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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 01/19/2000City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of January 19, 2000 City Council Liaison to the Board: Councilman Bill Bertschy Board Chairperson: Mike Sanders at 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 7:00 p.m. Agenda Review: Item 13 will be deleted from the agenda as the Board will not need to adjourn into executive session to discuss land acquisition. Items of Note: • Jerry P. Brown announced that Alyce Nierman was back tonight to fill in for Jackie Rael. Jerry distributed preliminary information on a privately sponsored fund raising event for City Park Nine Assistant Golf Professional Matt Bryant. Matt and Julie Bryant's baby was born prematurely and weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces. There will be a fund raising event on Sunday evening, February 27, at the Sunset Night Club. There will be food from various restaurants, wine, beer, and liquor tasting; and a silent auction. Davis Bryant will be in the hospital for quite a while, and everything that comes in will be going to the family. The fund raising goal is $10,000. Bill Rutledge asked if the publicity for the silent auction will be distributed soon? City Park Nine Golf Professional Dale Smigelsky said Yes! As costs are trying to be kept down, most of the publicity and handouts will be computer generated. Karen Joslin-Aured observed that the biggest hurdle would be getting people in the door to bid on the silent auction items. It was suggested that we need to get in touch with area school groups. Bill suggested that the CSU Athletic Promotions Department be contacted as they have had extensive experience in organizing silent auctions and may be able to give us some direction. Tom White added that the Wine Fest has also had a large silent auction and could help in the organization of this fund-raiser. Mike Sanders observed that the family will be kept in all our thoughts and prayers. Recently Mike Hall submitted his resignation to the Golf Board and an appointment has not yet been made to fill that vacancy. A temporary freeze has been placed on all appointments for City Boards and Commissions as City Council is addressing whether to limit the size of these groups to seven members each. In addition, they are discussing whether to change the appointment dates to run from January through December, and to have pre and post appointment orientation sessions. An item is on the January 25 City Council Study Session agenda for discussion regarding Board appointments and issues. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Byrd Curtis, seconded by Tom White, the Board voted unanimously (8-0) to accept the minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 17, 1999 as presented. Citizen Participation: Laury Dennis, Northern Colorado Alzheimer's Association, introduced herself and stated that on May 22 they are hosting a golf tournament at Ptarmigan to raise money and awareness of Alzheimers. This is a tri-city event and they are involving community members from each city and are Golf Board Minutes January 19, 2000 Page 2 specifically seeking representation from Fort Collins. The next planning meeting is scheduled for February 7. Copies of her business card were left for distribution to Board Members. Mindy Markley suggested that they contact local neurologists for participation and support of this tournament. Review and Approval of the 1999 Golf Board Annual Report As outlined in the City Code, each Board and Commission is required to file an annual report of activities with the City Clerk's office. These annual reports are due by January 31 of each year. This year the report written went into more detail because of the different issues faced by the Board, such as the surcharge and major capital projects financing. Jerry tried to pick out the highlights of the events with a goal of limiting the report to four pages. Mike Sanders asked for comments from the Board on the draft presented by Jerry. There were no changes to the report as presented, and on a motion by Henry Fry and second by Tom White, the Board unanimously (8:0) voted to approve the report as submitted. 2000 "Fort Collins Fore Kids" Planning and Goals A memo was distributed to the Board regarding a couple of issues on the upcoming Fort Collins Fore Kids event. The first year of this event, programs were planned for each course at the exact same time and Board members were all over town trying to assist. The next year the event was held at City Park Nine and it was decided to expand the program by also offering a separate play day. The problem with this plan was that only about 1/3 of the kids showed up for the play day. Last year we tried to combine everything on one day and hold all the events at City Park Nine. The clinic sessions were held first, with actual play on the course later. The biggest changes being suggested this year are no fund raising, and eliminating the play day. Also, this year the program will be held at Collindale. In a recent meeting of the golf pros, it was felt that the kids were being shorted on the instruction portion because of time constraints, and there would be more benefit if we spent more time with these kids. It was further felt that the play day was more chaotic and there was a larger potential liability factor involved. The original thrust of the clinic was to introduce kids to the game of golf and some participants in the past have come to these sessions with golf shoes, balls, clubs, etc. Henry Fry suggested that maybe an age limit should be imposed and cap participation at age 14 instead of 17. Bill Rutledge agreed that there should be a cap placed on the age of participants, and further was in support of the idea that