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Home My Public Portal AboutGolf Commission -- 2020-02-11 Minutes ��"600 \�1RUEWs ///ilii, TOWN OFBREWSTER S . 111A R1 p�« ; F �, Brewster, Massachusetts 02631 ' " � � i D �� e� Fq �% (508) 896 -3701 GPC �o lJ" 2 S W 1 i; LER�'. 3 p as tDn = GOLF COMMISSION fo Minutes of February 11 2020 oe EQ Ri ti o:' ` \\\\\ \ ol� p oaunrnniiimu�uua\a %WSITAN, Commissioners Present : Anne O ' Connell (Chair), Andrea Johnson (Vice-Chair), Carl Blanchard, Jeff Odell, and Wyn Morton . John Kissida and Dave Valcourt were absent . Others Present : Mark O'Brien (Director of Golf Operations), Jay Packett (Assistant Operations Manager) , Bill Meehan (Fin Comm . Liaison), Bill O ' Brien (CCMGA), Donna Potts (Women 's 9-Hole Assn .), Paige Ferraguto (Women ' s 18 -Hole Assn . ), and Orin Segall . This meeting was held at the Captains Golf Course and was not televised . Call to Order : Anne O ' Connell called the meeting to order at 4 : 00 p . m . Public Comment : • None General Announcements : • None Correspondence and Suggestion Box : • None Superintendent's Report : • None Director of Operations Report (Mark O 'Brien) : • Mark O ' Brien reported that the January financials were strong and that the mild weather in January contributed for higher than normal play for the month. • Mark O ' Brien reported that the Retained Earnings at the end of FY 2020 is projected to be $ 153 ,000 . This is after capital projects which were originally planned to be funded by a short term borrowing . With the influx of the two-year membership revenues, we are able to pay for this capital from FY 2020 revenues . • The FY 2021 budget was presented by Mark O ' Brien and Anne O ' Connell to the Select Board and the Finance Committee on February 8 . It was well received by both boards . The Retained Earnings at the close of FY 2021 are projected to be $61 , 119 . • Jeff Odell requested a breakdown of the Indirect Costs assigned to the Golf budget for FY 2021 . Anne O ' Connell distributed a spreadsheet outlining the costs . It was decided that Mark O ' Brien, Anne O ' Connell , Andrea Johnson and Jeff Odell will meet with the Town 's finance team to get a more detailed Page I of 3 explanation of how the costs are determined and then report back to the Commission at the next meeting . • Mark O ' Brien reported that the maximum revenue of $ 500, 000 from the two-year membership program was achieved on February 2 . There have been 26 applications received for the two-year program since the maximum was reached. The idea of accepting applications above the $500,000 maximum was discussed. Mark O ' Brien stated that accepting these additional memberships would reduce the FY 2021 Retained Earnings projection by about $30,000 . He also stated that the Retained Earnings from FY 2020 could not be used to fund FY 2021 operations . Therefore, all were in agreement that this reduced Retained Earnings reduction places too large a risk to the ability of the golf department to remain solvent for FY 2021 and it was decided that we cannot accept any two-year membership applications above the maximum originally adopted by the Golf Commission and the Select Board . National Golf Foundation Report to Yarmouth Board of Selectmen — Possible learnings : • Carl Blanchard reported gleaning the following information from the NGF report . 1 . It is important to provide an exceptional golf experience to attract golfers . 2. Fixed costs for municipal courses on Cape Cod are high. 3 . 2/3 of all municipal golf courses, nationally operated in the red . 4 . The NGF noted that the Town of Yarmouth would be better off leasing out their food and beverage operation . 5. The Captains Golf Course 's tee time allocation was cited as a model for the Yarmouth golf courses to adopt . 6. It is important for the Town of Yarmouth to have a Director of Operations to have ultimate responsibility for the golf operations . 7. There is a lot of competition to attract the public golfer on Cape Cod . 8 . Having a dedicated person to market to golf groups is desirable . 9. It was recommended that the Town of Yarmouth increase their member fees . 10. It is important to cultivate relationships with area lodging establishments to attract play. 11 . The biggest downfall of most public golf courses is high debt . 12 . Jeff Odell also mentioned that the consultants pointed to Bayberry Hills championship yardage of over 7 ,000 yards is an attraction for certain high end events . Revenue Ideas , • The following ideas from the recent membership survey were reviewed : 1 . Preseason Play Packages — Mark O ' Brien stated we already have many discount programs, i . e . the Frequent Player Program, Discounts for guests of members, etc . and he is worried about cannibalizing our rack rates . 2 . Reciprocal Rates — Mark O ' Brien stated we have reciprocal rates for anyone who is a member of another Cape Cod municipal course to play in the off-season . 3 . Lifetime Memberships — No one had a good idea how to price something like that . • Carl Blanchard brought up the idea of eliminating residency requirements for membership and pricing the memberships somewhere between the resident and non-resident rates . Discussion followed and it was decided that this will be discussed further in the future . • Some membership promotions from other towns were discussed and these will be examined further in the future . Solar Project : • The Town has missed the deadline to participate in the Phase 3 portion of the CVEC project and is now Page 2 of 3 in phase 4 , which reduces the potential revenue to the Town . • Jeff Odell reported that the Eversource connection costs for the driving range portion came in at about $ 198 , 000 . Much higher than expected . • The net revenue that we can expect from the golf course solar canopies is now estimated at approximately $ 75 ,000 per year as oppose the $ 100 ,000 originally estimated . The Golf Commissioners felt that this amount was still worthwhile to pursue . • Carl Blanchard floated the idea of renting out spaces under the solar canopies in the offmseason once they were in place . All felt this idea was worth pursuing when and if the canopies are constructed . Carl Blanchard asked about the possibility have having club storage as a way to increase revenues . Mark O ' Brien stated that there are many issues to consider in relation to club storage, i . e . liability, insurance, staffing, security, etc . However, it is worth looking into down the road . Wyn Morton reported that he and Mark O ' Brien are going to be meeting with Jen Defoe, our social media consultant, about future marketing plans . We may invite her to the April Golf Commission meeting . Anne O ' Connell stated that the Finance Committee asked about measuring the ROI from our marketing efforts . Mark O ' Brien stated that he will discuss how to accomplish this with Jen . Review and Approve Minutes : • There was one change to the minutes regarding those in attendance . Carl Blanchard made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by Jeff Odell . Motion approved 5 -04 Future Agenda Items : • Solar project • Recycling program • Strategic planning • FY 2021 Golf budget indirect costs Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate : • None Andrea Johnson made a motion, seconded by Jeff Odell to adjourn the meeting . The motion was approved 6-04 The meeting was adjourned at 5 : 50 p . m . Respectfully Submitted, Mark O ' Brien Director of Operations Page 3 of 3 i i i 3