Back in August, I wrote a blog post about the Crooked Creek golf course site in Fuquay-Varina, and a push by some local residents to turn it into a park. At the time, I praised Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes, for taking a stance against the use of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on this project. She continues to be a refreshing voice of sense on this issue. As quoted in the News & Observer yesterday, she said,
Our role as county commissioners is to assess the needs of the county as a whole, and at this moment, there are much more pressing priorities than committing between $15 (million) and $23 million for another park,
County Commissioners voted to proceed anyway.
They’ll start by spending nearly $4 million to buy the property. They’ll spend another $20 million to develop the site. The News & Observer commented,
County staff had recommended that Wake not pursue the project, estimated to cost about $23.4 million. Staff will now identify and propose a way to pay for it. Commissioners have talked about putting a bond referendum on the ballot next year.