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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 07/20/2005City of Fort Collins Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Golf Board Minutes: Regular Meeting of July 20, 2005 Council Liaison to the Board: Councilmember 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: Board Chairperson David Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. at the Collindale Clubhouse. Agenda Review: There were no changes to the agenda as printed. Items of Note: ♦ Board Members Deron Grothe and David Thilmany notified Jerry that they would be absent from the meeting. ♦ Jerry welcomed the new City Council Liaison, Diggs Brown to the Board Meeting. He thanked the Board Members for their good work. ♦ Jerry informed the Board that Larry Buckendorf and David Johnson's terms expire in December, 2005. Larry and David both stated that they were going to reapply. ♦ Jerry mentioned that the Golf Division was the highlight of the City Manager's monthly report. ♦ Jerry stated that he would be sending the Board a copy of the budget status for the first half of the year. Approval of Minutes: On a motion by Larry Buckendorf, seconded by Dan Preble, the Board unanimously (7:0) approved the Minutes of the May 18, 2005 Regular Meeting. Citizen Participation: Lynn Lutkin, a member of the Collindale Women's Golf Association, expressed her appreciation of being able to address the Golf Professionals when there's controversy and feeling comfortable doing so. Golf Board Minutes July 20, 2005 Page 2 Consideration of Extending the Term of the Agreement with the SouthRidge Golf Professional Jerry stated that SouthRidge Golf Professional Dale Smigelsky's Agreement expires December 31, 2005, and since there are some new Board Members he explained the process. He informed them that all of the Golf Professionals are bided concessionaires and when there's an opening we hold an RFP (Request for Proposal). There are then five people who serve on a committee, including two appointed Golf Board Members who review all of the proposals. Jerry said that if the Board chooses not to extend Dale's Agreement then we will go out for another RFP. He explained the Agreement states that at the end of the five year term both parties can continue the Agreement or terminate it. He stated that the Golf Board was closely involved with the original selection of Dale. If the Board chooses to continue the process then the next step will be the Public Input Meeting. The meeting will be advertised in the paper and held in the SouthRidge Cart Building. During the meeting the Board will hear comments and they can then choose to extend or terminate the Agreement. Jerry stated that we need to have a vote by September because it takes about three months to complete the RFP process. City Council has to approve the Agreement extension and there will be additional negotiation. Jerry stated that he feels Dale has done a good job and he mentioned to the Board that he has already received some comments. Deron Grothe sent Jerry an e-mail stating his support. Kathy Bohmont from the Collindale Women's Association also telephoned stating her support. Jim O'Neill from Purchasing expressed his concern with the increase of Service Fees due to the City's budget issues. Jerry mentioned to the Board that they didn't have to make their recommendation about the fees until the final recommendation. Larry Buckendorf stated that he has played at SouthRidge for the past tens years and he has seen a number of improvements since Dale has been there. He recommended to the Board that they extend his agreement and approve the payment increase and move on to the next step. David Johnson mentioned that he met Dale when he was employed as a Golf Professional and he knows how well Dale's thought of by other professionals throughout the State. He feels that he has been doing a great job and he also supports moving forward to Public Input. Lauren DeRosa said that the Board should go on with the process and see what the public has to say. She stated that she feels Dale's a wonderful golf professional and business man. Shane Houska stated that when he has played at SouthRidge Dale makes himself visible. Jay Kammerzell is a member of the SouthRidge Men's League and he feels Dale does what he can to help make the league happy and he fully supports the extension of Dale's agreement. Grant Sherwood said by Dale's reputation and word of mouth he feels he's doing a good job. He asked Dale if there is any hesitation signing a new Agreement? Dale admitted that he was a little hesitant because he feels that he has given so much of himself. He stated that last year he worked just under 2,800 hours. He does everything he can to bring as much play as possible. He also recruits new leagues and tournaments. He mentioned that he has gotten back some tournaments that went elsewhere. Golf Board Minutes July 20, 2005 Page 3 He said that he is a competitive golfer and he has given a lot of that up for the sake of the job. He isn't practicing and playing as much as he should and when he does he stated that he feels guilty doing so. He expressed the importance of his job, but he feels that he needs to maybe give a little less of himself. He assured the Board that he would do as good of a job as he has been and he commented on the competence of his employees. He would like to go forward, but he feels that he just needs to alter what he does. As far as the increase in fees goes he feels that it's just that much more important to have someone who knows what they are doing to help bring in more revenue when we're having budget issues. He said that Loveland recently hired someone who wasn't as qualified and their sales are down. He understands Jim O'Neill's concern, but he feels Jim isn't taking into consideration all of the costs that have gone up. For example, his health insurance, which he pays for, has gone up, and shop sales have gone down, and also the driving range is much slower. He stated that he has lost money over the last 3 years because his expenses keep going up. Collindale Golf Professional Jim Greer stated that he feels Dale has done a great job and he is respected by his peers. Jay asked how the fees compare to the salary of other City employees? Jerry stated that all City employees haven't received an increase since 2002. Larry stated that this is a service fee not a salary fee and that a 4% increase isn't unreasonable. Larry Buckendorf then made a motion to approve the extension of the Agreement as written by Jerry, including the 4% annual increase, and to move forward to the Public Meeting. The motion was seconded by Shane Houska and approved unanimously, (7:0). Jerry mentioned that the Public Meeting will be held on