The receiver for the Pemberton Valley Golf Course has accepted a local Pemberton bid to own and operate the golf course, and made a submission to Pemberton Council on Tuesday to expedite the paperwork.
Work will need to begin immediately on the course to ensure an April opening.
Council voted in favour of assigning the lease to the new buyers, and have sent the details to the Village of Pemberton’s lawyers.
“We don’t anticipate any problems,” said Mayor Jordan Sturdy. “We’re excited to be working with this new group, and just have to get the ‘i’s dotted and ‘t’s crossed so everyone can sign the lease. I’d say it’s looking really good, and that next week we’ll be able to say it’s a go.”
Sturdy says the buyers have committed to the original vision for an affordable, community golf course.
“I can say that the people involved have significant experience in golf course management, as well as the resources to be able to bring the Pemberton Valley Golf Course back to its rightful place,” he said. “It’s a great course, and it deserves to be respected.”
Seniors housing on slate in Pemberton
Whistler isn’t the only community focusing on seniors housing, with Pemberton council recently approving the terms of reference to create a Select Committee on Seniors’ Housing in partnership with the Pemberton Valley Seniors Society.
The Village of Pemberton’s 2008 Strategic Plan calls for affordable seniors housing for the community and the region as a whole, and the select committee will conduct a needs assessment and make a business case for seniors housing to serve the region. The committee will have until Aug. 31 to complete its work.
Mayor Jordan Sturdy says seniors housing is priority for the region.
“We’re in the process of fast tracking the appointment of people to the committee, and gave the committee short terms to get their work done,” he said.
“We need to do an overview of all the possible options at this point, and make a business case how to create some seniors housing as soon as possible. It’s a critical issue — in some respects we have a more mature community here than in Whistler, as there are more people that have lived here their entire lives, and a First Nations community that has a significant number of seniors.
“Right now the only thing we have is Hilltop House in Squamish, which is an advanced care facility, and that’s not a reasonable alternative. It’s an important issue, and it’s increasingly important with each passing year.”
According to Sturdy, one growth projection says that 700 people in Pemberton’s Area C will be classified as seniors in the next 20 years.
