Huge crowd of voters defeats Antioch Golf Club proposal
Registered voters in Lake Villa Township at a special session Monday overwhelmingly defeated a township proposal to buy the money-losing Antioch Golf Club.
The tally was 716 against and 128 for the idea pitched by township officials as a good investment at the right price. The plan was to use $750,000 in reserves to buy the 100-plus acre property near Grass Lake Road and Route 59 including a clubhouse, restaurant, banquet hall and equipment.
“It's not your venture capital fund,” Lindenhurst resident Ed Erwin said during a public comment period before the vote. The sentiment was prevalent.
“We don't need this golf course if it's failing. It's not the role of township government to run a business,” said Lake Villa resident Paul Cook.
Despite moving the meeting to the Lake Villa Township West Campus Center to accommodate an expected large crowd, some waited two hours to get inside, and the last of the voters weren't registered until 90 minutes after the original start time.
Unofficial estimates pegged the crowd at near 1,000. Voters left the gym and were replaced by others so rules for the special town meeting could be followed and the matter decided without having to adjourn and meet somewhere else at another time.
Participants began filing out at 9 p.m. as the vote count began.
“That's it. There is no Plan B,” said Township Supervisor Dan Venturi. He said he wasn't surprised at the outcome but didn't expect the opposition to be that lopsided.
The bulk of the public comment during the session was against the idea for a variety of reasons, and some were critical of the lack of advance notice.
“What is the rush in 14 days to get this thing approved?” asked Mike Frederichs of Lake Villa.
The town board voted 4-1 on April 24 to ask for voter approval and the special session was scheduled for Monday.
In opening remarks, Venturi described the golf club as a diamond in the rough that could be used for weddings, banquets and a variety of community events and uses.
He noted the township's record of turning distressed properties, such as Peacock Camp and the old Gavin North School, which was converted to the campus center where the meeting was held, into resources.
“We see this as more than a failed golf course,” he said.
The golf course loses $85,000 a year. Opponents said using more than half the township's $1.4 million reserve fund and taking the property off the tax rolls was a bad idea, as the real estate tax bill of about $31,000 would be shared by other taxpayers.