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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board Minutes - March 05 2019 1 Board Members: Chairman John Watson Eva Wright Jon Johnson Derik Taylor Mike Farnworth Non-Voting Members: Matthew Nielson – City Finance Officer Christopher Mann – City Council Member Todd Smith – County Commissioner Rob Wood – Attorney Duffy McFarland – Golf Pro Seth McFarland – Golf Grounds Greg McInnes – City Parks Manager Justin Beard – City Engineer 4:30 P.M. Golf Board Meeting Roll Call of Board Members: Attending: Eva Wright, Jon Johnson, Derik Taylor, Mike Farnworth and Chairman John Watson 1. Review Prior Meeting Minutes: - Action Item a. November 6th, 2018 Board Member Derik Taylor moved to approve the Golf Board Meeting Minutes for November 6th, 2018; Board Member Jon Johnson seconded the motion; Chairman John Watson asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Board Member Derik Taylor Board Member Jon Johnson Board Member Mike Farnworth Board Member Eva Wright The motion carried 2. Financial Report: (15 Minutes) a. Review Budget Report Finance Office Nielson reviewed the Golf Budget Report and the 2019 forecast for the daily fees at Legacy and Teton Lakes. The forecasted amount of daily fees for the Legacy is $46,000. The total daily fees and passes forecasted is $87,000 last year it was $83,352. Finance Officer Nielson said they are still trying to determine the reason why the Daily Play at Teton Lakes was so low last year (later discovered that we were about $21,000 lower on revenues for Teton Lakes Daily play thru May when comparing 2017 to 2018. After inquiring, Duffy confirmed 35 North 1st East Rexburg, ID 83440 Phone: 208.359.3020 x2301 Fax: 208.359.3022 Marianna.gonzalez@rexburg.org www.rexburg.org Golf Board Meeting Minutes March 05, 2019 2 that the golf course he operates in Driggs was open about the same time as Rexburg in 2018, whereas it typically lags at least 3-4 weeks behind Rexburg for the snow to melt. This leads us to believe we missed the traffic that comes to our course early from the Driggs/Jackson/and surrounding areas that have snow on their course several weeks longer than our courses). The forecasted amount for Daily Play fees at Teton Lakes is $310,000. Finance Office Nielson believes it will be easier to reach that amount with the rate increase going into effect this season. County Commissioner Smith asked about the difference between the budgeted amount of $327,000 and the forecasted about of $310,000. Finance Officer Nielson explained the range daily fees last year only brought in $18,700 that is part of the reason why he lowered the forecasted amount. Finance Officer Nielson reported the season passes went from $168,000 to $186,000. The largest increase percentage wise was in the senior season golf pass at a 30% rate increase. Finance Officer Nielson said the City Recreation Department will pay a lease fee to Teton Lakes Golf Course of $1,200 for the winter recreation activities that were held there. The activities will end next Monday. Finance Officer Nielson continued to review the budget report for the golf courses. The personnel expenses for Teton Lakes continue to increase under the new contract format. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the Capital Expenses. The greens mower was received. The new bridges are being worked on and will be installed soon. The concrete footings for the bridges will be coordinated with the City Street Department. There will also be some cost for the sod that is need after the bridges are installed. 3 Finance Officer Nielson said the tractor bids came in high in the low seventies. The tractor went out to bid again with three different vendors and those bids came in at about $61,000. The aerator was purchased and is being used. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the golf cart pay down. The city and county will each need to pay about $25,000 every year. It will take about five years to pay off the golf carts. He said after the five years he is recommending to contiune to trasfer a set amount to save for the replacement of the golf carts. He indicated he forcasted conservative on the revenues and higher on the expenses. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed fund 51. 