HomeMy Public PortalAboutGolf Commission -- 2021-02-16 Minutes ¢x Mit �i
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TOWN OF BREWSTER
Brewster, Massachusetts 02631
( 508) 896- 3701
GOLF COMMISSION
Minutes of February 16, 2021
Commissioners Present : Anne O ' Connell (Chair), Andrea Johnson (Vice- Chair), Carl Blanchard, John
Kissida, Wyn Morton ,
Others Present : Jay Packett, Director of Operations, Colin Walsh, Golf Course Superintendent, Rob
Harris (CCMGA), Donna Potts (9-Hole Women ' s Assn), Sarah Robinson ( 18-Hole Women 's Assn) and
Bill Meehan (Finance Committee Liaison) .
THIS MEETING WAS HELD REMOTELY WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDED . The meeting
may be viewed at : http : //video . brewster- ma . gov/CablecastPublicSite/show/5237 ? channel = l
Anne O ' Connell called the meeting to order at 4 : 00 pm after reading remote meeting guidelines and
procedures .
Superintendent's Report :
• Colin Walsh reported on the advantages of the recent snowfall . Since the crew has been indoors,
equipment and shop work has been done . Inventory has been done ; tree and stump work is being
done . The golf industry show was virtual this year and very educational ; quite a few of the guys
attended .
Director's report :
• Jay Packett reported the snow was welcome for the pro shop, allowing for operational things to
be done . Over twenty-two hundred rounds were played in January setting another record . One
hundred eighty rounds were played on February 6 . The January comparison reports show a
discrepancy due to the introduction of two-year memberships .
• The Mid- Cape Men 's club has requested October 12 for an event and will be having a shotgun
start with 50 to 60 players ; the second request was for Thursday morning, June 10, from the
Cape Cod Men ' Club . Jay Packett has not yet received a definitive number of players , but he
anticipates 20 to 28 players and will keep this date as a placeholder. This will not interfere with
the O ' Connell Cup- - final information should be available for approval at the next commission
meeting .
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Strategic Planning Updates :
• Each of the golf commissioners has been assigned an area of golf course operations for the
strategic plan which will be referred to as swim lanes and will be reported on at regular business
meetings each month .
• Andrea Johnson said her area along with John Kissida is grounds and reported money for various
projects going forward depends in large part on expenditures for the irrigation project . More
information will be available upon receipt of the irrigation report . Her responsibility is the golf
courses ; in this regard she has been walking the golf courses getting a sense of the functionality
of the courses .
• Wyn Motion reported on "marketing and communication . " On January 27 , he and Jay Packett
met with Jen DeFoe and her PR company, Jen DeFoe Communications , and Kieran Noonan of
Community Internet . The stages of the golf course last year and this year in terms of the new
director, the new superintendent and the governor 's mandates were reviewed along with the
unprecedented play. The course was not marketed last year. Future marketing strategy for 2021
was discussed hoping to raise The Captains to the next level . The website has been reviewed—
certain areas will be upgraded . There will be press releases and major news and announcements ,
i . e . Mark O ' Brien 's retirement and Jay Packett 's appointment as Director. Social media
marketing will be increased from two to four postings a week including expanded video postings
as well as still photography. Video hole flyovers will be included . Members and a large
audience of our email address listings will be emailed on a monthly basis . Topics for email ideas
can be submitted to Wyn Morton . Women and new golfers will be targeted in a variety of
formats , including special and local groups . Full page ads will be included in CHATHAM
LIVING MAGAZINE which has a distribution of about 10 , 000 copies and is available at
Chatham Bars Inn and Wequassett Resort as well as the Chatham Village Market and at Barnes
and Noble locations from Maine to Virginia during the golfing season. Print ads in national
magazines will be distributed through Adverator which is a way of supplying low- cost ads to a
broad variety of publications . The blog on the website will have articles Jen DeFoe will write or
if they are more specific , she will subcontract those out to increase SEO profile for searches on
the website . She will be hosting events to introduce the course to locals to increase marketing of
9 -hole play such as 9 and dine packaging . Discussion followed regarding the purpose of the blog
and topics of interest . John Kissida suggested the solar project be included in the marketing plan.
Rob Harris talked about descriptive words used on Facebook . Wynn Morton talked about
postings on Instagram . Carl Blanchard suggested promoting specific tees , especially the family
tees .
