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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 05/17/2000City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of May 17, 2000 City Council Liaison to the Board: Councilman Bill Bertschy Board Chairperson: Mike Sanders — 226.4545 (w) or 226.2627 (h) 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 7:30 p.m. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Items of Note: Board Members Karen Joslin-Aured and Frank Blanco called to say they would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. Jerry P. Brown noted that our former Golf Professional at City Park Nine and Collindale, the late Bill Metier, was recently named to the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. The Golf Fund has purchased a sponsorship for the Hall of Fame Golf Tournament. Jerry has information on the dinner at Glenmoor Country Club on June 12. If any Board members are interested, the cost is $100 for golf and dinner; $30 for dinner only. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Bill Rutledge, seconded by Byrd Curtis, the Board unanimously (5-0) approved the minutes of the Regular Meeting of April 19, 2000. Fort Collins Fore Kids Collindale's Golf Professional Jim Greer updated the Board on the Fort Collins Fore Kids event. He said so far we have 65 kids signed up at Collindale and the other two courses have about 10 each. Jim said we have quite a few young kids (7-8 years old). We are receiving many mail -in registrations. We will be able to accommodate up to 150 kids in each session. We will recruit teachers from the CSU Golf Team and our Golf staffs. Henry Fry asked if the afternoon kids get lunch served before they play? Jerry said a snack will be served mid -event. Henry will make up some buttons that the kids can have at the end of their session. Included in the Golf Board packets Mike Sanders said is an itemized list of donations we received this year plus last year's carryover balance, meaning we have $1,367.88 in the Fort Collins Fore Kids account. Golf Board Minutes May 17, 2000 Page 2 Collindale Golf Course Irrigation System Update Doug Evans, Collindale Superintendent, said that the project is nearly complete. The trenches are covered and seeded. We planned on having carts off the course until May 26, however, we decided against that because of the lost revenue. The seeded areas had to be wet and that made the course too wet and unacceptable. We let carts back on the course today. Some of the areas near some tee boxes and greens were in bad shape, therefore our crews sodded these areas. We will sod some other areas as we see need. Doug explained that staff will reseed during the summer, as is needed. At this time, some small areas are roped off. We have some funds remaining from the project and we spent some of the money on a cart path and we spent about $4,000 on sod. Doug thinks the course is in good condition considering what the course has gone through this winter. The contractor loaned us six of their employees to help lay the sod. Mike Sanders said the course looks good. Henry Fry asked when the sprinklers will be set? Doug said that the Toro representative will train staff next week on the new computerized system. Byrd Curtis asked if the sod was the expense of the contractor or the City? Doug said that the sod is a City expense of the project, and reiterated that the contractor gave us six workers to install the sod. Doug said that overall the project went very well. Land for A New Golf Course Jerry referred to a memo from Natural Resources Director Tom Shoemaker, where Tom said there is no Natural Areas land that would be appropriate for a new golf course. Jerry said basically Fort Collins does not allow for any parcels of property purchased for open lands to be used for traffic. The response from Mike Smith, Utilities Department, offered us the Resource Recovery Farm at I-25 and Prospect. We will look at that to see if that would be a possibility. Bill Rutledge asked if the Natural Resources Department owns any land that is in the flood plain as City Park Nine? He said that they have a closed mind on this. They allow the golf course to be used as a flood plain, but they are not interchangeable. Bill Rutledge asked about all the gravel ponds on Prospect? Jerry said that the policies that have been written for natural areas state that no development can occur on natural areas lands and no vehicles on the natural areas. Jerry said that the definition of open space and golf course is not the same. Mike Sanders said that on the private side, there is a developer interested in developing property at Lemay and Vine into a public golf course. This group has spoken to John Fischbach and said that they may need City water and they would keep the course open as a public course if they could negotiate with the City on water. However, Transportation is looking at that comer for a major highway improvement. If so, then there possibly won't be enough land to construct a golf course. The developer would like the Golf Board to endorse that the golf course could be developed on that land. Tom White