By John Estridge
Bonds to fund the purchase of the Brook Hill Golf Club and improvements, purchase of and remodeling of the Zimmer Building, $2.2 million in total, will go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day, according to a legal ad in this week’s Brookville newspaper.
Actually it is not $2.2 million that will go to all of the above but $1.94 million. The other $260,000 is just the cost for professionals – attorneys and accountants — related to the bond issue.
According to the legal ad, payments from Brookville taxpayers, present and future, will start out at $85,000 per year and increase to $120,000 per year by 2041.
Payments on the bonds will be done in semiannual payments starting out at $40,000 and $45,000 increments beginning with a $40,000 payment on July 15, 2022 and then ending with a $60,000 payment on July 15, 2041.
Bonds will apparently be sold even though there is a current Indiana State Police investigation concerning the purchase of the golf course by the town’s taxpayers. This is because there is an alleged conflict of interest by BTC President Curtis Ward and BTC Member Chuck Campbell, concerning the golf course purchase.
Campbell owns an empty lot adjacent to the golf course, but voted on the purchase anyway. On July 9, Ward bought nine parcels adjacent to the golf course and plans to put 96 condos on the relatively small space. He then prodded his fellow BTC members to purchase the golf course at the August 15 meeting, negotiating the purchase agreement between the LLC, which owned the golf course, and the town.
He then participated in every vote and signed every document related to the purchase.
BTC is aggressively working on annexation of the area around the golf course. Annexation is the only way Ward can get 96 condos on his nine parcels as they will need sanitary sewer and an increased water supply. Also, it increases the number of taxpayers’ property taxes from which the BTC can draw to pay its increasing debts. Most of the properties in Brookville proper have already hit the property tax cap limit. Those in the proposed annexation have not reached that limit; thus, those property owners can pay more in property taxes.
The town taxpayers just started paying for the new pool.
When the annexation is completed, the present and new Brookville taxpayers will have to pay for the sanitary sewer lines and pump stations as well as the increased size to the water lines. Also, there will be costs associated with increased street department service and police service to that area. Also, the town may have to increase the size of its sewage disposal plant to handle the new customers.
Ward has stated, in different venues, he would also like to purchase an ambulance and staff it as well as construct a bridge across the Whitewater River’s east fork at the Brookville Town Park and build a trail to the area of the Cobblestone Motel. That was priced at more than $3 million prior to the Pandemic and subsequent inflation.
BTC hired the firm of Bose McKinney and Evans to defend the town council in case “anything comes from the investigation.” The same law firm, Bose McKinney and Evans, is also bond counsel. Baker Tilly Municipal Counselors LLC is also involved in the bond sale.
On top of this, there is a public hearing for 7 p.m., Tuesday, November 30, for an additional appropriation of $1.87 million.
According to a separate legal ad in the Brookville paper this week, the $1.87 million is for:
“The foregoing appropriation is in addition to all appropriations provided for in the existing budget and tax levy, and a need for such appropriation exists by reason of the necessity of making certain local public improvements including, but not limited to, the acquisition, construction, improvement and equipping of a (1) golf course known as the Brook Hill Golf Club located at 11175 Fairway Lane, and all necessary and related improvements; and (2) commercial building for administrative and maintenance facilities for the Town, and all necessary and related improvements and the incidental expenses in connection with these projects.”
This public hearing is open to the public, and the public can make comments on the proposed additional appropriation at the hearing.
How can this be??? When did the citizens of Brookville get a chance to VOTE on this outrageous burden? The last time I saw any statistics concerning public input, there were 400 responses on Facebook to the question , “Should Brookville purchase the golf course?” Of those responses, only forty (40) , or 1/10 the number of responders said “yes”. If my 3rd grade math is correct, that means that 360 votes, or 9/10 of the number of responders, gave a negative response. ?????????????