Commissioners Present: Anne O’Connell (Chair), Andrea Johnson (Vice-Chair), Rob David, John Kissida and David Valcourt.
Others Present: Jay Packett, Director of Operations, Rob Harris (CCMGA), Peggy McEvoy (Friends of Captains), Bill Meehan (Liaison to the Finance Board), Donna Potts (9-Hole Women’s Assn), and Dave Whitney (Liaison to the Select-board).
THIS MEETING WAS HELD REMOTELY WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDED. The meeting may be viewed at: https://reflect-brewster-ma.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/6039?channel=1
Anne O’Connell called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm after reading remote meeting guidelines and procedures.
Declaration of a Quorum – Five Golf Commissioners present and accounted for which constitutes a quorum.
Public Comment – No public comment.
Update from Friends of Captains Organization and proposed new project
Peggy McEvoy spoke about the upcoming putting contest on June 12th from 4pm to 6pm. It is a $25 entry fee for Members of Friends of Captains and $40 entry fee for non-members. This includes one drink, passed appetizers and entry into the putting contest with a grand Prize of $5000. The winner of the putting contest will get one attempt at a 50-foot putt for $5000. There is a sign up on the Friends of Captains website and you can sign up in the hallway in the Pavilion.
There is the July event called Home on the Range and more information will be coming out shortly about that. In addition to these events Friends of Captains has order yardage markers/targets for the driving range.
The Friends of Captains Library Project has repurposed the old water cooler boxes that had to be removed per board of health. They are modified into what are called little libraries, and it is currently being determined where to place them. It will be used as a leave one, take one book program. Ross from the library will be responsible for the little library. Also, the Friends of Captains merchandise is starting to be distributed.
Andrea Johnson motioned to approve the Friends of Captains Library Project, it was seconded by John Kissida. The motion passed unanimously.
Anne O’Connell said on behalf of the Golf Commission that they are all very excited about the energy that has been put into the Friends of Captains Organization by everyone involved and a big thank you.
Course Operations Questions and Concerns
- Acceptance of Gift (Jay Packett)
Purchase of Yardage Markers for the driving range by the Friends of Captains – Motion to approve by Rob David and Seconded by John Kissida. Unanimously approved.
- Refund Request (Jay Packett)
2 Annual Fee Player Refunds were unanimously approved by the Golf Commission.
- Anne O’Connell noted an email from Dave Valcourt asking how meeting member requests for tee times over the holiday weekend went. Were the measures implemented for reducing no shows and improving member access working? Just looking for a quick overview at the early stages.
Jay Packett stated the weekend was fantastic even with the mediocre weather – overall the number of no shows was minimal and very encouraging. The only cancellations on Saturday were mostly member times. Pat Fannon has been working with Chelsea to not allow double bookings. Nonmembers will now only be able to book a single tee time and will be prompted to call the pro shop for multiple bookings. This will increase call volume to the pro shop but is a necessary step. Members will be able to link tee times, the member side of booking tee times will not be affected. This change will only be for the non-member logins. Dave Valcourt thanked Jay Packett for the update.
Discussion Membership Numbers
Jay Packett stated he had sent out a membership survey to the other Municipalities – this is the first page in the attached packet. 3 out of 5 municipalities responded to the survey. Sandwich and Dennis did not respond. Harwich has 1116 members as a single golf course facility, currently the Captains Course has 1036 as a two-course facility. Jay Packet stated we are in a better position now than last year in terms of membership access. 688 resident members and 348 nonresident members for a total of 1036 members. For the calendar year there have been 64 new resident member’s total. There are 13 members less than 2021 so far this season. Discussion followed on the topic. Anne O’Connell stated that the main issue they will have control of is the ratio of nonresident members to members. She also stated that one of Mark O’Brien’s parting thoughts was that around 1000 members would be an ideal number.
Dave Valcourt noted that the Captains Course Junior Membership population is lower than the other courses. Jay Packett noted his concern and stated that the $5 after 5 programs greatly reduces these numbers as well that many children are from out of town and only around for part of the year, making a membership obsolete. It is something to look at if the other municipalities offer any type of junior rates such as Captains does.
