Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 04/19/1995a CITY OF FORT COLLINS CULTURAL, LIBRARY, AND RECREATIONAL SERVICES GOLF BOARD CITY COUNCIL LIAISON TO THE BOARD: Councilman Bob McCluskey, Jr. STAFF SUPPORT TO THE BOARD: Jerry P. Brown, Manager of Golf and Alyce Nierman, Golf Division Secretary. MINUTES: Regular Meeting of April 19, 1995 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Golf Board President Henry Fry. Board Members Cindy Roper, Mindy Markley, and Armon Johannsen called to say they would be unable to attend tonight's meeting. AGENDA REVIEW: There were no changes to the printed agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: It was moved by Tom White and seconded by Mary Hodge that the minutes of the regular meeting of the Golf Board on March 1, 1995, be approved as presented. Motion passed (6:0) CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: There was no citizen participation. DISCUSSION: REVIEW OF POLICY ON GOLF STAFF USAGES AT CITY GOLF COURSES Frank Blanco asked how many employees this policy would encompass? Jerry P. Brown replied that this includes 22 seasonal City maintenance workers employed generally from March through October and 10.5 full-time employees; a total of 33 City Golf Division employees. Joe Nance stated he has 15 employees working for him at the peak of the season and has no volunteer workers. Jim Greer added that he has 12 to 13 workers at the peak of the season, includes two volunteers. Derek Cordova has a combination of volunteers and staff at SouthRidge. Jerry said he is not requesting acceptance of this policy tonight, but he would like to have a decision by the June Golf Board meeting to enable him to finalize the RFP package for bidding the City Park Nine Golf Pro. Jerry said this existing policy is acceptable to City staff. David Shands asked for a clarification on who this policy covers? It was replied that this includes all employees -- City and private sector concession workers. Jim Greer stated that City Park Nine has 2 to 4 rounds played per day, and Joe Nance said Collindale has 10 to 20 rounds played during a busy day. The number of rounds played is a combination of 9 and 18 holes. At SouthRidge, Derek's policy is more stringent in that he restricts staff play to two times per week. Tom DeGrand has no problem with the way the policy is written. Dale Smigelsky works with Joe at Collindale and feels the Board should also consider that the staff sees the course differently when they are playing a round. He further stated that Golf Board Minutes April 19, 1995 Page 2 a lot of people who work at the courses choose to work there for the added benefit of playing. Jerry added that we don't pay the highest wages, and this benefit helps draw return employees. Joe commented that if work was done strictly for the wages offered, we would be hiring and training a new crew each year. Dale added that we will get more quality people by offering golf privileges in addition to pay. Tom DeGrand asked if the free golf play is given a value and taken into consideration by the golf pro when they are compiling a bid proposal on a course? It was responded that this does influence a pro when he is putting together a bid proposal. We have tried to address this issue and offer a fair and reasonable option. Henry Fry remembered that in the past, games of golf were traded to people for work that the pro was obligated to provide under his contract. Henry would like to see some statement made on the number of work hours required before someone would receive this benefit. Frank Blanco asked if the course rangers fell under this, and if so how many hours do they work? Jim stated his rangers work a minimum of 32 hours during the week, plus any tournaments and putting away the golf cars at night. Henry Fry commented that the main reason for writing this policy was to have something on paper that can be used by the pros when making their bids. Joe Nance has been asked the question if an employee reaches the free play limit, are additional rounds at full green fees or reduced rates, and does 9 or 18 equal a round? Jerry made a management decision that the choice would be up to the employee whether they played 9 holes or 18 holes; each time they teed off it would be considered a round. Mary Hodge feels the benefit is clearly stated in the policy as to the number of free rounds, and there is no mention of discounted rounds. Henry suggested the policy wording should be changed from "rounds" to "times" (i.e., three times per week). It was asked by Mary Hodge if there is a problem with golf car usage by staff at the courses? Joe Nance informed those present that there are some hard feelings at Collindale about the way this policy is written. It is felt that it would be nice if the person playing with the staff member would also be allowed to ride in the golf car, and not place the employee in the position of having to ask for one-half of the golf car rental. Golf professionals at his course feel it is compromising to them if they