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Minutes 11-02-06 MINUTES OF THE GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2006 AT 3:00 P.M. IN THE CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Arthur L. Matthews, Jr., Chair Lynda Frederick, Vice Chair Arthur Gabler Herb Suss Robert Kane, City Alternate Corrado P. Giangreco, City Alternate Dan Hager, Manager of Golf Operations Scott Wahlin, Manager of Golf Maintenance Absent: James Smith Ron Levy, County Alternate Kurt Bressner, Non-voting Member I. Opening A. Call to Order Chair Matthews called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. B. Aqenda Aooroval Motion Vice Chair Frederick moved to approve the agenda as presented. The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimously. C. Announcements Chair Matthews introduced a new board member, Robert Kane. Mr. Kane thanked the City, Dan Hager, and the board for giving him an opportunity to give back for all the enjoyment he had received from The Links over the years. Mr. Kane spent 27 years on the New York City Fire Department. He graduated from Suffolk Community College with an Associates Degree and went to work for Home Depot, where he recently retired as Director of Design for the Expo Center. II. Minutes Motion Vice Chair Frederick moved to approve the minutes of the June 21, 2006 meeting. Mr. Suss seconded the motion that passed unanimously. III. Reports A. Manager of Golf Maintenance Report, Scott Wahlin Meeting Minutes Golf Course Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida 1. Audubon Coooerative Sanctuarv Proqram November 2, 2006 Mr. Wahlin, Manager of Golf Maintenance and Certified Golf Course Superintendent, showed a PowerPoint presentation on The Links' recent certification as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Mr. Hager mentioned that of the other eight Palm Beach County courses with this classification, The Links was the only public course. The only public course that came close to The Links was the Ritz Carlton, which was indicative of the kind of courses that were certified Audubon sanctuaries. Mr. Wahlin mentioned The Links was the 79th course of the 1500 courses in Florida to achieve this status. In order to bring this about, The Links had to demonstrate proficiency in several key areas: . Environmental Planning . Wildlife and Habitat Management . Chemical Use Reduction and Safety . Water Conservation . Water Quality Management · Outreach and Education Since beginning the work towards certification, staff had 1) photographed and/or documented over 50 species of animals, mammals, and birds that call The Links home; 2) provided notices to staff and customers regarding wildlife conservation and environmental stewardship on the golf course; 2) established a buffer area for water features; 3) implemented an integrated pest management program; 4) conducted water quality testing to assure a healthy ecosystem; 5) replaced sprinkler heads that watered offsite areas; 6) installed a state-of-the-art chemical storage unit; 7) replaced the fuel storage tanks; and 8) established over nine acres for wildlife habitat. Mr. Suss and other board members proffered congratulations to Mr. Wahlin and all staff who had contributed to this outstanding achievement. Chair Matthews called the roll and declared a quorum was present. 2. Greenskeeoer Certification Mr. Wahlin mentioned they had been working on this for a long time, but had decided to complete the effort. Seven greenskeepers were currently in training, working on the parts of the program they needed to become certified. Safety was a big part of the program and participants had to understand and commit to the City's statement, "Safety is not a priority; it is the way we do business." 2. Tree Status Mr. Wahlin reported they were more involved with a reduction in dead pine trees than in replacing trees. When they prepared the budget, they were not aware that the damage from Hurricane Wilma would be so much worse than the other hurricanes. Having 200 dead trees was beyond the scope of normal maintenance. The bids for removing 200 dead pine trees ranged from $24,700 to $60K. This was done as a capital improvement project. Nova Arbor, the 2 Meeting Minutes Golf Course Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida November 2, 2006 company that removed the dead trees, pruned some other trees that would have grown poorly if left alone. This was accomplished for the same amount of money. Vice Chair Frederick inquired about a timeframe for replacement trees, since the landscape was looking rather bare at present. Mr. Wahlin agreed, saying they were concentrating on the areas where trees were needed for safety. They would probably replace the trees they lost with about one quarter of the number of trees present originally, spread out over a four-year period. Mr. Suss inquired about the reimbursement from FEMA for Hurricane Wilma damages. Mr. Wahlin responded they had not received a refund yet. It would come to Bill Mummert in Finance and they would be notified when it was received. He estimated it would be 75% of $500K, but that still did not cover the lost revenue. It was helpful, but had hurt them as far as trying to develop reserve accounts. Chair Matthews inquired about the size of the replacement trees. Mr. Wahlin responded they were using Abell Nursery since the City had a contract with them. The trees were 6-8 inches in diameter, measured 6-8 feet from the ground and about 16-18 feet tall. Since they were trying to replace so many trees, they were considering purchasing smaller, less expensive trees and making a local rule to avoid the areas where they were planted while they were growing. Mr. Suss complimented staff on its response to adverse circumstances from the hurricanes. They had kept the course in play and done a great job. Mr. Wahlin thanked Mr. Suss, saying they had been less than satisfied with the job done by workers from temporary help agencies following the hurricanes. They decided to do the work themselves and had been in that mode up to September. They were able to eliminate the $30K temporary labor item in the budget, which was good; however, the pool of part-time labor had dried up. They had 40 hours of "full time equivalent" jobs for which they could not find applicants. 