August 17th at 7:30 p.m. in the SouthRidge Cart Building. Review Proposed 2006/2007 Golf Fund Budget Jerry reminded the Board that the City has changed the way we are submitting the budget. The budgeting process is called BFO (Budgeting for Outcomes) and it is a fairly new process nation wide. What it means is that your revenues are fixed and you have to keep your expenditures within them. It seems simple, but the City has been growing and our revenue isn't as strong as it used to be and our community is still facing some major challenges. He commented on the Golf budget request that he provided to the Board that showed what he submitted to the Cultural, Recreation and Educational Opportunities (CRE) Results Team. He stated that every program in the City was asked to submit a request proposal to their results team. This is a system that allows City Council to look at all City programs and prioritize them. There's going to be some significant changes in the programs that the City has to offer simply because there's going to be some proposals that fall below the lines. What is going to happen is that the City will fund the programs that they can and cut the ones they can't, perhaps some programs that the private sector can offer. The City Manager's Recommended Budget is due to City Council Sept. 6th and that's when it becomes a public document. City Council will then hold public meetings and get input. By Nov. 30th City Council has to adopt a budget. They don't have to approve the budget that they are given by the City Manager and can make changes they feel are necessary. Golf Board Minutes July 20, 2005 Page 4 Grant Sherwood asked since we're an enterprise and self-supporting why are we being asked to provide this information when they are talking about the General Fund? Jerry answered that they have asked all funds to participate in this process to be reviewed. Grant asked how we could be impacted? Jerry said that the services we all offer to the City are in question and that they are looking more at productivity and quality. He explained that Golf does rely on some services that are funded with General Fund dollars, such as Fleet, Operation Services, and Building Maintenance; and in addition, the Golf Fund transfers approximately $120,000 annually to the General Fund, as an Administrative Charge, as our share to help provide revenue to the General Fund to offset general administrative expenses provided to Golf. Jerry briefly went over the Financial Statement that he gave the Board. It shows what we have spent in 2004, what we adopted and revised in 2005, and where we're proposing to go with 2006 & 2007, and what we are projecting with 2008-2010. The whole idea of an Enterprise Fund is to remain ahead of zero. He stated that if over the next few years things keep going the way they have been we won't have much in Reserves, but we must be ahead of zero. This means that we'll have to catch up by not making expenditures. Right now the Golf Fund has $70,000 in Reserves and in 2002 we had a Reserve of $400,000. Since that time we have lost Revenues and Golf Play every year and we have cut our expenditures as necessary. He explained that the Superintendents worked out their budgets with him and he provided the details of their budgets. He pointed out that SouthRidge has a slightly larger budget than Collindale partially because they bring in more money. He also stated that Collindale receives more towards water because their water resource is more expensive. He then mentioned that our Budget was accepted by the CRE Results Team and it's going to be sent to the Leadership Team and then to Council. Dan Preble asked what the projections were for catching the revenues up for the rest of the year? Jerry said that he is a little concerned after speaking with the managers of Aurora and Longmont. They stated that they are in the same position that we are in with losses. Larry Buckendorf mentioned that the rounds played look good and hopefully over the next few months we have a chance to keep those rounds up. Larry asked Dale and Jim how the heat has affected the players and they stated that it has caused a decrease in sales. Jerry said that we are ahead in revenues and percentage from last year, however last October -December was the worst 4th quarter we've ever had as we only did 3% revenue and we usually do 10%. We hope to do better this year. Other Business ♦ Jerry asked if there were any questions on any correspondences that he sent out. He mentioned a letter from a golfer who had concerns with fellow golfers treating her badly. Jerry informed the Board that he sent her a letter and she hasn't responded. Dale commented that he had a conversation with her. ♦ Jerry discussed the continuation of new golf courses being developed and how that is going to continue affecting our sales. Golf Board Minutes July 20, 2005 Page 5 Board Member and Staff Comments/Reports Dan Preble asked what the status was on the pace of play issue? Jim Greer explained that we do have issues with slow play and we are doing what we can to resolve them. He stated that the other day Collindale had a group that was playing so far behind that we offered them a refund. Jerry mentioned that a golfer recently went to City Council Member Kelly Ohlson in regards to this issue and he feels that the seniors' group he plays with is being discriminated against. Jerry stated that we can't afford to let anyone play at the very slow pace they are requesting. Dale Smigelsky mentioned that we are receiving complaints at SouthRidge from others about the slow pace that certain groups are playing. He feels that we can't allow this because it causes others to get behind and ultimately a loss in revenue. Larry Buckendorf stated that in their league everyone is trying to correct the issues they have with pace of play? City Council Liaison Diggs Brown asked if the courses post signs that tell the pace of play. Jerry explained that it is posted on the score card and on the courses, and there are also rangers out on the course. Jim Greer said that the group he refunded was alright with receiving a refund. Assistant Collindale Golf Professional Pat Finnegan stated that unfortunately that the majority of people aren't going to agree with being told that they are playing too slow. Adjournment: On a motion by Shane Houska, seconded by Jay Kamerzell, the Board unanimously voted (7:0) to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. "respectfully submitted, Dawn Worth Administrative Aide Meeting Attendance Board Members Staff Guests Larry Buckendorf Jerry P. Brown Diggs Brown Lauren DeRosa Dawn Worth Rob Dahl Shane Houska Randy Bonneville Pat Finnegan David Johnson Jim Greer Lynn Lutkin Jay Kammerzell Dale Smigelsky Dan Preble Grant Sherwood