Dawson City golf course dispute settled

The Yukon government and Dawson City have settled a disagreement over the ownership of the local golf course.

It had been donated to the city by the late Bill Hakonson, but he owed the territory half a million dollars related to the development of the course.

The transfer to the city was held up by a clause sought by the territory thatwould have forbidden anyone in the Hakonson family from involvement in the operation of the golf course.

Sandy Silver, MLA for Klondike, said that is too onerous given the size of the town and the number of relatives involved. Silver said it was also an insult to Bills son Greg.

"The clause makes no sense. This is too small of a community to put such a ridiculous clause on the acquisition of this title," he said.

"It bewilders me because there is no point and were not in kindergarten."

Silver said the golf course can be a major asset to the town's tourism industry.

Bill Curtis, in the Yukon's finance department, said there's now a settlement. He said if the town gives up ownership of the golf course anytime in the next 20 years, the territorial government can have the land back for $1.

"So the settlement is that the transfer of the property has been made to the City of Dawson and we will receive a payment of $55,000 from the estate of the late William Hakonson and that's with respect to a personal guarantee to the government," he said.

Along with transferring the golf course to the town, the government is writing off the half million dollar debt. The territory has also dropped its condition that nobody in the Hakonson family could be involved in the golf course's operations.

Curtis said there never was a vendetta, or anything personal, against the Hakonsons. He said the government's goal was to protect the interests of taxpayers.