Commissioners Present: Anne O’Connell (Chair), Andrea Johnson (Vice-Chair), John Kissida, Wyn Morton, Jeff Odell, David Valcourt and Rob David.
Others Present: Jay Packett, Director of Operations, Colin Walsh, Golf Course Superintendent, Rob Harris (CCMGA), Donna Potts (9-Hole Women’s Assn), and Bill Meehan (Finance Committee Liaison).
THIS MEETING WAS HELD REMOTELY WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDED. The meeting may be viewed at: http://video.brewster-ma.gov/CablecastPublicSite/show/5529?channel=1
Anne O’Connell called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm after reading remote meeting guidelines and procedures.
Rob David introduced himself as a new commissioner.
Public Comment:
Superintendent’s Report:
- Colin Walsh reported in by telephone. Aeriation is done; course is ready for seed and fertilizer. L. Mayer has the pump and is getting it ready for installation. Horsely and Witten is installing lysimeters and wells on 10, 13 and 18 on the fairways on Starboard; 6, 12 and 18 on Port will be done next week. Members of the Selectboard and Finance Committee have been touring the course. Tours can be arranged for anyone interested. Superintendent’s Association outing was successful. Colin Walsh thanked all involved for their help. Discussion followed.
Director’s report:
- Jay Packett gave kudos to Colin Walsh and his staff for their work during aeration.
- Jay Packett reported on the financials. The Finance Department has consolidated some of the line items, making a difference in presentation between FY 2020 and FY 2021. The budget is in line with that of last year. Jay Packett discussed the comparison report. The calendar year shows figures ahead of last year. Thanks to Steve Knowles, Pat Fannon and the staff for their support. Discussion followed. The calendar year totals are about 4,600 rounds ahead of last year. Projections look good; expenses this month were lower than anticipated. The pro shop sales are up from August of last year. Current inventory is down.
- Anne O’Connell asked why tax is being shown as revenue on the financials. Tax is shown as revenue in the town reports; Jay Packett will follow up.
- Dave Valcourt discussed the OSHA training, environmental monitoring and advertising promotions and noted that the only money spent was on advertising promotions last year and suggested the money allotted for all these items in the budget should be spent. Jay Packett reported OSHA training will be done this winter; regarding environmental monitoring, Jay Packett submitted a bill from Bennett Environmental this week. Advertising promotions will be held off for now and will be addressed in his comments regarding the NGF report. John Kissida asked if the difference of $275,000 in memberships is a result of not offering the presale memberships. Anne O’Connell stated resident and non-resident memberships will be discussed at the next meeting.
- Jay Packett has been approached by the Cape Cod Firefighters and Cancer Relief Fund for an event on October 25. He offered them a 9 o’clock shotgun and recommends approval. He estimates 60 to 70 players. Food will be provided by Freemans Grill.
- A motion was made by Jeff Odell, seconded by Andrea Johnson to approve October 25 as a tournament date for the Cape Firefighters and Cancer Relief Fund. Motion passed unanimously.
- Jay Packett spoke with Mike Saragen regarding the NEIGA event. The number of college teams this year is less than in other years. There should be about 18 teams each day. On Sunday, October 17 the event will be on the Port, and on Monday October 18 the event will be on the Starboard Course.
Course Operations and Concerns:
- Anne O’Connell asked for an update on the hydration stations. Jay Packett stated Paul Anderson advises the first to be installed will be on Starboard 9 and hopes it will be in in the next two weeks. The reason for the delay has to do with what was available at Town Hall.
- Anne O’Connell played golf with two guests this morning and was asked if the Chelsea System could be a separate link on the website. Jay Packett will put this item on the members tab.
Strategic Planning Updates:
- Andrea Johnson reported no activity recently and is hopeful work on the forward tees can begin after aeration.
- Dave Valcourt thinks it would be very useful if information for all anticipated projects is available at the fall town meeting for approval by the Town. Discussion followed regarding capital requests for FY 2022. Jay Packett will have an updated capital sheet after he and Anne O’Connell have a meeting with Peter Lombardi, Mimi Bernardo and Donna Kalanick on Thursday and will have a report at the next commission meeting. Discussion followed regarding the over-all financial summary. Anne O’Connell indicated it would be helpful to have an updated future projection sheet with back-up.
- Wyn Morton reported nothing new on future planning, marketing and website. The study indicates several points can be added into the marketing program to take it to a higher level. Late fall would be an appropriate time to review the programs. The on-line marketing, social media presence and regular email to the members remains consistent.
- John Kissida reported helping Jay Packett with a write-up for the hydraulic study for the budget submittal. He also met with Jay Packett, Colin Walsh and Bill Meehan regarding sink holes. There are major new holes that have opened since the 5-1/2 inch rainfall that are priorities and will be taken care of this winter. There are washouts coming down to the pump station also a result of that rainfall that need to be looked at.
