Commissioners Present: Rob Harris (Chair), Cindy Bingham, Marc Fontaine, Anne O'Connell, Jeff Odell, Ed Pavlu.
Others Present: Pete Ervin (Superintendent), Sharon Marotti (9-Hole Women's Association), Jerri Carlin (Friends of Captains), Judy McCarthy (18-Hole Women’s Association), Judy Miller, Jan Baxter.
Call to Order: Rob Harris called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
Public Comment:
Jerri Carlin informed us that the “Friends of the Captains” had purchased two deluxe closest-to-the-pin measuring tapes for use in member events only. The also repaired the drapes in the conference room.
The 9-Hole Women's Association supplied the following report.
Judy McCarthy reported that the Women's 18-Hole Association has 62 members. This is a drop of 15 members since 2013. In addition, they have 5 social members, 3 of which are Captains Members.
Correspondence: Anne O'Connell reported that there was no correspondence. Cindy Bingham asked if we received the email from Jane Donaghue regarding Rangers. Anne was going to check again and forward that correspondence to all of the commissioners.
Superintendent's Report:
Pete Ervin expressed his sympathies to Jim Ehrhart for the recent loss of Jim's mother.
Both courses have completed the Spring aeration of all greens, fairways, and tees. Pete commended his staff for doing a great job in a short time. Irrigation is now turned on an ready to go.
Aeration was completed with the help of Harwich and Dennis golf equipment per the Inter-municipal Agreement that was worked out last year. In total, there were 8 tractors available for the task.
Fungicide applications are coming up to added Poa Annua grasses and various turn diseases. He is ready to get going on a regular mowing schedule soon.
Staffing currently stands at 17 employees. Multiple interviews are being conducted this week with the target of 25 employees in Maintenance. Advertising is being done on the Town web site, local newspapers and other web sites such as CraigsList.com
The construction damage on Port#2 fairway will be addressed shortly. This damage occurred last fall during a repair to the pump house;. In addition, the sand liners in several bunkers are also going to be repaired/replaced.
Cindy Bingham inquired about missing yard markers on sprinkler heads. Pete acknowledged that there were several missing but had not going around to this task yet because of other demands. Rob Harris suggested that the associations might be willing to assist in mapping the missing markers to expedite the process. Cindy also applauded the new 100-yard and 200-yard markers that were shiny and new, and wondered if we could bring the older markers up to this level. Pete said he had materials for a few more and would look into doing this.
Ed Pavlu asked how the Inter-municipal agreement was working during aeration. Pete said that the verdict is still out. He stated the doing 18 holes in a single day might be too much all at once. Although, the final result came out well.
Director of Operations Report:
Mark O'Brien was not at the meeting due to illness. He had left a report of the number of members through April 14th. Anne O'Connell mentioned that the reason for the low “resident morning” category might be because the 9-Hole Women's Association doesn't start playing regularly until May 1st.
Marc Fontaine mentioned that the neighboring courses are advertising for non-residents in the news paper. However, the non-resident memberships at Captains is ahead of last year's pace
Cindy Bingham suggested the we might want to create a rate category for non-residents that belong to another course. The person would have to produce proof of membership elsewhere in order to qualify for this reduced rate.
Rob Harris pointed out that there was 8 people in the new “non-resident twilight” category and 10 were projected. In addition, it does not appear to have take away from the regular “non-resident” category.
Cindy Bingham commended Mark O'Brien for his quality presentations to the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee during this budget season.
Cindy Bingham wanted to remind the restaurant staff that parking was not allowed in the loading area in front. Jeff Odell reported that the restaurant was not opening prior to the starting tee time as required.
A motion was made by Cindy Bingham, seconded by Anne O'Connell, to accept the minutes dated March 11, 2014. The motion carried 5-0-1.
Rob Harris thanked the 9-Hole Women's Association for their written response regarding the issue of block times and handicap requirements.
Marc Fontaine talked about his recent stay in Florida and how the courses there are maximizing tee times in the morning. The encourage nine-hole play and create “stacked tee times” so that an 18-hole start can pick up where the 9-hole round ended (2:15 later). They are using front and back starts, shotgun starts on Sunday, and the Chelsea Points system for tee times.
Judy McCarthy expressed disappointment that she was unable to move her tee time to an earlier time at 8pm the night before play. Rob Harris reported that she should have been able to do this and that we would look into the matter.
Cindy Bingham inquired about the “Captains Flags” that used to be displayed under the American Flag in the front of the building.
Jeff Odell reported that the rain shelters project from the Friends of the Captains was not going to be done. Pin reflectors are be installed on the flag sticks and the Friends are looking forward to other projects to benefit the course.
Ed Pavlu asked Pete Ervin about “rolling greens”. Pete said he was interested in incorporating this practice for the health of the turf, however we do not currently have enough equipment to perform this task. Pete will be looking at his budget over the coming months to see if this can be worked in at some time.
Marc Fontaine asked Pete about the quality of the sand in our bunkers. Pete was aware that there are problems in this area and was planning on addressing depth of sand and sand liners in our bunkers.
Cindy Bingham handed out the lawyers decision dated 2009. (Attached)
At 5:05pm, Cindy Bingham motioned to adjourn, seconded by Anne O'Connell, passed unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rob Harris