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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 03/21/2007City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of March 21, 2007 Council Liaison to the Board: Councilman Diggs Brown Staff Support to the Board: Jerry P. Brown, Manager of Golf at 221-6350, and Dawn Worth, Administrative Aide at 416-2265 Call Meeting to Order: Chairperson David Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. at the SouthRidge Clubhouse. Agenda Review: No changes to the Agenda as printed. Items of Note: ♦ Grant Sherwood called and said that he wasn't sure if he would be able to attend the meeting. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Jay Kammerzell, seconded by Dan Preble, the Board unanimously (8:0) approved the Minutes of the February 21, 2007 Regular Meeting. Citizen Participation: None Discussion: SouthRidee Golf Club Updates A. Restaurant/Snack Bar — Rob Dahl, Concessionaire Rob reminded the Board that his contract was up for renewal last year and as part of his bid he said that he would like to do some remodeling to the club house. He felt that this winter was a good time to start because of the weather. Rob then informed the Board of his changes. He said that the kitchen is not going to be part of the remodeling. Dan Preble asked if the changes increased the capacity. Rob said that the seating at the bar will go from 7-18 and that the dining area will go from 40-48. Deron Grothe asked if he was keeping the same tables and Rob said that the tables and chairs will be new. He said that he is also putting in some flat -screen televisions and new ceiling fans. Larry Buckendorf asked if Rob was paying for all of the construction costs and Rob informed the Board that he is paying for the costs upfront and the City will reimburse that money as an in -kind contribution towards his lease annually. Rob continued to discuss the changes. He said that he will have a new cooler installed, flagstone on the pillars and new carpet. Rob mentioned that he would like to be able to install more shade on the patio. Jay Kammerzell asked if he was putting money towards security and Rob said that there would be some cameras installed. Jay asked about installing a stronger door. Rob said Golf Board Minutes March 21, 2007 Page 2 that he is installing some decorative iron on the outside of the door and adjacent window to make it more difficult to break. He also said that we will also have a loud indoor alarm. Shane Houska asked when Rob would be open and Rob said late next week. He also stated that he has had the beverage cart out on weekends during the construction. B. Course Maintenace — Randy Bonneville, Superintendent Jerry reminded the Board that during the February meeting someone came to speak about the condition of the course at SouthRidge. He stated that the maintenance staff was installing a pump system today which will help with some of the issues. Jerry also stated that the staff does their best with the funding they have. Randy informed the Board that he has been the Superintendent of this course since the early 1980's, prior to the City taking it over. He informed the Board that we have problems with the water quality in Fossil Creek, which is responsible for around 90% of our problems. He explained that the water isn't perforating through the soil like it should so he aerates more than the other courses. Jerry informed the Board that at one time there had been a 35 acre lake reservoir across the street that had served agriculture interests for many years. When the City purchased the land for a park site SouthRidge was going through the process of being approved by the City and we had anticipated on using the lake water for irrigation. There was then a dam disaster that occurred in the mountains so the State of Colorado decided to conduct a dam inspection on the dams in Colorado. Unfortunately the dam at Portner Reservoir didn't pass. The City felt it would cost too much to bring it up to standards so we lost the lake. Randy also said that the trees are affected by the poor water quality. He stated that money limitations are also an issue. Randy said that we spend about $15,000 a year for sprinkler system maintenance. Larry asked how much we spent on the Collindale irrigation system and Jerry said it was around $1.4 million. Randy said the current system will likely last us 20 more years but we are going to have to pay to keep it working correctly. He said that the new pump system we are installing is more energy efficient so we're hoping to save more money there yearly on electricity. He stated that the cost of water and utilities has continued to increase over the years and that makes it difficult to fund maintenance. Randy said that storm water in the area runs adjacent to the #10 fairway. Randy explained that the storm drain is managed by the Fort Collins Storm Drainage Department. He has discussed moving it with them but they feel that it isn't necessary. He said that basically the area receives the run-off of the streets and homeowners. Jerry said that the ditch on #4/5 fairways also leaks a little. He explained that the ditch isn't ours so we don't have control over it either. Jay asked if this area had irrigation