• On February 3 , Wynn Morton and Kieran Noonan met and did a complete review of the website ,
questioning whether the website should be trashed and started over again or updated . Wynn
Morton feels the website is wonderful , but certain parts need to up be upgraded . One of the
driving forces behind this is that in looking at the websites of some of our local competitors they
are doing better than The Captains in certain areas . Dennis and Cranberry Valley have videos on
their first pages . The Captains ' website is close in the look and feel to those of some of the top
echelon courses in the country, i . e . Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst . Going through the
different tabs on the website : on the home page the still photograph will be replaced with the
seven scrolling videos that comprise the introductory video on the home page . The twelve photos
scrolling on the home page will be updated . The hole-by-hole video flyovers have been upgraded
to be more user- friendly. The rates page was simplified without losing any of the content . The
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book- a-tee time page is too complex for non-member daily fee players and requires additional
analysis to try to attempt to use the platform used by our competitors , but this will take more
research. Caring for The Captains tab will be upgraded with additional video from Jen DeFoe
and the USGA website to form a video library. The golf outings tab will be upgraded with video
and still photos from weddings , groups outings , events , buddies ' trips and the like . The golf
specials tab has been populated and upgraded thanks to Jay Packett . Under the members page we
will be populating the calendar with our events as well as commission information . We will have
to expand on the golf commission listing possibly having a brief bio and picture of each
commissioner. The members ' application tab requires consolidation and will take some more
research . Under about The Captains , the photo gallery will be upgraded and refreshed with more
recent photos by Jen DeFoe . The pro shop tab needs a major expansion to include photos of
logoed items which can be purchased on site and possibly on line . More research is required for
on-line purchasing because of payment , handling and shipping, etc . The our staff tab has been
updated with bios , photos are needed . The Freeman ' s Grill tab has been updated with new photos
depicting the remodeling and the new inviting atmosphere . The reviews tab has quotes from
various sites . The Captains blog will be upgraded; monthly contest winners have been moved to
a separate tab to consolidate . Jay Packett will attempt to have the web cam upgraded through
town hall . Jay Packett thanked Wynn Morton for bringing the website up-to - speed as it was
outdated . The expiration of the specials page was discussed . Jay Packett will review the
additional expenditures . Wynn Morton complimented Jay Packett for his support of the new
marketing projects .
• John Kissida reported that along with Andrea Johnson, his area is basically the grounds--
specificallycart paths, irrigation, the playable part of the golf course not covered by Andrea
Johnson. He was able to get the town ' s GIS mapping in color. There is a new aerial series that
has been added to the town 's information system which he had printed out at 100 and 200 scale
that he also provided to the NGF and the irrigation designer. Taking one of those plans , he drove
the Port Course cart paths marking up short-terms issues that need to be done soon, not
necessarily an over-all program . The original golf course had six-foot cart paths ; the new course
has eight-foot cart paths which ultimately changes things that might have to be done down the
road . He also participated in irrigation study meetings with Andrea , Jay and Colin.
• Carl Blanchard ' s reported his lane covers the physical structures on the golf course . In this
budget cycle, Jay Packett has made some progress regarding the HVAC system in the kitchen and
restaurant area . The information has gone to town hall for an RFP. The maintenance building is
on hold until information is received from the NFG . Jay Packett stated the trim and gutters are out
there and have been emailed to various companies . As far as the HVAC is concerned, he received
information today from Donna Kalanick as to what the specs will look like and what will be sent
out . She will take care of this on the 24«' of this month. Jay Packett is trying to get this done as
quickly as possible .
• Information on the two remaining swim lanes was not available, as their owners were not at the
meeting .
Update on Solar Projects :
• Jay Packett reported he , Peter Lombardi and Donna Kalanick had a Zoom meeting with DSD and
their representatives regarding the solar project for the parking lot . At the last meeting the
question was raised as to what would happen if the deadline of December 31 , 2021 was not made .
