Golf Board of Governors

*** UNAPPROVED MINUTES *** Golf Committee Meeting June 25, 2019 at 4pm City Hall, 11th floor Park Department Conference Room 455 N. Main Wichita, KS 67202 Present: Eddie Fahnestock, President, Chair, Greg Ferris, At-Large, Cindy Renard, District III, Cory Rainwater, District IV, Richard Schodorf, District V, Shana Appelhanz, Troy Hendricks, Michelle Haun, Dale Goter, Brandon Whipple, Lindsey Wells, Sam Webb, Megan Lovely Absent: Dr. Michael Williams, District I, Thomas West, District II, Debbie Burch, District VI Fahnestock called the meeting to order at 4:02pm Public Agenda Regular Agenda Items Approval of Minutes from 4/9/19 Renard stated that the prior minutes need NGA corrected to NGF. Fahnestock motioned to approve with corrections. Schodorf second. May Rounds Report Hendricks stated that rounds are down 13%, mostly due to rainfall. We have had 26 inches for the year. Other regional courses are also seeing a decline in rounds due to the rain. Revenue is down 14% and net income is down about 478% but we need to take into consideration that we did not pay internal fees in 2018, which is about $200,000. Rainwater asked if it was possible to recover after starting so far behind. Hendricks stated that we are projected to finish the year at a loss. Renard asked about the amount of loss generated by LW Clapp. Hendricks stated we do not have the actual numbers at this time. Schodorf stated that the new passes will make next year look better. Hendricks stated that we have seen a 15% increase at four of the courses for the junior golf program. All of our tournaments this year have been full so far. First Tee is going to pay $23k for youth to play for free this year at our courses. New Monthly Season Pass Plan Hendricks stated that council has approved our new monthly membership plan. It will go into effect on August 1st. So far, feedback has been positive. Fahnestock asked if people can start calling in now to pre-order. Hendricks stated that we do not need to presell since it will be available. Rainwater asked what options are available if the current pass expires before August 1st. Hendricks stated that they will just need to pay the full green fee until the new pass starts, or renew their current pass until next year. Schodorf asked what we will be doing for marketing. Appelhanz stated that we are targeting the young adults and highlighting the monthly fee with no copays and unlimited play for multiple courses. Schodorf stated that we should not lose sight of the golfers over 62. There are a lot of casual golfers that will be retiring from Spirit over the next 4 years. Ferris stated that we should not let passholders renew under the current pass between now and August. All current passholders should be rolled into the new membership. Hendricks stated that the current passes will continue under the current structure until they expire and then they can sign up for the new membership. Appelhanz stated that we are focusing on changing the terminology as well. The old “pass” system versus the new “membership”. Ferris asked what the penalty will be for early termination. Hendricks stated that after the first year, there will be no penalty. Ferris stated that there should be provisions for surgery, etc. There should be a penalty anytime you drop and renew, or “joiner fee.” And how are we handling the $37 equipment replacement fee. Hendricks stated that the current agreement has a built in $300 penalty during the first year for early cancellation. The $37 will be billed every November. Goter stated that this pass plan is the cheapest deal across the country. Hendricks stated that the presentation to council stated that there would be no proration on current passes. The new memberships will be available for purchase on Aug 1st. Ferris asked if we could make the new membership available for purchase a week before. Hendricks stated that we cannot start the week before because someone has to manually process the applications. We still have a month to work out the details and see how it will work. Schodorf stated that Manning indicated that concessions are a bigger money maker than passes. Whipple asked for clarification that the new membership will not be able to be purchased with cash or check. He also asked if the fee could be paid up front. Hendricks stated that is correct. For security purposes, since the new membership will be via bank draft, we are only allowing it via the internet and that our POS system will be set up to do recurring charges, so we will not be able to accept a one-time payment. LW Clapp Closing Hendricks stated that based on information from the transformation committee, council approved the closure of LW Clapp on August 2nd. Staff will still be onsite working to remove all assets from the premises. Maintenance staff will most likely need 30-60 days to remove irrigation systems, equipment, etc. Park maintenance is expecting the bunkers to be filled in. Renard asked to be able to discuss the recommendation that was made last year. Sam Webb and Dale Goter would also like to address the committee. Fahnestock stated they could have 2 minutes. Webb stated that he has been handing out flyers and sending letters to council to keep LW Clapp open. He stated that there are multiple reasons that he will protest the closure. Goter stated that a study was supposed to be completed and all that was completed was an insufficient study by the PGA. Looking at staffing at the facilities, we need to redistribute the costs of salaries to more needed areas. A golf course does not need to be run by a pro. No one has taken the suggestion to complete a system evaluation. The business model needs to be looked at. The previous vote of 3- 2 to close LW Clapp was not a majority. Operations need to be thoroughly looked at. Too much money is being spent on administration and management. Ferris stated that the golf system can’t support LW Clapp. Those in favor of keeping LW Clapp open should go to the City and ask the City to keep it open and pay for it from the general fund. Renard stated that we need to keep it open. Ferris stated that council has already voted. Renard wanted to make a motion to recommend to council not to close LW Clapp. Fahnestock stated that they need to go to council, not the GAC. No Show Policy Fahnestock stated that he wanted to table this till the next meeting. Adjourned 5:08pm