High River Mayor Craig Snodgrass wants the reasoning behind why the Town gave a $70,000 grant to the Highwood Golf and Country Club to be known.

Snodgrass says the bottom line is the golf course needs help because they've been struggling since the flood.

"Prior to the flood there was approximately 750 members. Paying for the clubhouse, paying for the course, everything was great. Flood hits and because a lot of the members from that club are from Calgary and it was closed down for two years a lot of those members chose to go elsewhere, into Calgary Clubs etc. So, it cut the membership in half. Now you're struggling with the operation of the course."

He says the money is going to pay half of their mortgage costs on their clubhouse for the year, but it's more than just that.

"If that golf course craters the whole Northwest, all your tax assessments, the value of your home is going to plummet. If that happens there, it goes across the whole community if you've got a massive neighbourhood like that where their tax assessed value decreases. You're going to have a hell of a mess."

Snodgrass also addressed those who say the golf course should just be sold to a developer.

He shakes his head saying that's not a viable option.

He says fully half of the golf course, or the Spitzee and Heritage nine's are all built on existing flood plain, which means they can't be developed.

That leaves portions through the Mountainview nine, which already weaves through an existing neighbourhood.

Snodgrass says "It's ridiculous! There isn't a developer on the planet that I know of that would make such a reckless decision."

He says the money it would cost to fill in and contour the area to put condo's and services into where existing fairways are now would cost more than the developer would make selling homes."

Snodgrass goes on to say, good luck trying to convince the people who already live there and back onto the golf course you're going to put up a row of condo's behind their homes, "You want a firestorm!" said Snodgrass.

He says the concept of "Develop it and sell it is not in the cards."

Read More: Town Defends Golf Course Grant

 

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