more time should be placed on the clinic side of this event. Tom White pointed out that being taught how to swing a club does not mean these young golfers are ready to play an actual game. As one possible solution, Mike Sanders suggested distributing a 9-hole pass to allow free play when accompanied by an adult. Jerry expanded that idea by suggesting the junior golfer come back and take lessons to receive a free pass. Mindy suggested offering a discount on lessons which would get them back to the course and into the program. It was noted that kids sometimes pay more attention to what is being taught if they have to make a little investment. Henry believes that any free play given out should require adult supervision. Bill asked if there were a small rulebook available, written for easy understanding, that could be distributed to participants of the clinics? Jerry said Yes! This idea was brought up because there are so many young people who had never played and it seemed to help them learn the game and the rules. Maybe a free bucket of balls could be offered as an incentive if they were able to answers certain questions at the end of the clinic. Referencing the fund-raiser, Mike asked about the likelihood of sending a lettet to previous donors. Staff agreed to do so. Mindy noted that most donors view donations as a feel good way of advertising. Last year the money raised was used to purchase pizza, soft drinks, cookies, etc. for the clinic volunteers and also used to reimburse the golf pros for their expenses in holding the clinics. Mike told the Board that the head golf Golf Board Minutes January 19, 2000 Page 3 pros at Fort Collins Country Club and Ptarmigan have cleaned out their lost and found and will be donating several hundred clubs to the Fort Collins Fore Kids "Klubs For Kids" Program. Jerry and the golf pros asked the Board if they were headed in the right direction, or if there were additional ideas or input. The Board message to staff was "Go Forth and Organize"! Update on Golf Fund Major Capital Projects Mike Sanders asked Collindale Superintendent Doug Evans to give the Board an update report on the Collindale Irrigation Project. Doug reported that very nice progress has been made so far as we have had no snow on the ground since the end of November. On the other hand, the course is really dry. Some areas are getting pretty beat up, and there is nothing we can do about that as the system still has to go in. About 80% of the main line is in place, both of the old pumping stations have been removed, and the foundation for the new pump station has been poured. Initially in the project they started pulling pipes and it was not working very well; wheels were making a mess with mud, then the ground would freeze and the dirt clumped up areas. Everything is now being trenched for the remainder of the project. Lateral and main lines across fairways on the new areas are completed. We are responsible for phasing old head replacements with correct sizes, etc. In payments on the project, the City retains 10% from each payment. The retained funds will be paid upon the successful completion of the full project. The whole project will be around $1.3 million with most of the expenses to date being for raw materials. Collindale Golf Professional Jim Greer reported that from the perspective of the pro shop, there has been a tremendous job of communicating on how the work areas will be impacting the course activities. Jim could not be happier with the way this project is progressing. Tom White asked if this were a "typical" dry winter, would we be watering the course? In the 23 years that Doug has worked at the course he has not watered in the winter. However, this year he would be thinking about it as it has been so dry. Next week the contractor will be flushing the system and this should allow some water to get on the whole course. They will check the pressure, flush, and then move on to the next area. Other Business • Jerry informed the Board that an appraiser will soon be hired for the land acquisition at SouthRidge. The fees will be paid jointly with the land owner and we should have a report back by the first part of March. At that point we will make a written offer, and should have a yes or no answer by the end of March. • A reminder was made to Board members that the next meeting is scheduled for February 9, at 7:00 p.m., 281 North College Avenue, Conference Rooms C and D. The main item on the agenda will be a discussion on another public golf course. • Jerry reported that Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services recently had a reorganization of responsibilities. All Recreation, Parks, etc., will be under the direction of Marty Heffernan. Mike Powers kept the Golf Division under his supervision. • Mike Sanders introduced Patrick Quadrel, who is interested in applying for appointment to the Golf Board. We are all waiting to see what direction will be taken by City Council. Henry Fry will be unable to apply for re -appointment to the Board as he has already served the maximum eight years. The terms of Mindy Markley and Mike Sanders also expire this year, but they are both eligible for reappointment if they desire. Golf Board Minutes January 19, 2000 Page 4 • John Shelton was introduced. He is the publisher of the book "Places to Play Golf in Colorado" and he recently moved back to Fort Collins. Adjournment: On a motion by Karen Joslin-Aured the Golf Board meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alyce D. Nierman Administrative Aide Meeting Attendance Board Members Staff Guests Frank Blanco Byrd Curtis Henry Fry Karen Joslin-Aured Mindy Markley Bill Rutledge Mike Sanders Tom White Jerry P. Brown Jim Greer Doug Evans Derek Cordova Dale Smigelsky Alyce Nierman Laury Dennis Charles Ogren Patrick Quadrel John Shelton