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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 08/15/2001City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of August 15, 2001 City Council Liaison to the Board: Councilman Bill Bertschy Staff Support to the Board: Jerry P. Brown, Manager of Golf, at 221-6350, and Jackie Rael, Executive Administrative Assistant Call Meeting to Order: Chairperson Mike Sanders called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. at the Collindale Clubhouse. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Items of Note: Jerry P. Brown noted the following: • Board Member Bill Rutledge called to say he was unable to attend tonight's meeting. • Councilman Bill Bertschy was unable to attend the meeting tonight because of travel for work. • The grand opening of the 215 North Mason Street building will be tomorrow, August 16, from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. • Calendars: The Annual Board Appreciation event will be held on Sunday, December 2, at a 1:30 p.m. reception followed at 3:00 p.m. by the Michael Martin Murphy Christmas Concert at the Lincoln Center. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Tom White, seconded by Karen Joslin-Aured, the Board voted unanimously (8-0) to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of July 18, 2001. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation. iut on Potentially Extending the Term Greer th Collindale l Jerry P. Brown gave a background on the process. He said that Jim Greer has been our contract Golf Professional for the past five years at Collindale Golf Course. The City contracts the golf professional and concessionaire at all three golf courses. The City of Fort Collins employs all golf maintenance personnel. In Jim's Agreement of December 10, 1996, it states that if approved by public process and City Council, the Agreement may be extended for up to five additional years, with a review every year. Staff feels that Jim has done an excellent job as our head professional at Collindale. The Board voted unanimously at their last month's meeting (7/18/01) to go forth with the process to extend Jim's agreement. Mike Sanders opened the floor to comments from the public regarding Jim Greer and his performance as golf professional at Collindale. Mike Mosiman said that he has known Jim since Golf Board Minutes August 15, 2001 Page 2 he was golf professional at City Park Nine and he highly recommends Jim's contract be extended. Wil Stutheit said that he submitted his comments in writing in favor of Jim's contract being extended. Claire Nelms said that the Board discussed this last month and felt no other discussion was necessary. On a motion by Byrd Curtis, seconded by Claire Nelms, the Board voted unanimously (8-0) to recommend to City Council to extend Jim Greer's agreement as Golf Professional at Collindale Golf Course. Karen Joslin-Aured said that on a junior golf note she feels very comfortable with Jim Greer and his staff. Mike Sanders added that Jim has a continued commitment for the Fort Collins Fore Kids Day and he said he looks forward to working with him in the future on this program. Public Input/Comments and Review of the Proposed Collindale Clubhouse Replacement Project and Proposed Surcharge Fee Increase Jerry gave a background of this project. He said that the Golf Board started talking about replacing the clubhouse in the early 1990's and in the mid-90's the Board spoke to City Council at a Study Session regarding capital improvements to our golf courses and requested that they consider placing these requests on the next round of capital improvements taxes. Council chose to not include any golf items in the Building Community Choices package. At that time they told the Board that Golf needed to be fully self-supporting. We then obtained $2.255 million in Certificates of Participation (COP's) debt financing to make capital improvements such as the irrigation systems at both Collindale and SouthRidge, and many other improvements that have been made at the golf courses. In 1998 we added a surcharge which is now $1 for 9 holes and $2 for 18 holes to pay the annual principal and interest costs for these capital improvements. The Clubhouse was not included in that group of capital improvements. In 2000, several Board members and staff toured newly constructed public clubhouses in the Front Range and gathered information for a new clubhouse. Board members Henry Fry and Karen Joslin-Aured, City Project Manger Steve White, Collindale Concessionaire Kevin Wilcox, Collindale Golf Professional Jim Greer, Collindale Golf Course Superintendent Doug Evans, along with Manager of Golf Jerry P. Brown, served as the committee for review of the architects. The City then hired Vaught -Fry architects of Fort Collins to design a building with the criteria that was a consensus from the committee, staff, and golfers input. The architects then projected the cost at $2,650,000. The Board has conceptually agreed on these steps as we have gone through this process. We will ask the City Council to issue