Golf Commission

CHICOPEE MUNICIPAL GOLF GOLF COURSE COMMISSION 1290 Burnett Road Chicopee, Ma 01020 Tel. (413) 594-9295 Fax (413) 594-7596 www.chicopeema.gov/golf www.Chicopeecountryclub.com Gary Lonczak Glenn LaPlante Rick Nadeau Chairman Vice Chairman Recording Clerk GOLF COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES September 10, 2019 CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER 6:00 p.m. Attendance: Chairman Lonczak, Vice Chairman LaPlante, Commissioner LaPerle, Superintendent Bach and Director O’Neill. Public Input: Commissioner LaPerle read from an email stating “Looking at the agenda one item 4 hole cart path wash out. Can you mention that we have wash outs on 1-3-4-7- 8-13- that need attention someone could twist an ankle or damage a cart. Thanks” Communications: Nothing Suggestion Box review: No key available, Chairman Lonczak to open the box on 9/11. Acceptance of August 13, 2019 Minutes: A motion was made by Vice Chairman LaPlante to accept the minutes which was seconded by Commissioner LaPerle and approved by all. Superintendent report: Greens have been over seeded and lightly top dressed. Thin areas of the course have been over seeded as well. Last week the 12th green was aerated. 500’ of green sod is coming and will start to patch areas that have struggled since late July. This fall the bunker on 8 and 9 will be worked on. Will be using a woven polyester to help prevent washouts of the sand. The high amount of play has taken its toll on the tees. Some of the cart direction signs have been removed because 1) people just ignore them and 2) it helps with the mowing. Will put some of them back especially on the par 3’s to help deter people from getting close to the greens. Director Report: Summer is coming to an end, August was a very good month. Big outings coming up, two this weekend with well over 100 in both events. Leagues are in playoffs and will be coming to an end in the next few weeks. To increase afternoon play 1 Director O’Neill is proposing to offer a rate of $30 for play starting after 1pm starting in October. The ValPak marketing package is working well. Mass Golf Association has inquired about holding a Super Senior Amateur Qualifier somewhere between July 20th and Aug 13th next year. It will be a weekday event going off on holes 1 and 10 in the morning. We would get a nominal course fee but would get all the cart fees. Course would be open to the public by 12:30. Good PR for the course. Will work with Superintendent Bach to pick a date. Daylight is getting shorter, tee times will start at 6:30am and the pro shop will close at 6:30pm. Concession Report: Director O’Neill reported the concessionaires are supporting all the tournaments. Chairman LaPlante asked to get a clarification of the liquor license. Commissioner Nadeau was told by Concessionaire Girouard that the liquor license is his (Girouard) when asked about people being over-served. Chairman Lonczak stated that the license is the Golf Commission’s but that the concessionaire carries liability insurance to protect themselves. New Business: 1. August Financials Review: August was a good month. YTD April through August, rounds are up about 700 and revenue is up about $36K. Outings were bigger this year than last year. AJGA to send in the numbers for the charitable donations, they will fill out the paperwork needed. Chairman Lonczak to check with the Payroll Department to make sure no addition approval from the city is needed since the donation will be made in the Golf Commission’s name. 2. Fall Season Pass Incentive: Will launch 9/11. A suggestion was brought up that existing pass holders might get a 10% discount but the consensus was that this was not warranted. The incentive is to get new pass holders. 3. 2020 AJGA Tournament: AJGA to give us some dates. We prefer to have it in early July (13th – 17th). The Mineck Foundation will again be a major sponsor. 4. Review summer water usage and dollars to budget: Looks like we are on plan. Estimated usage was 3.5 million cu’, we are at 2.3 million cu’ so we are looking good as water usage will start to go down with the cooler temps. Nov. 5th the system will start to be blown out and shut down. We generally use about 25 million gallons per year and we are at 17 million now, looks to be on plan. Heads are mostly ok except for the heads on no. 5 which clog every time the waste water system flushes. Superintendent Bach checks the heads every day. 5. Cart Path Erosion along 4th tee box: Also 1-3-7-8-13 was brought up in the public input section above. We will need a ton of top soil to fix some of these. Superintendent Bach will give it consideration and request more top soil where needed. Chairman Lonczak brought up the wet areas in front of the driving range tee boxes. Superintendent Bach said that we would need help from the city to get this done. Superintendent Bach also mentioned we have a beaver near the bridge 2  on 18 who is quite energetic building a dam. Chairman Lonczak brought up solar bubblers to cut down on the algae in the water areas. Superintendent Bach cautioned that could be an environmental issue as well. Old Business: 1. Update on drone flyover: No change - To be scheduled in late September or early October during peak Fall foliage season. 