wells since it was once a farming area and Randy said no. He said that we use a wetting agent to help the water soak into the course. Randy said that Fossil Creek Park, which is across the street from SouthRidge, is also having issues with their grass. Lauren DeRosa asked if there were any issues with snow mold and Randy said that there aren't any major issues. Jay asked if we could get GOCO funding and Jerry informed the Board that the GOCO funding the City receives goes primarily towards open space and trails, as per City Council direction. Golf Board Minutes March 21, 2007 Page 3 C. Pro Shop/Operations — Dale Smigelsky, PGA, Golf Professional Dale stated that the staff at SouthRidge works very well together. He mentioned that tournaments are still low because of the loss in high-tech jobs around the area and that we lost a couple of tournaments to Ptarmigan. Dale said that we are doing well setting up leagues and that we have 27 leagues for the year. There was then some general discussion. Preliminary Discussion: Staff Proposed Golf Fees and Charees for 2008/2009 Jerry stated that he was hoping that we would not have to increase our fees in 2008. He reminded the Board that we have increased our 18-hole rates the past three years. Last year we raised our 18-hole rate to $29.00 and we raised the Annual Passes $50.00. Jerry said that he has been looking at the 18-hole rates across Colorado and he has found that $29.00 is on the low end. He informed the Board that we discussed this at our monthly Golf Staff Meeting today and there were some mixed feelings about us increasing our rates. However, everyone did agree that expenses like water, fuel and utilities have risen every year and that makes things difficult for us so it may help to raise the fees. We have also been postponing or reducing equipment acquisitions for the past few years. David Johnson asked if we had to make our recommendations by May. Jerry said that it needs to be submitted to the City Manager by May 25`h, but if we needed to make a change then we could possibly do so by August. David suggested that we wait until later to discuss it. Larry Buckendorf suggested that the Board discuss it tonight since May is only two months away. Larry asked how much we lost due to the winter weather. Jerry said that we lost around $80,000. He stated that we may be able to make up that loss with the increases we made for 2007, assuming the weather remains nice. Larry stated that he is not opposed to a fee increase. He said that we have worked hard to keep our prices fair and in his opinion we provide the best value in Colorado. Shane Houska asked if it would help to tier the prices. Jerry said that historically golfers do not appreciate that. Lauren DeRosa said that we need to consider the fact that the operating expenses are costing more. Jay Kammerzell was concerned that younger players may not be able to play if we increase our fees. David stated that we have made an effort to get everyone on the courses. Larry asked what the total revenue would be for the year if we made a $1.00 increase? Jerry said that it could be around $100,000. Larry feels that we should increase it more than a $1.00. Shane feels an increase would help with the demand for course improvements. Larry stated that we don't have the large reserves that we used to have. Jerry said if we did have more in reserves it would be nice to consider restrooms at SouthRidge. Shane asked Randy Bonneville how important he felt it was to have restrooms. Randy said that course improvements takes priority but he feels that having restrooms may attract/keep more players, especially women. David stated that the only reason we were able to buy some equipment this year is because he have held off for so many years. Jerry said that he would put a proposal together for fee increases and we would discuss it during the April meeting. Golf Board Minutes March 21, 2007 Page 4 Election of Officers Jerry noted that David Johnson is currently the Board Chairperson, Deron Grothe is the Vice -Chairperson and Grant Sherwood is the Board Secretary. Jay Kammerzell asked David and Deron if they were interested in being reappointed and they both said that they were. On a motion made by Jay Kammerzell, seconded by Lauren DeRosa, the Board unanimously voted (8:0) to re-elect the three officers. Other Business ♦ Jerry informed the Board that David McCleave was elected into the University Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame. ♦ He reminded the Board that the "Fort Collins Fore Kids" will be held on Tuesday, June 5 h and he would like to have at least three Board members present. ♦ Jerry said that he has been trying to promote more play at Collindale and has purchased a coupon in ValPak, Quality Connections, and one with a White Water Rafting company. Adjournment: On a motion by Eric McCrery, seconded by Lauren DeRosa, the Board unanimously voted (8:0) to adjourn at 8:17 p.m. Meetine Attendance Board Members Larry Buckendorf Lauren DeRosa Deron Grothe Shane Houska David Johnson Jay Kammerzell Eric McCrery Dan Preble pectf illy submi ed, Dawn Worth Administrative Aide Staff Jerry P. Brown Randy Bonneville Rob Dahl Pat Finnegan Dale Smigelsky Dawn Worth Guests Matt Brenn