Pine Valley's future is not a city matter

ISSUE: Pine Valley foreclosure
OUR VIEW: Not a city government issue

Pine Valley Country Club is in financial trouble again. Facing foreclosure, the owners and neighboring residents are among those hoping that someone will come riding a big white horse to save the day.
While the renewal of the foreclosure suit against Pine Valley Country Club is unsettling, it doesn’t come as a surprise. With three notes totaling more than $2.2 million owed to South Central Bank, a second note from an out-of-town lender and another $159,202 in a federal tax lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service, and they’re left with a cloudy financial picture.
A community group called the Pine Valley Preservation Committee is quite concerned about the future of the golf course. Should the fairways give way to development of multi-family housing units, a negative impact on property values could follow.
Homeowners have a vested interest in what happens with the property. What is hard to absorb is why the group feels the city of Elizabethtown should be the savior.
City government has numerous projects on its agenda and should stay focused on the completion of those before taking on another — especially considering the sizable investment it would take to buy the golf course and the ongoing revenue it would require to maintain and manage a course.
It doesn’t make sense for the taxpayers of Elizabethtown to bail out private businesses that find themselves in financial hardship.
Yes, Pine Valley Country Club contributes to the quality of life in Hardin County but that doesn’t justify a multi-million dollar investment of taxpayers to protect the interest of homeowners in the Pine Valley community.
The golf course itself has a great layout and a challenging course. It has the potential of being one of the top courses in Kentucky. It would be a wise investment for a company in the golf course management industry, but not for the city. We would recommend that homeowners show their support by searching for an appropriate management company.
In the meantime, the neighbors could invest in memberships at the club or perhaps look at the option of buying the facility collectively.
The owners have been faced with foreclosure in the past and managed to keep the club open. Our hope would be that they are successful in doing so again.
Ultimately, a permanent solution needs to be developed for the business to survive and prosper. As with any business, that permanent solution has to be support from patrons. The area needs more quality-of-ife venues in the private sector and Pine Valley Country Club qualifies.
The city of Elizabethtown would be making a wise decision to let this play out and maintain the position expressed by Mayor Tim Walker and stay out of this matter.
As with the game of golf, there always is a way out of the sand trap. Quite often, losing a stroke can save your round.

This editorial represents a consensus of The News-Enterprise editorial board.