Watertown plans to close on golf club deal by end of year

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Watertown City Council will purchase the Watertown Golf Club for $3.4 million after a 3-2 vote Monday night in front of a crowd that wanted to speak, but wasn’t allowed to speak.

At a special meeting inside city hall chambers, council members Cliff Olney, Patrick Hickey and Lisa Ruggiero voted in favor of the deal with council member Sarah Compo Pierce and Mayor Jeff Smith saying no.

A separate majority vote by those same 3 council members did not allow the public to speak about the deal, even though it was the first chance for the public to talk after the asset purchase agreement was made public Friday.

“Nobody has had an opportunity to speak publicly on this information. Nobody. Nobody has been allowed to speak on this and I wonder how many times in the last 8 years of the last 80 years that there has ever been a vote to not allow people to speak to the elected body,” said Smith.

“The fact is, is this: the people that are in this room represent, in my opinion, a minority of people who are against this and it’s my belief that we have talked to and reached out to many people in the city,” said Olney.

The city plans to close on the $3.4 million deal with Mike Lundy by the end of the year.

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