another COP's and we would like to proceed from this point. This estimate would cost the Golf Fund approximately $220,000 a year. A portion of SouthRidge's debt payment that will be available after 2002 of approximately $80,000 annually can also be dedicated to this payment for the Clubhouse. We will ask the City Manager to approve raising new Surcharge Fees for this project ($1 for 9 holes and $2 for 18 holes). Jerry explained the Development Review Process that would mandate that we construct a sidewalk along Horsetooth for connectivity of sidewalks. The Transportation Department will work with us to plan a sidewalk. The sidewalk issue will be reviewed by the City's Planning Department separately from the Collindale Clubhouse Project. As far as the snack bar is concerned, we will not be competing with local restaurants. We are building a facility to serve Golf Board Minutes August 15, 2001 Page 3 the golfers and their associations, along with the City tournaments, and other toumaments/events. Citizen Tom Brower asked if all the bids are over the proposed $2,650,000, what do we do? Steve White said that we could go to the contractor that is most preferred and ask what we can do to refine the scope of work within our budget. He said it is done often and is called "Value Engineering". Jerry Stahmer said he wrote a letter to the Editor that was published. He is opposed to spending the $2.6 million and is not concerned about the $1 increase in fees, but he is concerned about no public input for a smaller building and we have been given one choice and that is 14,000 square feet. What could be done for a lesser cost? He thinks we could build something suitable for less money. Wil Stutheit said his concerns are what do we need? Has the Board done a needs assessment? As an example, how many people do we serve in food and drinks at our golf course? How many people use our locker rooms? This is a 20-year project, what happens if something goes sour where does the money come from then? Tom Brower said he lives on SouthRidge's first fairway. The question of parking problems at SouthRidge continues. We still need parking and that is a substantial expense. He suggests that the City build a tunnel to the park and have the golfers park in the park. SouthRidge charges more and we need an equalization on a level playing field. Why do we pay more to golf at SouthRidge? We need a new clubhouse at Collindale, however there are other projects we need to do, such as the parking at SouthRidge. Cut this project down and put money in other places. Mike Mosiman said he likes the idea of what we are doing with the Collindale Clubhouse. His concern is Junior golfers can't play at SouthRidge on the weekends without paying more and he hopes that is not going to be the case at Collindale. He thinks Collindale is the home of Fort Collins Golf. He thinks we need a clubhouse that represents the course. Jim Weiser said he supports the Collindale Clubhouse Replacement and it is needed for the future. Yes, it will take 20 years to pay it off, and the Board needs to take this project forward and he is proud of this course and agrees with Mike Mosiman that this is the home course. This is needed for camaraderie and a place to come together. Yes, it is $2.6 million and we need to be progressive. Charles Scheinost has been golfing here for five years, and the clubhouse is very needed. It is over crowded and is needed for the golfers. We are a modem city and this clubhouse does not represent Fort Collins. We hold many state tournaments here and we need a better clubhouse with more space. Henry Fry who is no longer a Golf Board member said he participated in the design of the clubhouse at the request of the Board. There are only a few "day -use" lockers in each of the locker rooms and there is only one shower in each. We also need lockers for club storage for the Junior's as well as for people who come here directly from work. Golf Board Minutes August 15, 2001 Page 4 Barney Jensen said he has been a Fort Collins resident since 1969 and has played here since it was constructed. He is in support of the clubhouse and the only disagreement he has is the sidewalk. He gives the project 100 percent of his support. Kurt Mackey said he lives at SouthRidge and they enjoy the clubhouse at SouthRidge after golfing and we are missing something at Collindale. We need something here and the new clubhouse is it. It would be interesting to see how much money is generated at SouthRidge at the clubhouse. Fort Collins is a classy town and we need a new clubhouse. He appreciates the Board's hard work on this project. Mike Sanders then closed the citizen participation and opened it up for the Board's comments. Mike explained that we are an advisory board and we can make a recommendation to City Council. He said it appears that we can afford this project and we will have the money to build this facility. If we wait, it will cost more. The Board thus far feels that the value is there and it does make a statement for the City. The cost of keeping this building on life support is getting very