Tim Magner has reached out to DOER and has not heard back . When the paperwork was filed it
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was filed under the wrong entity name; this matter has been forwarded to Town Counsel to
determine if this can be changed administratively in-house . If it cannot be changed in-house, the
process will need to be started all over again . Concerns and thoughts brought up at the last
commission meeting were presented regarding the construction process if it were to go for the
entire season . Jay Packett followed up this information with emails to the parties concerned,
creating a paper trail . Peter Lombardi will try and get some assurances within the contract . The
pieces of I/beam with the paint colors were supposed to be delivered today but have not yet
arrived . Jay Packett will reach out tomorrow to see when delivery will be made so everyone can
look and vote on the paint color. The driving range project crew has been there every day. The
cement pad for the transformer has been laid . Jay Packett feels the mid-March date could be
reached depending on the weather.
Update on NGF Consultant Study :
• Colin Walsh met with Tim Gerrish, registered landscape architect , to discuss goals , objectives
and an overview of the plan . They toured the maintenance facility and observed the physical
plant and equipment . They also toured parts of the golf course noting renovations and work
needed. Details will be noted in Tim Gerrish ' s upcoming report . Jay Packett spoke with Tim
Gerrish yesterday regarding his questions about the clubhouse, pavilion, patio and back deck, the
age of the clubhouse etc . The capital plans should address some of this . Richard Singer will
receive Tim Gerrish ' s report and indicated he had not received Jay Packett ' s report, sent on
January 30 , due to computer malfunctions at the NFG . He has since gotten the report and will
review it today. Jay Packett received a preliminary report this afternoon from Brian Vincenzi
regarding the irrigation study and will circulate it to Colin Walsh, John Kissida and Andrea
Johnson who will prepare to do a preliminary presentation on at the meeting on March 9 .
Questions and comments from Associations and liaisons :
• Rob Harris reported the slow play policy will been sent out to the members and to the golf
commission in hopes it will increase the member numbers on Wednesdays . Help will be needed
from Jay Packett , the rangers and the members of the CCMGA to institute the policy.
Review and approve minutes :
• The minutes of the meeting on January 19 were corrected- -at the top of the second page 9-hole
ladies should read ladies shotgun . Chelsea point vote should be amended to read as follows : a
motion was made by John Kissida , seconded by Andrea Johnson, that an additional half point be
allocated for back 9 and afternoon play requests and a half point for play during the same period .
• A motion was made by Andrea Johnson, seconded by John Kissida , to approve the minutes of
January 19 as amended. Motion passed unanimously
• Regarding the minutes dated February 2 , John Kissida reported under the updated solar project he
presented a number of ideas that should be looked at regarding construction relative to controlling
worker parking and the location, where the greens crew is going to park, construction access only
through the second entrance, maintaining the parking aisle and the large parking area with the
walk along the golf course itself at all times , trying to sequence this construction from south to
north to free up the parking especially in the 4 , 5 , and 6 as soon as possible and he asked about
potential penalties if they don ' t make that Memorial Day date . Someone else suggested
informational signage on the fencing along the entrance to tell people what was being done which
he thinks is a really good idea . Those were all pieces he made comments on that were omitted,
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and he feels these should be passed on to the contractor and the town making sure they are in
record of what ' s being discussed as these items are important should be kept at the forefront The
structure colors were already talked about . Regarding the briefing that occurred on the irrigation
system study : he attended those meetings with Colin Walsh and made several comments as well,
most of which are included in the update, but it is not mentioned that he gave part of the
presentation . John Kissida was asked to send Jay Packett the wording he would like to see
included on these issues .
• Sarah Robinson 's name should have an "h" at the end .
A motion was made by Wyn Morton, seconded by John Kissida to approve the minutes of the
meeting of February 2 as amended . Motion passed unanimously.
Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate :
• John Kissida asked Jay Packett to report on hiring of additional staff. Jay Packett and Susan
Broderick interviewed five candidates for the replacement of Jay Packett 's position . An offer
letter has been drafted and one applicant selected, but since the offer letter has not been signed, he
cannot discuss it . Peter Lombardi and Donna Kalanick are working with the union on replacing
the department assistant which will now be a full-time position.
• Meetings are now scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month. The next meeting will
be a business meeting on March 9 .
Future agenda items and meetings :
• Cape Cod Men 's Club and Mid-Cape Men 's Club outings .
• Preliminary irrigation study.
• Solar project .
• NGF study.
A motion to adjourn was made by Andrea Johnson, seconded by John Kissida , to adjourn the meeting .
Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6 : 00 pm .
Respectfully submitted,
Dorothy Vesperman
Department Assistant
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