3. Greens Resurfacinq Mr. Wahlin reported on the status of the greens at The Links. The championship course had fourteen or fifteen-year-old TifDwarf greens, which tended to mutate into something else. The splotches were visible in the grass. Last summer there was a bad period in September, so they aerified and following that, had 34 days of no sun, 28 rain events, and 16 inches of rain. The mutations on the TifDwarf greens were significant. They had been able to grow them back in, but they did not look very good at the beginning of October. The grass they tried to use, the Champion hybrid Bermudagrass they had on the family course and on the chipping green, was very inexpensive to put down, but had been temperamental. It had not turned out to be a good grass for The Links. The grass seemed to do better in the "push up" areas as opposed to where the USGA greens were located. In looking at the putting greens, the circles of USGA could be seen versus where there was no drainage. As a result, they were looking at resurfacing the greens in the normal way they had done it in the past, which was to apply an herbicide to kill the grass and remove the existing sod and top four inches of the surface with the most amount of organic material. They then backfill with sand, till it in and gas it with methyl bromide gas, and leave it under plastic for a few days. They then grassed the area with TifDwarf grass. He understood there were now TifDwarf grasses that were genetically stable. They had a grass they were very happy with over at High Ridge and The Falls and staff at The Links was watching this grass for possible use in the future. 3 Meeting Minutes Golf Course Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida November 2, 2006 In response to a question from the board, Mr. Wahlin declared it would cost about $360K for the championship course and $200K for the family course to completely replace the greens at The Links. 4. Relief Stations Mr. Wahlin reported the relief stations should be in place by the end of November. 5. Surolus Equioment Mr. Wahlin explained the members would be seeing a list of surplus golf equipment going to the City Commission in the next couple of months. The market for used golf equipment was very active at present. Mr. Wahlin noted the budget had a $3K greens brush in it and a supplier who had one might be interested in trading this brush for some surplus equipment. This would mean they would not have to spend the $3K in the budget, which could be applied to good use elsewhere on The Links. B. Manager of Golf Operations Report, Dan Hager 1. Business Reoort Dan Hager, Manager of Golf Operations, gave the business report, saying June through September 2006 expenditures exceeded budgeted revenue by $43,729, in light of experiencing $128,918 below projected revenue from carts/green fees 2005/2006. They were behind $178,365 for the first quarter of the fiscal year, October through December, due to Hurricane Wilma, and did not have a really good January either. The cost of lost revenue of $580K for the greens (while waiting for them to grow in) was included. They resurfaced the greens and put in USGA Spec greens in 1992. During 1992 and 1993 they resurfaced nine holes per summer, and that was still having an impact on their revenue. They used the family course as the back nine and whenever someone wanted to play and were told there was only one temporary tee, they usually decided to play elsewhere. Chair Matthews asked Mr. Hager what the total cost would be to replace all the greens, including the hard cost for the grass itself and the lost business. Mr. Hager stated $580K sounded correct for all 27 holes. For carts and greens fees, not to mention people not eating in the restaurant or hitting range balls, estimated revenue for September was $70K; August $80K; July $85K; June $75K. If you tried to do it in the weakest months, when you would lose the least amount of revenue, you would run the risk of the weather that went with it. He thought that considering all things, including lost revenue, the figure might run to $21OK more than the $580K currently projected. 2. Advertisinq Mr. Hager noted the worst thing about advertising was that it was not quantifiable, unless the use of coupons was involved. They had a great deal of positive feedback about their advertisement on the Golf Channel and extended that contract through 2007 for the same price. They also extended their contract for another year with the Alco Movie Theater and added a new slide about the Audubon information and updated the Golf Digest to show 2006. 4 Meeting Minutes Golf Course Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida November 2, 2006 They placed a 1/6 of a page color ad in the Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce publication. For $300, The Links was listed as a location on a Palm Beach County official cartoon map. Twenty thousand of the maps were to be distributed to tourists, locals and new residents. Ten thousand maps would be placed in major hotels. Chair Matthews was amazed at the far-flung, excellent reputation of The Links in all parts of Palm Beach County. People were familiar with the course and its services. Mr. Hager responded The Links was now part of the Palm Beach County Ladies Travel League, which had eight different courses including some really nice clubs like PGA National and Iron Horse. Mr. Suss mentioned that as he overheard conversations around town, the subject often turned to the reputation The Links had for keeping up the pace of play. This was very appealing to a large number of people. Mr. Hager noted he might also hear from the other "camp," who were not happy about that; however, slow play, he felt, was something that could kill the game. 3. Events Since the last Golf Course Advisory Committee Meeting in June, they had the Second Annual Park Vista Invitational on October 4 and Park Vista High School won. The Links awarded $lK in scholarships that came out of the Junior Golf Fund. On October 9, the District 19 Boys Two-Way High School Tournament was held at The Links and was also won by Park Vista High School. Schools from all over Palm Beach and Broward Counties participated. The coaches raved about how well the boys were treated at The Links. They also had two Pro Customer events. Vice Chair Fredericks was Mr. Hager's partner the last time and they won. This was an opportunity for The Links employees to play with customers. When the Player Assistant was out there a month later and had to ask someone to pick up the pace, it helped to put a name with a face and that the face was someone they had played with before. On November 3, weather permitting, they hoped to have their Second Annual Sister Cities Night Golf Tournament. 