expensive. Karen Joslin-Aured said that she has been involved as a committee member for this project. She had a tour of this facility and realizes that this clubhouse is needed. The comments she has read she wants to address, including that to rebuild this existing 7,700 square foot building could cost up to $1.6 million. The new clubhouse will not be plush nor will it have a country club atmosphere. Once we do increase our options for the restaurant we should have more return to the City. Byrd Curtis is concerned that there are no alternatives seen and we should consider alternatives. Do we know how much more maintenance we will incur at the new facility and how much extra will that cost? Mike Sanders said that the COP's program requires that we have the first year paid ahead of time. In essence each year we need to keep a reserve up front for one year. We have a projected $213,000 in reserves in 2002. The Collindale Clubhouse Replacement is the last big project we have on the horizon. Since 1971, there was not one dollar set aside for the replacement of this project. We didn't prepare for this 30 years ago, so we are faced with it now. Also in the COP's program we need to have a dedicated source of funding. The $1 and $2 increase is needed and in the future if there is sufficient flow of revenue we might not have to increase the basic fees annually if we feel we have sufficient reserves. Frank Blanco asked if we have excess revenue could we also reduce the fees for the annual pass cardholder? Mike said it would be possible if this Board felt it was necessary due to excess revenues. Brian Cobb said our rates are very competitive in the Front Range and the quality of our courses is excellent. He also believes Collindale is the core of golf in our community. It doesn't seem appropriate with the image of our course and our lousy clubhouse. We need a clubhouse that is inviting and comfortable and this is not a very welcoming clubhouse. L Golf Board Minutes August 15, 2001 Page 5 Claire Nelms said that City Council needs to approve this after we recommend it to them and she would like a little more time to think about it. Jerry said that we have already met with the City Council Finance Sub -Committee, and they have agreed that it would be a good project. Brian said that he is concerned about Mike Mosiman's comment about kids paying more on weekends at SouthRidge. Jerry said annual passes at SouthRidge is another subject and we will discuss that later this year. We have to raise $2.2 million every year and therefore we need to balance it out. Jerry said that as long as he is Manager of Golf, the kids will not pay more on the weekends to golf at Collindale and City Park Nine. Manny Jimenez said one citizen questioned an additional course in Fort Collins. Jerry said that a new golf course could cost between $5 million to $8 million, and it should not he totally a burden by the golfers. Mike said that there are private developers working on private golf courses in the community. By 2005, he thinks there will be an additional public access golf course. There being no further discussion, Mike asked for a motion regarding the continuation of the clubhouse process. On a motion by Brian Cobb, seconded by Tom White the Board voted to go forth with the plans to recommend that City Council borrow $2,650,000 to replace the existing Collindale Clubhouse, and recommend that the City Manager raise the fees $1/9 holes and $2/18 holes. The Board voted 5:1:2 to approve the motion. Mike Sanders, Brian Cobb, Karen Joslin- Aured, Manuel Jimenez, and Tom White voted for the recommendation. Byrd Curtis voted no. Frank Blanco and Claire Nelms abstained. Other Business • Jerry reported that we finished Phase I of the City Park Nine netting project. • The new maintenance storage building at Collindale should be done by the end of the month. The bid for the SouthRidge Basement/Patio & Pavilion Project should be next week. • Our Collindale Concession received an Excellent report from the Larimer County Health Department which is the first Excellent we have received in at least the past 22 years. • Jerry explained that the financing for the Collindale Clubhouse Project will be presented to City Council next week August 21 on their consent calendar. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully subm' ed, / ckie Rael Executive Administrative Assistant Golf Board Minutes August 15, 2001 Page 6 Meeting Attendance Board Members: Frank Blanco, Brian Cobb, Byrd Curtis, Manuel Jimenez, Karen Joslin- Aured, Claire Nelms, Mike Sanders, Tom White Staff: Jerry P. Brown, Randy Bonneville, Mike Enright, Jack Gianola, Jim Greer, Jackie Rael, Dale Smigelsky, Steve White, and Kevin Wilcox Guests: Jerry Stahmer, Wil Stutheit, Tom Brower, John Hess, Sean Duff, Robert Turner, Dwain Bloyer, Ted Borstad, Charles Scheinost, Larry Scheinost, Pat Fry, Doug Anderson, Glen Joachins, Barney Jensen, Henry Fry, John Knudsen, Kurt Mackey, Mike Mosiman, Orville Riddle, Jim Weiser, Frank Vaught, and Wayne Linton. (Note: Approximately one dozen people chose not to sign an attendance sheet.)