By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members have approved an ordinance for a lease agreement to establish a restaurant at the multipurpose facility on the grounds of the golf course.
Del Rio City Council members on May 9 unanimously approved the ordinance authorizing City Manager John Sheedy to enter into an agreement with Peymo Group LLC, doing business as The Good Bar, to lease the multipurpose facility for an initial three-year term.
According to information provided to city council members, Peymo Group submitted the only proposal to lease the facility. The ordinance calls for the facility to be rented at an annual amount of $30,000 plus 3 percent of sales, with Peymo also agreeing to pay a pro-rata share of the utilities.
Council members approved the ordinance following a discussion.
After City Secretary Mari Acosta read the agenda item, Mayor Al Arreola asked for a motion.
Mayor Pro-tem Steve Webb made the motion to approve the ordinance, with Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon giving the second.
When the mayor asked if there were any questions about the item, Councilman Jim DeReus asked Sheedy, “Based off of the items that are going to need to be replaced, some of them by the city that we would’ve had to replace anyway and some are going to be by the contractee, do we have an idea how long it’ll take so then we have an idea when they’re going to be able to get in there and make their changes and get up and running?”
“The last thing we were working on was some of the equipment,” Sheedy replied and looked to Assistant City Manager Manuel Chavez to elaborate.
“Some of them have already been ordered, repaired, but I don’t think we’re expecting anything that’s going to delay this whole agreement,” Chavez answered.
“So do we have an estimated timeline? One month? Two months?” DeReus asked.
“Two months,” Chavez replied.
Sheedy added Juan Carlos Guadarrama, the owner of the Peymo Group LLC, was paying for many of the improvements, including redoing the bar.
Calderon said she had a question.
“Not too long ago, the San Felipe Exes had a tournament there, and they bring to their people that sign up, breakfast and lunch, will they still be able to bring this in, having a restaurant there? Will they be allowed? . . . Or will they restrict food coming from the outside?” Calderon asked, noting that the agreement with Peymo indicated the company would be able to sell to the public, as well as to persons using the golf course.
Sheedy apologized, saying he had not discussed that issue with Guadarrama.
“We can look at that. What I understand is that they’re going to have the kitchen, but as far as I understand, they’re going to have the kitchen, so there wouldn’t be any food preparation, but bringing food in, like catering? I don’t know,” Sheedy added.
Calderon further explained the San Felipe Exes tournament organizers had provided breakfast and lunch for participants in the bar area of the multipurpose enter.
“My question is, are they going to be told they cannot do that anymore, because if they are told not to, then they’re going to have to buy food from there,” Calderon said.
“I think when we were talking about this, the whole idea was we’ve set this up, not so much for the Good Bar, but for the city of Del Rio, for us to get some return, for us to start generating some returns, so I think initially at least, the Guadarramas were going to provide all of the services at the MPF, if anyone could or couldn’t, but we can certainly try and encourage people to use that service because that benefits the golf course and the city,” Sheedy said.
Sheedy added while he didn’t think anyone would be able to prepare meals or bring in meals once the restaurant was leased to Peymo, he also didn’t think there would be a problem with a tournament organizers bringing in breakfast tacos or snacks.
“During our discussions, it was never brought up as far as exclusivity, to use the Good Bar,” Chavez said.
“We’ll clarify,” Sheedy said, adding he believed Guadarrama would probably be happy to provide tacos or other snacks for tournaments.
Sheedy again said city staff would confirm with the Good Bar owners.
Calderon then asked golf course manager Eddie Ochoa if there were other tournaments whose organizers brought in food.
Ochoa said the issue of bringing in outside food would have to be discussed with the Guadarramas.
Arreola said he believed Guadarrama would be willing to work with the city.
“He wants this restaurant to be a place where people can go and sit down and have dinners,” the mayor said.
Michael Garcia, assistant to the city manager and grant writer, told the council wording in the agreement allowed the city manager to take “any additional action reasonably necessary to affect the intent of the ordinance.”
“He can go back to the Guadarramas, and he can definitely include that as part of the agreement,” Garcia told the council.
DeReus also pointed out a clause in the agreement that calls on the tenant not to interfere with other tenants’ business operations or with the city’s management of the facility. He said the clause might be used to allow tournament organizers to bring in food and snacks for participants if necessary.
He pointed out the map showing the area to be leased to the Guadarramas and said it does not include the patio, adding perhaps tournament organizers who wished to do so could bring food and snacks there.
“That way they wouldn’t interfere with the restaurant portion,” DeReus said.
Calderon asked Sheedy to look into her concerns, and Sheedy indicated he would.
The council then voted unanimously to approve the ordinance.
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