BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS
EMERSON, N.J. –– Of Bergen County’s approximately 9,000 acres of parks and open spaces, how many golf courses do you think that includes?
Well, the answer may surprise you.
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Once Bergen County completes its latest acquisition of the former Emerson Golf Club, which comprises a 135-acre, par 71 course, the number of golf courses owned by Bergen County will be six.
The Emerson Golf Club, which comprises 114 acres in Oradell and 21 acres in Emerson, will soon join the county’s “golf course portfolio,” said Jared Lautz, communications director for Bergen County’s Board of Chosen Freeholders.
The former Emerson Golf Club is privately owned by Emerson Management LLC, and is expected to continue operations through the fall as the Bergen County Improvement Authority authorizes $8.5 million in notes to purchase the two lots containing the 7,000-yard golf course, and a nearby five-acre parcel with a clubhouse and parking lot.
“Our residents now have a place to go,” said Mayor Louis Lamatina of Emerson. He said he was “very happy” that Bergen County will be purchasing the golf course and protecting a buffer area for nearby Oradell Reservoir, an important source of drinking water for Bergen and Hudson counties.
“It’s a huge benefit and a boon to the borough,” added Lamatina. He said keeping the golf course as “open space” was a goal and that “we encouraged the county to purchase it.”
Though its acquisition by the county will reduce local taxes by approximately $45,000 annually, Lamatina welcomed the purchase. He said “lots of single-family homes are being built in town” and the preservation of the golf course “should bring more people into town” to frequent local shops and restaurants.
Once the sale is final later this year, Emerson Golf Club joins the five other county courses available to county residents. The others are: Darlington in Mahwah, Rockleigh Golf Course in Rockleigh, Valley Brook in River Vale, Overpeck in Teaneck, and Orchard Hills in Paramus.
Lautz said the five courses are “revenue generating” for the county. According to figures released by Bergen County, “net revenue” calculated in 2016 follows: Darlington, $347,880; Orchard Hills, $217,945; Overpeck, $737,820; Rockleigh, $382,195; and Valley Brook, $367,183.
Total net revenue for 2016 was calculated to be $2,053,023.
Once acquired, the county anticipates “rebranding” the golf course over the winter and making some improvements to the course and clubhouse, said Alicia D’Alessandro, communications director for County Executive James Tedesco III.
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D’Alessandro said that Tedesco “recognized the potential of the project” in acquiring the golf course “as the owner has approached the county proposing a sale over a number of years and administrations,” she said via email.