asked how much land would be used for the improvements? Mike said that the design would fragment the land. Tom asked if the developer built houses instead, would there be enough water? Mike said there would be enough water for a residential development. On a motion by Henry Fry, seconded by Tom White, the Board unanimously (5- Golf Board Minutes May 17, 2000 Page 3 0) voted to write a letter to City Councilmember Bill Bertschy to encourage the City to allow for the construction of a public golf course at the corner of Lemay and Vine, if possible. Land Purchase at SouthRidge Jerry said that the negotiations to purchase additional land at SouthRidge failed. The seller wants over $800,000 and the appraisal came in at $380,000. The owner said they would give the City first right of refusal in the future should they decide to sell. Therefore, we will go to Plan B, which is our Alternate Golf Capital Improvement list. Alternate Golf Capital Improvements Jerry explained that we now need to concentrate on spending the remaining $910,000 on Alternative Golf Capital Improvements. Last August, he gave the Board a list of Golf Course Capital Improvement Projects to be considered in case the SouthRidge Land Acquisition failed. All of these Projects are listed in our Projected Five -Year Capital Improvement Program. This will start our preliminary discussions on which projects should be funded. These proposed projects are as follows: 1. SouthRidge Clubhouse Patio/Golf Cart Storage/Basement Remodel 2. SouthRidge Course Field Restroom 3. Collindale Maintenance Building Upgrades 4. Collindale Maintenance Area Paving and Clubhouse Parking Lot Repaving 5. Protective Netting at all three Golf Courses 6. SouthRidge Maintenance Area Paving 7. Collindale Course Field Restroom 8. SouthRidge Rain Shelters and Drinking Fountains 9. Golf Cart Path Paving at all three Golf Courses 10. SouthRidge Enlargement of Lake #5 11. City Park Nine Chemical Storage Building 12. SouthRidge Bridge Replacements #3, 4, and 7 13. Computerized Pro Shops at all three Golf Courses Total $250,000 50,000 50,000 30,000 200,000 20,000 53,000 40,000 100,000 25,000 12,000 30,000 90,000 $950,000 The Projects are listed in somewhat of a priority order as money is available, and the estimated costs are preliminary and subject to change. There are other Capital Improvement Projects that were not shown on the list that we plan to pay for with other Golf Fund money. Tom White said that Collindale Clubhouse parking lot repaving should be reprioritized until we build the new clubhouse. He said it only makes sense to do that later after we replace the Collindale Clubhouse. Bill Rutledge said we need to mitigate the safety problem of SouthRidge. We may have to control some of the clubs the golfers are using on the driving range. The main danger is the driving range slicers towards Hole #17. Jerry said we need to do the best we can with what we have. We could go with 65-foot poles for netting. Jerry said we have only had one paid claim filed against the City and that was immediately after a windstorm that blew down the netting. Bill said that the higher netting should be at the top of the list for Golf Board Minutes May 17, 2000 Page 4 liability reasons. Mike Sanders asked about planting trees on #17 to camouflage the netting. SouthRidge Superintendent Randy Bonneville said that trees don't grow well in that area because they are hit by balls too often and ruined by golfers. Mike asked about restricted flight balls on the driving range? Randy said that would probably cut down the revenue immensely. Jim Greer said that the restrictions didn't work well at City Park Nine. Jim said that when the wind is blowing from the north, there are times we restrict drivers on Collindale's driving range. Doug Evans added that our courses were built with driving ranges as an after thought and not much planning was put into them, especially at SouthRidge. Jerry said safety is our first concern. Rain shelters is another project that he feels is necessary. He would like the Board to think about their priority list and at next month's meeting staff will prioritize their list with an explanation of each project. He also agrees with Bill that the netting is most important. Byrd Curtis asked if we could keep this money in reserve in case the owners of the adjacent land to SouthRidge change their minds? Jerry said that we can't. Bill asked if we use $800,000 for land acquisition then we could eliminate the safety problem at SouthRidge. Jerry said the City would never allow us to purchase land that is appraised at $380,000 and pay $800,000 for it. Jerry asked if there is anything on the list that could be eliminated? Henry suggested moving the existing Collindale Clubhouse building to the maintenance shop and build a new clubhouse. Henry further suggested the new clubhouse be built to the east of the present clubhouse and leave the existing one during the construction. Jerry said the plans are to replace in the existing area. Doug, Randy, and Jerry will meet to prioritize the list. Byrd asked if there are any problems at City Park Nine as he doesn't see any City Park