3. City or County Input/issues (10 minutes) a. Ratify Donation of Season Pass to Farmer Merchant Community Banquet Chairman Watson said Teton Lakes donates one season golf pass to the Farmer’s Merchant Banquet and they will donate one pass to them this year. b. Ratify 100% waiver for Dare-Letter received from DARE Chairman Watson asked if the DARE Program is only asking for a 100% waiver of the green fees for their fundraiser tournament. He questioned if the cost to rent the golf carts is included in the waiver. Finance Officer Nielson said the waiver doesn’t include the rental cost of the golf carts and they are not requesting or approving to waive that fee. Chairman Watson mentioned the golf tournament fundraisers at Teton Lakes that have been approved for the 50% wavier of the green fees include: DARE, Madison Memorial Hospital, Chamber of Commerce and Upper Valley Industries. He said unless other fundraisers are added to this list a motion will not be needed each year from the Golf Board. c. Review Season Pass Spring Promos – Action Item City Marketing Employee Jon Faldmo explained the Spring Promos are marketed to incentivize people to purchase items that they normally would not purchase with a season pass. He reviewed the list of promotions. Chairman Watson questioned if the discounted promotional items are offered to 4 all of the golf course patrons. Mr. Faldmo said the promotional items are only offered to season golf pass holders. The purpose of the promotional items is to have the season pass holders invite their friends and family members out to the golf course at a discounted price. Discussion regarding the amount of money spent on golf cart fees by season golf pass holders and if there should be a cap on the amount of round cart passes people can purchase. Chairman Watson said if the season pass holders use a golf cart each time they golf they are paying about $300 to $400 per season on golf cart fee rentals. Discussion regarding the private golf cart owners. How will the promotion affect them? They also discussed having an expiration date on the golf cart coupons. Board Member Jon Johnson moved to approve all of the Season Pass Promos discussed with an expiration date of two years on all coupons (carts and rounds); Board Member Eva Wright seconded the motion; Chairman John Watson asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Board Member Derik Taylor Board Member Jon Johnson Board Member Mike Farnworth Board Member Eva Wright The motion carried Discussion regarding checking out and assigning golf carts to the patrons. Each golf cart has a number associated to the cart and it should be a signed to a specific person just in case there is any damage to the golf cart. There are some golf courses that take collateral before handing out the key to the golf carts. Board Member Taylor asked if damage is caused to one of the golf carts. How does the golf course keep track of who caused the damage? Who is responsible for the cost of the damage? Grounds Keeper McFarland said there is a sign that states “you are liable for damages” at the golf course. Discussion regarding the damage to some of the golf carts one was rolled and another golf cart was rolled into the canal. City Marketing Employee Jon Faldmo mentioned combining Teton Lakes and Legacy’s Facebook pages. They are also planning on using a drone to fly over the course to create an interactive video for the web-page. Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the proposed Corporate Discount/Rebate for sponsoring golf Wellness Program for their employees. They hope the employer participates in some of the cost for their employees to golf. He believes there is a lot of potential to market to corporate businesses. Discussion regarding the administration of the rebate for the corporate discount. The corporate rebate could include Rexburg Rapids and the City’s recreation programs. Some of the corporate business they may reach out to include BYU-Idaho, Madison Memorial Hospital, and Madison County. 5 City Marketing Employee Jon Faldmo asked the board if they would approve the purchase of an over the street banner on Main Street to advertise the golf courses. The cost of the banner is about $300. The banner will be designed and emailed to the board for approval. Chairman Watson asked if there is a way to track what discounts or promotional items are more successful. Finance Officer Nielson replied yes there is a way to track the discounted items. In the budget report there is a line item for discounts. The golf course brought in about $3,000 on the discounted items. d. Discuss Option for Parks/Golf Mechanic 4. Further Discussion of Legacy and Teton Lakes Water Use Options – Justin Beard (15 minutes) Finance Officer Nielson explained last year the Idaho Department of Water Recourses gave the city another year to work out the issues with the amount of water being pumped out of the well. Mr. Beard said the city knew of the water issue back in October of 2017. The city installed the water flow meter that the IDWR asked the city to install. He said there are two options to correct the water issue at the golf course. They can install a new pump station or do a full replacement of the irrigation system. The full replacement of the irrigation system will cost about half a million dollars minimum. A new pump station to use the canal water would cost about sixty thousand dollars, but