Hamden Mayor Curt Leng has declared a public emergency and an emergency legislative council meeting to save … the grass at the Laurel View Golf Course.
Water at the golf course had been shut off because of an overdue bill. Public Works Director Craig Cesare sent a memo to Leng on Friday saying that if water is not turned on within 24 hours, it could cause significant damage to the site.
“Mayor if the water isn’t turned on in the next 24 hours I am fearful that we will begin to lose the greens followed by the fairways and this would be devastating both physically and financially to the course and the town as we are the responsible party to supply water to our asset,” Cesare wrote in the memo.
Hamden’s charter allows the mayor to declare an emergency and transfer up to $100,000 immediately to an account in need. Leng has already made the transfer to pay the bill, and water is back on at the golf course.
Cesare said that water has been turned off at the course since the end of last season. The recreation department could not turn it on again because of an overdue bill of $78,196.66.
Leng transferred that amount out of the regular salaries account in the Finance Department. The town currently does not have a finance director, so there were some extra funds that could pay for watering the grass instead.
The Legislative Council must still meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday to pass the transfer, which has already been made.
Seems like the story of over due bills and shut off notices has changed weekly for the past few months. A town emergency for golf?! What next?