CLAREMONT — The City Council wants some details ironed out before deciding whether to approve operating agreements for use of the city-owned Arrowhead property.

On Wednesday, the council delayed action on proposed deals between the city and two separate groups, which if approved would replace the existing Arrowhead Recreation Club lease, set to expire in 2025, and also allow The Wheel House bike shop to move from its current location at the Claremont Junction into the main floor of the 4,000-square-foot Arrowhead lodge.

The recreation club’s board recently voted, 5-2, in support of the proposed agreement.

Councilors William Limoges and Spencer Batchelder said in Wednesday’s council meeting they supported the agreements. Assistant Mayor Deb Matteau and Councilor Nick Koloski said they also wanted both the bike shop and the recreation club at the lodge but would not support the proposed agreements without changes.

“I’m in favor of both groups being there, but I don’t like this lease and operating agreement for many reasons,” Koloski said.

Arrowhead, off South Street next to the Sugar River Valley Technical Center, is a 204-acre city-owned park with a lodge at the base that was built in 1960. The city, using grant money, bought the property in the late 1970s. The bottom portion includes a skiing and snowboarding hill. The current operation, run by volunteers, began in the early 2000s under renewable three-year lease agreements with the city.

The upper portion of the hill now has a network of mountain bike trails, many of which were built by volunteers in the past decade. Arrowhead has become a destination for downhill mountain bikers and is a stop on a national mountain bike racing series.

Supporters of the new agreements say they would enhance the use of the property by mountain bikers and make Arrowhead a true four-season recreation area, increasing revenue for the city.

But opponents argue the agreements will end public access to the lodge for weddings and parties and say the new lodge setup with the bike shop is too restrictive and will curtail participation in winter activities such as tubing and skiing. The city halted functions at the lodge earlier this year because they violated the current lease.

Koloski said his biggest concern was a proposed deck around the lodge’s eastern side that would allow winter activity participants to enter the lodge’s concession and ticketing areas from the back after the bike shop closes for the day. Wording in the lease states that the deck would be built next year for $50,000 and would be part of the capital improvement budget with the two organizations reimbursing the city equally for 50% of the cost over five years.

“You cannot tie another council to a financial obligation,” Koloski said. “And even if it is in the capital improvement plan, it can be stripped from any budget.”

Koloski also said that stating the deck would be built next year leaves the city vulnerable to legal action if it doesn’t happen. “That is what I want to avoid,” he said.

Mayor Dale Girard said the council also will have to defend spending $50,000 on a deck when it already has trouble budgeting to pave city roads.

By a show of hands, the council agreed to remove any language about the deck. It is unclear how that decision would impact the agreements, which together total nearly 40 pages.

Matteau agreed with Koloski on the need for details to be fleshed out, but she was also in full support of finalizing agreements that she said would be “win-win” for the city.

“It would be bad for Claremont to let this opportunity slip away,” Matteau said.

Supporters of reaching an agreement to bring the bike shop to Arrowhead while maintaining winter activities said it will improve the city’s reputation as a recreational destination.

“We really want to see ARC become a hub for all four seasons, not just summer and not just winter,” said Zach Wallace, a recreation club board member, who added that they have no desire nor intention of closing down the winter recreation.

Wallace said the hill is “underutilized” now and highlighted what he said are benefits of having a bike shop on the premises for those riding the trails.

“This would provide the best path forward for everyone,” Wallace said.

But opponents argued that the reconfiguration of the main lodge, where skiers, tubers and snowboarders have come to warm up and have something to eat, would spell the end of the Arrowhead Recreation Club’s winter activities.

The plan includes an area right inside the doors off the existing deck for people to warm up and watch the hill, but unless the bike shop is open, people would need to go outside to get to the concession area in the back of the building.

“What a joke,” Chuck Allen, a founding member of the club that rejuvenated the hill, told the council about the proposed lodge setup. “It is not feasible.”

Allen said Arrowhead is a public park with public access and a place where thousands have celebrated everything from weddings and baby showers to birthday parties and class reunions. He urged the council to change the current lease so those events can continue, which he said would make it “very profitable.”

“We are opposed to any commercial business taking over the lodge and denying public access,” Allen said. “People love the venue.”

Mike Tetu, who like Allen is a longtime Arrowhead volunteer, also strongly opposes having the bike shop in the lodge. Tetu said the city should not expect Arrowhead, a nonprofit, to use money it has raised over the years to pay for modifications to the building, including a deck.

“It is not right to tap that money.” Tetu said.

Tetu also said the city should apply for a grant and use the money to construct a separate building on the property for The Wheel House.

At least one councilor appears to have made up his mind. At the start of the council meeting, James Contois said he has spoken to residents with some telling him the change at Arrowhead is good while others say it is a bad decision.

“This is a tough decision for me, but the input I have gotten from my constituents, I can’t support it,” Contois said.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.