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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 01/16/2002City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of January 16, 2002 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 7:10 p.m. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda Items of Note: • Mike Sanders welcomed the new Board Members Dave Johnson and Larry Buckendorf. Dave said that he started golfing in 1980. He has been a golf professional since 1992. Larry is a native of Colorado and is a developer/builder. He plays golf mostly at SouthRidge. The other Board Members and staff then introduced themselves. • Brian Cobb called to inform staff and the Board that he may have a conflict in attending these meetings as he is teaching a class at CSU that is scheduled on Wednesday nights. Also, Frank Blanco called to say that he would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. • Jerry noted that the Work Plans for the City's Boards and Commissions are available for review if anyone is interested. • Board Members Attendance for 2001 — Jerry distributed the Board's 2001 Attendance Report for informational purposes only. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Bill Rutledge, seconded by Claire Nelms, the Board unanimously approved the Minutes of the November 14, 2001 Regular Meeting. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation Review and Approval of the Golf Board's 2001 Annual Report Jerry explained that the City Council requires that all Boards and Commissions submit an annual report for the prior year by the end of January. Jerry prepared the report as compiled from the minutes of the meetings of 2001. Mike Sanders reviewed the highlighted items in the report. On a motion by Bill Rutledge, seconded by Mike Sanders, the Board voted to accept the annual report as submitted ( 4-0-1) with Larry Buckendorf abstaining Golf Board Minutes January 16, 2002 Page 2 Collindale Clubhouse Project Jerry said that we have been going through some difficulty with the entire Planning review and Finance processes. Also the Clubhouse project property is now owned by Fort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation. The target to get out to bid is the end of January. Bids will be back March 5 and we will pick a qualified contractor at that time. Contractor should start March 22 and we will relocate the clubhouse out to a trailer. Half of the parking lot will be down during construction. We are going to encourage carpooling if possible. The project should be completed by mid -November. The Pro Shop will operate out of a double -wide temporary trailer. Collindale Concessionaire Kevin Wilcox will operate out of the "Snack House" (residence) and will be able to run his business on a limited basis. There will be a small patio next to the trailer for concessions during this construction time, and we will operate at least two mobile food/beverage carts on the course during the prime play season. Citizen Charles Ogren asked if it would be possible to acquire more park benches? Jerry replied that we have discussed this with Parks and we will try to acquire as many benches and picnic tables as possible. Claire Nelms asked where the trailer will be located? Jerry replied that it will be just north and west of the 9d' tee. Mike Sanders requested that as we get into the project that Jerry go out to the site to see if there is a place for a tent. Citizen Henry Fry asked if there is any possibility of parking in the Maintenance Building area? Jerry said probably not, but that we will try to do the best we can. Jerry said he hopes that people will understand that it is only one golf season that the golfers will be inconvenienced. Henry asked if there is any possibility of using the northwest comer across the street from Collindale for parking? Jerry said that property is privately owned, and that he will try to contact that owner. However, a temporary parking lot is fairly expensive. Mike asked Jerry to think through the possibility of golfers using the maintenance area for overflow parking. Henry then asked if it would be possible to put off the project until the fall. Mike said that we would be paying interest on the borrowed money and that would amount to a significant amount of money. Jerry said staff discussed that possibility several months ago and decided against delaying the project any further for a variety of reasons. Larry Buckendorf asked about the supervision of the project? Jerry said that Steve White is the Project Manager from the City's Operation Services. Larry asked what the Board's involvement is from this point forward. Mike explained that the Board has a subcommittee that reviews elements of the project. Claire said that there should be a woman on the subcommittee for the Collindale Clubhouse since Karen Joslin-Aured resigned from this position. Mike said that Bill Rutledge was the designated alternate, as previously agreed to by the Board. Other Capital Projects — Jerry said the SouthRidge Golf Cart Storage/Patio/Restroom Project was the last project in the 1999 Certificates of Participation (COPS) money. We had $400,000 designated for this project. We have been working through this project for approximately 18 months. Everything was seemingly approved, however, in January we were informed by the City's Stormwater Utility Department that the new Flood Plain regulations and rain fall standards went into effect based on the 1997 flood as it related to the Fossil Creek Flood Plain. Therefore Golf Board Minutes January 16, 2002 Page 3 our project was designed in the new flood plain and this new policy stopped our project. We have since met with architects Aller-Lingle and have decided that we will now construct an above ground golf cart storage building. The architect is redesigning and we will bring it back to the Board for review. Also, the existing patio deck will be expanded rather than building a separated patio deck. The project will cost approximately $250,000. The remainder of the money will be used to complete Phase 2 of the netting at City Park Nine, improve the SouthRidge parking lot, and build a field restroom on SouthRidge. Bill Ruddege asked if the 1997 flood was a 100 year flood? Jerry said that it was a 50-year flood. Bill asked if the City is eligible for the Federal Insurance Flood Plan? Jerry said yes, but because of the 1997 flood losses at SouthRidge, the insurance costs would be extremely high. Proposed 2002 Fort Collins Fore Kids Event City Park Nine Golf Pro Mike Goff is in the planning processes of the 2002 "Fort Collins Fore Kids" Event. This event for beginners only will be held on Tuesday, June 11, at City Park Nine. Mike distributed a copy of the flyer we used last year. He met with Collindale Golf Pro Jim Greer and SouthRidge Golf Pro Dale Smigelsky, and they agreed that we need to reduce the number of kids to around 100 per session since we can't hold this event at Collindale this year. Mike explained that the golf pros all thought that a $2.00 registration fee should be charged per kid. This event