03-21-16 Special Elbel Committee Minutes

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Jenn Betz, 511 South St. Joseph St., gave a presentation on prospective ideas for complementary use, she stated all these ideas are up for debate and clearly other voices need to be heard from the golf community and through the ecological experts on what can and can't be done on the course. The prospective ideas included the revenue options as well. There are many possibilities to consider and it is important to think about the park not only as a golf course but also thinking of the clubhouse and the wetlands as well. The full list of ideas, as well as the entire slide show presentation, is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Elbel for Everyone provided photos of their group at Elbel and also the natural wildlife of the park. Jenn Betz spoke about the possibilities of developing an app for Elbel that could have information on all the complementary use information as well as used to schedule golf tee -times and other bookings. Chris Cobb suggested the Park Board establish a sub - committee for complementary use for Elbel that may become a model for the Parks Department more broadly in the future. Someone from golf, someone from the department, and then residents with ecological expertise and backgrounds in recreational planning. A sub - committee of that nature would give the residents a real opportunity to provide recommendations to the department and the Parks Board, identify the uses of the schedule and capitalize on resident involvement and expertise. It's been clear a challenge for the Park Board to make good decisions on Elbel was the lack of a permanent structure to facilitate resident involvement and expertise. A sub - committee of this nature would help the Park Board and department to establish input from residents and use those wonderful ideas along with the golf professionals and experts. Aaron Perri gave a presentation on the path forward for Elbel from the department's perspective. The presentation consisted of four major points that the department sees as its guideposts. First, as this committee recommended last meeting, the City of South Bend will operate Elbel Golf Course in 2016. Second, engage a golf course management consulting firm. Third, empower an ecological study of Elbel Park. Fourth, create a natural resource management plan for Elbel Park and other major parks. Regarding the city running the course, the rates have been increased back to the 2015 levels, there has been an increased capital spending, expanding marketing opportunities such as the brand new golf website, third party assistance with greens management to ensure that the greens are up to excellent condition, and finally support non -golf park usage. The clubhouse has already been getting calls and questions on how people bird watch while golfers are out there. Mr. Perri asked for patience from everyone as the department tries to figure out the logistics of keeping everyone accommodated and give the best possible experience for all users of the park. There will be a movie series, financed through private funding, throughout the Parks system this year and Elbel will be one of the locations sometime this summer. Bringing in a management consulting firm will really help us analyze and bring a new level of sophistication to how the City runs all three (3) of the golf courses. Look at how they run in the marketplace and how they differ and what the core competencies of each course are.