Richter Park Authority

RICHTER PARK AUTHORITY MEETING MINUTES Danbury Police Department Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 6:00 PM In compliance with Connecticut General Statute § 1-225, these minutes are being provided for informational purposes and are subject to approval of the Richter Park Authority Board of Directors at its next regular meeting. Vice Chairman George Radachowsky opened the meeting at 6:00 PM. Members present: John Priola, Leroy Diggs, Al Mead, Bob Eberhard, Judy Griemsmann, Dave Lajoie and Paul DiNardo. Also present: Jonathan Pinto, Head Golf Professional, Rob Dorsch, Golf Course Superintendent and Bobby Bria, Musicals at Richter. Absent: Pete Siecienski and Karen Madaus Public participation Ernie Badillo, 55 Hillandale: spoke of his concern regarding the course conditions. Bob Mitchell, 7 Brittany Drive: it is RPA’s responsibility to make conditions good. Jim Sarath, 1807 Eaton Court: Thank you to the RPA for time and effort to be on the Board. Jonathan and staff are friendly and eager to help. Not happy with course conditions and blames Authority. Pat Coyn, 135 Middle River Road: newer/younger resident, Richter Park has a lot of competition and other courses are much better. Joe Capirichio, 37 Ward Drive South: sod farm on 9 is not used to patch greens Chris Wilbur, 17 Woodcrest: has played at Richter for 21+ years and over the past few years the course has had good improvements but lack of maintenance. No evidence of repairs happening after years of the same damage. Wants to see some effort. Marc Grenier, 242 Franklin St. ext: minutes on the website are lacking and very limited regarding RPGC financials, budget, etc. Wants a better understanding of what the Authority has/endures – financial transparency. Tree program is visually great. More transparency will result in more understanding. Rudy Iannetta, 23 Lindencrest: came to meeting out of curiosity, wondering about the dynamic of the club with the Authority and Superintendent, how decisions are made, etc. Ray Diaz, 11 Autumn Drive: Played at Richter Park for over a decade. There is a lack of transparency with Board and no agenda/meeting minutes on the Richter Park or City website. As a taxpayer in the City of Danbury, it is troubling. Course is a factory and has an excellent product. Transparency needs to be better. Mr. DiNardo: Thank you to everyone coming and believe we as a Board need to be held to a higher standard and hopefully change will happen. Mr. Radachowsky: meet every Tuesday at 6pm. 34K rounds in 2019 vs 44K rounds, thought of where golf is going. Gary Driscoll, 44 Abbey Lane: Curious of last two year’s financials, as it has been nothing but busy. Approve minutes of previous meetings Mr. Mead made a motion to approve the minutes from the May RPA meeting. Mr. Priola seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Mead made a motion to approve the minutes from the May 11th RPA Special Meeting. Mr. DiNardo seconded. After one change from Mr. Priola, Motion passed unanimously. Correspondence None. Arts Association Mrs. Griemsmann stated that Arts had a successful Spring season. Primary discussion has been the new Arts sign, and complimented Mr. DiNardo on the new sign, which was approved. Mr. Mead made a motion to accept the RAA meeting minutes. Ms. Griemsmann seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Musicals at Richter Back of stage completed and sono tubes poured today and front end of week. Stage will be done by July 6th. MPC-Richter House The Arts is looking forward to the new stage. 50th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, 9/17 from 11am – 5pm, including dedication of the Felix Bonacci Memorial Walkway. Rain date scheduled for Sunday, 9/18. FORe Mr. Mead brought Walkway finances: Revenue $6,075 with 51 total bricks done and 15 more on order. Cost is $6,200, plus brochures and bricks, for a total of $8,409. Business Manager’s Report See Head Golf Professional report. Head Golf Professional Golf outings have been happening. Seven out of the last 11 days we have had events including Men’s Club member/member. We hit our road map in May and finances are good. Grounds and Greens A golf cart on #12 went into Boggs Pond and had to call City of Danbury for gas leaking. We are officially at full staff. Back-of-house work will happen, unfortunately no grass due to no irrigation. Mr. Diggs stated that we are at $48k in payroll, which is around the peak number for the season and will last through the end of July. There has been a 2.6% increase in the budget since 2006. He requested a Grounds and Greens meeting and asked about the plan to fix greens on 12 and 13. The rust on the irrigation system, which is 31 years old, needs to be addressed. Mr. Lajoie asked if the tee boxes are burnt out. Mr. Dorsch stated that they aren’t burnt out and are fine. Mr. Radachowsky asked how much it would cost to do #6 green over. Mr. Dorsch replied $500k. Financial report Cash balance in Operating is $325K, and the goal is to have $250K for winter. YTD down slightly due to rounds. Mr. Mead made a motion to place the financial report on file. Mr. Lajoie seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Finance Committee Report Mr. Diggs stated that the two things they are looking into currently are the electric rate structure and evaluating Business insurance, which increased from $63K to $68K, mainly due to property liability. Old business None. New business None. Chairman’s Comments/Report None. Executive Session: Tabled Mr. Mead made a motion to adjourn at 7:30 pm. Mr. Priola seconded. Motion passed unanimously.