a partner in RC and a trusted and beloved figure in Yorktown, died. An amended concession agreement was signed, extending RC’s lease to 2028 and clarifying that any license fees payable to the Town were not due until “four months from the date that the golf course opens to the public;”
RC continued to renovate the golf course without any issue until, as they claim in a lawsuit filed this summer, “This working relationship changed with the election of Matthew Slater as Town Supervisor as of January 1, 2020. From that point forward, Slater, often by and through the Town Board and Building Department that Slater alone controls and directs, has engaged in a coordinated and unjustified effort to derail the golf course development project with the intention of handing it over to one of his political cronies to burnish his own political standing.”
The matter came to a head at the Town Board meeting on July 5, 2022, when according to the lawsuit, “Slater set forth a series of unfounded complaints about the golf course development project, mostly centered on the length of time he perceived the development to be taking, several times stating his view that it “had gone on too long” and expressing similar statements.
At several points, Slater indicated his desire to replace, immediately, RC with another concessionaire, and directed the Board to consider issuing a request for proposals seeking just such a substitution. Slater did so while the Concession Agreement, as amended, remained in full force and effect.
In fact, Town Board member Esposito was clear in his intentions: “I’m tired of the double talk and the double speak,” said Councilman Sergio Esposito. “We want the project to move forward, but it’s not happening. It’s too much at this point. I just don’t think they can do the job. We want this open for our residents.”
At its July 5 meeting, the Town Board “Slater and Esposito then directed the Town Clerk to prepare an RFP to replace RC as the Licensee and directed Building Inspector Slater to issue a stop work order against the Project,” despite the fact that RC still had a contract, which was amended to renovate the course and open without a required date of opening. The Concession Agreement, as amended, remains in full force and effect.”
Town Building Inspector, John Landi, issued a stop work order at the still yet to be opened golf course, and together with the Town Attorney, issued several building code violations, which are currently in Town court before Judge Gary Raniolo, with RC disputing the violations are either being fixed or not applicable because they have yet to open.
The argument by RC in its lawsuit is that “the Town intends to use this claim as a pretext for terminating the Concession Agreement,” and that the actions by Slater and Esposito calling for a new RFP on a contracted project that was still in effect, was illegal.
This is where the matter stood at the end of the summer; with two different legal matters; one in Town Court and RC’s lawsuit now in Federal Court in White Plains.
Then on Sept. 9, Slater and the Town Board voted to set a November 15 deadline for the opening of a long-delayed municipal golf course. In a press release, Slater and the Town Board stated, “
RC Recreation Development must open the Town’s nine-hole Par 3 Golf Course for public use by November 15 or the Town will terminate the company’s concession agreement. RC Recreation Development has repeatedly provided Town officials with projected opening dates since it entered into an agreement to redevelop the golf course in 2014.
“Despite years of delays, the Town Board sought to work with this developer to advance this golf course’s completion,” said Supervisor Matt Slater. “Instead, we have received excuses and false promises while the developer or its employees violate our ordinances.”
The Town Board also announced the code violations, which include – Exposed and unprotected kitchen wiring., Exposed and uncovered exterior electrical trenches, Unapproved material used as an electrical conduit for an exterior lamp post, an unpermitted recreational vehicle trailer, An unauthorized connection to the main water line servicing the Park (before the water meter). Incomplete bridges throughout the park without guardrails.” The Town Board also voted to advertise a request for proposals for the operation of the municipal golf course. The proposal deadline is September 29.
The interest of many area golfers in this project is to play a course that we have fond memories of growing up in Yorktown in the 1980’s. Indian Hill Golf Course, was the same 9-hole course that many of us played and want to play again when this course opens.
I wanted to find out how close RC was to being able to open the course and meet the Nov. 15 deadline. So I waited for the course staff to leave and I walked out with a 7-Iron and hit a few shots.
I liked what I saw, new tee boxes on some holes, most of the greens were finished and just needed some more time to grow and get cut. There also appeared to be different tee boxes for different skill levels and different hole options and lengths offered. Many trees had been cut down, and new ones grown.
The progress of RC with the course excited me for when it would open. But clearly, there was a lot of TLC that needed, and quite frankly, when Nov. 15 comes around I’m ready to put my clubs away for the year.
My hope was that RC would be able to open the course in the spring of 2023. But now I’m not sure even that will happen, based on the lawsuits, violations and accusations hurled back and forth. The next date in town court is Nov. 29-and the federal lawsuit will not be decided this year.
How does all of this fit into Matt Slater’s run for Assembly, if at all? Slater is running to replace Assemblyman Kevin Byrne, who is running for Putnam County Executive unopposed. The 94th district includes parts of northern Westchester and Putnam County. It has always been a strong republican assembly seat, so Slater is expected to cruise to a victory and move onto Albany.
Slater does have a democratic opponent, Kathleen Valletta, an attorney, and President of the Carmel Rotary.
Editor’s Note: Additional research into what RC is creating at the 9 hole course includes using the model of Links Across America, which is trying to expand the game of golf and get more young people involved in golf by building “short courses,” (3-9 holes) across the country that provide affordable golf for youth, families, adult beginners and individuals with injuries and disabilities from all ethnic backgrounds.
Short course have also been built at Pebble Beach and Whistling Straights, Wisconsin. The short course being built in Yorktown will include learning facilities, and hopes to be the first Links Across America course in the northeast. Additional plans to create an ice-skating rink in the winter have been tabled.
All of this sounds exciting if it can be allowed to be completed.
