Eaglecrest Golf Course... Revalued

On April 15, 2026 I wrote an article detailing my efforts to determine the purchase price for the Eaglecrest Golf Course and the funding sources. I am still waiting to receive the requested information from the Town. As I wrote in my earlier article, the Town extended the time, by which it must provide the information, to June 5, 2026. If the information arrives by that date, it will be approximately six and a half months after I stood up at a Town Hall meeting to ask for it. At that meeting, I was told by Mayor Westbroek that the Town was committed to full transparency and that the information would be disclosed. I can only wait (and wait, and wait) and see.

By way of background, the purchase price for the golf course has been informally stated, at various times, to be $8,500,000. The point of my request for information was to obtain the full and actual amount, including closing costs, legal fees, due diligence costs, etc. to ensure that a proper and complete accounting was made of the costs, as well as the payback of the reserve funds used in the purchase. As you may recall, we were told at numerous times that the purchase and revisioning of the golf course would be self funded and that reserve funds would be repaid from future land sales.

I bring up the issue about the purchase price, not just because of the long delay by the Town in providing it, but because of information disclosed at a recent Council meeting. As you may be aware, the Town is required to retain an independent auditor to produce audited financial statements. The auditor presented her report, together with the audited financial statements, at the May 13, 2026 Council meeting. Interestingly, the purchase of the Eaglecrest Golf Course was stated by the auditor to be $12.1 million for the land and just over $1 million for the clubhouse. The notes attached to the audited financial statements state that "the Town acquired the Eaglecrest Golf Course for $8,500,000 [and] the property's appraised value was approximately $12,980,000, as a result the difference of $4,480,000 has been recorded as donation revenue [and] furthermore, the Town received a cash donation in the amount of $2,125,000 to support this purchase." Are you as confused as I am? I am not an accountant and do not understand the rationale/motivation for increasing the acquisition cost of the golf course from the stated $8,500,000 to the appraised value of $12,980,000. Perhaps some CPAs in the community can enlighten me. If the intention was to confuse the public - Mission Accomplished!

The mention of the appraisal of the property (which, incidentally, has not been released to the public) raises further issues. When and why was the appraisal done? What assumptions were made by the appraiser? Will the current discussions with the Eaglecrest Residents affect the appraised value?

I note that, earlier, in my quest for disclosure of the purchase price, Mayor Westbroek stated that the delay in releasing information was related to a shortage of staff time and that the audited year end financial statements would provide me with the information that I was requesting. I hastened to advise the Mayor that the requested information should be easily accessed in the various journal entries and did not require the production of financial statements, whether audited or not. Having seen the audited financial statements, all that can be said is that, rather than provide answers, they raise more questions. I wonder how long I will have to wait for those answers.

James Noel

May 15, 2026

We welcome your comments and feedback.

You can email us at qualicumbeachinsights@gmail.com