Update Pump House Protection Project RFP
On May 9th – Griffin Ryder reviewed the prepared RFQ and made some minor changes in verbiage
May 12th – Donna Kalinick forwarded the RFQ to engineering firms.
May 23rd – Mark Nelson of Horsley Whitten informed the town they are too busy to take on any work at this time and recommended contacting John O’Reilly of JM O’Reilly and Associates of Brewster – the RFP was forwarded to John with no response. No other firms have responded to the RFQ – due to the work loads of these companies Captains may look to re-post the RFQ with a longer deadline.
John Kissida stated that a longer deadline is a good idea and something the Captain’s Course should look into.
Update Maintenance Building Study RFP
May 16th John Kissida forwarded his final draft of the RFQ
May 23rd – 31st minor edits made and sent to Kurt Raber of Catalyst Architects and Steven Bottomly of Golf Structure Alternatives. Golf Structure Alternative has been to the course back in 2019. Currently the Captains Course is awaiting responses.
Proposed Revision to Refund Policy (Anne O’Connell)
Anne O’Connell stated we should have a refund policy to address people who go from non-resident membership status to where they can pay resident rates. Jay Packett and Anne O’Connell both agreed that there should be a policy to acknowledge that they have moved back into town.
Anne O’Connell crafted some verbiage for the policy – they are included in the packet. Andrea Johnson motioned to approve the amendment and it was seconded by Dave Valcourt. The motion was unanimously approved.
Discussion – Music on Course
Rob David stated that he had received a few emails with feedback and complaints, as well as experiencing it himself, about music on the golf course. He stated he has friends that use a blue-tooth speaker that play off Cape, but they keep it to a respectable level. Rob stated he wouldn’t recommend banning it but that we should have a policy in place for excessively loud music and wanted to start some discussion on the topic. Discussion followed. Andrea Johnson did note that music is here to stay, Cranberry Valley has carts with speakers in them, however some people just don’t enjoy other people’s music so what is there to be done?
Jay Packett stated he is in favor of music on the golf course with several caveats. Before the pandemic golf was considered a “stuffy” sport and the biggest initiative of the PGA of America was to grow the game with the younger generation. He stated that the volume level is very key, and starters are trained to mention to groups as they go out. He does state that there have been times when a group has had to be talked to but 99% of the time the group is very receptive to turning it down. Jay Packett reiterated what Andrea Johnson stated that the music is here to stay and that it is just a matter of us managing it. Jay Packett is not in favor of any decision that doesn’t allow music on the course and to allow the pro shop to handle it. That goes for anyone watching the broadcast as well. Rob David stated that if we could have a policy stating that volume should be at a moderate level. Jay Packett stated we should avoid having a policy written down and keep it on a case by case basis but noted that the pro shop staff will be trained going forward the way to handle the situation of a complaint for music on the course. John Kissida stated giving the staff an idea of distance for the staff to identify the level at which the music becomes problematic. Jay Packett will make sure the proper verbiage is used and that management will take care of any larger issues.
Anne O’Connell stated to the viewing public to please send an email to golfcommission@brewster-ma.gov with any complaints or questions and they are read and responded to in a timely manner. Or to send a message right through the Captains Website.
Questions and Comments from Associations and Liaisons:
No Comments
Future Agenda Items and meetings (6/14, 6/28)
Jay Packett stated that on Monday June 13th at the Select-board meeting they will revisit meeting in person if any new information from the State has been provided. Bill Meehan stated that within the last few days the State passed something that would allow Municipalities to extend virtual meetings through December this year. That does not indicate what direction the Select-board will decide to move forward with.
Matters not anticipated by the Chair:
John Kissida asked if there was an update on the 2nd hydration station by the Port Course. Jay Packett stated that it is the works. The unit has been ordered and once it arrives the system will have to been hooked up and the hope is it will be installed by the end of June.
A motion to adjourn was made by Andrea Johnson, seconded by John Kissida, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The Meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm.