Loading...
Minutes 12-02-91 MINUTES OF THE JOINT WORKSHOP OF THE CITY COMMISSION AND THE GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, HELD IN COMMISSION CHamBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1991, AT 3:00 P. M. PRESENT Arline weiner, Mayor Edward Harmening, Vice Mayor Jose Aguila, Commissioner Lillian Artis, Commissioner Lynne Matson, Commissioner Golf Course Advisory Committee Don Fenton, City Member Bill McCarty, City Member Nelson List, County Member George Regan, County Member Don Ross, County Alternate Joe Sciortino, Golf Director J. Scott Miller, City Manager CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiner called the meeting to order at 3:10 P. M. The mem- bers of the Golf Course Advisory Committee introduced themselves. Mr. Sciortino introduced Architect Charles Ankrom, Paula McGee of Mr. Ankrom's office, Dan Miller, Golf Course Superintendent, and Dan Hager, Co-Head Professional. Mr. Sciortino announced the purpose of this meeting is to review Mr. Ankrom's designs, give him feedback on his designs, and/or approve his designs so he may commence work on the bid specifica- tions. Mr. Sciortino stated a major consideration involved in designing the golf course is to retain the flavor of the original golf course, and change those problem greens that people had complaints about. There are eight new design greens, eight with very minor revisions, and four that were basically the same. Another consideration is the cost of irrigation. On the greens that need major revisions, the exisiting irrigation pipes will be utilized. The last conSideration involved in designing the golf course is to insure that when the job is completed, it will satisfy the golfers in terms of their requirements for good grass structure. MINUTES - CITY COMMISSION AND GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA December 2, 1991 Mr. Sciortino passed out a summary of the activity level since the golf course has been open and stated that although the feasi- bility study and the original design plan was based on between 50,000 and 55,000 rounds a year for the championship course, there have been 80,000 to 85,000 rounds on the championship course alone. He said the golf course is basically beat up and there are presently new ways of building greens that in theory will sustain this type of traffic. The sizes of the greens were increased wherever possible to create more zones for pin place- ments to reduce the wear and tear in specific areas so that the traffic is spread out more evenly. He believed the golf course is a business and has competition in the area, stating that every municipality in the area has either recently undergone major renovation or is planning to do undergo renovation. He said it was never contemplated to exceed the original budget, but that it would be foolish not to consider other things that could be done while the nine holes were closed if it could be done within the budget and if corners could be cut on the greens work. Mr. Sciortino continued that materials for USGA greens construc- tion are becoming more readily available in the marketplace today as more and more golf courses utilize them, and the prices are coming down. However, there is debate as to whether or not it is totally necessary to use straight USGA specifications or some modification thereof. He plans to go out to bid on a straight USGA greens cross section, which consists of a drainage trench with perforated plastic pipe in the trench, filled with clean gravel, 4" of gravel on top of that, a choker layer (2" of coarse sand), 12" of greens mix on top of the choker layer, and grass planted on top of the greens mix. He said this is considered the ideal system for a green, nationally. Alternate bids include (1) eliminating the choker layer, which would save $30,000 to $40,000, and (2) eliminate the gravel and choker layer over the basic trench and having only a drainage trench and greens mix on top, saving approximately $100,000.00. He explained that rebuilding greens consists of the whole greens complex, including the surrounding slopes and bunkers, not just the surface of the green. Mr. Ankrom stated the United States Golf Association only puts out one specification for the entire world. There are many variations on the USGA specification. He has put some USGA greens or good modified USGA greens mainly in the private sector where they could afford it. It has caught on and 90% of his 2 MINUTES - CITY COMMISSION AND GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA December 2, 1991 remodeling jobs now include full USGA greens specifications; however, there are some good alternatives. He said ten years ago if a golf course greens was bad, $1000,000.00 would be budgeted for the putting surface only, just to strip the sod off, add a little sand, and regrass it. Within 24 months, it would be right back where it started from because the structure of the soils was not improved. Regarding the 2" choker layer of sand, Mr. Ankrom said it was not manufactured in the State of Florida. Starting two summers ago, choker layer quality sand has been brought in by railroad from Alabama and is now available for around $27 to $29 per ton. Regarding the advantages of USGA greens, Mr. Ankrom said Florida golf course greens are built out of what is in the bottom of the lake, which consists of sand and shell. The calcium in the shell keeps the greens very high in PH, and is not the ideal topsoil. Mr. Ankrom said he has been putting in USGA greens for about four years now and before the 2" choker layer was available, he used plastic liners. Mayor Weiner asked Mr. Sciortino how many times last year did the golf course have