is for beginners only. The golf pros will again provide the lessons. The golf pros also discussed not holding this event in 2002 because of the Collindale construction project and reinstating it at Collindale in 2003, so that we could accommodate more kids. We had over 300 kids last year and all agreed that was too many kids. Dale added that if the kids pre -register for $2 to $5 on a credit card, then they would be more serious about showing up. We should charge something for a commitment. Henry Fry said that if you limit it to computerized registration only, it makes it an elite socioeconomic group and you are eliminating the people who don't have a credit card or a computer. Claire Nelms suggested that they (the kids) bring their money to any of the three golf courses. Mike Sanders suggested that we make it at a single location to register, and agreed not to do the Internet registration. Should we change the registration to only 7 to 10 year old kids? Dave Johnson said that we'd have a problem with attention spans if we grouped all the kids together who are in vaned age groups. Mike Goff said that if we keep it to around 100 kids, it will be manageable at City Park Nine. All agreed to register the kids at City Park Nine only. Question was raised if we would gain anything if we used the registration money for a purpose? Jerry said that we could use it as a scholarship fund for kids who can't afford to pay for the "Fort Collins Fore Kids" event. Mike Goff said that snacks could be provided by the pros that will seek donations. The Board and Golf Pros agreed on the following: • Fort Collins Fore Kids (Boys and Girls) • Age: 7 to 12 years old • Event Date: Tuesday, June 11 from 8-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. • Registration fee will be $2 per kid • Registration limited to the first 100 kids • Name tag will be filled out when the kids register • Name tags will be worn during the event and color coded according to age brackets Golf Board Minutes ^ January 16, 2002 Page 4 • No lunch will be served — only snacks • Do not bring your clubs • Lessons will be provided by the Golf Pros and their staffs Claire doesn't think we should eliminate the 13-14 year olds. Dale said that the older kids would probably be the girls. He thinks it is worth it even if we get one or two girls introduced to the game of golf. We will continue to discuss this at another meeting. Fees and Charges Mike Sanders explained to the new Board members that tonight's discussion of 2003 fees and charges is informational only and in June/July we have our annual public meeting to receive input from the golfers. Mike further explained that our philosophy has been affordable golfing and a balanced budget. Jerry explained the structure of the fees and charges. We have a base fee for annual passes and we add a per play fee to mostly cover capital projects. The general cost of doing business is raised an average of 3-1/2 percent annually. The City of Fort Collins has a two-year budget cycle. We started alternating raising green fees one year and annual passes/golf cart rental fees the next year which averages to 7 percent (every two years). Our fees in comparison to other municipalities along the Front Range is in the lower 25% in Colorado. If a golfer plays more than approximately 30 to 40 rounds of golf, then an annual pass is the golfer's most economical deal. We have been asked that all three golf courses be included in the annual pass card. The debt service at SouthRidge ends in 2002. Should we include SouthRidge in the annual pass formula? In other words, do we add SouthRidge or not? Jerry explained that we break even at this point for our $2,200,000 budget. Do we increase other fees to include SouthRidge? Bill Rutledge said that if we don't change the policy, then they won't have to pay to not play at SouthRidge. Leave the policy as it is. He doesn't think it will be a problem with the golfing community. He thinks statue quo is the best way to go. Larry Buckendorf asked when rates are established? Mike said that recommendations are made in June -July. Mike further explained that this Board is an advisory board and can only recommend. The City Council is not involved in fees and charges as the fees are approved by the City Manager. Larry asked how the budget is balanced. Jerry establishes the budget based on direction from the City Manager, then we make a recommendation on the fees. We match revenue to expenditures and that has to be submitted to the City Manager in June. He then submits the entire City budget to the City Council in September and then the Council adopts the entire City budget by November 30. Jerry explained the SouthRidge debt to the new board members. Non prime -time golfers can use their passes at SouthRidge midday Monday through Thursday. Bill Rutledge explained it as City Park Nine and Collindale are grandfathered in with the annual passes and SouthRidge is not as it was turned over to the City to manage in 1991. Of the 500+ annual pass cardholders, we only have about one dozen or so complain about the restrictions at SouthRidge. Jerry said he would like to remain status quo on our fees. We will be discussing this further. Jerry said that there's a Golf Board Minutes January 16, 2002 Page 5 document in the new Board members packets regarding the fees and charges report submitted to City Council in late 1998. Other Business • Mike Sanders would like to host a social gathering of the Golf Board and staff and spouses at his house the last week in February (Friday, February 22). We will invite Byrd Curtis, Tom White, Henry Fry, and Karen Joslin-Aured (retired Board members), and City Manager John Fischbach and City Council Liaison Bill Bertschy. SECRETARY'S NOTE: Mike Sanders (after the January Board meeting) has requested that the February 20 Board meeting be moved to Friday, February 22, at 4:00 p.m. at the SouthRidge Golf Course Clubhouse. At that time the Board will review the SouthRidge Patio/Cart Storage Project, and at the conclusion of the meeting, go to Mike's house for a social gathering. Frank Jones called both Jerry P. Brown and Bill Rutledge regarding his concerns and making the City more aware of the Canada Goose droppings and the environmental health risks associated. Mr. Jones feels the inhalation is a hazard to the people working on the courses. The geese are a protective migratory bird. He is using scientific material provided by John Hopkins Hospital. Larry Buckendorf asked what the policy is for discussing agenda items prior to the meeting with other Board members? Jerry said legally if three or more Board members are together, it is considered a public meeting. Adjournment: On a motion by Dave Johnson, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 9:19 p.m. MeetingAttendance Board Members Larry Buckendorf Dave Johnson Claire Nelms Bill Rutledge Mike Sanders ctf dly submitte ac kaeI E cutive Administrative Assistant Staff Randy Bonneville Jerry P. Brown Rob Dahl Mike Goff Jim Greer Jackie Rael Dale Smigelsky Kevin Wilcox Guests Byrd Curtis Henry Fry Charles Ogren