The following are the minutes of the Brewster Golf Commission meeting held on April 5, 2011. The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM.
Commissioners present: Rob Harris, Chairman
Cindy Bingham, Vice Chairman
Lori Arnold
Jeff Odell
Marc Fontaine
Anne O’Connell
Joe Shaw, Commissioner emeritus
Staff present: Mark O’Brien, Director of Operations
Steve Mann, Superintendent
Others present: Jim Foley, Selectmen Liaison
Su Ballentine, Finance Committee Liaison
Anne LeMaitre, 9-Hole Women’s Assn.
Bill Greenwood
R. Harris called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
The minutes from the March 8, 2011 meeting were reviewed. A motion made by J. Odell, seconded by L. Arnold, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
- None.
ASSOCIATION REPORTS:
- Joanne Liberles made the announcement that the Women’s 18-Hole Association was putting together an Earth Day golf course clean up project on April 22nd. Cindy Bingham is taking the lead on this for the Association and has invited the 9-Hole Women’s Association and the Men’s Association to participate.
- Joanne also stated that the 18-Hole Women’s Association started their Tuesday play today and for the month of April it will be informal with regular play to start in May.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- None
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
- M. O’Brien reviewed the financials from March. We did realize our best month of March ever again due to the fact that most of the off-Cape courses were closed due to the snow. However, these off-Cape courses are now opening up and we have seen the impact of this in our early April play.
- M. O’Brien reported that he is investigating several options for possibly adding a SoloRider golf cart to our fleet. One of the options is leasing a used one from our golf cart vendor.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
· S. Mann reported that the 40-week groundsmen are on staff now and the 32-week and 25-week groundsmen will start on April 19th. This will give us sufficient staff to complete the aerification process which will take place on April 25th & 26th on the Port Course and May 2nd & 3rd on the Starboard Course.
· All of the sod is now in place completing the sink hole repair and tee renovation work. The renovated tee boxes should be open by late April or early May.
· There was some ice damage to the greens on holes; Port #12, Port #14, and Starboard #7. S. Mann will monitor this to see what the extent is.
· S. Mann will be fertilizing the course this Thursday.
· S. Mann reported that the irrigation system has been turned on and so far there seems to be no damage from the flooding that occurred at the pump house this winter. The fertigation system has not been turned on yet, so we have to wait and see on this.
· S. Mann reported that the State has been talking about the possibility of reducing water usage by permitted users. This is several years away and S. Mann will monitor.
· S. Mann reported that he attended a presentation by the Pleasant Bay Alliance. They are targeting golf courses to try and limit nitrogen use. They have proposed a 1 pound per acre limit in the roughs and we currently use 3 – 3 ½ pounds per acre. They are using a leaching rate of 20% for their calculations, which S. Mann feels is way too high.
· We may be receiving some free chemical from Dupont as a test for our crane fly insect problem.
· C. Bingham asked if we could repaint some of the arrows on the cart paths directing golfers to the next hole. S. Mann said he would take care of this.
· C. Bingham asked if the roses at the entrance could be cut back so the sign would be more visible. S. Mann said he would take care of this.
OLD BUSINESS
- C. Bingham reported that The Back Nine Café was selected as the successful bid for the restaurant concession. Their contract will begin on January 1, 2012.
- C. Bingham distributed minutes from the Restaurant Selection Committee and they were reviewed by the Commission. J. Odell made a motion, seconded by R. Harris to accept the minutes. J. Odell, C. Bingham, and R. Harris voted in favor and M. Fontaine, A. O’Connell and L. Arnold abstained. The motion was approved.
- L. Arnold reported that we now have WiFi in the clubhouse area and we have permission to publicize this.
- L. Arnold reported that the webcam is on hold right now until Charlie Sumner has reviewed some privacy concerns he has.
- L. Arnold reported that the Captains Golf Course Facebook policy was approved by the Board of Selectmen. We should have this up on line soon.
- L. Arnold reported that the Marketing Committee is still investigating advertising on the inside of the golf carts where the information holder is.
- Su Ballentine asked about working with the real estate agencies in regard to trying to reach renters. M. O’Brien will follow up with her on this.
- J. Odell reported that he has set up a relationship with a sporting good store in Western MA that will allow us to distribute coupons to their customers.
- L. Arnold reported that the new web site is progressing and should be up and running by April 14th.
NEW BUSINESS
· R. Harris discussed the presentation he is preparing for the Finance Committee meeting scheduled for April 6th. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. Currently, the Golf Dept. budget is the only Town department budget that they have not approved. Discussion followed regarding some concerns voiced by the Finance Committee. Bill Greenwood, a Brewster resident, made some suggestions about how the Golf Commission may improve communication to the Brewster residents regarding what the golf course means to the community and what it has generated in the past.
Since there was no other business, a motion was made by C. Bingham to adjourn the meeting, seconded by A. O’Connell. The motion was approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.