Huntington Beach : Equestrian Center Audit Ordered by City Council

The City Council has ordered an investigation and audit of the equestrian center operating at the city-owned Huntington Central Park as a result of complaints of people who board horses there, officials said Tuesday.

The council action Monday night was prompted by several boarders who claimed that the center has raised its fees during the past two years without required city approval and has failed to provide all the services stipulated in its lease with the city.

Max Bowman, Huntington Beach community services director, said the city will audit the center for the past four years and prepare a report within 30 days.

Among the things it will examine is whether the center has raised fees improperly and subleased property without city approval, Bowman said. A separate report will be prepared on the feasibility of reimbursement if it is determined that fees were raised without city approval, he said.

Some of the boarders, complaining that the center raised fees three times in the past two years from $150 to $200 without city approval, have asked reimbursement, Bowman said.

Bowman said the audit also was necessary to determine whether the city has been receiving its fair share of the center’s gross earnings under the terms of the lease, Bowman said. The lease requires the center to pay 4% of gross earnings or a minimum of $6,000 to the city annually, he said.

Eddie J. Milligan, who operates the 25-acre stable with his partner, Mary Harris, has denied violation of the lease.

Milligan, who has a 25-year lease from the city, said he did get city approval to increase fees when he moved into the city-owned space in 1982.

He said he welcomes the investigation because “it will clarify all the confusion.”

“I have not violated a single item of the lease, and I can’t be put in violation until (the city) sends me a notice,” Milligan said.