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CityCouncil,2011-12-13,1,"MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY--DECEMBER 13, 2011--5:00 - P.M.
Mayor Gilmore convened the meeting at 5:09 p.m.
Roll Call - Present:
Councilmembers Bonta, deHaan, Johnson, Tam and Mayor
Gilmore - 5.
Note: Councilmember deHaan arrived at 5:14 p.m.
Absent:
None.
The meeting was adjourned to closed session to consider:
(11-591) Public Employment - (54957); Title: City Attorney
Following the Closed Session, the meeting was reconvened and Mayor Gilmore
announced that Council interviewed candidates and discussed City Attorney selection.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Mayor Gilmore adjourned the special meeting at 9:18
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lara Weisiger
City Clerk
The agenda for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
Special Meeting
Alameda City Council
December 13, 2011",CityCouncil/2011-12-13.pdf
GolfCommission,2011-12-13,1,"ALAMEDA GOLF COMMISSION
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
1
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Jane Sullwold called the regular meeting to order at approximately 6:32 p.m. at
the Chuck Corica Golf Complex, Ladies Lounge, 1 Clubhouse Memorial Road,
Alameda, CA 94502
1-A
ROLL CALL
Present:
Chair Jane Sullwold, Commissioner Ray Gaul, Commissioner
-
Betsy Gammell, Vice Chair Bill Schmitz, and Secretary Jeff Wood
Absent:
None
Staff:
John Vest, General Manager, and Matt Wisely, Superintendent
1-B
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the regular meeting of November 8, 2011, were approved
unanimously.
1-C
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
The Commission unanimously adopted the agenda.
2
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
3
COMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS
None
4
WRITTEN/ORAL REPORTS
4-A
Maintenance activities report by Matt Wisely
Matt Wisely stated that fairways and rough will be mowed less frequently due to the
colder weather, which will give them more opportunity to do detail work on the course
through the winter. The greens are rolling fast and smooth. We have experienced
recent frost delays due to low temperatures. They have been filling pot holes and have
begun removing the pampas grass on Clark # 1. More dead trees have been
removed, including a Monterey Pine on Fry # 5. Greens on both courses have been
1
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GolfCommission,2011-12-13,2,"edged again for the kikuyu grass. They have two more memorial trees to plant on the
north course; one going next to Fry # 15 green and the second site is yet to be
determined. The sod nursery is ready to have sod put down and it is leveled.
A new mechanic has been hired, and has many years of experience.
Chair Sullwold asked what plans, if any, there are to improve drainage this winter.
Matt stated there is no plan at this time for the sloughs as they do not have the
capability. Chair Sullwold also asked if he had any idea what the cost would be to rent
the equipment to dredge the sloughs. Matt stated that it is not the right time of year to
do this. Moreover, there are permits to be obtained, and he doesn't know the cost of
the equipment rental. He also stated that the sloughs are low at this time. Some new
drains have been added, but it is not significant. When asked what role Public Works
plays in maintaining the sloughs, Matt said its responsibility is solely to make sure the
throughways are clear. They come out a couple of times a year to check this, which
includes the throughway from the front of Fry # 16 north to the pond adjacent to the
maintenance shop, and the one from Harbor Bay Parkway to Clark # 17.
Chair Sullwold asked Matt whether, in his opinion, there was an amount of money that
would enable the course to weather a winter better than last year in terms of drainage.
Matt stated that any amount of money could be beneficial, but he does not have an
estimate as to how much per square foot it would cost to dredge a pond. Matt stated
that since October, they have been working proactively to clear drains and make sure
all of the catch basins are clear.
Ed Downing asked if the problem was getting the water out of the sloughs to wherever
it drains, or is the problem getting the water off the course into the slough, and Matt
responsed that is off the course into the slough. Ed also asked about staked trees that
no longer require stakes, and Matt said they were working on removing them.
4-B
Golf Shop and Driving Range activities report by John Vest
John Vest stated that 93 rounds were played in the Thanksgiving Day shotguns,
somewhat below expectations because of threatening weather that morning. The day
after was much better with 472 rounds. We will be open on Christmas Day this year.
For the month of November, revenue is up 3% compared to last year. The light
fixtures on the range need repair. Quotes have been obtained, and they are preparing
the have them repaired. Rounds for November were up 15% over prior year. 525
Groupon coupons were purchased over a period of three days. There will be another
run of Groupon in December.
There will be an open house on December 15, 16 and 17 that will include a lot of
specials and complimentary gift wrapping. Specials for December include an early
bird range special for $10.00, including a cup of coffee, a breakfast sandwich and a
large bucket of balls. The $35.00 special after 11:00 includes a sandwich.
For the calendar year, revenue is about $30,000 ahead of prior year.
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GolfCommission,2011-12-13,3,"4C
Beautification Program and Junior Golf Club by Mrs. Norma Arnerich
Norma Arnerich stated there is not much going on right now. There will be a tree
planting ceremony next month.
4-D
Golf Complex Restaurant Report, Jim's on the Course
None.
5
AGENDA ITEMS
5-A
Status Report on long term lease, Mif Albright negotiations, and proposal
for Golf Complex reconfiguration by Ron Cowan and Harbor Bay Isle
Associates, including Golf Commission recommendations, if any.
