By John Estridge
It does not take Sherlock Holmes to figure out why we Brookville taxpayers have purchased a Pig in a Poke Golf Course and are about to annex Snob Knob or Snob Hill or whatever you want to call it.
Here is a little timeline concerning what has occurred since July 7 to the present.
Note: I was going to put how the READI Grant and the brand new residential TIF district relate to all of this, but the editorial grew too large. Thus, I wrote two analyses/editorials. They are connected so to get the whole picture, one is going to have to read both. My apologies on that.
July 7
On July 7, Brookville Town Council President Curtis Ward and at least one partner purchased nine lots adjacent to the Pig in a Poke Golf Course off Par Drive. At the time, the nine undeveloped lots were assessed at about $1,400 to $2,500 a piece. Each lot is about an acre and change adding up to 11.78 acres in total. He and his partner, or unknown people behind them, paid $265,000 for the nine lots, which comes out to $22,496.75 per acre.
There are no public utilities except for county water available for the properties.
Then, things went into warp drive.
August 10
At the August 10 Brookville Town Council meeting, Curtis announced the golf course needed to be purchased immediately if not sooner. The reason he gave at the meeting is the investors in the Brook Hill Golf Club Preservation LLC wanted to take their money out of the LLC and the golf course because they were not seeing any return on their investment after three years.
I don’t want to get off in the weeds on this point, but think about that statement. It is on audio and video, so go check it yourselves. Curtis’ stated reason for using taxpayer money to purchase the golf course is the individual investors were not receiving any return on their investments after three years. I guess that means he is more sensitive to the individual investors’ money than he is to his constituents’ money.
But back onto the path.
Remember, the assessed value of the lots next to a failing golf course. If the golf course is invigorated, then, the value of the lots increases greatly. If the golf course goes out of business, then the value of those lots is greatly diminished, as it would be for all of the lots surrounding the present golf course, including fellow town board member Chuck Campbell’s as well as those just purchased by Curtis.
Our tax money could greatly subsidize and invigorate the golf course at least until people make a large profit off their individual real estate investments.
During the Aug. 10 council meeting, Ward asked and received permission from his fellow council members for town attorney Tammy Davis to pen a purchase agreement for the town to purchase the golf course from the LLC. Also, council vice president Eric Johnson, in his motion, stated for Davis to pen the agreement and for Ward to negotiate the purchase agreement. The person on council who could financially benefit the most from the town purchasing the golf course was placed in command of negotiating that purchase.
Just who was Ward working for?
READI Grant and Residential TIF
See related analysis/editorial. It was supposed to be part of this but it got too long, so I made two analyses/editorials. However, these two points are crucial to the entire picture.
August 24
At the August 24 BTC meeting, several Brookville residents and those from up on Snob Knob spoke against the town taxpayers purchasing Pig in a Poke Golf Course. The only person to speak in favor of the purchase was Brian Bauman. Again, look at the other editorial/analysis. He and his business partners are eligible to gain a large amount of money if the golf course is purchased by the taxpayers and if the annexation goes through.
One of those who spoke against the purchase was retired State Excise Lieutenant and retired sheriff Ken Murphy. He warned BTC members of the potential illegality of what was occurring both for Ward and Campbell but also for the other town council members as they are being complicit with the possible illegalities of Conflict of Interest.
Since that meeting, the Indiana State Police White Collar Crime Division is investigating the situation. A special prosecutor has been named.
Some of the alleged illegalities came at this meeting.
After the BTC members intensely ignored everything those in attendance said against the purchase, Curtis read into record the Offer to Purchase. A motion was made to accept the Offer to Purchase, and it passed unanimously with Curtis and member Charles Campbell Jr. voting in favor. Curtis then signed and dated the offer to purchase on behalf of the BTC.
Also, at this meeting in answer to a question from former first deputy in the county’s auditor office, Derrike Kolb, Curtis stated the bond that would be used to pay for the purchase of the golf course would be $1.2 million.
Remember that.
September 14
At the September 14 BTC meeting, council unanimously passed a resolution, which set into motion the mechanisms for purchasing the golf course and the Zimmer Building. The Zimmer Building is a whole other issue that is for another day. Curtis and Chuck were among the town council members voting for and signing the resolution.
The resolution was about a $2.2 million bond that will be paid off in 22 years. The bond grew by $1 million in the course of two weeks.
I wrote an editorial after this meeting and it is still on this blog. It enumerates all or at least most of Curtis’ truth stretchers aka lies to the public up to and including the Sept. 14 meeting.
The amount of the bond is just one of them.
September 28
With so many infamous BTC meetings, this was particularly odious if for no other reason than a new truth or another lie, who knows with this group, was made about the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
The NDA is how the Pig in a Poke Golf Course received its name as we, the taxpayers, were told from the beginning of this stinking mess, we could not find out how much money the golf course made or lost while the LLC owned it because the town had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the LLC and Curtis had negotiated that signed document no one was shown on our behalf.
That in itself should be a joke, but sadly it is not.
But at this Sept. 28 meeting, we were told there had never been an NDA. BTC apparently just chose not to tell us the truth about the NDA, the finances, about anything.
I mean, we are just the taxpayers. It is our tax money. We are going to be the owners of the golf course.
October 12
This was a public hearing in name only about the $2.2 million bond, which was supposed to be a $1.2 million bond. Our payments through our taxes will last for 22 years. That means you, your children and your grandchildren all get to pay to apparently make Curtis and his buds wealthier.
Curtis refused to answer any questions posted to him about anything related to the bonds and would not allow anyone other than the lawyers present to answer any questions on any matters. And one knows how attorney answers are. Also, the attorneys looked to Curtis for guidance before answering, not the other way around.
There you have it. This is the timeline of this present quagmire. A more pertinent word for the situation is not quagmire but hog lot for the odious nature of everything related to this.
Again, read this in conjunction with the editorial on the READI Grant and the Residential TIF. In that, you will see how annexation is related to all of this.
Curtis and his partners alone want to put 96 condos on the 11.78 acres adjacent to the golf course. They cannot do that without public sewage and improved water lines. You and I get to pay for that also after the “voluntary” annexation. You up on Snob Knob will not only see your monthly costs and taxes go up exponentially, but you also will greatly have your freedoms reduced as you come under the auspices of the town’s very restrictive and highly enforced codes.
We have been lied to, treated poorly and will see our taxes, our utility bills and much more go up astronomically. And it appears the only real reason this will happen is to further enrich Curtis and his real estate and developer buds.
Personally, that really has made me angry and continues to make me angry as I think everyone can tell.