"The Town Board submitted a bid for Normanside debt. However we cannot disclose the amount of the bid," said Bethlehem Town Supervisor Sam Messina at Wednesday nights Town Board Meeting.
It was the moment that answered the big question but raised many others. Like why, who voted and how much?
Several residents asked questions like "Why do we need three golf courses?" or "What fund it will come from?" and "If you could, give us how the board members voted?"
Each time the answer the same.
"I will be making no further comments on the issue," said Messina.
The town board says all that information will come out when the bid process is all done. It doesn't want to jeopardize possible future negotiations. But the people who spoke out at Wednesday's meeting were anxious to know.
"It just amazes me how the purchase of a country club can become a priority over so much else that needs to have money spent on in this town," said resident Tom Newell.
"We have talked about smart growth, well planned growth, we are over-parked as it is," said resident Valerie Newell.
But that is not how everyone feels. The Facebook group "Friends to Preserve Normanside" has a little more than 200 people who were calling on the area to be preserved.
It is a balance the board says it tried to find.
"Normanside is a very attractive location and there would be some demand to play there in a public environment," said Messina. "The town board feels very strongly and I do to that we need to break even not necessary make a profit but if we can break even, that would be wonderful."
We still don't know how much the bid was, if the town will definitely win and what they will do with the land.