to be closed due to rain. Mr. Sciortino said it was never closed due to the greens being too wet. It was closed about a dozen times due to car traffic, and about six times completely. Mr. Ankrom said many architects are not putting in the choker layer to separate the topsoil from the gravel. The most recent recommendation of the USGA was to put in the choker layer. Discussion ensued regarding eliminating the choker layer or not. Mr. Sciortino said ideally he would like to go with the USGA greens specification. However, there are other problems on the golf course that he would like to see some money spent on, such as cleaning up some low areas that have bad grass and bad drainage areas and fairways in front of the greens. Commissioner Aguila asked how the USGA greens compare to other greens as far as wear and tear. Mr. Ankrom said USGA greens gives a healthier, more vigorous root structure, and therefore better greens and that years from now you may have to strip the sod off the top and put in an inch or two of sand. MINUTES - CITY COMMISSION AND GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA December 2, 1991 Mr. Fenton asked Mr. Ankrom what the benefits of a USGA greens are to the golfer. At this point in the meeting, Vice Mayor Harmening arrived. Mr. Ankrom said basically the benefits of a USGA greens is improved zones and less possibility of water standing. Mr. Sciortino said there are down sides to a USGA greens. For instance, the fertilization schedule is different and the watering schedule of the surrounding mounds around the greens that do not have graduated subsurfaces has to be balanced. USGA specifications supposedly insure there will be no subsurface problems; however, there will still be other problems, such as fertilizing and irrigating properly. In addition, it is more important to have enough pin placement zones than it is to have a USGA greens specification. Mr. Sciortino explained what pin placement zones were and Mr. Ankrom explained how a golfer is forced to play a certain shot in order to get into a pin zone. Mr. List hoped that with the rebuilding of the greens, many of the poor drainage spots would be corrected. Mr. Ankrom agreed that drainage enhancement was one of the most important factors. A couple of areas (#9 Red course fairway and right in front of the green on #5 white) need contractor assistance. Danny will address some of these issues when the 9 holes are closed. Mr. Sciortino advised that the research report prepared by Mr. Ankrom designated five exhibits which were above and beyond the greens renovation work. He said it was unilaterally decided that the work described in Exhibits A and B must be done. The greens involved were 1 Red, 2 Red, 4 Red, and the 5th Tee. This work will be done as part of the main bid. The drainage work on 9 Red, 5 White, and the additional tee on 6 White will be alter- nate bids. There will be a balancing against USGA specifications and variations thereof. Mr. Ankrom referred to a drawing of 1 Red, 2 Red, 4 Red, and the 5th Tee and described the problems and solutions. He said the greens will be replaced with Tifdwarf. In answer to Commissioner Aguila, Mr. Ankrom said the project will be bid out with unit prices for additions and deletions, providing a method to back off. The specifications will indicate the owner has the right to reevaluate the work to reduce certain units to reduce the cost. Mr. Ankrom talked about the benchmarks he used and stated this effectively makes every bidder bid the same and they can bid cheap because they know exactly what to do. 4 MINUTES - CITY COMMISSION AND GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA December 2, 1991 Mr. Sciortino advised that some greens renovations throughout the area have been successful and some have not, based on the turf because one cannot tell by looking at the sprigs if they are good. A survey is being conducted to find out who is using what farms to get their turf from, as well as sources of sand and gravel, and that is planned on being specified in the bid. Samples are being sent out to insure they. are within USGA specifications. Mr. Ankrom referred to drawings of each green and explained how he intended to redesign them. Mayor Weiner asked how much money was budgeted for this project. Mr. Sciortino said $550,000.00 was budgeted for the renovations and $50,000.00 for the architect, including the interest accruing on the $400,000.00 created when the issue was refunded. Mr. Ankrom said the money will be spent on the putting surface, soils, tile, gravel and new grass. There was further discussion regarding utilizing the current irrigation system wherever possible to save money. Mr. List felt 3 White is a very unfair hole for the average golfer and wanted to know if anything was going to done about it. Mr. Sciortino said the level of that fairway would be raised a little on the right along the lake by inserting catch basins. In answer to Commissioner Aguila, Mr. Sciortino said after con- sideration of the bids and awarding of the bids, sometime in February, the golf course will be closed May 1 to begin construc- tion and will reopen in October. It takes approximately two and a half months for construction and two and a half months for growing. Mr. List spoke on behalf of the Golf Course Advisory Committee and stated it was their general consensus to approve Mr. Ankrom's designs. MINUTES - CITY COMMISSION AND GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA December 2, 1991 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 4:54 P. M. THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH Recordihg Secretary (Two Tapes) // Mayor Vice ~or Co~issioner Commissioner