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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 01/08/2020Golf Board TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) January 8, 2020 6:00 PM 413 South Bryan Avenue 01/08/20 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER  James Penland called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM 2. ROLL CALL  Board Members Present o Michael Hardisty o Ross Liggett o Bob Pawlikowski o James Penland o Tom Rock  Staff Members Present o Emily Frare o Jim Higgins o Matt Magley o Scott Phelps o Valerie Van Ryn o Dawn Worth 3. AGENDA REVIEW No Changes to the Agenda 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION o Kathy Meyer & Jon Schmunk attended the meeting as citizens. They will both be reappointed to the Golf Board the end of January. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On a motion by Bob Pawlikowski, seconded by Ross Liggett, the Board voted (5:0) to approve the December 11, 2019 Minutes. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS  2019 Annual Report On a motion by Ross Liggett, seconded by Bob Pawlikowski, the Board voted (5:0) to approve the 2019 Golf Board Annual Report. BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 01/08/20 – MINUTES Page 2  Collindale Concessionaire RFP Scott informed the Board that they are working on finalizing the contract with CB & Potts. He mentioned that Potts is implementing a new business plan. They are continuing to balance between regular patrons and golfers. Scott said they are exploring a more fast and casual dining approach. He will update the Board at their February meeting.  Southridge Superintendent Scott reminded the Board that Brent Johnson moved back to Collindale as the Superintendent, after the retirement of Doug Evans. This then created a vacancy for the Southridge Superintendent position. So far, we have received 76 applications. Scott plans to interview 15 candidates over the phone and plans to narrow it down to 5 in person interviews. He mentioned that Ken Smith & Josh Evans are currently splitting the Southridge Superintendent responsibilities with his assistance. Scott will inform the Board at their February meeting.  Irrigation RFP We received 4 proposals for the RFP and have held our first set of interviews for the irrigation design. Scott reminded the Board that the city has a Biennial Budget, so the irrigation systems are part of our 2021-2022 BFO offer. Michael asked if we are considering adding other projects to our offer. Scott stated that we are only focusing on the irrigation systems at this time. Michael feels this would be a good opportunity to fund other projects as well. Scott said he isn’t certain what our bond capacity is. He mentioned that we may be teaming up with other departments to get a better interest rate. 7. NEW BUSINESS  City Park Nine Matt Magley, City Park Nine Golf Professional, reviewed his staff. He mentioned that in the future he would like to hire a female teaching professional and possibly a restaurant manager. Matt then reviewed their 2019 events. He said they had a very successful Junior Golf Academy. In 2018 60 kids attended and they had 83 attendees in 2019. Their goal by 2021 is to have 180 kids attend the summer camps. Matt stated that they are going to plan their course events so that they do not interfere with the school practices. Matt and his staff went to Bauder Elementary for a program called PGA in Schools. They taught for 4 days giving 11 lessons, to over 260 students. Matt reviewed their league rounds and said they are starting a new league in 2020 that will be open to everyone. They held 7 tournaments and events at City Park Nine. So far, they have 3 events scheduled for 2020, October Spooktacular, Southridge Gorillas League Outing and an off-season disc golf event. Matt said they are hoping to have multiple disc golf events in the off season. He explained that this is a huge off-season event because BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 01/08/20 – MINUTES Page 3 they play even if the course is covered in snow. Matt also mentioned that the events are shorter than a golf event. Having food trucks at the course was well received. Matt would like to make the kitchen full service, but he needs to determine if it’s a wise investment. Until then, he is going to investigate purchasing a vent less pizza oven. Matt and his staff are excited for the 2020 season. James Higgins, City Park Nine, Superintendent, mentioned that he is very fortunate to have such great staff. He reminded the Board that Randy Conard moved to Collindale to be the Assistant Superintendent. Ralph Miller was then hired as the Assistant Superintendent for City Park Nine. James also mentioned that Casey moved to Collindale as well and Patrick McGowan was hired to fill that vacancy. Jim showed slides of their 2019 projects and reviewed their plans for 2020. 