Commissioners Present: Anne O’Connell (Chair), Andrea Johnson (Vice-Chair), John Kissida, Wyn Morton, and David Valcourt.
Others Present: Jay Packett (Director of Operations), Colin Walsh (Superintendent,), Cindy Bingham (Select Board), Rob Harris (CCMGA), Peggy McEvoy (Friends of Captains), Donna Potts (Women’s 9 Hole Association), Dave Whitney (Select Board Liaison), Bill Meehan (Finance Committee Liaison)
THIS MEETING WAS HELD REMOTELY WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDED. The meeting may be viewed at: https://reflect-brewster-ma.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/6231?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 – Cindy Bingham thanked the Golf Commission and Jay Packet for allowing the 18-hole Association to participate in the Mass Fall Cup Play. The Captain’s Course Women won their cup and moved on to the State Tournament and placed third. Linda Nichols, Judy Freeman, Regina McIntosh, Peggy Jablonski, Kathleen Oeschlager and Cindy Bingham made up this year’s Fall Cup Team.
Peggy McEvoy – noted that the Friends of Captains – they had the daffodil planting and thanked John Kissida for his help. There is a food drive coming up on November 12th from 7-12. The Friends of Captains will work along side the Golf Commission to ensure they are not overlapping each other on Capital Improvements at the Captains Course.
Update FY23 HVAC Project (Jay Packett) – There was a site visit with Performance Plumbing and Heating – the company that won the conditional bid. They as well as Rise Engineering looked over all the spaces involved in the project. The next step is the creation of a timeline by the end of the week or beginning of next week. Then there will be a meeting with the Freemans Grill Staff and owner Sean Sullivan.
Update FY23 Windows/Doors Project (Jay Packett) – Captains only received one bid for the windows and doors and it was much higher than expected. The bid was not accepted, and it will be sent back out to bid on the 1st of the year. If additional funding is needed that would have to go to Annual Town Meeting in May. Then plan is for the project to be completed next winter. The RFP for the windows and doors would only need a few small changes.
Discussion on membership changes –The moratorium on new Non-Resident Memberships was discussed at last Golf Commission meeting – Jay Packett opened the discussion with a survey was sent out to 50 people on the Non-Resident Waiting List to see interest in membership and if so what type. 32 responses came back – 25 interested in full membership – 5 in twilight – and only 2 responses were no longer interested in joining. There is still a strong interest in membership from Non-Residents. Discussion followed on membership revenue, member access to tee times, membership numbers/attrition rates and how to proceed with the Non-Resident Waiting List. Anne O’Connell noted that there would be no vote on this today. Jay Packett noted that there will be further discussion on the topic before a vote will occur.
Discussion on Tee Time Allocation Process – Anne O’Connell noted that the decision to be made is to stay with formula that has been in use for a long time or is it now approached in different manner/revert to the original process of set percentages assigned to guest and member courses. Jay Packett noted along with Anne O’Connell that waiting till May/June to set allocations is giving the Captains Course no benefit. Discussion began on this topic. It was determined that more information was needed on ideal membership numbers and revenue before being able to make more informed decisions.
Discussion on 2023 Rates – No Golf Commissioners thought that a significant rate increase was warranted for 2023. However, John Kissida noted that seeing the 5-year plan that will be provided by the Town would assist in this discussion. Anne O’Connell noted that they will vote on the topic after the 29th of November. Discussion followed on the topic.
Discussion and possible vote on ‘Golf Course Enhancements’ list – Wynn Morton put together the list of proposed upgrades. Discussion followed on the topic. There is $30,000 to be allocated for Clubhouse surrounds and enhancements. This is a relatively general category, so Captains can improve the area nearest to the clubhouse and increase its “curb appeal”. Anne O’Connell will organize the list into what fits together, and she will try to identify a list of immediate capital projects and see what is left after that. John Kissida will assist with this. Jay Packett made some quick notes on the list of capital improvements.
Questions and Comments from Associations and Liaisons: – Bill Meehan noted the importance of retained earnings and that it is okay to make more money than anticipated future costs/projects.
Golf Course Questions and Concerns – No Comments
Future Agenda Items and meetings (11/1, 11/15; 11/29) – The normal scheduled meeting cannot be held on the 8th as that is election day so it will be on 11/1.
Matters not anticipated by the Chair: Rob Harris clarified that there is a possible vote on Nov 29th for the Rates, but the vote will have to happen no later than 12/12.
Peggy McEvoy – Noted that they will speak with Jay/Golf Commissions to make sure they are not overlapping on projects as well. They will discuss it further.
Jay Packett – Gave a big congratulations to Steve Knowles retiring last Thursday. Keith Gagnon his replacement started this past Tuesday and noted to welcome him to Captains.
A motion to adjourn was made by Wynn Morton, seconded by Andrea Johnson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm.