BUSD approves lease agreement for golf course portion of Gird Road site

When the Fallbrook Union High School District owned a 50-acre site on Gird Road the Golf Club of California utilized a portion of that land for the golf course and paid the Fallbrook school district rent for that 1.85-acre area.

The land was transferred to the Bonsall Unified School District in 2014 when what had been the Bonsall Union School District transitioned from a K-8 elementary school district to a K-12 unified district and that area was detached from the Fallbrook Union High School District land. Touchstone Golf, LLC, which manages the Golf Club of California course, now has an agreement with the Bonsall district to rent the land.

"We have all the legal documentation and written agreements," said BUSD superintendent David Jones.

The BUSD board approved the new lease agreement April 10 on a 5-0 vote. Under the new lease the Bonsall Unified School District will receive $1,000 each month from the Golf Club of California.

"One thousand a month we felt was a fair market value," Jones said.

The most recent lease the Golf Club of California had with the Fallbrook Union High School District called for the Golf Club of California to pay $500 per month for use of the property. "Fallbrook required them to lease that land," Jones said.

That lease expired in 2014. "No one renewed it. No one did anything about it," Jones said. "They've been using it for free for years."

A review of the situation by current BUSD staff determined that the lease had not only expired but that the agreement hadn't been renewed since Touchstone Golf took over management of the golf course.

"I have to do the right thing, do our due diligence," Jones said. "The options were to enter into an agreement or put a fence on our property."

The lease requires Touchstone Golf to pay for maintenance of the property including meeting fire safety standards. Touchstone Golf must also carry liability insurance meeting school district standards and indemnify the school district for any legal action related to the leased property. The lease is for a two-year period, although either party can terminate the lease by providing a 30-day written notice.

"I'm glad that we got that settled," Jones said.

Bonsall High School's boys golf team plays on the Welk Resort's Fountains course.