- Jeff Odell reported the landscaping material has been delivered. Most of the plantings have been completed and some clean-up has been done. There has been no information on completing the pad work. Jay Packet stated the revenue has not come in for the driving range. There was a meeting last Friday to determine what the payment schedule will be; it appears as if it will be quarterly. An online report will be available. There was further discussion about the payment schedule and the upcoming power hook-up. Verizon needs to install another pole to tie in the power. Battery packs cannot be installed until Eversource is ready and should be done this fall. Jay Packett should have an update at one of the next two meetings. Jay Packett just received an email stating the billing will be done monthly; he will follow up. Discussion followed.
- Anne O’Connell suggested to Rob David that he take a tour with Colin Walsh and review Carl Blanchard’s and Dave Valcourt’s swim lanes.
Update on Restaurant RFP
- The RFP is in the hands of Peter Lombardi and Donna Kalanick and should be updated and sent out this week.
Review of NGF Study Presentation
- Anne O’Connell thanked all for attending last night’s meeting. Jay Packett commented it was a very productive meeting and reviewed the following: marketing efforts have increased, the budget has increased by $20,000. Advertising covers magazines, online presence, blog posts, email blasts, and brochures to various Chambers of Commerce. Jay Packett intends to increase his communication with the membership and reviewed golf show attendance and a virtual golf show. He said hotel bookings were not included in the report. In January Jay Packett was asked to give a list of items that the NFG needed. Part of this was the teaching program in place; the programs in 2020 were different because of Covid restrictions and lack of a second golf professional. Steve Knowles and Pat Fannon taught adult and junior clinics with limited attendance. The PGA Jr. League was not done this year but is in the plans for next year. In years past, Steve Knowles has been involved with Nauset Community Education teaching beginner and intermediate classes in the spring, summer and fall; these classes did not take place in 2020 or in 2021. Junior and adult development programs have not been as robust over the last two summers as in the past, but plans are for them to return. These programs are of no expense, other than Anne O’Connell commented she is unaware of the adult programs and feels they should be well advertised when they are up and running. Wyn Morton gave kudos to Jay Packett for his involvement in the marketing program. He also mentioned that the online marketing strategies were not mentioned at the meeting last night or in the report. Jay Packett does not think the NGF was familiar with this. John Kissida spoke about the NGF trying to pull information about daily fee players as to why they’re here and where they came from which our current system is not able to handle, and he asked if this information will be available with the new system. Jay Packett with review this again with Chelsea. Dave Valcourt commented the owner of Goose Hummock does a video with his employees showcasing their merchandise and services and wondered if Captains could do something similar. Jay Packett has reached out to Jen Kain Defoe regarding this kind of program. Jeff Odell discussed the lack of a practice facility being raised at the meeting and suggested the only place for this would be the old nursery below the parking lots; property availability is a problem with this. Jay Packett indicated there are some areas at the driving range that might possibly be available. Discussion followed. Due to the length of the meeting last night, Anne O’Connell decided not to report what the commission is doing that correlates with the whole NGF report, but she would like to write a brief memo to the Finance Committee and the Selectboard explaining that the strategic planning process had already been started, identified areas that needed addressing and is taking the findings from the NGF report to determine what makes sense in strategic planning. Discussion followed.
Questions and Comments from Associations and Liaisons:
- Bill Meehan thanked John Kissida, Colin Walsh and Jay Packett for taking the time to escort him on a “sink-hole inspection.” He is alarmed and shocked at what he saw. The problems are grave and serious, and he will advise the Finance Committee and the folks at Town Hall. The comment that was made about practice areas needs to take a back seat to much more compelling capitol demands, and sink holes are one of them. He commended the work that Colin Walsh is doing to try and address this problem.
- Rob Harris thanked Jay Packett and the staff for making the Captains Invitational work last weekend. There were 100+ players; CCMGA was happy to be part of that. There are three more events for CCMGA to wrap up for the year.
Review and approve minutes:
- Anne O’Connell said under the superintendent’s report, the second sentence should be corrected to read dollar spot. The last bullet under strategic planning updates should read CIP request forms and she would like to reword off-season memberships from being suspended to not being offered.
A motion was made by John Kissida, seconded by Andrea Johnson, to approve the minutes of August 24, 2021 as corrected. Motion passed 6-0 with 1 abstention.
Future agenda items and meetings:
- 9/28. Discussion of rate structure, membership limits
A motion to adjourn was made by John Kissida, seconded by Andrea Johnson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:47 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Dorothy Vesperman
Department Assistant