4. Park Vista Autistic Unit Mr. Hager declared there were eight participants in the program this year, along with three supervisors. Weekly team meetings had begun. 5. Automated Tee-Time Svstem Eight-hundred eighty-eight persons were now registered in the system. Mr. Hager affirmed when there was motion, there was friction, and they were working some "bugs" out of the system. Their greatest difficulty was the need to obtain the name of each player in the group, something that was more easily done through the computer than the telephone. People were calling The Links from other parts of the state to find out how The Links liked the system. They were trying to focus on the finish line, which was that a person would be able to make a starting time in the convenience of his or her living room at any time, eight days in advance. It would dramatically decrease the number of phone calls that had to be made by staff. Three ports were installed and the handicapped computer now had Internet access where a person could book a time for eight days in the future. Mr. Suss reported a problem he had when he had tried to cancel one of a party of three. Mr. Hager replied this was something the programmer was going to fix as soon as priorities 5 Meeting Minutes Golf Course Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida November 2, 2006 allowed. For the present, Mr. Hager asked Mr. Suss to call him if this occurred again, so that he could work on the problem directly. Mr. Suss thanked staff for the assistance rendered to him in how to use the computer. Mr. Kane noted there was a spot where the scores could be put in. He asked if the next step would be to assess a charge for the course keeping the scores and doing the handicap. Mr. Hager responded this was something that was there, but they had not asked for it and did not plan to use it. It was just a place people could put their scores if they wanted. Mr. Hager was asking the programmer for an electronic starter, which would mean they could get rid of paper and the starter could record in and out times for a party on the computer. The Links was the only golf course Mr. Hager knew that actually measured how well they did at delivering its commitment to the customer. They could have standard questions such as, "Did you play in no more than four hours, five minutes today?" Now, a staffer had to go through a lot of labor to count up all the starter's reports to get this information. 6. Uodate on 40-Acre Parcel Mr. Hager noted the grant had been approved and they were waiting for a letter of feasibility from the Environmental Protection Agency. It was a slow process. Mr. Wahlin added when the company came out to do soil tests and borings, they would move rather quickly. They would find the golf course soil was high in arsenic. This would be the case with any golf course over five months old and it was due to an herbicide called MSMA. They would need to categorize the arsenic into organic and inorganic classifications. The inorganic arsenic was the toxic one. If someone wanted to build residences there, there was an inexpensive way to mitigate any arsenic found in the soil. He did not know how long the EPA would take to evaluate the results. 7. Junior Golf Mr. Hager reported they had three successful Jr. Golf Schools this summer and one was in progress at present. One of their goals in the Administrative Division this year was to reach inner City youth through golf. They had a first meeting with an organization called "Hook a Kid," that had been around since 1991. It would cost $100 to sponsor a youngster in the 8-13 age group for the program through Hook a Kid. That would include instruction, which The Links would provide at no charge. For that amount, a youngster would get a cap, bag, a wood (probably a Wilson), three irons and a putter. Mr. Hager declared The Links had tried this several years previously and found it heartbreaking to see the participants become interested and not be able to continue due to a lack of transportation. They planned to have classes of 12 for a period of eight weeks, probably targeting the Hester Center to start. They would work with the City's Recreation & Parks Department on providing transportation. Also, the United States Golf Association would match each dollar spent on the program. They planned to ask the parents of the youngsters to provide $25, primarily because it stimulated a level of commitment that was not normally present in a totally free program. Staff would take turns doing classes on chipping, putting, rules, and so forth. They planned to solicit golfers from the course to sponsor a child for $50. Then, with a matching grant of $50, the $100 criteria would be met. Recreation would provide a supervisor 6 Meeting Minutes Golf Course Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida November 2, 2006 to assist. As a payback to the sponsor, at the final meeting, the $25 would be used to have a nine-hole, four-person scramble so a sponsor could play with a youngster. They could come in afterwards for pizza, cake and the award of trophies. It was hoped the program might encourage the development of relationships with the youngsters, which might lead to sponsors offering the youngsters rides to and from the course. The most challenging aspect of the entire program was the transportation. However, they had received a positive response about this from the Director of Recreation & Parks, Wally Majors. They hoped to get the program underway in January or February of 2007. Chair Matthews was very supportive of the $25 "buy-in" for the parents, believing that this was crucial to the success of the program. Mr. Giangreco left the meeting at about 4: 10 p.m. IV. New Business None V. Old Business None Mr. Hager introduced a visitor in the audience, Mr. Nat Rosenberg, new President of the Men's Golf Association. VI. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was properly adjourned at 4:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~?a~{;C~'J Susan Collins Recording Secretary (110306) 7