Friends of Pine Valley spokesperson Don Chamberlain would like to thank the members of council who voted to save his beloved golf course, but he doesn't know to whom he should be extending his gratitude.
During a closed session Monday afternoon, council made a narrow 5-4 decision to keep Pine Valley Golf Course in its current form and not sell off the land for development.
The result was announced during the regular, open meeting that evening, but city legislative services director Walter Babicz said that information doesn't go hand in hand with releasing who voted along what lines.
Coun. Brian Skakun shared via social media that he voted in support of making the golf course decision in public.
Section 117 of the Community Charter states that unless otherwise authorized, council members "keep in confidence information considered in any part of a council meeting or council committee meeting that was lawfully closed to the public, until the council or committee discusses the information at a meeting that is open to the public or releases the information to the public."
An earlier section of the legislation also says that minutes of a closed meeting do not have to be made available for public inspection.
Chamberlain said he was disappointed he and his group were not made aware the vote was taking place Monday, and was actually playing a round at Pine Valley when the announcement was made.
But despite how it happened, Chamberlain said he was ecstatic with the end result and credits the May 22 rally at the golf course as a turning point.
"And I'm happy that the users of Pine Valley should have, I hope, several years of golfing without having to fight," Chamberlain said. "It's just a question of how improvements can be made."
Throughout the process, members of council cited $1.3 million in necessary capital improvements that would need to be made to the course.
Upgrades such as bringing back the driving range would help to increase use of Pine Valley, Chamberlain said. And getting people to play the course is the best way to show the local government officials that they made the right decision, he added.
"I really respect the councillors who went through the fiscal responsibility of trying to find ways to keep our taxes low but I think in this case, Pine Valley is something that needs to be retained and certainly it will pay for itself if they do the right things," Chamberlain said.
This is a corrected version of this story. Incorrect information appeared in an earlier version, and in print.
