Golf Course Committee (Meets 4th Thursday as needed, at 11:00 a.m.)

GOLF COURSE COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS January 11, 2021 Noon Remotely via ZOOM Members Present: Barb Hoag, Troy Clark, Bob Kolbe, Jack Sweeney, Lindsey Graskey Advisory Members and Others Present: Linda Cadotte, Ashley Puetz, Tom Beaudry, Vince Dodge, Tom Andersen Members Excused: Keith Kern Golf course meeting called to order at 12:04 p.m. 1. Elect Chair/Vice Chair MOTION by Sweeney, seconded by Graskey and carried, to nominate Hoag as chair. MOTION by Sweeney, seconded by Kolbe and carried, to nominate Clark as vice-chair. 2. Seeking approval of the November 9, 2020 Golf Course Committee meeting minutes MOTION by Sweeney, seconded by Clark and carried, to approve the November 9, 2020 meeting minutes. 3. Discussion about benches a. Kolbe discussed his idea of using memorial trees instead of benches. b. Sweeney stated he believes it is time to suspend the bench sponsorship program and replace the existing benches in some way. c. Hoag suggested a possible yearly fee to maintain benches for those that desire to keep them as an option. d. Dodge stated that a decision needs to be made soon in order to give enough time to order benches for the 2021 season. Dodge brought up the idea of creating a nice area near the clubhouse with landscaping to display a plaque. MOTION by Sweeney, seconded by Clark and carried, to discontinue the current bench sponsorship program and to replace existing benches with new ones picked out by the Kemper Sports. 4. Request for City employee discounts at Nemadji a. Cadotte provided background of an employee asking if the Nemadji golf course would offer discounts to City employees. Cadotte reached out to Kemper Sports and asked if it’s common for other municipal golf courses to do so. Cadotte explained Golf Course Committee Meeting 1 January 11, 2021  that most do not and that the reason is usually because it is usually seen as unfair to provide a discount to city staff when the course is public property. b. Loomis confirmed that he manages many municipal golf courses and none of them offer discounts to city employees. He stated it was possible to do so if it’s the City’s wishes but that other municipalities have choose not to for the reasons Cadotte mentioned. c. Sweeney mentioned that he had heard there was word going around that city employees are already receiving a discount at the Nemadji course which he wanted to confirm is false. MOTION by Sweeney,seconded by Kolbe and carried, to not move forward with any city employee discounts at the Golf Course. 5. Driving range machine replacement/tokens a. Beaudry feels that the course has done a good job communicating that 2020 would be the last year to use the old tokens. He feels confident that people have been notified sufficiently. b. Kolbe confirmed that at the end of 2020, remaining tokens are expired. He then asked if there would be a season pass for the range. c. Beaudry said that for 2021 there would not be a season pass for the range but that there are discounts for buying in bulk. There will be a bulk range discount and tokens will be replaced with a code or credit card at the machine. MOTION by Clark,seconded by Graskey and carried, to move forward with the new token policy for the new range system. 6. Golf Course committee recommendation to council a. Cadotte stated that the council voted to continue the use of the golf course committee and was looking for a recommendation of what the committee vision and meetings schedule should look like. The remaining detail carried over from the last meeting is to determine the meeting schedule. b. Committee members agreed to meet as needed on the second Monday of the month. 7. Reevaluate golf cart trail fee discount for group of individuals who previously had personal carts. a. Beaudry provided the background that in 2019 there were 11 individuals who had personal carts that bought passes to use on the course. They received a discounted Golf Course Committee Meeting 2 January 11, 2021  golf cart pass rate for 2020 and it was determined to reevaluate this discount for the 2021 season. b. Loomis stated that Kemper would recommend the 2020 special rate for these individuals be a one-time discount and that everyone moving forward should pay the same. c. Sweeney stated that the long term objective is to have everyone treated the same with no groups getting special advantages. MOTION by Sweeney, seconded by Graskey and carried to discontinue the trail cart fee discount and that moving forward all will pay the same. 8. Standing agenda items: a. Profit/Loss – Budget/Actual Statement a. Beaudry stated that November revenue outpaced budget because of the rate November play. b. General Manager/Golf Pro – report a. Nemadji did 45,072 rounds in 2020. Kemper made great strides in earning level 1 certification with the green to a tee program through Kemper Sports. Kemper will work to improve their safety national and true service scores above 2020. c. Superintendent – Grounds/Maintenance report a. Dodge stated they are currently working on winter chores. November had more play than usual which created additional work for the grounds crew and they worked on drainage issues and were able to work outside until December. b. Dodge is working on improving course environmental standards to earn another certification. d. General Manager top three concerns. a. Beaudry said his top three concerns are the COVID effect to be seen in 2021, staffing for the upcoming season and staying on track with the Capital projects to make sure everything is taken care of. e. Nemadji Women’s and Men’s Club – concerns/updates a. Hoag said the Women’s club will have a February meeting, but will likely skip the spring meeting and will follow guidelines provided by Dr. Fauci and the CDC. b. Clark stated he is catching up on Golf course committee items with his recent appointment and that he has no major updates from the Men’s Club. 9. Future agenda items d. Explore possible winter activities to keep Nemadji open year round i. Space Rental, cross country skiing, activity of other municipal courses e. Councilor Sweeney’s request to see a policy created to address season pass refunds in the event of serious illness and death. Golf Course Committee Meeting 3 January 11, 2021  f. Hoag’s requests to discuss details of the clubhouse plaque for a memorial including decisions about names from existing benches and if new names could be added. g. Sweeney requested the committee look at hiring an in house accountant or continue the use of Kemper for 2021. He also requested KemperSports provide a 2020 recap at a February or March City Council meeting. 10. Next meeting Monday, February 8, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. MOTION by Kolbe, seconded by Sweeney and carried, to adjourn. Golf course meeting adjourned at 1:04 p.m. Minutes submitted to the Council Meeting of January 19, 2021. Golf Course Committee Meeting 4 January 11, 2021