Teed Up or Teed Off

As you may be aware, the Town of Qualicum Beach has entered into a conditional agreement to purchase the Eaglecrest Golf Course lands. In conjunction with this, the Town announced that it will be providing the public with the following public engagement opportunities:

1. On-going meetings with residential associations, golf course members and community groups. No dates or times are given nor is there any information as to how the on-going meetings are being set up or who from the Town you may actually be meeting with. Can we assume that if you are one of these you have been contacted and asked for your views?

2. Public Open House at the Civic Centre between 3PM and 7PM on September 9, 2025. There will be presentations at 3:30PM and 5:30PM with time for Q and A following each presentation. There is no indication as to who from the Town will be available to provide answers to the questions. According to the press release, the public consultation will be led by Modus Planning. If that name sounds familiar, it may be because the Town recently awarded a $54,663 contract for an initiative entitled "Ways To Achieve Attainable Market Housing Plan" to Modus Planning Design and Engagement Inc. It is not known if this is the same group leading the golf course open house. In any event, despite searches of the Town's document library, I was unable to determine the scope of the work or the amount Modus Planning is being paid for its participation in the Eaglecrest land purchase. There was also no evidence of the contract being put out to tender. Perhaps the dollar amount of the contract meets some de minimis criteria that does not require tendering. Or is this another example of matters being conducted in closed meetings?

3. Official Public Hearing at 2PM on October 6 at Council Chambers. The press release indicates that the public hearing is "subject to council direction", whatever that may mean. The press release also indicates there will be a public input period "allowing the public to speak to Council regarding the proposal". It is not clear if the public can ask questions and receive answers at this meeting or merely speak to Council.

As an aside, the times set for the Public Open House presentations (3:30 and 5:30) and the Official Public Hearing (2PM) are fine for those of us who are retired but may be difficult for anyone with a job. More thought should have been put into expanded hours/dates so that all residents can participate if they wish.

In the initial press release, Mayor Westbroek stated that the purchase "is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to regain control of lands that matter to our Town". In the same press release, Director of Planning Luke Sales added that "the land purchase will allow us to protect and expand the Town's parkland, preserve a valued community hub and create housing options for residents". A question that must be asked is whether the Town could have achieved similar results without purchasing the lands but rather by leaving it to the private sector and relying on the Town's zoning and development legislation to control the use of the lands. In other words, let the private sector take on the risk.

Notwithstanding that the purchase of the lands is, in the words of the press release, "subject to technical assessments, consultation and Council approval", Council has already taken steps in anticipation of the purchase. At the July 23, 2025 Council Meeting resolutions were passed with respect to financing the $8.5 million purchase price. In this regard, the following preambles to the resolutions passed by Council make interesting reading:

1. the purchase will be funded through the future sale of Town owned lands;

2. short term bridge financing is required through the reallocation of Reserve and Capital Funds currently reflected in the 2025 to 2029 Financial Plan;

3. staff and financial resources currently committed to other strategic and capital workplans will need to be reallocated to support the due diligence period for Qualicum Commons and possible acquisition of Eaglecrest Golf course.

Basically, what this is saying is that the Town does not have the money or staff resources to complete the purchase of the lands as well as carry out the programs that the Town told us it was going to accomplish in its 2025 to 2029 budget.

To come up with the $8.5 million required to complete the purchase, Council obtained $2 million by amending the 2025 - 2029 Financial Plan to "reallocate" $2 million currently set aside for a number of projects: the Bus Garage ($1 million dollars of this are the proceeds from the sale of part of the bus garage property and which were slated for redevelopment of the bus garage property), Saahtlam Park improvements, pickleball courts and workplace modernization.

The remaining $6.5 million was obtained by a further amendment of the 2025 - 2029 Financial Plan to allocate funds from Community Amenity Contributions ($650,000), General Fund Accumulated Surplus ($1,275,000), Qualicum Beach Land Reserve Fund ($1,200,000), Park Land Reserve Fund ($275,000), Development Cost Charges ($700,000) and Strategic Initiatives Reserve 2026-2029 allocations (400,000).

If you total the amounts you will realize that the Town will be $2,000,000 short. Not to worry. In the resolution the Town indicates the this amount will be provided from the projected proceeds of the future sale of Town-owned lands. Note the words "projected proceeds" and "future sale". This is not money the Town has in the bank. This is money it hopes to have assuming all goes as planned. This brings to mind the words of Robert Burns: "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry".

It should be noted that the various funds, charges and reserves mentioned above were previously earmarked for specific projects but are now being used to complete the purchase of the golf course lands. As I understand, these funds will provide bridge financing and will be replaced following completion of the purchase and sale of surplus lands. This is not without risk as we all know that the real estate market can be uncertain. Property prices go up and go down and sometimes property, for unknown reasons, does not sell at all. I refer you back to the words of Robert Burns and ask whether the Town should be taking on this risk.

Further questions to be answered include:

• Part of the project is to reforest the currently unused fairways of the golf course. Does the Town need more forest within the Town boundaries? Approximately 40 acres is proposed. This will be in addition to the existing 50 acres of the Heritage Forest. Think wildfires.

• The Town appears to have agreed to a purchase price of $8.5 million. How was this amount determined? Was an independent appraisal obtained? Will the Town release the background information and the appraisal? Presumably, this was the subject of a closed meeting to protect the negotiations. Is it not possible to release this information now that the deal has been struck?

• It is proposed that approximately 50% of the lands will be used for a nine hole golf course. The existing Eaglecrest Golf Course currently utilizes two fairways that are proposed to be developed for housing following the purchase. What will be the cost to convert the remaining seven holes into a nine hole golf course? What is the business model planned for the operation of the golf course?

• Does the Town have the resources and expertise to complete all phases of this project (namely, purchase of the lands, redevelop the golf course, reforest the lands, subdivide, develop and sell the surplus lands for housing)?

• What types of housing are planned for the golf course lands? Single family, detached homes? Row housing? Multi-family units? Self-owned or rental? Subsidized housing? How tall will the buildings be?

• Has any attempt been made to determine the ancillary costs (ie. those over and above the $8.5 Million purchase price) required to bring this proposal to fruition? If so, what is the amount?

• And possibly the elephant in the room - Will my property taxes go up as a result of this project?

The purchase of the golf course lands is an ambitious project and has the potential of being divisive. However, unlike another divisive issue, the Tree Protection Bylaw, the public is being asked for its input prior to implementation. The Open House and Public Hearing will be your opportunity to ask questions, provide comments and perhaps influence Council as, hopefully, it will take these into consideration in arriving at the decision to either purchase, or not to purchase, the golf course lands. Please attend the Open House and Public Hearing and provide Council with your views, whether they be for or against the proposed purchase.

As an aside: a victim of the golf course purchase will be the review of the Tree Protection Bylaw that was scheduled to occur in 2025. This has now been delayed until 2026 as a result of the commitment of staff resources to the golf course purchase.

James Noel

September 4, 2025

We welcome your comments and feedback.

You can email us at qualicumbeachinsights.com