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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 05/15/2002City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of May 15, 2002 Council Liaison to the Board: Councilman Bill Bertschy Staff Support to the Board: Jerry P. Brown, Manager of Golf at 221-6350 and Patty Carroll, Administrative Aide at 416-2265. Call Meeting to Order: Chairperson Bill Rutledge called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Items of Note: • Mike Sanders called to say he would be unable to attend the meeting. • Jerry informed the Board that there were five finalists for the Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Executive Director position, and he gave a quick background on each of them. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Dave Johnson, seconded by Claire Nelms, the Board voted unanimously (8:0) to approve the Minutes of the April 17, 2002 Regular Meeting. Citizen Participation: No Citizen participation. Update on Canital Proiects Collindale Clubhouse: Jerry updated the Board on the project. The old clubhouse was demolished on Monday, May 13, and the debris is almost gone. Digging of the foundation will probably start tomorrow. City Park Nine Netting: The net is expected to be delivered next week and should be installed by the end of the week. SouthRidge Projects: The Patio is coming along. It is not finished, but it is open. The stairway has to be rebuilt. Also, the benching around the edge needs to be finished. The gas line is in for the BBQ... The Cart Building is taking time. The plans had to be redone and resubmitted, as the rainwater that comes off the building roof has to be detained for 40 hours before being released into Fossil Creek. When the plans are finally signed off, we can go out to bid ... The parking lot will be renovated when the cart building project is completed... The trash dumpsters will be hidden when the deck is finished. Golf Board Minutes May 15, 2002 Page 2 Claire Nelms wanted to know at what point could the City come in to make changes. Jerry said that anytime they want. Staff Proposed 2003 Golf Fees and Charges Grant Sherwood wants to know how often we set fees. Jerry said we operate on a two- year budget cycle. The Budget for 2002/2003 was set in 2001. If fees and charges for 2003 are to be changed we are required to go to the City Manager. Our fees are still in the lowest 25% for Colorado. We do not want to change our 9-hole green fee rates, but we do plan to raise selected 18-hole green fee rates. Jerry wants to go through 2003 using the present rate structure. Larry Buckendorf thinks rates should be the same for all three courses. He said the main reason we didn't include annual passes at SouthRidge is because of the debt. Jerry said a large percentage of pass holders are seniors and juniors, and he doesn't feel we should expand annual passes to SouthRidge just for people who want to play a lot of cheaper golf. We could lose up to $200,000 if we did. We already have reduced junior and senior green fee rates during Non -Prime Time. Manuel Jiminez agrees. Claire Nelms does not agree. Jerry said approximately 33% of weekend play at City Park Nine and Collindale are pass players, and we cannot afford that at SouthRidge. There was much discussion on pass play. Bill Rutledge says most seniors play during the week. Henry Fry said we wanted to get away from giving a special rate for certain ages. Jerry said every course that has passes have problems getting away from them. Per Play Fees have been increased to cover the differential between green fee play and pass play. Claire thinks we need to know how many rounds the average person plays. Jerry said we do. Lauren DeRosa thinks that discounts would encourage play. Discounts can run to 50%. Some places charge out-of-town players more. Trying to get rid of passes is difficult. Mindy Markley mentioned what happens if you try to eliminate golf passes. Jerry's recommendation is status quo through 2003. We are meeting our budget. If we start something else we should wait until 2004 for the next budget cycle. Lary thinks there are legitimate positions on fees and thinks we should consider adjusting passes. He wants to know the purpose of the annual pass. Jerry explained the original reasoning behind the annual pass was, he said, to guarantee more play. This reason is no longer valid since cash flow and the popularity of golf makes this no longer an issue. He thinks it will take a long time to come to a new agreement. If we do change, he believes the best thing to do might be to eliminate all passes. He agrees with Larry regarding Prime Time pass usage. Jerry explained we have to make $2.5 million dollars to cover expenses. This money