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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 01/29/1992CITY OF FORT COLLINS CULTURAL, LIBRARY, AND RECREATIONAL SERVICES GOLF BOARD City Council Liaison to the Board: Councilman Dave Edwards Staff Support to the Board: Jerry P. Brown, Assistant to the Director/Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services, and Alyce Nierman, Golf Division Secretary MINUTES: Regular meeting of January 29, 1992 The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Board President Roger Sample. He recognized and welcomed Councilman Dave Edwards and Director of Cultural, Library, and Recreational Services Mike Powers to the meeting. Board Members Tom White and Al Bednarz both called to say they would be unable to attend tonight's meeting. Agenda Review: There were no changes to the printed agenda. Election of Board Officers for 1992: The floor was opened for nominations for the office of President. Al Bednarz was nominated for this position. As there were no other nominations, Roger Sample moved that Al Bednarz be elected to the office of President of the Golf Board; second by Steve Jouard. The motion carried unanimously (5:0). The floor was then opened for nominations for the office of Vice President. Mary Hodge was nominated. As there were no other nominations, Steve Jouard moved, with second by Dan Preble, that Mary Hodge be elected to the position of Vice President of the Golf Board. The motion carried unanimously (5:0). Tom White was nominated for election to the position of Secretary. There being no other nominations, it was moved by Steve Jouard and seconded by Dan Preble that Tom White be elected to the position of Secretary of the Golf Board. The motion carried unanimously (5:0). Roger Sample "grudgingly" passed on the gavel to Vice President Mary Hodge to conduct the meeting in the absence of newly elected President Al Bednarz. Minutes: On motion by Jim Doyle and second by Dan Preble, the minutes from the regular meeting of November 20, 1991, were unanimously approved (5:0) as submitted. Citizen Participation: There was no citizen participation. However, at this point Dave Edwards, Council liaison to the Golf Board, requested the floor to express a few thoughts. Apologies were extended for his being unable to attend previous Golf Board meetings. However, he has been kept very well informed of the Board's actions and thoughts by keeping in constant contact with staff, and by reading the minutes and various reports sent to him. Dave sees his position as a representative for the Golf Board on the City Council not as a member of the Golf Board. Golf Board Minutes January 29, 1992 Page 2 City Park Nine Snack Bar Concession Aareemen Jerry P. Brown previously distributed copies of the report with recommendations from the staff and Snack Bar Review Committee. The report is self-explanatory. The firm with the highest bid, Rob's Food Service, was not recommended as during the interview they scored only 227 points, and it was felt they would not mesh well with the community. FunTime who scored 254 points in the interview or McMillan/Taylor who scored 250 points could both do the job really well; and there was no major difference in their bid prices. The Review Committee and staff recommend award of the City Park Nine Snack Bar Concession to FunTime. Dan Preble questioned if there would be any drastic changes to prices or menu. Mary Hodge, a member of the committee, reported the menu and prices would be very similar to services previously provided at City Park Nine. Jerry reported that FunTime will try to open earlier in the season and stay open later in the year. They also plan to work closely with various groups/tournaments. However, City Park Nine has no liquor license for other than 3.2 beer, so some groups choose to go elsewhere for drinks. After discussion it was moved by Roger Sample and seconded by Jim Doyle to accept the recommendation of the City Park Snack Bar Review Committee and staff and offer the concession agreement for City Park Nine Snack Bar to FunTime Concessions. The motion carried unanimously (5:0). Jerry then thanked the five committee members (Al Bednarz, Mary Hodge, Norma Ingraham, Jim Greer, and Opal Dick) for all their work and help with this review. They did a very nice job and worked together well. Discussion of SouthRidge Issues/Community Value of Golf There is a work session with City Council scheduled for February 25. Jerry reviewed the SouthRidge sales issue and history. He does not anticipate a bid coming in between now and the work session with Council on February 25, or February 29, which is the stated deadline for receipt of bids on SouthRidge. The discussion then will be on the Community Value of Golf, which is a Board issue and should be presented to Council from the Board. Finally, we will review funding issues. Mike Powers and Jerry Brown will be preparing a report. The document will cover all aspects from keeping SouthRidge totally separate to combining all three courses and their income and expenses. The report is not written yet. This item is on tonight's agenda for the Board to give input of their ideas for this report. Steve Jouard stated that if City Council does not buy into the Community Value of Golf, the Board's concern is that golfers from City Park Nine and Collindale would end up paying the debt for acquisition and construction of SouthRidge. Roger Sample said another problem is that Council has not bought into the fact that the SouthRidge debt is from the acquisition and construction of this asset and not from operating and maintenance costs. Mike Powers confirmed that operation and maintenance costs are covered. Jim Doyle asked if there is any question that the