Chair Sullwold stated that the City decided to send out another Request for Proposals
for the long term operation of the golf complex. Per John Russo's request, she had a
great deal of input into this RFP and is pleased as to how it turned out. It is much
more open ended, and basically states that you can bid on 36 holes or 45 holes,
include the driving range or not, with a minimum buy-in of $1,000,000 and a proposal
of a minumum payment to the City, which can be waived during construction, and a
detailed schedule of how they propose to do the construction. It went out on Thursday
or Friday and has been posted on the website. Bob Sullwold, with Joe VanWinkle's
help, prepared a draft, as did the City's consultant, David Sams. Chair Sullwold was
not happy with the Sams draft, but, at a meeting with Dale Lillard and Sams on
January 5, the other two agreed to use Bob's draft as the basis for the final version.
Ed Downing noted that he was surprised and pleased to see that the RFP
acknowledges that the Golf Complex has always generated an operating profit. He
asked why it was only optional for an operator to include the driving range, and Chair
Sullwold explained that one possibility is for the driving range to be operated by
Alameda Junior Golf in conjunction with operation of the Mif Albright course. She
agreed, however, that it was unlikely that any golf operator would choose not to
include the range as part of its proposal.
Ed also asked about the language in the RFP about the breakdown between the
current operator and the City. Chair Sullwold said it was intended to convey simply
that negotiations had failed to reach a final contract; the sentence on that point was
written by the City. Ed also asked who would be appointed to the negotiating
committee. Tim Scates suggested that Chair Sullwold and Joe VanWinkle should
recuse themselves from the process, as they have made it quite clear over the last
year their distrust of Kemper. Chair Sullwold agreed that she has been very critical of
how the Kemper executives from Chicago handled the negotiations regarding the first
RFP (although she reiterated that her problem was not with the local people managing
the Complex under the interim contract), but stated that the new RFP represents a
clean slate. All bidders will have an equal opportunity to compete, and she will support
the best proposal for the Golf Complex, whether it be Kemper's or that of some other
company. Vice Chair Schmitz noted that the Golf Commission is typically invited to
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GolfCommission,2011-12-13,4,"participate in the screening process for selection of Golf Complex vendors, but does
not make the final selection.
Ed Downing said he thinks Kemper is being unfairly blamed for wanting to shut down
the Mif and reducing the Complex to 27 holes, when they were only doing what the
City requested. Chair Sullwold said she also believed that Kemper's plan for 27 holes
was entirely driven by their backroom information about what the City wanted: Ron
Cowan has stated that former City Manager Debbie Kurita and former Assistant City
Manager David Brandt are the ones who first broached the idea of a Mif swap in
a
private meeting several years ago.
Tim Scates asked about what has happened to the Cowan proposal. Chair Sullwold
speculated that City Manager John Russo will come to City Council on March 6 with
two options: either the Cowan/Kemper land swap plan that was recommended in the
staff memo dated October 4, 2011, or an operator that has responded to the new RFP
and has been selected as the best candidate. Bob Sullwold stated Cowan has tried to
buy off the Alameda Youth Sports Coalition and create conflict between other sports
and golf. Cowan apparently approached Pat Bail and asked what he could do to gain
her support for the land swap. According to an interview she gave, she told him that
the Coalition might be interested if Cowan would sweeten the pot for other sports.
Allegedly, Cowan agreed that the Coalition could have $5 million -- money from the
swap over and above the $3.5 million for golf, plus an additional donation from him to
make up the difference. Part of the $5 million would be used to build fields on the
North Loop property, and the balance used as seed money for a sports complex at
Alameda Point.
5-B
Update on Golf Complex Finances
Bob Sullwold reported that for July through October, rounds are up, but revenue is
down 1.5%. The Fry course has 3000 rounds more than last year and the Clark
course has 700 rounds more. The Mif is down about 100 rounds. The financial
statement that was presented to the Golf Commission in July for fiscal year 2010-11
has been revised. Version 2 shows net operating income as $648,000, whereas
Version 2 showed only $190,000. There are two principal reasons for this adjustment,
one concerning revenue and one concerning expenses. Regarding revenue, there
were stale gift certificates worth about $200,000 that had been purchased but not
redeemed that they decided to include in revenue. Regarding expenses, the original
statement showed that the ""Services"" category was substantially over budget. After
several requests, the Finance Department finally broke out some of the components of
this category. Apparently they realized in the process that some of the charges were
not operating expenses, and should be capitalized. This amounted to another
$200,000. We are still waiting for a complete breakdown of the services category from
City Contoller Fred Marsh.
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GolfCommission,2011-12-13,5,"6.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS, NON-AGENDA (Public Comment)
Bob Sullwold stated that Joe VanWinkle is very committed to the Golf Complex, is very
experienced in business, and is also very smart, but not all of his ideas have merit.
7.
OLD BUSINESS
None
8.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Included in the Commission packet was a memorandum to the Finance Department
showing a surcharge payment for November 2011 of $7,340.00. The year-to-date to
the General Fund for surcharge is $56,093 for FY 2011-12.
-
9.
ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA
Status Report on Long Term Lease, Mif Albright Negotiations, and proposal for
Golf Complex reconfiguration by Ron Cowan and Harbor Bay Isle Associates,
including Golf Commission recommendations, if any
Update on Golf Complex Finances
10.
ANNOUNCEMENTS/ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
The agenda for the meeting was posted 72 hours in advance in accordance with the Brown
Act.
5
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GolfCommission,2011-12-13,6,,GolfCommission/2011-12-13.pdf