There may be more golfers hitting the course, but numbers at Lower Salford Township-owned Lederach Golf Club are still falling under par.

        At last Wednesday’s board of supervisors meeting, Chairman Douglas Gifford reported the club suffered budget shortfalls for July to the tune of several thousand dollars.  The course is located along Route 113 between Skippack and Sumneytown pikes.

        “The good news is rounds were up for July 15 percent over the budgeted target,” Gifford explained.  “The bad news is it resulted in $200 less revenue than budgeted which suggests that the rounds were discounted or heavily concentrated by year round passes.”

        Gifford went on to explain that some unexpected costs were also incurred in July for maintenance, repairs to the irrigation system, as well as expenses pertaining to the old battery-powered golf carts.

        “All in all we missed our budgeted net operating income by $22,000,” Gifford added.

        The recreation committee purchased new golf carts after several batteries failed on the previous models.  Gifford explained that while the carts were purchased through a five-year lease agreement, the committee was able to end the lease early without a financial penalty.

        “Our goal was to own the carts after the end of the term but we couldn’t make it to the end because the batteries cost $2,000 to replace,” Gifford explained.

        Expenses incurred from the cart issues included repairs and rentals for golf outings. New gas-powered golf carts were delivered in August.

        “We should no longer run into a problem with batteries,” Gifford said.

Gifford added that he is optimistic the fiscal outlook will improve going forward, with August already looking like it will be over-budget even before final closeouts.

        “August was a very good month for golf outings,” Gifford said. “Hopefully the weather holds and September will also be good.”

        Under new business, supervisors passed an ordinance amendment to set term expiration dates for the Lower Salford Appeals Board. Two resolutions were passed to prepare the police and non-uniformed employees’ pension funds for 2014.

        Supervisors also passed a motion to approve the assistance of the Harleysville Fire Police with the upcoming “Dive In” festival at Indian Valley Scuba.

        The meeting adjourned to executive session to discuss ongoing litigation issues with no action taken.