Useless Bay Colony members voted to accept a new contract with the Useless Bay Colony Golf and Country Club that will include a $30 increase in membership fees, starting Jan. 1, 2016.

Colony members will be charged annual dues of $87.40 for the right to use the club’s swimming pool, tennis courts, and exercise facilities. Colony members were charged $77.40 annually under the previous contract.

Colony members voted on the club’s proposal on Nov. 21 at a homeowners’ meeting. There were 130 votes for the agreement, while 105 opposed it.

Negotiations between the Useless Bay Colony Board and the club began in June, but after several meetings the two parties reached an impasse, which led to the proposal being presented directly to the members. Under the new contract, dues are subject to change each year, beginning in 2017, based on the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers for the Seattle area. Operational, overhead and administrative expenses currently paid by the Colony and based on utilization of facilities are projected to increase by about $30 in 2016.

Among its reasons for the proposal, the club stated that it had spent nearly $2 million dollars remodeling, updating and expanding its clubhouse and exercise facilities since 2002. The club found that its receipts from the colony and its members did not cover the costs of services and facilities provided.

The new agreement included an updating and more appropriate pricing scale that more accurately reflected the club costs, according to club documents. Had the proposed agreement not been finalized before the end of the year, the club would have offered its facilities to colony members on an individual basis at undetermined rates.

The term for the agreement is 10 years.