Respondents to a Milford-Orange Times poll were evenly split over whether Orange officials should move forward with the $8.5 million purchase of the Race Brook Country Club property one day before a town-wide referendum to decide the matter.
Those in favor of the deal were exactly equal to those against, with each notching 100 votes out of a total 200 responses. The nonscientific poll was open from Feb. 6 to 15.
If voters tomorrow approve the measure, Orange would buy the 287 acres under which the country club sits and lease the land back to the club. The lease would last 40 years with an escalation to the rent every five years.
A letter sent to residents extolling the purchase and signed by First Selectman Jim Zeoli estimated the cost to the town to pay back the bond over 20 years would be $10.3 million, while the lease would bring in revenue of approximately $10.6 million over its entirety.
Supporters, including members of the Board of Selectmen, have called the purchase an investment to preserve open space and control the town’s future development. Critics have lambasted the proposal as an unnecessary bailout and a potential financial boondoggle.
While the online poll was not designed to accurately predict voting outcomes in the referendum, it did capture sentiments on both sides of the issue, including through optional comments left by poll respondents.
“If you know anything about real estate, this is a win win for Orange tax payers,” wrote one respondent who favored the deal.
“Too many people are approaching this as an emotional or some sort of righteous issue. This is a business deal. 287 acres in Orange at $30,000 per acre is a steal. There is no risk to the town. If the absolute worse case scenario developed, the town could sell all or part of the parcel and make a hefty profit,” wrote another in favor.
Some representative comments from “no” voters included “The privileged few who belong to Race Brook Country Club should not have benefits from the town of Orange people,” and “The wrong purchase, and for the wrong reasons. To burden the town, long-term, out of fear of 30 or so new homes someday, is ridiculous reasoning.”