Commissioners Present: Anne O’Connell (Chair), Andrea Johnson (Vice-Chair), Rob David, , Wyn Morton, Jeff Odell and David Valcourt (participating remotely).
Others Present: Jay Packett (Director of Operations), Colin Walsh (Superintendent,). Bill Meehan (Liaison to Finance Committee , Dave Whitney (Liaison to the Selectboard) and Terry Ivester (Women’s 18-Hole Association) participated remotely,
THIS MEETING WAS HELD IN PERSON WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDED. The meeting may be viewed at: https://reflect-brewster-ma.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/6206?channel=1
Anne O’Connell called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm after reading meeting guidelines and procedures.
Declaration of a Quorum – 6 Commissioners present and accounted for which constitutes a quorum.
Public Comment – No Public Comment
Superintendent’s Report – Colin Walsh – Nitrogen Reduction Program – Reviewing how the progress and the data now that we are one year into the project – this will happen with Horrisey and Whitten. They will work with the Pump House Protection Plan as well. Colin Walsh and Jay Packett met with Laurie Kennedy, and she will be coming for a site visit soon. The crew is working to keep the course clean of leaves and doing some minor bunker work. They will be working to improve some bunker faces going forward. Soon they will tackle some more of the sinkholes. They are in the early order season and trying to take advantage of some good discounts. They are beginning to lay off some maintenance staff at this time of year. There are 19 workers now and at the height of the season they had 25. They will prepare as best as possible and dial in the course for the NEIGA Tournament upcoming.
Update Cart Path Repair – Met with Mike Norton of Laurence Lynch in early August and he took measurements of cart path areas that will need to be repaired. Looking to widen and replace existing cart paths but will not be extending them. The price quoted was around $99,500.00 and we have asked for $120,000. There is some contingency on the price based on the subgrade material used in certain areas that may need to be replaced. Laurence Lynch was the winning bidder for the County bid. Wyn Morton asked when asphalt will be laid down? Colin noted the money is not approved till November so they will contract with them after that date and set it up for when they will be opening in late March, early April. The crew at Captains will do a lot of the prep work for the project before then, i.e., removing the old asphalt and preparing the areas. Anne O’Connell and Colin Walsh noted that Starboard would be the best place to start for the forward tee project.
Director’s Report – Jay Packett noted we are in line with last year with the percentage of budget spent at this time of year. Operating and Wages are up slightly versus last year but are in a good spot overall. Comparison Reports – overall bottom line we are $43,000 ahead of last year – attribute this to slight increases in greens fees and increased revenue in cart fees. Driving range and pro shop sales are down slightly in September versus last year. Pro shop has been dealing with some supply chain issues. For the calendar year revenue, greens fees, and cart fees are up. Overall, for the calendar year the course is $621,000.00 ahead of 2021. For the fiscal year we are $171,000 ahead of fiscal 2022. Play totals for the month of September were 11,219 rounds – most in September since 2006. Play totals for the calendar year of 2022 are slightly behind 2021, which was a record year itself. 2022 will be pushing the 90,000 total rounds played threshold by the end of the fiscal year. Huge kudos to Colin Walsh and his crew. Projections – overall projecting about three times more than what was expected in fiscal 2023.
Course Operations Questions and Concerns – No questions or comments
MA Golf Senior 4-Ball 2023 – Jay Packett reached out to Mass Golf as to what they would be providing for Captains hosting the event. All participants will be required to ride and pay a full nonmember cart fee to Captains. With a full field that is $16,000 revenue for the two-day tournament – but that is sign up numbers dependent. For the time frame of the tournament Captains Course is averaging 5-6 thousand dollars in revenue per day. Mass Golf would be also doing a $1200 stipend for use of the practice range. On day 1 they would be doing a lunch at approximately $20 per player that would provide revenue to Freemans Grill. Also, when prizes are awarded, they are in pro shop credit – that would be about $3000.00. The two days for the golf course operation side is $20-22 thousand dollars in revenue. Revenue is good but must also speak on how it will affect the members. It is a two-day event taking up both golf courses. There is an AM and PM wave of golfers – so there would be no access to the courses until at least 4pm each day. At the very least one association would be affected by this event. Jay asked for input to make sure they keep in mind membership access and what we are trying to offer our membership with the last two years in mind. Discussion followed. Jay Packett will email Mass Golf and state they have a tentative yes if the tournament is held on Monday/Tuesday May 22nd and 23rd. Terry Ivester of the Ladies 18-Holers approved if the accommodation was made for the association to play on Wednesday. Jeff Odell moved to approve the Senior 4-Ball for those dates and was seconded by Wynn Morton. Motion unanimously approved.
Sinkhole Update – Geotechnical Engineering firm that looked at the sinkholes in the cart barn finished up last week – They need to physically probe the sink holes – Jay Packett hopes to have a report to have more substantial information on how they will be moving forward in a few weeks.
Jay Packett announced Steve Knowles will be retiring next Thursday October 20th after 24 years at the Golf Course. A big thanks to Steve Knowles for all his hard work. Jay Packett announced that Keith Gagnon will be the new Head Professional/Pro Shop Manager at Captains Golf Course – he is coming to Captains from Mass Golf.
Update FY23 HVAC Project (Jeff Odell) – No substantial changes since last meeting -the contractor and rise engineering are working with suppliers on equipment specifications and availability. Waiting on the November 14th meeting for the supplemental appropriations so the contract can be formalized on the 15th.
Update FY23 Windows/Doors Project (Rob David) – The town is reevaluating the project and what the next steps may be as the bid came in as about twice what was expected. The town is looking at options and will have more information at the next meeting.
Other Strategic Planning Updates (Commission) – No other updates.
Discussion and possible vote on membership changes – Anne O’Connell noted the discussion will be on what the 2023 golf season membership will look like. There has been a hold on new non-resident members and a waiting list created. The packet has the updated membership totals. Discussion followed on the topic and how to approach the 2023 membership season. Jay Packett and his staff will do a survey regarding the current waiting list for nonresidents and see what interest remains and for what membership types. Everyone was asked to think about the ideal number of members for the Captains Course and how many to possibly let in from the waiting list based on attrition rates.
Questions and Comments from Associations and Liaisons:
Bill Meehan noted that he hopes the work on other sinkholes around the course will continue and not be lost in the fixing of the cart barn sink holes. – Jay Packett acknowledged this and agreed with Bill Meehan.
Review and Approve Minutes
- 9/13/22 – Minutes were unanimously approved as is.
- 9/27/22 – Minutes as corrected were unanimously approved.
Future Agenda Items and meetings (10/25)
Anne O’Connell noted that the Tee Time Allocation process will need to be looked at during the next meeting. There will also be an update on the windows and doors project as well as beginning discussions on rates.
Wynn Morton noted that as a ranger he has accumulated a list of smaller repairs as they might not reach the level of a capital expenditure – Wynn Morton handed out the list he provided to the commission, and it will be added to the agenda for next meeting.
Dave Valcourt – suggested adding a yearend review/put together an email to send out to the members to the agenda.
Matters not anticipated by the Chair: None
A motion to adjourn was made by Jeff Odell, seconded by Wynn Morton, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The Meeting was adjourned at 5:20 pm.