have to collect money for one-half golf car use. David Shands observed that if the golf car is going out anyway, this policy appears a little strict. Joe stated he is bringing this item up tonight as it is an issue at Collindale at this time, but he is not necessarily asking the Golf Board to make a change. Citizen Louis Scharf observed that if the golf car was rented by a paying golfer, Joe would not care if this golfer sub -rented the golf car. Further, it seems the logical position is that if the golf car is rented for no fee, it can be Golf Board Minutes April 19, 1995 Page 3 sub -rented for nothing. Henry agreed stating that once the golf car is out on the course, it can't be rented to anyone else so we should let it be used. David Shands believes that if someone is entitled to a free golf car, it should be their decision who, if anyone, can ride along with them. Henry added that there should be some room for judgment calls by the management on site. Henry stated that someone would have a hard time convincing him that someone working in the snack bar should be receiving free golf car usage. David Shands observed that the snack bar needs an incentive to encourage the return of employees as much as the maintenance or pro shop areas. Jerry asked if the Board feels there should be a delineation between City employees, pro shop staff and snack bar staff? David Shands noted that it is tough for "Joe Public" to make the separation of City employee vs. pro shop staff or snack bar staff. In addition, he doesn't feel we need to make that big a deal of this issue. Frank Blanco feels the snack bar employees should be considered separately from the maintenance and pro shop staff. Henry Fry and Mary Hodge agreed with that position. Tom DeGrand wondered if there should be further breakdowns? Henry feels the benefit offered should be a little better for those employees with technical expertise (employees in maintenance or the golf pro shop). Tom White tends to agree with that position. Jerry will take the, comments from the minutes of tonight's meeting and rework the policy. DISCUSSION: PRELIMINARY 1996 BUDGET RULES AND STAFF PROJECTIONS/TRENDS An information packet was distributed with a cover memo stating the 1996 City Budget Manual has been distributed. The City Manager has the authority to establish the rules for budget preparation. Jerry reviewed the highlights and key dates in the development of the 1996 budget. October 17 is the date set for adoption by City Council of the 1996 fees and charges. This requires recommendation of the 1996 fees by the Golf Board by their September 13 meeting, and to meet this deadline, we will need to start no later than August. The recommended golf fees for 1996 would have to be set no later than October 1 for submittal to City Council. The 1996 target budget is set at a 3.3 percent increase over the 1995 base budget with the estimated total compensation increase for 1996 projected at 3.5%. The entire City Budget cannot exceed 5.8% for 1996 , (excluding the Utilities). The General Fund Administrative charges for 1996 is set at $47,507 (which represents an increase of 9.2%). The City Manager starts with 3.3% cap and as things develop through the year, they try to set the City budget right at the 5.8% limit. A further impact to the 1996 budget is the required amount to be set into an Emergency Reserve, which is Golf Board Minutes April 19, 1995 Page 4 set is 3°s of the 1995 adjusted revenues. Also in 1996, we will be assessed charges for raw water usage at all three courses. An additional impact to the 1996 Golf Division budget is the change in Jerry Brown's position to the Manager of Golf. This impacts the budget by adding an additional one-third of his annual salary and benefits for his position. Jerry had discussed this development with Henry Fry. Mary Hodge observed that since the Golf Board is forecasting more golf courses, it will definitely take a full-time position for the management of these courses. It was further pointed out by Jerry that there would now be time for him to visit the courses on a more regular basis to get one-on-one comments from the golfers. In addition, he will have additional time now to finalize outstanding projects. Additional pages reflects the figures from the preliminary audit by the Accounting Department. The revised 1994 figures left the Golf Fund in a position where we could use our own money and not dip into reserves. We will be starting 1995 with the $164,215 balance from 1994. This projects the Golf Fund will end 1995 with a balance of $103,493 to begin 1996. These funds could be kept in reserves, or we could keep the fees and charges the same for 1996, or we could raise the fees; however, all figures could change drastically if we end up with a bad year for 1995. We are not asking for a decision from the Golf Board at this time. This information is being shared with the Board so they can begin thinking about fees, etc. for 1996. The Board will need to decide what to recommend for capital purchases and the