Long-term future of golf course still unclear

Kevin Laliberte
Smoky River Express

f Residents in McLennan will have to wait a little longer for a recommendation from the McLennan Local Recreation Board in relation to the future of the local golf course. Don Regier, president of the local recreation board, says the board has temporarily placed the issue on the backburner until it has a better understanding about the financial situation facing the Smoky River Regional Golf Course Society (operator of the golf course). “We do not have sufficient information right now to make an informed recommendation to McLennan town council,” he emphasized in a written report presented to the municipality for review Feb. 8. Those comments were reiterated at the board’s annual general meeting Feb. 14. “I’ve spoken with Leo Giroux (president of the Smoky River Golf Course Society) who has informed me they are in the process of completing an audited financial statement for last year,” he explained to board members. Regier pointed out that the board is also requesting relative information related to revenues and expenditures by the society, ranging from memberships, staffing costs (both on the course and in the clubhouse), bookkeeping costs and relevant information from previous years for comparative purposes. Once that is completed, he says the focus will shift towards the formation of a task group (comprised of representatives from the board, society and town council) to review the information and provide the town with a written recommendation. In the meantime, the recreation board has come up with four possible solutions to address the deficiencies currently experienced by the golf course society. They include everything from exploring the possible private sale of the golf course (an option which Regier is reluctant to endorse) to leasing the facility, hiring or contracting a manager, and assisting the society by coming up with effective ways to rejuvenate the organization. “The current executive of the golf course has done a great deal of work to keep this facility operational. If the society can give us a more complete picture of its operational and financial situation, and it looks favourable they could remain viable with additional support, this option may be acceptable,” Regier points out. The society aired out its concerns last November in a public meeting which was set up to discuss the future of the golf course and the possible sale to a private investor. That meeting, attended by a sparse group of nine residents, covered a number of inner operational difficulties, ranging from a lack of volunteers to a red-cloaked deficit budget in 2006 of approximately $10,000. There is no official word as to when the golf course society’s financial audit will be complete.