It is time to stand up, and let other residents know that you are concerned. Your comments, agree or not, are welcome, and will be published without your name. Send your emails to: wedgefieldexaminerthe@yahoo.com
Madeline,
In reading over your blog this morning and looking at the letters you are receiving they all seem to be against the county purchasing the golf course. I am not really seeing much in the way of alternative ideas, just negativity. We have all been spoiled for too long with having the beauty of the course without having to pay anything for it. That free ride appears to be over. Anyone that has shown interest in the course has asked of something from the residents. The county is no different. Golf is cyclical and right now is down world wide. That may or may not change in the future. The WPA has, at least in my personal opinion, 3 options.
1. Do nothing and let the free market dictate the future of the course and other amenities. We need to think about what that might entail. If its not a golf course, then what? Woods? Green space? It is zoned for recreation but who really knows if that could be changed. Could the PUD be challenged? We don't know. This option leaves the door open for too many unknowns.
2. Buy it ourselves and take it private or semi private. It has been said that the cost to do so would probably raise our assessments 3-4 times what they are now. This would be my personal choice, but I am in the very small minority on this approach.
3. Try to facilitate someone else ( like the county) buying it and us paying something to "subsidize" the cost of operations.
The third option is probably the best.It's the reason I wrote that letter suggesting the county at least take a look at buying the course. They have an advantage no one else has in that they don't need it to show a profit. They have manpower and equipment already in place.The county has really stepped up in their parks and recreation efforts over the last few years. Ball fields are very maintained, our gyms and tennis courts and boat landings are clean and well kept. They are finally taking pride in our parks and we have no reason to believe the golf course would be any different. The point of the petition will be to determine if the residents are interested in this idea. If not, then so be it. The county buying it solves a lot of problems and is the lesser of all evils. I am not sure the people so staunchly opposed to this understand the realities of doing nothing. There are a lot of unknown factors. The free ride is over. We have to decide as a community what we are willing to pay to preserve and regain what we had. Or not. The choice is ours. I want to know more before I sign up for a tax increase but I will keep an open mind.
You may use my name if you decide to post this.
Adam Anderson
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