water would pitch in thirty thousand dollars for water rights and the net cost to the golf course would be $30,000. It doesn’t solve all of the issues; however, it does fix the issue with IDWR of pumping too much water per minute. Grounds Keeper McFarland asked if the new water pump system would include the emergency connection to potable water when there isn’t canal water to use. Finance Officer Nielson replied no, he doesn’t believe it includes the option of using potable water. After some discussion, it was determined to look into a potable water option as backup. (After reviewing later, the engineers, staff, and Matt determined there is an option to run a line over to the well location at Legacy from Nature Park that would not cost a substantial amount. It was determined to add this to the scope of the project and put it in with an actuator that could be put on with a timer for shut off and on). City Engineer Justin Beard said that a fire hydrant with a back flow device could be used to provide water early into the season when canal water isn’t available. Council Member Mann asked about the time when canal water isn’t available. They determined water isn’t available in the canal until mid-April to early May. Finance Officer Nielson asked for recommendation to move forward with the design and bid of the new water pump systems for both of the golf courses. County Commissioner Smith asked about the design of the pump system. Mr. Beard said the city has a design for the pump system; however, the design will need several modifications. Finance Officer Nielson said the estimated cost for the water pump system is about $60,000 the Water fund would cover $30,000 and the city and county would pay $15,000 each. Discussions regarding the design of the new water pump station at the golf course. Golden West Irrigation could design the station at a lesser cost. Justin Beard explained the issues with the Teton Lakes water rights. A water flow meter was installed at the Teton Lakes well. The flow meter measured the amount of water being pumped out that amount indicated that 150% more water than what is allowed is being pumped out. Grounds Keeper McFarland said one of the purposes of having a well at Teton Lakes was for him to be able to water the golf course more efficiently. Discussion regarding the different locations on the golf course that may not need as much watering as others. Board Member Eva Wright asked what the options are for Teton Lakes. Mr. Beard explained the best option may be; the city’s canal water shares with the Teton Canal Company. Some of those shares are leased out to farmers. As development increase in the surround areas the water shares increase as well. The idea is to install a pipe from the canal by the club house parking lot (NW corner) and run it down to the pond on the South Fork hole 9. 6 Discussion regarding the cost of installing the pipe. Finance Officer Nielson said the cost to install the pipe could run from $25,000 to $30,000. The length of the pipe is about 750 feet. They also discussed the cost of the violation fine if the problem is not corrected from the IDWR. 5. Golf Pro’s update of issues/concerns/problems/projects (10 minutes) a. Discussion Youth on Course for RMSPGA – Action Item i. Price-cannot exceed $5 per 9 hole round 1. $4.50 plus .50 Capital Fee ii. Time Restrictions- TBD? iii. Subsidy Amount-$5 per 9 hole round 1. Cannot be used for tournament play b. Other Items as brought forward by Golf Pro Discussion regarding the Rocky Mountain Section Professional Golf Association and how the program works in connection with Idaho Golf Association. Board Member Jon Johnson moved to approve the agreement with Idaho Golf Association and Rocky Mountain Section Professional Golf Association; Board Member Eva Wright seconded the motion; Chairman John Watson asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Board Member Derik Taylor Board Member Jon Johnson Board Member Mike Farnworth Board Member Eva Wright The motion carried 6. Golf Grounds Manager update of issues/concerns/problems/projects (10 minutes) a. Update on Fiscal Year 2019 Capital Projects and Purchases i. Handicap Ramp-Discussion to occur in next meeting ii. Bridge-Matt got confirmation from Tom Luthy 2-28-19 that he will build in March- Cost should be between $6,500-$7,000 for steel bridge construction, placement, and 2 plaques. 1. City to pay for wood and footings (total project cost around $10,500) iii. Other items as brought forward by Golf Grounds Manager 7. Board Business/issues/problems/events (5 minutes) 8. Next Board Meeting on April 2nd, 2018 at 4:30 9. Executive Session (Statute 74-206)-Only held if necessary, and subsection authorizing the executive session must be stated-Generally held after regular meeting to discuss labor contract matters. (Only if necessary) Adjourned at 6:02 P.M.