2. Update on canopy of pro shop entrance: Only one bid has come in, Sign Techniques, about $3,200. Director O’Neill has made several attempts to get other bids. The commission decided not to look into purchasing the old Duggan’s Deli canopy frame. The new canopy will be the whole length by the pro shop entryway, it will be green and have Chicopee Country Club emblazoned on it. The cover will not stay up all year. 3. Update on Mini-Split system: No change - Installation has been postponed until September, will definitely be in before winter. School department is still trying to hire more HVAC personnel. 4. Status of treatment for trees on Hole #9: Superintendent Bach stated we should get a certified forester (Chris) to look at it. One tree is cooked, will need to look at replacing it. The other tree would have to have seasonal injections to try and save it. 5. Security cameras expansion update: Put in new ones after the canopy is installed. Will cost somewhere around $3,000 to upgrade the system and cameras. 6. Update on new range ball dispenser / Token machine: Two quotes are in and waiting for a third. One for $7,500 (Range Servant) and one for $8,500(Wittek). Wittek has given a quote for all-in-one machine. Plenty of money is in the account for this. Plan on getting it for the start of the next season. Will be able to use cash or credit cards. Chairman LaPlante asks about gift cards, this will have to be looked into. Range Servant has a local rep. 7. Update on new driving range mats: Same companies as 6. above for quotes. Looking at 515 sq’ of mats, will give us 11 or 12 bays. Price is around $4,000 for the 2 quotes. Tees are able to be stuck right into the mat, no need for rubber tees. Director O’Neill to look into this more when he attends the golf show. Discussion took place as to what surface the mats would be place on, concrete or sand. 8. CPR Training for employees and restaurant staff status: All golf staff are re- certified except for one new employee, not sure about the concessionaire staff as 3  they did not attend the pro shop class. Chairman Lonczak to send a note to concessionaire Girouard to see what their status is. 9. Ice Machine loaner update: It is looking good that the machine will stay with us. Waiting on more input from the school department facility department. Need to look at relaying out the space where the machine is currently located. 10. Update on fernco coupling repair on Vent Stack: Will get to this when the A/C unit goes in. 11. Update on repair of pylon and wood on back corner of storage room: Director O’Neill to check with the Sheriff’s department to determine the scope of work. Most likely will have to go out and get a contractor to rebuild this. Bernashe was the contractor that did the other side. 12. Update on golf cart options from cart suppliers. (with GPS): Director O’Neill passed out handouts with details of some options from Club Car. If we keep the existing fleet we would need to replace all the batteries for a cost of around $75K. These batteries would only provide for a one-year warranty not like the four years we currently have with the lease. 40 – 50 batteries have been replaced this year. 13 – 14 carts have low battery lights on now. Carts are currently in good shape but things will start to need replacing as time goes on. Buy option – same body types and current options about $60K per year for 4 years. Lease option – same body types and current options about $39K per year which is $11K less than what we are paying today. Cart control and cart tracking by Visage LT would control where carts can go. Cart tracking would allow us to monitor where all carts are. Price is just over $11K per year so the total cost with the lease option would be about what we are paying now and we would now get the added utility to control our carts. A demonstration will take place at our next meeting. Current lease expires on 5/31/2020. Director O’Neill to reach out to Yamaha and EZ Go as well. 13. Review cart repair reports for this season: A couple of carts got damaged but the users paid for the damages. That’s why we make people sign out for the carts. Carts are generally in good shape but we need the full report. 14. Golf cart possible purchase ($1.00?): If we decide to buy the carts they are ours for $1. A question was raised whether we could install the Visage LT system if we decide to buy the carts? We don’t know yet but the price might be higher than getting new carts outfitted right from the factory. Review and signing of bills: Reviewed and Signed DATE, TIME, SITE OF NEXT REGULAR / LEAGUE MEETING 4 September 24, 2019 6:00 p.m. Tuesday Chicopee Country Club MEETING ADJOURNED: Vice Chairman LaPlante made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Commissioner LaPerle and approved by all. Meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm. 5