By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Feb. 10, 2012

The Elgin City Council voted Wednesday to take advantage of an early lease renewal with EZGO Textron that will help the city avoid spending $50,000 to replace the batteries in its fleet of golf carts at The Highlands of Elgin. The lease renewal will result in the fleet’s replacement instead.

The fleet of carts, equipped with global positioning systems, has been losing power, sometimes while golfers are on the course. That has required someone to run a charged cart out to the golfers — and tow the dead one back to the shop for a recharge. The city’s warranty on the batteries has expired.

Elgin management analyst Aaron Cosentino said Monday the carts are moneymakers at the course, pulling in $350,000 in 2011; by comparison, the city’s lease payment on the carts was only $52,272.

The new lease will cost the city $52,516, only $242 a year more than the city already pays, and would run through 2016, if approved by the City Council.

Note: A technical problem prevented BocaJump’s Cover It Live coverage of Wednesday’s Elgin City Council meeting from being accessed. The issue has been corrected, and you may review that coverage at http://elgin.bocajump.com/Articles/bocajump-to-live-blog-city-council-tonight.