2020 projects: o Continue efforts to reduce worm casings on the Fairways o Continue improving cart path areas and traffic control o Work to improve the turf conditions on tee areas o Take advantage of new grinding equipment o Continue to provide an exceptional and affordable golf experience Jim stated that they are always focusing on safety. Jim and his staff are looking forward to the 2020 season.  2020 Golf Marketing Plan Valerie reviewed the 2020 Marketing Plan. She mentioned that they are reviewing everything and determining how to best utilize funds. They are also looking at ways to better market the course brands. She mentioned that they are looking into printing a tear away coupon in the Recreator. She said the Recreator has a large number of subscribers, so this will be a good way to get a coupon out. Valerie said they are also going to put a coupon in with the Fort Collins Utility bills. This will also reach a large group of individuals. She stated that they are looking into the Golf Passport for next year, to reach those outside of our regular market. Ross mentioned that Avid Golfer works well in his experience. Valerie said she’s considered looking into Groupon, but she wasn’t certain if that would be beneficial. Ross mentioned that he doesn’t think many people utilized Groupon much anymore, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to do so during the slow times. Valerie informed the Board that we have already sent out 2 newsletters, which have been well received. We have over 1,000 subscribers for the newsletter and we are hoping to reach out to more subscribers. She explained that Jared is pulling email addresses from GolfTrac. Ross mentioned the importance of the Pro Staff gathering email addresses for us to grow our email database so we can reach out to as many golfers as we can. He suggested to also encourage golfers to book online to grow the list. Valerie said they are BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 01/08/20 – MINUTES Page 4 are also thinking about running a promotion as an incentive for providing an email address. She said the Bogey Bart videos will be out soon. She reminded the Board that Bogey is an exaggerated character that shows you what not to do on the courses. Valerie mentioned that they are currently working on securing partnerships. Scott informed the Board that we have implemented a Birdie Alliance program. This program is available to those who have purchased a Super Pass. They will receive 2 complementary 18-hole rounds at Flatirons and Boomerang or Highland Hills and 1 complementary 18-hole round at Estes. Valerie mentioned that they have been proactive in working with the Golf Pros to update the events calendar, so we can work on promoting events sooner. Bob asked if we are doing anything to promote to more diverse groups. Valerie feels this is something that we should think about while we are developing new promotional pieces. 8. FINANCIAL UPDATES/ROUNDS REPORTS Scott mentioned that we will have the final 2019 financial Statement in February. There were no rounds in December. 9. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS  Update Water Shortage Effort Scott provided the Board with a copy of the Updated Water Shortage Response Plan. 10. OTHER BUSINESS  Board Reimaging Michael informed the Board that the next meeting will take place on February 24. He suggested that the Board review the Mission and By Laws to determine how the Golf Board can be more affective. Michael doesn’t believe it would be beneficial for the Golf Board and Recreation Board to combine because the Golf Division is an Enterprise Fund, they don’t receive General Fund money. Scott mentioned that the actual decisions Council will be making regarding this will be later this year.  Strategic Plan Initiatives Scott explained that the Strategic Plan is the way that we link to the BFO offers. Council is currently working on the 2020-2021 Plan and it will be adopted on the 25th of February. He reviewed the Strategic Plan that Golf is currently linking it’s BFO offers to. We will link our intent for a bond to fund the irrigation system renovation to the Environmental Plan and Sustainability aspects of the new Strategic Plan. Scott said we are also linking to 2.1, which includes diversity, inclusivity & accessibility. We are just starting the BFO process. Once Council approves the Strategic Plan we will have our orders set for what we need to be working towards. Michael was inquiring about the 10- year Strategic Plan for Parks & Recreation. He is concerned that Golf isn’t mentioned much in that Plan and feels that it would be beneficial for Golf to have a more BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 01/08/20 – MINUTES Page 5 sophisticated 10-year Strategic Plan. Scott said he would discuss this with Mike, to see if Golf has had their own Strategic Plan in the past. 11. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by James Penland, seconded by Ross Liggett, the Board adjourned at 8:00.