Charbonneau Villager Newspaper August 2020 | Page 4
4 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER August 2020
Golf club, country club consolidate efforts
Organizations signed merger
agreement in late June
By COREY BUCHANAN
• Panel Changes • Hot tubs
• Remodels • Generators
• Lighting Additions
After many months of negotiation,
Charbonneau
Country Club — a nonprofit
homeowners association
— and the for-profit Charbonneau
Golf Club have joined forces.
The two sides finalized what is
called a “reverse triangular merger,”
in late June. Under this structure, the
country club formed a new subsidiary
and that subsidiary merged with the
golf club. The country club is now the
sole shareholder of the new subsidiary,
which is a for-profit corporation.
Eugene Tish, the CCC vice president,
said this structure was chosen
“because it allowed for the transaction
to take place without the country club
expending funds.”
Both sides lauded the quasi-merger
as an opportunity to ensure financial
security and expand services.
“For nearly 30 years, our golf course
has been owned, operated, maintained,
and supported by private
share-holder residents. We all owe a
debt of gratitude to these past and current
residents. Now the long-term protection
of our golf course is in the
hands of our entire community,” Charbonneau
Golf Club President Joe
Brouillette and Charbonneau Country
Club President Kathy Harp wrote in a
joint statement.
According to Brouillette, the agreement
will allow the country club to financially
support the golf club in case
its financial situation worsens. As part
of the negotiations, the country club
agreed not to change the golf course to
another use for at least 20 years.
“If somehow we needed it the country
club would step in and provide
whatever support is necessary to sustain
the golf course,” he said.
However, he said the golf club currently
has a $1 million reserve fund
and is doing well as a business. Brouillette
also posited that the golf course
props up home values in the community.
“Our financial situation is very good
and has been very good since we sold
the driving range four years ago,” he
said. “We’ve had an incredible boost
of business during this season. The virus
has driven a lot of people out of
their homes and into the golf course
because it’s a safe place to get some
exercise.”
The two entities hope to pull resources
together to put on more largescale
events like weddings, and
Brouillette said the current CCC clubhouse
could be used as an entertainment
center once a new recreation
center at an annex building the club
purchased is complete. They hope to
host such events at a pavilion located
on property licensed to the golf
course, which CCC Manager Jim Meierotto
said would be completed in August.
“Now we’re going to be able to have
enhanced ability to do weddings, golf
tournaments, host parties, ceremonies
and special events. We built a beautiful
facility,” Brouillette said.
Though a few Charbonneau residents
worried that the agreement
would force country club homeowners
to pay higher dues to subsidize the
golf course, an overwhelming majority
of the community supports it, as evidenced
by a community vote during a
special meeting in January. Shareholders
of the golf club also voted 315-
6 to sell their shares so that the country
club would be the sole owner of the
course.
“The community was behind it and
shareholders of the golf course were
behind it,” Brouillette said.
And Harp said the board made a
commitment to homeowners not to use
dues to subsidize the course. Instead,
Harp hopes that new revenue sources
created by the entertainment center
and pavilion will help make the course
sustainable on its own long term.
“The golf course will become part of
our regular budget but will have its
own sustainability,” she said.
Brouillette said the golf club will
maintain its board of directors and operate
mostly autonomously but that
the country club has some budgetary
oversight.
“They don’t control what we do. We
have some guidelines,” he said.
Harp thanked the many volunteers
who worked to contact and collect information
from shareholders so that
they could be paid.
“It took an immense amount of volunteers
to put this together, both residents
and shareholders,” Harp said.
“It was an amazing effort.”
MEMBERS OF
THE AAUW
LAKE OSWEGO
SEW QUILT
Commemorative quilt
celebrates 100th
anniversary of women’s
voting rights
By KAREN ROTTINK
Members of the American
Association of University
Women Lake
Oswego hand-sewed
and calligraphed a gorgeous heirloom
quilt. Depicting suffragettes
who fought for the historical passage
of the 19th Amendment Aug.
26, 1920, the quilt is on display now
until Aug. 25, 2020, at Montavilla
Sewing Center, 429 1st St., Lake Oswego.
The public and members can purchase
raffle tickets at this website:
www.loaauw.org. This interactive
website also provides information
about individuals depicted on the
quilt. Proceeds will be used to support
education for women. The drawing
will be online Aug. 26.
They persisted
Did you know that some of the
women were jailed, beaten and even
force fed because of their persistent
demands and protest marches to secure
voting rights for women in the
See AAUW / Page 5
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