A state Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered the release of Liberty National Golf Course's bid to lease a portion of Liberty State Park, over the objections of the golf course's owner and state attorneys who said the bid should be shielded from the public.

Judge Mary C. Jacobson's ruling stems from a case filed by Weehawken resident Steve Ramshur against the state Department of Environmental Protection after the DEP rejected Ramshur's request for a copy of the bid. Ramshur argued in court that the bid was a public document pursuant to the state Open Public Records Act and Jacobson agreed.

A spokesman for the DEP, which oversees the 1,200-acre state park, referred all questions to the state attorney general's office, which did not immediately return a request for comment.

Jacobson gave the state until July 30 to say if it intends to appeal.

The DEP, which oversees the 1,200-acre state park, issued a request for proposals in late 2017 for a planned "Caven Point recreational amenities" project. Liberty National was the only bidder. Golf course owner Paul Fireman sought to rent the public land — a peninsula on the southern end of the park that includes a beach and bird sanctuary— for a planned expansion of his private club. Fireman intended to put three of the golf course's holes on the peninsula, a plan opposed by park advocates.

The DEP rejected the bid in May and afterward Ramshur filed his OPRA request for it.

One of the arguments the state offered Jacobson will worry park advocates who feared the golf course expansion plan was not dead. Attorneys for the state said the bid was exempt from OPRA because it contained "trade secrets and proprietary" information and would give an unfair advantage to competitors if the state revives the idea of developing the Caven Point peninsula.

Even though the bid was rejected, the state argued, the bid process never ended.

"The department determined that because the bidding process had not yet been completed, the release of the bid would give an advantage to competitors in the event of additional bidding cycles related to this potential project," the state told Jacobson.

The plaintiff's attorney, Walter M. Luers, argued that the bidding period is in fact closed and only Liberty National benefits from its bid remaining private.

"Refusing to release the response to the RFP here will benefit only one company: the sole company that responded to the RFP," Luers' brief reads. "Not releasing the response will harm competitors in any future round of bidding because they will not know the specific contents of the response that the DEP rejected. By not releasing the response, the current sole responder will be insulated from competition, not harmed by it."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.