The following are the minutes of the Brewster Golf Commission meeting held on August 31, 2010. The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM.
Commissioners present: Rob Harris, Chairman Cindy Bingham, Vice-Chair Jim Ehrhart Lori Arnold Anne O’Connell Jeff Odell Marc Fontaine Joseph Shaw, Commissioner Emeritus
Staff present: Mark O’Brien, Director of Operations
Others present: Su Ballentine, Finance Committee Liaison Orin Segall
R. Harris called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. and introduced Su Ballentine, the new Finance Committee liaison, to the Commission.
The minutes from the August 10, 2010 meeting were reviewed. A motion made by J. Odell, seconded by C. Bingham, to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed unanimously.
CORRESPONDENCE
- The Tradesmen group requested a block of 7 tee times on September 18 & 19 first thing in the morning for their annual tournament. J. Ehrhart made a motion, seconded by C. Bingham to approve this request. Motion approved unanimously.
- Al Williams requested a refund or a credit for his resident AFP fee for 2010. Due to illness he has not played in the past year. The request came in after the June 30 deadline so it was not approved.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
- M. O'Brien reported that the green fee revenue for August would be down approximately the same as was the case in July.
- J. Ehrhart suggested that we should revert back to the 6:30 a.m. start time as opposed to the current 6:12 a.m. This is due to the fact that the early times are not being used. The times change after Labor Day anyway. The Commission determined that the Director of Operations could make that change. M. O'Brien said he would.
OLD BUSINESS
- A "Pay Now Play Now" program for resident AFPs was discussed. R. Harris made a motion, seconded by L. Arnold, to adopt a program for Brewster residents whereby they could pay the full resident AFP fee of $700, from now until further notice, and the membership would be effective September 15, 2010 through March 31, 2012. Even if the resident AFP rate is subsequently increased for the 2011 season, no increase will be charged for these new members for the 2011 season once they have paid the fee. This would only be available to those that are not current AFPs. The motion was adopted unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
- Resident AFP rates for 2011 were discussed. No determination was made at this time. They will be discussed at the next meeting.
- Establishing a calendar to guide the Commission on the timing of certain matters they need to address was discussed. M. O'Brien outlined the following:
1. The budget needs to be submitted by early January.
2. Capital requests for the Spring Town Meeting need to be submitted by mid-February.
3. Capital requests for the Fall Town Meeting need to be submitted by early September.
4. Rates should be submitted by late November.
5. The five year capital plan should be submitted by late November.
6. The golf course tournament and outing calendar should be approved by late November.
The above will be used as guide for the Commission.
J. Ehrhart asked M. O'Brien what he would like to focus on regarding the financial challenges that the golf course is facing. He responded that he would like to devote most of his energy toward promoting the course to attract more green fee play. It is his feeling that green fee revenue is the most important element in the financial success of the Captains. He said he would welcome Commission help in improving the promotion of the course. R. Harris named L. Arnold, J. Odell, J. Shaw and S. Ballentine to a sub-committee to assist M. O'Brien in this regard.
Since there was no other business, the next meeting was set for September 7, 2010 at 4 pm. A motion made by J. Ehrhart to adjourn the meeting was seconded by J. Odell, and the meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM.