Golf Commission

Commissioners Present:  Anne O’Connell (Chair), Carl Blanchard (Vice-Chair), Wyn Morton, Jeff Odell, Ed Pavlu, and John Piemontese.

 

Others Present: Mark O’Brien (Director of Operations), Pete Ervin (Superintendent), Chris Hardy (Women’s 18-Hole Assn.), Ray DiPietro (CCMGA), Cindy Bingham (Selectperson Liaison), and Chuck Devito (FinComm Liaison).

 

This meeting was held at the Brewster Town Hall and may be viewed at http://view.earthchannel.com/PlayerFlex.aspx?PGD=brewsterma&eID=1328

 

Call to Order: Anne O’Connell called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

 

Reorganization:

 

• Anne O’Connell asked for nominations for Chairperson. Carl Blanchard nominated John Piemontese, seconded by Jeff Odell. There were no other nominations. The vote was 6-0-0 in favor.
• Anne O’Connell asked for nominations for Vice-Chairperson. Jeff Odell nominated Carl Blanchard. Carl Blanchard declined the nomination. Carl Blanchard nominated Wyn Morton, seconded by Jeff Odell. There were no other nominations. The vote was 6-0-0 in favor.

 

Public Comment:  

 

• John Piemontese expressed his thanks to Anne O’Connell for her work as Chairperson.
• Chris Hardy reported that the Women’s 18-Hole Association Member-Guest tournament was a success. They had over 80 players and the tournament raised money for the Brewster MSPCA. They will be focusing on improving their pace of play in the coming weeks.
• Cindy Bingham mentioned that the patio furniture needs cleaning. Mark O’Brien said this would be taken care of.
• Wyn Morton reported that the Golf Fore Africa video has been posted on the web site.

 

Correspondence and Suggestion Box:

 

• Mark O’Brien reported that he received an email from a customer expressing how impressed he was with the customer service he received from Jay Packett in relation to having a club repaired and mailed to him in Rhode Island after he forgot to pick it up.

 

Superintendent’s Report:

 

• Pete Ervin thanked Steve Connor, one of our golf course mechanics, who just retired as of June 30, 2017 after 18 years of service to the Town. We are very happy that were able to hire back Randy Jamieson to fill Steve’s vacancy. Randy worked in this job for about 15 years, but left in 2015 to serve as a missionary in South Africa for 20 months.
• Our water usage is good shape due some help from mother nature this year.
• Research is underway for some new equipment that we are scheduled to purchase this fiscal year.
• The practice netting is ordered and will be up soon.
• Summer work is ongoing, including hand watering, spraying, routine mowing, etc., etc.
• We are starting prep for Fall work to include liming the roughs, green expansions, building new mounds on #7 Port, etc., etc.
• Carl Blanchard made a comment about what a nice touch the American flag painted next to Port #9 was. Pete Ervin and his wife painted on the late afternoon on the Friday before the 4^th.
• John Piemontese told Pete that a member from Baltusrol came into his store and told him what great condition the Captains is in.

 

Director’s Report: 

 

• Mark O’Brien reviewed the June financial reports.
• July is off to a good start.
• The FY 2017 final report should be available shortly.
• Anne O’Connell asked about the membership levels. Mark stated that the number of members is about level.

 

Restaurant Project:

 

• Mark O’Brien reported that the committee has decided not to go forward with restaurant renovations at this time mainly due to financial concerns.
• We are close to having the RFP ready. It is currently under review by Donna Kalinik and legal counsel.
• The committee agreed that the priority is to attract a quality vendor as opposed to maximizing lease revenue. The rent has been set at $35,000 annually with 5% increases annually.
• John Piemontese reiterated that the committee’s feeling of putting off the restaurant renovations will not affect our ability to attract a quality vendor and that we should wait until we get some input from the new vendor.
• Ed Pavlu stated that there are some improvements that need to be done to the restaurant and John Piemontese stated that we are planning to do some cosmetic improvements, painting, kitchen equipment, etc.
• Jeff Odell asked about the kitchen equipment. Mark O’Brien stated that we will be purchasing a new refrigerator, dishwasher and a combi-oven.
• Chuck DeVito asked if there was set figure for sprucing up the restaurant. Mark O’Brien stated that there is no set figure but he estimates about $10,000 – $20,000.

 

Promotional Opportunities 2018 MGA Tournament:

 

• Jeff Odell presented a proposed outline for promoting the Captains’ selection for the MGA Four-Ball. He is looking to get mailing lists or email list from the MGA to put out our promotion. Mark O’Brien said he did not think the MGA would do a promotion for the Captains Golf Course. Mark and Jeff will work on this further.
• Chris Hardy stated that her club in Arizona is doing something similar and their State Association charges a fee for this.

 

Future Agenda Items:

 

• Restaurant RFP update.
• MGA promotional updates.

 

Review and Approve 5/9/17 and 6/13/17 minutes:

 

• Jeff Odell made a motion to approve the minutes of the 5/9/17 meeting, seconded by Anne O’Connell. Motion approved 6-0-0.
• Jeff Odell made a motion to approve the minutes of the 6/13/17 meeting, seconded by Anne O’Connell. Motion approved 6-0-0.

 

Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate:

 

• Anne O’Connell asked if the mail box was installed at the 2^nd hole for scorecards. Mark O’Brien stated this has not been done, but he will take care of it.
• Cindy asked about alcohol on the course. She said that a recent outing was giving out beer on the course and thinks we need to address this. Mark O’Brien stated that only food and beverage purchased by our concessionaire is allowed. It is stated in our outing letter. He stated that this particular group was a problem and will not be allowed back. This has not been a common issue with any of our other outings.
• Wyn Morton asked about the beverage cart hours. Mark O’Brien stated that there is no requirement in the lease regarding the beverage cart, but it is pretty much out there daily in the summer. Mark said that the new lease will have set hours required as well as the snack shack.

 

Adjourn:

 

Anne O’Connell made a motion, seconded by Wyn Morton, to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved 6-0-0. Meeting adjourned at 4:53 p.m.

 

The next meeting of the Brewster Golf Commission will be held on August 8, 2017 at 4 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Mark O’Brien

Director of Operations