SouthRidge debt firmly fits into Community Value of Golf? Golf Board Minutes January 29, 1992 Page 3 SouthRidge should be integrated into the Golf Fund, but golfers should not have to pay the total cost. The basis may be there for a different seasonal pass rate structure for play at one, two, or all three courses. Roger cautioned against using the annual pass idea as it is too costly to the City. The Golf Board wants to get the SouthRidge debt out of the Golf Fund. Jim said that when he was in Texas over Christmas he took the opportunity to view other golf courses. San Antonio believes in the Community Value of Golf. Courses in Texas are supported not just by golfers, but by communities. Jim then commented that he feels only part of the debt should be paid by taxpayers, not necessarily the full debt amount. Roger noted the Golf Board's position was to get "asset acquisition" out of the Golf Fund. Steve stated it is unfair for golfers at Collindale and City Park Nine to have any profits from their respective courses be used to help eliminate an asset debt instead of using profits for capital improvements at their own courses. A question was raised that what if the Golf Board comes to a decision and the City Council still tries to sell SouthRidge? Dave Edwards replied that he could only speak for himself. He encouraged the Golf Board to identify areas and make recommendations to present to City Council. Dave speculated that he doesn't feel Council will continually try to sell SouthRidge. He personally feels Council wants to bring the issue of SouthRidge to closure and move forward. Council needs the Board's best thoughts and recommendations. Jerry would like to have a report that is as close to the Board's thoughts as possible. He will try to have this report completed and to Golf Board members by February 10 or 12. This report will then be presented at the February 19 Board meeting for discussion. Dave Edwards said it is helpful to him personally to develop clarified issues. What is the "big picture" and what are sub -sets? What does the Community Value of Golf really mean? It seems to be caught up in words and language. Roger expressed the frustration for members of the Golf Board to know that City Council looks at SouthRidge Golf Course as a loser and that it should be sold. The Golf Board sees various communities building new courses all around the state. Then attention started focusing on the Recreation Fee Policy. Should it be reduced to operating and maintenance costs and some administration costs? Then the question came up why is golf separate from other activities (i.e. tennis, softball, etc.)? The Golf Board has concluded that in general the SouthRidge debt is for the acquisition of an asset (associated with a failed housing development project) and should be serviced outside of the Golf Fund; the costs for operation of SouthRidge should be covered by the users of SouthRidge through various fees and charges. Jerry reviewed that in the early 1970's there was a Federal Revenue Sharing subsidy of around 10% from City Council to the Golf Fund. The remaining 90% of expenses were covered by fees and charges. In the early 1980's it was decided by City Council that golf should cover 100% of its own expenses, and discontinued the 10% supplement to the Golf budget. The SouthRidge issue has been kept separate since 1984. However, if all three courses were added together, it comes close to the 90:10 split from the 1970's. Roger wished to point out that the Golf Board Minutes January 29, 1992 Page 4 current 90:10 split is purely coincidental. The SouthRidge debt repayment is a short-term issue. Even though there was a profit at City Park Nine and Collindale Golf Courses recently, these profits have been used to acquire needed or desired equipment or improvements. Dave Edwards stated in reviewing the Community Value of Golf there has to be some sort of common starting point. Enterprise funds are the historic bench mark from which we are trying to move. We are being challenged to see if there are other ways of thinking about this. What if years down the road we look back and see the Community Value of Golf as being a long-term solution to what turns out to be a short-term problem? The historic perspective of golf being a luxury is being challenged and City Council is asking the Golf Board for direction and clarity. The main issue seems to be whether or not we want to change what golf means to the community. Steve stated the Golf Board didn't feel City Council could be sold on the idea of debt being attributed to the cost of acquisition of an asset, so it was decided to wrestle with the issue of the SouthRidge subsidy. Dan Preble questioned if City Council would look past the debt issue, and be able to view SouthRidge Golf Course as a source of revenue in the future? The City Manager has requested that staff work towards having all expenses at SouthRidge totally covered since it is classified as an Enterprise Fund. Mike Powers said the City Manager is the same as the Golf Board in the fact that he is trying to look at all possible options, such as: 1) Full Community Value of Golf; 2) Full debt payment by the General Fund (0&M costs would be covered by fees and charges); 3) Status quo - combined with revenues from SouthRidge; 4) Fees would cover everything and taxpayers cover nothing; 5) Try to sell SouthRidge again. The "status quo" option would not require new money from taxpayers. Roger expressed his hopes that the call for coming up with additional money by increasing SouthRidge fees is not really an option. Statistics show that play over the past few years has been dropping at SouthRidge. However, it would be difficult to determine if this drop in play can be attributed to