The Annapolis city council capped months of debate with a vote this past week to sell the Eisenhower Golf Course for $3.1 million to Anne Arundel County.

Once the paperwork is signed. the county will take ownership of the 18-hole course located in Crownsville.

The vote ends decades of partnership between the city and the county during which the two governments jointly operated the course and shared the profits. The city owned the land while the county handled day-to-day business and maintenance.

The course has fallen into disrepair — county officials said portions of the course were in “poor” condition — but County Executive Steve Schuh's administration has said it will spend more than $5 million to repair and renovate the property to keep it as a golf course.

The measure to sell the course passed 7-2, with Aldermen Jared Littmann, Ward 5, and Kenny Kirby, Ward 6, both Democrats, opposed.

Littmann was the most outspoken critic, saying the city didn't do its due diligence in the sale.

City officials said they intend to spend the $3.1 million on recreation projects in the city.

An amendment by Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson, a Ward 4 Democrat, directs some of those funds to the replacement of the Truxtun Park pool.

Mayor Mike Pantelides pushed for the sale of the course and lauded the vote as a victory for the city.

“It is fantastic for the city of Annapolis, we are now going to have $3.1 million to fix up recreation facilities in the city,” Pantelides said. “There is a lot of good we can do with the money.”

Before Monday's vote several residents made a last-ditch effort to stall the sale.

Rob Savidge, an environmentalist and a former city employee, asked the council to delay its vote after learning the county was liable for repairs to the course.

The lease between the city and county requires that the county return the course to “good condition and repair” when the lease ends.

“It just seems a bit odd if the county is responsible if it went on that long and fell into such disrepair,” Savidge said to the council.

“From an outside perspective, it just seems like new information keeps coming up.”

The Ward One Residents Association also sent out an email Monday urging the council to answer a set of questions before deciding on the golf course. The group wanted to know which bids were collected before the sale of the course and have the council get confirmation of the clubhouse's poor condition and explore whether the city could create a better deal with the county in sharing state funds.

The association, however, did not take a position in the sale, asking for explanations “so that we can feel confident that due diligence on this legislation has been done before final passing,” Elly Tierney, association president, wrote in the email.

With the vote final, the golf course will be remitted to the county once final paperwork is signed.

In other business, the council approved changes to a portion of the harbor line near the proposed development of the South Annapolis Yacht Centre.

Officials said it was discovered that the long-standing harbor line had been drawn over existing pilings, so Alderman Ross Arnett, a Ward 8 Democrat, put forth legislation to remap the line off the pilings.

Tweaking the harbor line had frustrated some residents living along Spa Creek. Changes to the line were viewed as increased real estate on the water — where a a growing presence of paddle boarders and other recreational water users has prompted some safety concerns.

“You know how important this issue is to the residents of the Spa Creek area both on the Annapolis and Eastport side,” said Elizabeth Garraway, an Annapolis resident. “We have been very committed in trying to get you to understand the importance of this issue.”

Bret Anderson, developer of the yacht center, said the goal of redrawing the line was to correct this line over dock slips that have always been at the marina, not to take away from Spa Creek, he said.

“There are aerial photographs that show the space in question with boats and pilings occupying the space,” Anderson said. “This is a correction. This is a space that has been occupied.”