Senior housing and open space that would preserve the golf course and pool were among the most favored options for the Connecticut property, which the town bought in 2009. The club has since been managed by Billy Casper Golf, but is now saddled with nearly $500,000 in debt.
The question of what to do with the Country Club of Woodbridge and its golf course remains in the minds of many residents of Woodbridge, Conn., the New Haven (Conn.) Register reported. Discussion continued on October 15, with 130 community members voicing their opinions about how to handle property, which is more than $462,000 in debt.
Similar to an initial meeting, residents split into five groups to brainstorm ideas about the country club and the golf course, with advisory from an appointed ad hoc committee, the Register reported.
The country club, with an 18-hole golf course, lost over $438,000 in fiscal 2012-13, which ended September 30, officials said. So far in 2013, it has lost another $24,202.90, the Register reported.
First Selectwoman Ellen Scalettar said many of the same ideas resurfaced from the initial meeting during the October 15 discussion, the Register reported. “There’s definitely interest keeping the property as open space and preserving it,” she said.
Some discussions centered around hope the country club’s pool and golf course would stay open, it was noted. “There’s very much a value in the golf course,” Scalettar said.
Developing the property was also suggested, the Register reported, with many residents promoting using the space for “over 55-years-old housing.”
“I think that was the most common idea,” Scalettar noted.
Some were in favor of using the clubhouse for recreational activity, much like a community center.
“I think the meetings were extremely beneficial, because it’s important to hear from people what they’re thinking about the property and because this is a significant decision we’ll have to make,” Scalettar said.
The public discussions regarding the property’s financial issues surfaced after the club’s management firm, Billy Casper Golf , blamed the fiscal year’s losses on record-breaking heat and rainfall, along with infrastructure problems, according to Scalettar.
As a private club, the property was millions of dollars in debt in 2008, the Register reported, and a developer was planning to build senior housing on the land.
Residents then approved buying the land for $7 million, and the facility reopened in 2009 as the Country Club of Woodbridge. Voters approved the purchase of the 150-acre club at a May, 2009, annual town meeting, the Register reported, and the town contracted with Billy Casper Golf through an arrangement that now pays the management firm about $6,500 a month.
The ad hoc committee will study the community’s suggestions and create a report for the Board of Selectmen that will go before the administration on November 7, the Register reported.
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