The Montgomery Village Golf Course Committee continues to stumble. One committee member opined that he thought the planned 550-600 homes were too many. Despite suggesting that it should be half that, he did not press the issue. Other committee members appeared to be carriers for the Montgomery County high growth message. Here’s a news flash; these people are in the wrong meeting. Only one committee member admitted to canvassing the opinions of Village residents, only to conclude that people don’t care. When asked by a committee member to recount the points made by Residents’ Time speakers, the recording secretary was unable to faithfully recite these and Committee Chairman John Driscoll refused the resident’s offer to repeat his comments... so much for Residents’ Time in Montgomery Village.
These were just some of the takeaways from the March 6, 2014 meeting of the MVGC Joint Property Committee convened ten minutes late due to tardy committee members. The purpose of the meeting, review and act on the Committee Resolution: Approval of a Concept Plan for Re-Development of the Montgomery Village Golf Course. The resolution drafted by MVF staff under the direction of EVP Dave Humpton and organized into the Committee Charge, Findings, and Recommendations is an example of incomplete staff work.
Beginning with an incomplete Committee Charge which does not call for defining and specifying the interests of Montgomery Village residents, the resolution appears to have been written simply to please the developer. I urge the Committee to scrap this product and rewrite it to please Village residents. I urge the Committee to provide rationale for each of its finding and to include consequences for each of its recommendation. In this way, Village resident interest in the issues the golf course might be aroused and the quality of thought and sentiments of the Committee would be on display.