Nine projects on the list. Jerry said that is correct. City Park Nine has a new maintenance building, new clubhouse, and new irrigation system. He would add rain shelters and some additional netting to City Park Nine, but that is basically all that course needs. We need to commit to spending the majority of the capital improvement money by November 2000. Henry said that as we prioritize the list we should go forthwith the number one priority of our capital improvements and look into pricing for the additional netting at SouthRidge. It needs to be done professionally and soon. At SouthRidge, Randy Bonneville said he would like a basement cart storage with a decking above it for food and beverage tournament serving. Henry asked about building a miniature golf course at the site where the house is located at Collindale? Jerry replied that he doesn't want to compete with private sector businesses with a miniature golf course at Collindale. Potential Replacement of Collindale Clubhouse Jerry explained in 2003 we will have an additional $140,000 to $150,000 annually from the SouthRidge debt, and we could borrow $2,000,000 to build a new clubhouse at Collindale. Bill Rutledge wondered if there would be a private individual who would be interested in building a clubhouse and the City leases it back for 20 years? Mike Sanders asked if golfers would be interested in paying $1 per nine -hole round for a new clubhouse at Collindale? He further asked what is wrong in paying $1 per nine -hole round for a new clubhouse building that will last 30 years? He suggested adding a new surcharge from 2001 until 2003 when the "SouthRidge" Golf Board Minutes May 17, 2000 Page 5 money kicks in, and then end the new surcharge. Byrd Curtis said that he doesn't think it may be necessary to build a new clubhouse at Collindale. Tom White said we need to look at it as a need for the community. Doug Evans said that many needs at City Park Nine have been met and now it is time to focus on the other courses. We need to look at golf in the community and meet those needs and not connect to any one course, but what is needed overall. Byrd thinks we have too many taxes and we keep adding, and what if our current economy doesn't continue? Henry Fry pointed out that the electrical equipment is not up to code at Collindale. Byrd thinks we need to be more conservative in our spending. Bill Rutledge said that we will be paying for the generation to come and that is why we are paying for new schools, it's just reality. Jerry said one of the things he may be interested in doing is take some of the $910,000 to have someone draw plans and have a conceptual drawing for the replacement. Jerry noted in his memo that with significant upkeep, we need to replace the clubhouse at Collindale within the next 10 years. Jerry referred to the Buffalo Run clubhouse that is a national award winning facility. Doug said that with a nicer clubhouse with more amenities, we could have a better return on the money. We could have a restaurant and potentially even room rentals that would add to the Golf revenue. Mike suggests that we use Buffalo Run (for example) and duplicate that. Bill agreed with Mike and said that it is a beautiful clubhouse and it is a good one to use as an example for replacement of Collindale's Clubhouse. Jerry asked if the Board agreed to start the process? The Board concurred that we should start the process to look first at the Buffalo Run design for a new clubhouse. Board Member and Staff Comments • Mike Sanders said he was informed today that Amie Jensen, CSU's Women's Golf Coach, has resigned. • Golfers Creed --- Jerry said these will be posted at all courses and may be printed on our scorecards. Bill Rutledge asked if these are going to be distributed to the kids at the Fort Collins Fore Kids event? Jerry said there is a Youth version of the Creed and it will be in the kids' packets. Bill said the kids should read it and sign it at the event. • Jerry said staff has asked the City Park Nine Women's Association to do consecutive tee times instead of shotgun starts on Wednesday mornings because there are 50 or less women in the Wednesday morning Ladies Day who play. We will still allow them to have a shotgun start once per month on luncheon days and one Inter -City tournament per season. Jerry explained that this is an economic move and it is what we are doing at the other two courses. • Pictures of the Golf Pros and Golf Superintendents (present and former) — Jerry said we have framed those pictures and are placing them at all the courses. Bill Rutledge asked if we are going to ask the Coloradoan do a story on the golf course pros and superintendents. Jerry said that the Coloradoan has already done that article, but there could be a chance for a follow-up. Golf Board Minutes May 17, 2000 Page 6 Adjournment: On a motion by Bill Rutledge, seconded by Byrd Curtis, the Board adjoumed at 9:35 p.m. Meeting Attendance Board Members Byrd Curtis Henry Fry Bill Rutledge Mike Sanders Tom White Respectfully submitted, Jackie Rael, Executive Administrative Assistant Jerry P. Brown Derek Cordova Doug Evans Jim Greer Jackie Rael