has to come from somewhere. Jerry wants to know if the Board desires to do something different for 2003 other than his recommendation. If so, this has to be done no later than August in order to go to the City Manager. Bill said that anyone who disagrees with the Staff recommendation should research and present arguments and options for the next meeting. Golf Board Minutes May 15, 2002 Page 3 Lauren thinks we should work through this with ideas for a substitute proposal. Grant basically agrees. He says we need to look at the big picture. Jerry says he has data to back up his recommendations. Mindy said our existing fee structure is a big improvement over previous systems. She advised not making changes overnight. After further discussion, Dave Johnson then made a motion to accept the Staff recommendation to continue with the status quo for 2003; but plan on a complete review for 2004/2005. Manuel Jiminez seconded the motion. Motion passed (6:1:1) with Claire Nelms voting no, and Frank Blanco abstaining. 2002 "Fort Collins Fore Kids" Event Mike Goff, City Park Nine Golf Professional, will host "Fort Collins Fore Kids" because of construction at Collindale. There will be a morning session for the younger kids, and an afternoon session for the older kids. Sessions will be limited to 100 per session. Registration Fee for the clinic is $2.00. Mike reminded the Board that the reason we decided on the fee was to eliminate repeat players since this event is for beginners, and the second reason for the fee is for commitment to the program as we have had no-shows in the past. Registration is only being taken at City Park Nine Golf Course. We will provide goodie bags and refreshments. The clinic will be held Tuesday. June 11. Lunch will not be included. Claire Nelms volunteered to help. Bill Rutledge thinks it's important for Board members to be at the clinics. Mike will supervise the whole clinic. Professional staff from all three courses will be there to teach and supervise. Mindy Markley is pleased with the progress of the clinic. She likes to have kids take an interest in golf. She is proud of the program and thanked the Board for continuing it. She then made a contribution of $200.00 for the program. Jerry thanked Mindy, and then noted that CSU football coach Sonny Lubick may come to give a talk of encouragement to the participants. Board Members and Staff Comments • In a response to a question from Frank Blanco, as of May 1, we have sold 403 Annual Passes. • The June Board Meeting will be held at City Park Nine Golf Course at 7:30 p.m. Board members are invited to play golf at 3:30. Dinner will be served an hour before the meeting. • Larry Buckendorf wants to know why grass at SouthRidge is so bad. Jerry says we used raw water that had been contaminated. We are putting chemicals on it, which should clean it up. • Grant Sherwood wants to know if we'll have water rationing. Jerry said that the City Manager has asked us to be conservative with water use. We are watering almost exclusively at night. The City has a two-year supply of water. Primary areas for watering are greens, tees, and fairways. We do not use treated water on the courses. Golf Board Minutes May 15, 2002 Page 4 Collindale and SouthRidge each hold a three-day supply of water in their lakes. City Park Nine shares water with Grandview Cemetery and City Park. Jerry does not think we'll have severe restrictions, but doesn't know what will happen later if the drought continues. • Lauren DeRosa wants to know why there are different charges for buckets of range balls at the different courses. Jerry said that the three golf professionals are independent contractors. Mike Goff says it depends on the size of the buckets and number of balls they contain. Generally, we all charge between 8 to 10 cents per ball. • Bill Rutledge wants to know if Jerry is going to the meeting in Denver on goose management. He also wanted to know if anyone else from the City is going to the meeting in Denver. Jerry said he is going but is not sure about others. • Frank Blanco wants to know what defines a golf round. Jerry said it is defined by one person who tees off in an authorized "start" on a regulation golf course. The Round is not defined by the number of holes played or the fees paid. Adjournment Lauren De Rosa moved the meeting be adjourned. Grant Sherwood seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously (8:0) to adjourn at 9:05 p.m. Meeting Attendance Board Members Frank Blanco Larry Buckendorf Lauren DeRosa Manuel Jimenez Dave Johnson Claire Nelms Bill Rutledge Grant Sherwood Respectfully submitted, Patty C oll Administrative Aide Staff Jerry P. Brown Patty Carroll Mike Goff Kevin Wilcox Guests Henry Fry Mindy Markley Mike Wermuth