The city of Gulf Breeze is considering selling Tiger Point Golf Course, again. Here's why:

The city of Gulf Breeze is considering selling the Tiger Point Golf Course it purchased during the Great Recession, in order to accommodate a growing population and free up cash reserves for more utility-related capital improvement projects.

The 344-acre Tiger Point Golf Course is located in unincorporated Gulf Breeze, but the city purchased it in 2012 for $2.78 million. A South Santa Rosa Utilities wastewater treatment plant is located on the golf course, and the utility company — which serves both Gulf Breeze and non-Gulf Breeze residents — has been spraying treated wastewater, or effluent, on the course for years.

“When we acquired the South Santa Rosa Utilities in the 1990s, the Tiger Point Golf Course was already a spray field, it has been since the first day it was constructed,” Gulf Breeze City Manager Samantha Abell told the News Journal. “It represents 37% of our effluent disposal capacity within our whole service area.”

Purchasing the golf course for a bargain post-Recession price gave the city the option to expand the existing wastewater treatment plant, instead of building an entirely new one, which was estimated to cost around $40 million in 2012 but is now likely much more expensive. The city first eyed selling the course in 2016, but opted not to sell until irrigation systems were replaced and a reclaimed water system could be explored further.

Since the golf course was taken under new management contracted by the city in 2017, it has thrived — irrigation systems on the west course have been replaced, and the east course irrigation is set to be redone soon; the clubhouse has been revitalized; the driving range has been relocated; and golf attendance has increased significantly.

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Now, with the course valued at approximately $13 million in 2017, the city will discuss exploring options to sell the golf course to a private golf company, using the profit to offset the $10.2 million investment from SSRU into the course and operations, freeing up cash reserves to expand future utilities.

“The question that the council is going to ask, is, ‘is it time, now that we have revitalized the property for the benefit of the 15 Homeowner’s Associations along Tiger Point, to return the golf course to private ownership?’” Abell said. “Because government — we can set the table for the free market, but really, government’s role should be to encourage the free market, and then get out of the way.”

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The city already sold a portion of the golf course, a 13-acre driving range, in 2018. It is still in talks with the Santa Rosa County School Board to sell about 45 acres for $1.9 million, which the school district plans to use to build a school. The school board is expected to vote to finalize the purchase in November.

If the city were to sell the course to a private company, there would be a stipulation that the city could continue using it for effluent disposal, and appropriate acreage would be retained for the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant.

Abell said city residents would not see changes in their rates, billing or service if the course is sold. It’s if the golf course isn’t sold that city residents could begin to see impacts, she said.

“If we did not sell it at this point, the SSRU has utilized all unencumbered reserves — the only reserves that remain are those that are encumbered for the expansion of the treatment plant or other critical capital projects,” Abell said. “Without additional unencumbered money to put toward additional capital improvements, it would seem that now would be the time, when the golf course is in better condition than it’s been in 15 years, to look at potentially selling it.”

The Gulf Breeze City Council will hold a public workshop at city hall at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 to discuss the potential sale. No votes will be taken at the workshop, but the council could direct Abell to either begin exploring the sale of the course or not.

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.