IMPORTANT UPDATE
No mowing, no maintenance
No progress on a buyer, or the promised listing with a golf course agency. Meanwhile, the grass grows longer and longer, well past the maximum 12" of the City Code. No apparent concern for fire danger or loss of property values.
Continuing Deterioration: A Photo Gallery
Update on Effort to Restore Eaglemont Golf Course
Dear Eaglemont Supporters:
Five years on and still no golf course. We continue to be frustrated and sickened by the deteriorating condition, long grass that puts us all at risk, a beautiful but empty clubhouse, memories of what was, and concerns about what will be. The photos shown were taken of the course and clubhouse Wednesday, May 21.
Listing Agent
We’ve been eagerly waiting from Romano that they have hired a golf course listing agent as they promised HOA president Darlene Andris. This was going to be early spring. That time is well past. The committee has been waiting for this as Romano refuses to talk to us about alternatives, about what we can do to help sell it, or ideas for a win-win. We are hoping if an agent is hired Romano will realize that the nearly $4 million they say they require for it will not work and that we would have someone we could talk with about anything we as a community could do to help restore this course and clubhouse.
Golf course mowing
Boulder Creek, the company that mowed late last year, showed up on April 22 with a couple of mowers. They did a little mowing on 13, 14, 10 and 11 and maybe some more. It appeared to be more of a test mowing. We were told that when it was mowed late last year when the grass was very high that 43 acres had to be mowed with string mowers, otherwise known as weed whackers. That’s an incredible amount of labor. They may be trying to find out how they can cut that down.
City enforcement
The grass in many places is now higher than 12 inches, and in some places much higher. Twelve inches is the maximum City Code allows before mowing is required. You may recall we have already had fires on Eaglemont, including one last year on hole 14 on July 4 when kids were seen lighting off fireworks that resulted in a fire. Only quick action by one of our homeowners who witnessed it starting prevented a potentially tragic disaster. If you are out walking or checking the property to take a photo with a tape measure or ruler report it to the Code Enforcement Office of the City. You can find it on the City website or use this link: https://ci-mountvernon-wa.smartgovcommunity.com/CodeEnforcement/ComplaintEntry
The Mayor and code enforcement officers have promised that they would be on top of the mowing situation this year. Last year, the mowing didn’t start until July 27, on the very day that the City’s fine was being imposed. And Romano wants everyone to think they are a community-sensitive, responsible developer.
City Planning
As we mentioned last time the City is going through a major planning review. City councilmembers need to hear from you if keeping Eaglemont a golf course is important to you. If you have not yet communicated with our City officials and City councilmembers on this, please do so sooner than later. You can go to the City’s website for contact information, or go to restoreeaglemont.com and scroll down to the March 13 update. It has complete information on the options for letting your voice be heard.
Possible buyer?
Stephen “Bulldog” Frostick continues to communicate with us and express interest in buying the property with different investors backing this. As we noted before, we have been very disappointed with the lack of follow-through on this interest, so it is difficult to gauge how serious this is. However, we are unaware of any other potential buyers, so we will continue to track this and let you know what we find out. We do know that previous investors were put off by the very high price that Romano demanded. If a listing agent brings them to some reality, there may be renewed interest.
Nine hole course?
At the HOA meeting a suggestion was made, and since then, others have expressed interest in the idea of a nine-hole course. This would of course be on the holes where the homes exist. We have no idea whether such a thing would be feasible, but given the potential for a sale of the clubhouse and some property that could possibly be developed, it may make purchasing that property and restoring it a possibility. It would likely mean supporting other uses, including development of the land used for the other nine holes. If we do have a meeting with a listing agent, it would be helpful to know the community’s opinion on that as a possible option. Please email us at the email addresses below and give us your thoughts.
Thank you as always for your support for Eaglemont.
Eaglemont Restoration Committee
Gerald & Lynne Baron (gerald.baron@agincourt.us)
Kent & Gretchen Haberly (kbgv.haberly@gmail.com)
Jerry & Peggy Anderson
Karl & Louise Kirchgasler
March 13, 2025
Dear Eaglemont Supporters:
Eaglemont stopped operating as a golf course April 2020, so we are now almost five years without our course and clubhouse. Many of us moved here to live in a beautiful setting on or near one of the most spectacular courses in the region that featured a beautiful clubhouse. What has happened is a tragedy, and we are very sorry to say that based on the best information we have, we are no closer to having this property restored than at any time in those five years.
Our hopes for restoration were based on information from Stephen “Bulldog” Frostick, who represented the White-Leasure company from Boise in attempting to purchase the course in early 2022. That’s when it was unfortunately sold to a convicted con man, Tim Langenberg, who stopped maintaining it and did nothing to prevent the vandalism of the clubhouse. Romano loaned Langenberg $2.6 million to purchase the property.
