EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow Town Council voted not to continue the all-liquor license for Elmcrest Country Club during its Aug. 13 meeting as a result of the business’ noncompliance with town departments.
With the council’s decision, the business no longer has access to the license, allowing the license to be available for use if another business were to submit a request, the council stated.
During the Aug. 13 discussion, Elmcrest Country Club representatives Benjamin Coyle and Gregory Lindenmuth requested that the business be given until Nov. 30 to sell its current license in order to recuperate lost funds connected to two fires at the property seven years prior. In this request, the business would willingly give up the license if a buyer was not located by the deadline.
The club had experienced these fires, which prevented a portion of the property from operating, due to “careless disposal of smoking material” and an electrical concern, Town Council member and Licensing Committee Chair Kathleen Hill explained.
The business was later identified as in noncompliance following violations recorded by the East Longmeadow Fire Department in 2021. These violations noted concerns with the club’s storage of flammable materials. In 2022, the department then marked the building as a “dangerous situation” after demolition on fire suppression equipment was completed without permission, Hill said.
She reported that representatives from the town’s Building Department, Fire Department, Health Department and Town Council performed a site visit of Elmcrest Country Club with Owner David Fleury in January, highlighting the town’s concerns to Fleury at that time.
The Licensing Committee later recommended that the all-liquor license be revoked, leading to the Town Council’s formal decision on Aug. 13.
At the meeting, Coyle emphasized that the club was working toward establishing a plan for restoration and hoped to have a plan set in “a few months or even a few years.” He noted that the past year was the first time that the golf course had been fully closed for use.
Lindenmuth further emphasized that the property itself was still in good condition, despite a recent lack of field maintenance, and that the business experienced significant difficulties with receiving funds from its insurance company after the fires.
While the council acknowledged the struggles that Elmcrest Country Club had endured since the fires, members agreed that there was not enough clear evidence of the club’s work toward reopening and utilizing the license for renewal.
“This town and the Planning Board have, in my opinion, bent over backward to help” the business since the fires occurred, Town Council member Ralph Page stated. “We’ve already done our job … but I think it’s time to move on from this.”
Similarly, member Marilyn Richards said that the business’ recent lack of maintenance of the golf course fields suggested that the business was not “serious” in restoring the property. She noted that the club was “a beautiful piece of land” and it was “unfair” to other businesses if the club continues its license without utilizing its purpose.
Ultimately, the council voted unanimously against continuing the license.
