Watertown Golf Club owner fires back after social media post

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - The owner of the Watertown Golf Club is firing back after a member of city council took to social media to question the care of golf carts.

The city was set to buy the club for $3.4 million before a judge halted the purchase.

Watertown City Council Member Sarah Compo Pierce, who voted against the golf course deal, posted photos on Facebook showing golf carts in the snow after the Christmas weekend blizzard.

On December 28, she wrote that she “was on a walk in Thompson Park today and couldn’t help but notice the golf carts city taxpayers will be paying for covered in snow. I guess they do well in blizzards? In all seriousness though, leaving these carts out in cold and snow can’t be good for them and I’d think, would affect their value.”

Club owner Mike Lundy told 7 News that council members shouldn’t be concerned. For one, he says there’s a stipulation in the asset purchase agreement that says the carts have to be ready to run in April. If there are problems, Lundy would be on the hook.

“This shows the ignorance of some people. For more than 30 years, carts have been stored outside in Thompson Park. When we put them away in the fall, we went through a cold-weather shutdown procedure,” said Lundy.

Council members Lisa Ruggiero, Pat Hickey and Cliff Olney voted in December for the city to enter into a binding purchase agreement with the Watertown Golf Club. Compo Pierce and Mayor Jeff Smith opposed the deal.

The city had hoped to close on the club by the end of 2022, but a Watertown resident filed court paperwork to stop the deal, which she says forces the city to pay a price “far exceeding any appraisal of the property, and doggedly refusing to obtain an updated appraisal to determine a proper counteroffer.”

Supreme Court Judge James McClusky halted the purchase and ordered the city to show cause before he rules on the preliminary injunction.

McClusky ordered the city, Ruggiero, Hickey and Olney, and the council itself to demonstrate why he should not grant an injunction to stop the purchase.

A hearing is set for January 11. They have until January 5 to file any answering documents.