TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Town Board voted Thursday to establish an advisory committee in collaboration with the Tupper Lake Golf Club board to examine the operation and future of the town-owned golf course.

With three members from the club in attendance the two boards agreed that working together, having clear communication and keeping cordial despite stressful situations facing the course would be best for golfers, the town and taxpayers.

The decision to form a committee comes as the club struggles financially, with a $120,000 debt to the town and falling membership numbers. When the course’s top nine holes were renovated in 2000 the club agreed to a long-term bond payment, paying more than the minimum $30,000 annually while the club flourished with around 500 members.

The club has now paid off the principal of the debt but still has $120,000 in interest to make up. Membership has declined sharply, now hovering around 100 members.

“Out membership is declining so much, it’s killing us,” club president Mike Sovey said.

For the past two years the club has not been able to make its annual payments to the town. The town has paid off the loan it took out for the construction but has not been fully reimbursed by the club.

While the club has asked for the debt to be forgiven in the past, town board members said Thursday that the town does not have the authority to do so, as the funding came from taxpayer dollars.

The club’s board has also been in a tumultuous period over the past six years, seeing around 30 members come and go, destabilizing the leadership and experience.

Though the club is thousands of dollars in debt, town board members said they would do everything they can to keep the course open and well-maintained. They said the course is a valuable amenity when attracting tourists and new town residents, and that with the Adirondack Club and Resort project underway, and right up the mountain, it is a necessary resource for the town.

“There’s not too many places where you have a mountain, then you have a golf course, then you have a lake,” Councilwoman Tracy Luton said. “The golf course is definitely a prestige place to be. You have beautiful views, you have a great place.”

Sovey said the club has been trying hard to turn things around financially, but dropping membership numbers make it harder year after year.

“I do more business for the golf club than I do for my own job it seems like,” Sovey said.

He said the club wants to get rid of the debt just as much as they town. They’d rather spend they money on upgrades to keep the quality and appearance of the course up to date.

“You can’t bring money into you if the integrity of your golf course is sub-par,” Sovey said. “No pun intended.”

Earlier this week the Fox Hill Golf and Country Club in Massena announced it will be closing after declining numbers in recent years.

“I think the idea of a planning committee among the town and the [golf club] board is not just a good idea, it’s a necessity,” club vice president Jerry Goldman said. “If we’re not pulling together, we’re done.”

The committee will work with many ideas to increase revenue, memberships and day-golfers, and the golf club board members said with many new members to their club they are hoping for fresh ideas from their side.

Jim Boucher, the club’s golf shop operations manager, studied golf course management in school and said he wants to introduce a younger generation to the sport.

He pitched a plan to offer free golfing time and instruction for students of the Tupper Lake schools on slow afternoons to get them involved.

Mike Dechene from the Tupper Lake town board will be the chairman of the new committee and the full list of members will be announced by next month. The board will consist of members of the golf club board and residents who golf. Town supervisor Patti Littlefield said she wants a woman golfer represented on the board as well.

The golf club board also mentioned they are looking for someone to fill a secretary and treasurer position.