increased fees or the opening of other golf courses in the area? Dave stated that City Council wants a variety of options on table. They want to see the full range and spectrum of the possibilities. City Council has demanded this of staff so the conceivable repercussions for each of the possible solutions can be weighed. In this way, no matter what decisions are reached, at least there was an awareness and exploration of all possible options. Dave also commented that City Council may be hard pressed to say no to the Community Value of Golf, and the Golf Board should make the strongest case possible in their presentation to Council. He encouraged the Board to take the available facts and interpret them (opinion). Citizen Henry Fry commented that the Enterprise Fund for Golf was established when golf was still considered an elitist sport. Golf has since evolved into a sport that is played and enjoyed by people from all economic levels. Mary Hodge analyzed the discussion stating we have covered all areas of concern and in conclusion what the Golf Board could expect is a report from staff by the middle of February that can be reviewed at the February Golf Board meeting. Any • Golf Board Minutes January 29, 1992 Page 5 revisions to the report can be made at the February meeting, and in turn the report will be presented to City Council for the scheduled work session on February 25. 1991 Golf Board Annual Report Jerry presented copies of the draft 1991 Golf Board Annual Report. The 1991 report is consistent with previous year's reports. Jerry requested the board members take a few minutes to review the report for any changes or corrections. After review, Jim Doyle moved to accept the 1991 Golf Board Annual Report as presented by staff. A second to the motion was made by Dan Preble. Motion Carried unanimously (5:0). Any corrections that need to be made should be called to Jerry by Friday, January 30. Board Members and Staff Comments/Reports Jim Doyle received information from Dave Sadler that meetings have been completed on the parking situation at City Park Nine Golf Course. It has been decided that spaces east of the gate to the Parks and Recreation building and along the fence will be held for Parks and Recreation employees. Any overflow, i.e. summer help, etc., would park in the ballfield parking lot. Joe Nance reported on the pro shop remodeling project at Collindale. The area is being expanded to alleviate some traffic flow problems, in particular the area by the east door. The architect is drawing up plans for submittal to Facilities. Jerry informed the Board members that this project is a joint venture between Joe and the City. Monies for the City portion of this project are coming from the funds set aside in Capital for Collindale Clubhouse Improvements. Joe also reported that the furniture in the clubhouse has been completely refinished and re -upholstered. Jerry noted the net at the driving range was slightly damaged during the recent winds. The net can be repaired. Roger Sample asked what recent developments there were with the #12 hole at SouthRidge and the planned road through this hole? Prior to any discussion, Councilman Edwards excused himself and left the meeting so there could be no conflicts on this appeal issue. Jerry then responded that the group developing Paragon Point, formerly Fossil Ridge, is following the proper procedures; the most recent being presentation of their proposed plans to the Planning and Zoning Board. A homeowners group is trying to block the construction of the road through Hole #12 also presented their case to the Planning and Zoning Board. The decision from Planning and Zoning is that since the road in question was included in the initial development of the SouthRidge area and was approved by the City at that time, construction of the road could not be blocked. The homeowners association is planning to appeal the decision to City Council at their meeting on February 4. General consensus is that it would be difficult for City Council to overturn the decision by the Planning and Zoning Board on legal reasons. So it appears the road will be constructed through Hole #12 at SouthRidge. Golf Board Minutes January 29, 1992 Page 6 Correspondence/Financial and Statistical Reports December was a great month for golf and there was about an $80,000 profit in the Golf Fund for the year. SouthRidge made $7,000, which will be carried over to 1992. Some projects were stopped at SouthRidge in 1991 and a savings of $23,000 in operating and maintenance expenses was realized. SouthRidge operating revenues fell only $16,000 short of achieving 100%. Mary Hodge asked when it would be time for SouthRidge to renovate and build up the clubhouse, snack bar, etc. Jerry responded that there has been constant improvements at the clubhouse; some improvements in the snack bar were made by necessity. The pro shop has been changed around, but we are postponing replacement of the carpet. Generally much of the maintenance equipment at SouthRidge has not been replaced since the course first opened, so we are trying to accommodate that need first. Another high priority is the replacement of several bridges on the course. Contracts for employees and concessions at SouthRidge are for one year, or when SouthRidge is sold. These contracts will remain in effect when (and if) the course is kept. On a motion by Steve Jouard and second by Roger Sample the meeting adjourned at 9:10 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Alyce Nierman Secretary III Golf Division Meeting Attendance Board Members Staff Guests Roger Sample Jim Doyle Mary Hodge Steve Jouard Dan Preble Jerry P. Brown Mike Powers Joe Nance Alyce Nierman Henry Fry Norma Ingraham Dave Edwards, Council Liaison