fees for 1996. Also, in May we will begin discussion of the fee structure. It has long been the focus (goal) of the Golf Board to have at least $100,000 set aside as reserve in case of a catastrophic event. Henry asked about the Emergency Reserve that we have been setting aside to meet Amendment 1 requirements? If there is $45,000 there, and it grows with interest every year, could this amount be used to reduce the $100,000 reserve amount established? Jerry replied yes, but the Golf Fund would first have to go through all of the Golf Fund budgeted funds before we could tap the emergency reserves set aside as a requirement by Amendment 1, and we would also have to go through our insurance coverage. Mary Hodge restated that we could not use these emergency funds until we actually reach a point where the Golf Fund has zero funds available anywhere else. It was reported that the capital projects list is not developed as yet, but generally we use the list from the previous year and subtract what has been acquired and start with remaining items on list. Jerry will be working with the course superintendents to develop additional items. Henry Fry stated one big item to review would be a Collindale Clubhouse renovation. Jerry stated that we Golf Board Minutes April 19, 1995 Page 5 are looking at a possible replacement of the Collindale Clubhouse after the year 2003. In 2002, we will be making the last payment on the SouthRidge debt, so in theory there is a lot that can be done with the unspent funds. OTHER BUSINESS -- Jerry distributed a memo from Mayor Azari to City Boards and Commissions asking for input or issues for presentation to City Council. Henry Fry commented that the Golf Fund was awarded $45,000; and Golf Fund reserves are $100,000 better than we originally projected. Board members concurred that no response to the Mayor's request was needed for 1996 at this time. -- David Shands asked Joe Nance how the driving range project at Collindale was coming along? Joe noted that the weather and the pump project have placed the driving range project a little behind. Dale Smigelsky stated the driving range will probably reach completion by the end of June. -- Frank Blanco noted that in the sale of annual passes in 1991 there were 646 passes sold and to date in 1995 there have only been 353 annual passes purchased. Jerry stated that we are down approximately 100 passes this year from the same point in time last year. However, we are still in the process of selling annual passes for 1995. Frank added that he will be looking very closely at these figures as he does not want to phase out senior pass purchasers because of per play fees. -- Mary Hodge asked about the safety nets or poles at City Park Nine Golf Course? Jerry stated the poles were damaged by the wind and will be replaced by a higher grade pole. The damaged poles were a loss of a couple hundred dollars. -- Henry Fry asked about the nets at Southridge? Randy Bonneville stated that we are ready to set up and replace the damaged nets, but at this time the weather is holding us back. -- David Shands asked about the Loveland survey on the automated tee reservation system? Frank Blanco has brothers and a nephew who golf in Loveland and do not like the automated reservations system. Mary Hodge has heard positive comments. Henry Fry has read that Loveland is trying to make changes whereby golfers could by-pass areas they don't need. The Golf Board will revisit the issue of a possible automated tee time reservation system in Fort Collins in August. Jerry restated that if we join with this system there would be a $25,000 annual cost. A couple of publications were brought to the attention of the Golf Board Minutes April 19, 1995 Page 6 Golf Board. The first being Fairways Magazine. Also noted was a new book listing places to play golf in Colorado. In addition, we just found out the Golf Courses will be allowed a one-half page free ad in the Recreator that will be distributed on May 3. This will afford another avenue to inform people of the junior golf programs in Fort Collins. -- The restroom improvements to meet the ADA requirements are almost complete at Collindale Clubhouse. Once this is completed Mindy, Joe, and Henry will advise on the decorating. Joe was told that whatever savings there was in the $25,000 budgeted amount for remodeling could be used to dress up the restrooms and for clubhouse improvements. -- Mary Hodge reported that the junior high schools in the Poudre R-1 district are supported by the golf program, and now have junior high golf clubs in the schools. There are teacher sponsors and kids come out to practice golf after school. On a motion from Mary Hodge and second by Tom White, the meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alyce Nierman, Secretary III Golf Division Meeting Attendance BOARD MEMBERS STAFF GUESTS Henry Fry Jerry P. Brown Larry Caldwell Frank Blanco Randy Bonneville Chuck Sanders Tom DeGrand Jim Greer Louis Scharf Mary Hodge Joe Nance David Shands Dale Smigelsky Tom White Alyce Nierman