The company also wants to build 69,000 square feet of commercial/retail space and 107,000 square feet of office space at the site.

Town staff have argued that amount of development is not permitted or appropriate for the site and would amount to an unplanned growth area.

In January 2019 Gowland filed a second freedom of information request with the town and found that from July 9 to the end of 2018 the town spent an additional $3.6 million on consultants and legal fees related to the Glen Abbey fight.

Included in this figure were the bulk of the costs involved for two hearings before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

One hearing, which occurred July 16-17, 2018, focused on whether ClubLink even had the right to apply to demolish the golf course given the property is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

A second hearing, which took place Oct. 22-23, 2018, involved a challenge by ClubLink to the conservation plan and related bylaws, which the Town of Oakville put in place to protect Glen Abbey Golf Course.

Judge Edward Morgan ruled against the town following both hearings.

The town has appealed these decisions to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

The demolition application matter is scheduled to be heard May 21 and the conservation plan matter is scheduled for May 23.

Since the matters have been appealed any court costs the town may have to pay to ClubLink for these hearings are not captured in Gowland’s freedom of information request.

The latest request does show the town had to cover ClubLink’s court costs to the tune of $16,500 after the town lost at the OMB in June 2017.

The town had argued ClubLink’s development application was incomplete, however, ClubLink appealed the matter to the OMB, which declared the application was complete.

The freedom of information request also showed that from July 9 to Dec. 31, 2018 the law firm Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP alone got more than $2.9 million from the town while the corporate law firm Goodmans LLP got more than $619,000.

The litigation firm Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP got another $49,780 while the consultants Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd., were paid nearly $9,000.

Gowland, who was upset when the costs of fighting to save Glen Abbey were $5.3 million, is deeply concerned the figure is rapidly increasing with no end to the Glen Abbey litigation in sight.

“This is going to hit $10 million before the end of this year,” she said.

“I’m just so fed up with the town spending money on this kind of issue … They are trying to tell a private company how to run their business. That just isn’t something the town government should be doing.”

Gowland emphasized she has no connections to ClubLink but supports the project they have proposed particularly the large green space area that would be open to the public.

She slammed the town for spending millions fighting ClubLink rather than working with the company on the redevelopment.

“Why isn’t there someone on the council that sees the advantages of allowing this redevelopment,” Gowland asked.

“It’s mind-boggling. It’s horrifying because there are so many other things they could be spending this kind of money on.”

Not everyone agrees.

Bill McKinlay, a spokesperson with the Save Glen Abbey Coalition, said the group continues to support the town’s efforts to prevent the world-renowned golf course from being developed.

“At Save Glen Abbey, we believe the town is absolutely doing the right thing in defending their right to plan and have their planning decisions upheld,” said McKinlay.

“This is really a fight for municipal democracy. As far as the investment the town is making in this — Glen Abbey is a historical property, the community was built around it — if Glen Abbey is not worth fighting for, then what is?”

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton has previously said the cost of saving Glen Abbey will be comparable to saving green space and limiting growth to what fit in north Oakville.

He has argued the fight is about more than just a golf course.

“Any municipality that cannot defend its official plan’s rules for land use doesn’t really have an official plan and its neighbourhoods are wide open to whatever developers want,” said Burton.

“That’s why council and I are so committed to defending our town and its policies.”

Burton has previously mentioned his support for maintaining a strong legal defence reserve so the town can fight these legal battles.

According to the town’s director of strategy, policy and communications Jane Courtemanche, the town has amalgamated its litigation reserve into a broader tax stabilization reserve of more than $40 million.

These funds come from a variety of sources such as annual Town surpluses and capital gains on investments and are used to provide funding for things like litigation and unforeseen storm events.

When asked why the town doesn’t rely more on its own lawyers to handle the Glen Abbey litigation, as opposed to hiring outside law firms, Courtemanche said the town tries to strike a balance in the use of its internal and external legal resources.

“The town’s legal team provides legal advice and support to all town departments on a wide variety of issues including developing bylaws, prosecuting offences, undertaking real estate transactions, providing legal advice on planning matters, and representing the town at various tribunals and courts,” said Courtemanche.

“It is simply not possible to drop this work to take on a complex and lengthy litigation file such as Glen Abbey. The town is better served by seeking external specialized legal experts for this type of case. We do make every effort to manage external legal costs, but as noted previously, the number of court actions and appeals launched by ClubLink on this file is without precedence for the town.”

The town and ClubLink are expected to have multiple courtroom clashes in the near future.

On Dec. 17, 2018 ClubLink applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to quash Glen Abbey Golf Course’s heritage designation, which Oakville council put in place on Dec. 20, 2017.

The hearing date for this challenge has yet to be determined.

ClubLink’s appeal of council’s rejection of their development proposal will be heard by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal on July 6, 2020.

That hearing is not expected to conclude until Nov. 20, 2020.