Amador County – The Ione City Council on Tuesday agreed to look at delaying a rent increase at Castle Oaks Golf Course, due to the economy.

Councilman David Plank said the council should do everything it can do to help and support Castle Oaks, which is a significant employer in Ione, with 50 employees.

Castle Oaks Golf Pro Dominic Atlan said many employees are part-time but about 80 percent are Ione residents. He said they “try to hire locally, and not within 100 miles, within 2 miles.”

Atlan said they ask only for 1 year of paying the same rent, figured at 2 percent of the golf course’s total revenue, instead of 3 percent, for its land rent.

In public comment, Gary Thomas asked if the city golf course committee was still meeting, and recommended it meet again to be fair to Portlock International, owner of Castle Oaks. Atlan agreed, saying it had not met recently and he suggested it meet three times a year.

Councilman Lee Ard said Castle Oaks is the only retailer in Ione that pays rent to the city.

Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said Castle Oaks helps the city with fundraisers and is home to the city tertiary wastewater plant. She said the lease has been vague, and they should address whether the city can do an audit of the golf course first, so they don’t spend money unnecessarily.

City Manager Kim Kerr said if they did an audit, the city could contract with a Utah company, or ask Portlock to bring its books to town.

Atlan said Castle Oaks has had a three-year pay freeze, lost its dental insurance and its owner has written personal checks to cover costs. He said this year they have made a $60,000 property tax payment and a $40,000 Mello-Roos payment and have not passed on costs to Ione residents in green fees.

Larry Rhodes asked if the city was still “subsidizing” the tertiary plant. Kerr said the city does pay part of that, due to a lawsuit ruling.

Atlan said Castle Oaks pays 85 percent of tertiary plant costs, and the ruling was the result of having city operators cause damage to plant equipment. He said it was not fair that Castle Oaks should pay for city errors.

Kerr said the city does get a report of Castle Oaks fiscal year profits and losses. She said she will report back soon on whether the lease agreement would allow a city audit of the company’s books.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.