After discussing this with Romano Capital, the lender to Langenberg, who refused to take action available to them to stop the destruction, two homeowner families, the Haberlys and Barons, asked the Court to appoint a receiver. The receiver told the Court he would restore and then sell the course to an operator. Langenberg, along with Romano Capital, which chose to intervene in the lawsuit just a few weeks before the scheduled trial date, fought this action all the way, even though it would have helped Romano and likely “made them whole” if they had supported this request. The judge, Laura Riquelme, repeatedly granted their request for delays, then denied our request because of a pending foreclosure auction.
Since then, Mr. Frostick has had several conversations with Eric Christensen of Romano about purchasing. Mr. Frostick, in 2022, working with the White-Leasure group, offered $3.2 million for the property. But, despite several years of deterioration and a nearly destroyed clubhouse, Romano has insisted on a selling price of $3.6 million. We don’t believe any knowledgeable buyer would be willing to pay a premium for this property in its current condition.
We have reached out to Mr. Leasure directly to attempt to confirm his continuing interest but have not been successful in having a conversation with him. With no further action by Mr. Frostic, we have concluded that there is no viable buyer in sight. We have heard through different sources that Romano says they are talking to potential buyers. This is doubtful as any serious buyer would contact the City, the HOA, or the Restoration Committee as the legal action remains of public record.
Aside from watching the continuing deterioration, the biggest concern is the possibility of the course being developed for residential housing. Unfortunately, we have also heard that Romano continues to believe this is possible. Apparently, the only action they have taken is to conduct a “detailed” market analysis, which simply shows there is demand for a variety of housing types in Skagit County. Duh.
A Big Request
This brings us to a very important request. We met with City officials recently to get an update on the City’s thoughts on the future of Eaglemont. We found, thanks to the efforts of HOA president Darlene Andris, that they intend to be vigilant with Romano in enforcing the city code that requires grass be mowed if it is longer than 12 inches. Last year Romano, despite serious fire risk, finally mowed on the day the City fines were beginning.
The City is in the process of a Comprehensive Plan update that will carry the City planning through 2045. There are differing ideas within the City Council about housing, the type of housing, where it should be concentrated, etc. The decisions will certainly involve the future of this property. City leaders are eagerly seeking input from the community in this important process. That means for those of us who want to make sure that Eaglemont remains a public golf course it is ESSENTIAL that the City leaders, especially the City Council members, hear from us.
There are several ways you can let your voice be heard. The City website for the process is found here: https://www.mountvernonwa.gov/1295/2025---2045-Comprehensive-Plan-Update
You can be put on the notification list for any information about public meetings and updates on this process by emailing your contact information including name, email, address and phone number to this email: PermitTech@mountvernonwa.gov
The City is encouraging citizens to take a short survey to indicate their preferences in this planning process. It will take about 10 minutes and is one way to register your concerns about Eaglemont and its future. Take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XDKPJR5
We also strongly encourage you to contact City Council Members directly. It’s most important to contact the Council Member for the ward you live in. For most of us that is Ward 3 as the dividing line is Waugh Road. We’ve provided the ward map for you to confirm your Council representative.
We also encourage you to forward this email to any and all who share our interest in the future of Eaglemont. We need the City leaders to understand that there is very broad community support for Eaglemont. If you use social media, please reach out to your followers and urge them to get involved.
Your message to the City need not be long. We suggest something like:
“Eaglemont Golf Course is a very important part of this community and we urge you to make certain it remains accessible to the entire community as a public golf course, thereby contributing to the quality of life for community residents and increasing property values in this area.”
Navor Tecero, Ward 1
Iris Carias, Ward 1
Andrew Vander Stoep, Ward 2
Gary Molenaar, Ward 2
Melissa Beaton, Ward 3
Mary Hudson, Ward 3
Richard Brocksmith, At Large
The future?
The Eaglemont Restoration Committee, including the four families who were the plaintiffs in the legal action, remains active. Our most important task right now is to make sure the City hears from everyone in the community concerned about preventing development of Eaglemont.
We continue to work toward a meeting with Romano to discuss how we can assist any efforts they have to restore the property or sell it to a buyer who will restore it. But, we are also looking at other legal options such as a request for an injunction or property damages. There are two ways to ensure that development will not happen here. One is political, which you are needed to be a part of, the other is legal. Despite the judge failing to grant a receiver, she did recognize that homeowners have a right to require this be a golf course but the time to apply that right is when there is a change of use. Why she did not see that failing to maintain it and allow it to become essentially a cow pasture constitutes a change of use is beyond us. A different judge would likely see things differently.
Other options include forming a Parks and Recreation District as the City has advised. This would allow those within the district to purchase the property at the appraised value, which we are quite certain would be considerably less than the current asking price of $3.6 million.
We welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have for other options or actions we may take.
Thanks for your continuing interest and support.
The Eaglemont Restoration Committee
Kent & Gretchen Haberly
Gerald & Lynne Baron
Jerry & Peggy Anderson
Karl & Louise Kirchgasler