HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-29-16 Special Elbel Committee MinutesOFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK
Special Advisory Committee for Elbel (Golf Course), 26595 Auten Road, South Bend, IN 46628
February 29, 2016, 6:00 P.M.
Committee Members Present: Jo M. Broden, Randy Kelly, Karen White, Aaron Perri,
Aimee Buccallato (sitting in for Dan Farrell)
Other Council Present: Tim Scott, John Voorde, Regina Williams Preston
Others Present: Jennifer Coffman, Mark Neal, Aimee Buccallato, Mayor Peter
Buttigieg, Larry Magliozzi, Santiago Garces, Aaron Damrill,
Scott Namestick, Dan Brazo, Matt Cielen, Mike Schmidt, TJ
Mannen, John Murphy
Agenda:
Councilmember Jo M. Broden called the meeting to order.
Councilmember Broden thanked the members of the public in attendance for their attentiveness
to this issue and asked the committee members to introduce themselves.
Councilmember Randy Kelly stated that he is here as the chair of the PARC Committee of the
Common Council.
Committeemember Aaron Perri stated that he is the Executive Director of Parks and Recreation.
Councilmember Karen White, Council Member At -Large chairs the Personnel and Finance
Committee.
Aimee Buccallato, sitting in for Dan Ferrell, is the Vice President of the Park Board of
Commissioners.
Councilmember Broden introduced the additional Park Board Member in attendance, Mark Neal.
455 County-City Building • 227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • South Bend. Indiana 46601
Phone 574- 235 -9221 • Fax 574- 235 -9173 • TDD 574 -235 -5567 • www.SouthBend[N.gov
JENNIFER M. COFFMAN ALKEYNA M. ALDRIDGE EMILY SEXTON
CHIEF DEPUTY/ CHIEF OF STAFF DEPUTY/ DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK
Councilmember Broden explained that tonight's meeting is the commission's opportunity to get
baseline facts out to the public. Councilmember Broden outlined the evening's agenda, and
announced that there would be 25 minutes for public comment at the end of the meeting.
Councilmember White recognized Council President Tim Scott, Councilmember Regina
Williams Preston, and Council Member John Voorde who were in attendance.
Councilmember White discussed the duties and responsibilities of the commission as stated in
Resolution # 1608 which is on file in the Office of the City Clerk.
Councilmember White introduced Mayor Peter Buttigieg.
Mayor Buttigieg stated that his address and the administration as a whole is focused on our
fundamental mission, which is to deliver services to empower everyone to thrive, and the
services offered by way of Parks and Recreation are there for that reason. A great Parks and
Recreation system empowers the residents of this community to thrive. Parks are important
because they are the entity that families of every economic background in the community can
enjoy. When we think about parks overall, we think about the number of resources and benefit
they provide for the community.
The administration is determined that we will leave the Parks and Recreation assets of this
community better than we found it. When it comes to Elbel, while no decision has been made,
and clearly much will depend on the findings and recommendations of this body, there are some
guideposts that I want to lay down.
Whatever we do needs to balance the following four goals:
The first is to maintain golf at Elbel at least in the short to medium term. It is a terrific facility
and it means a lot to the golf community here. It is certainly clear that this is an asset and
resource that we as a community would like to see continue to be used for that purpose.
The ecological distinctiveness of the assets and the lands that are adjacent to it, while not all of
them are encompassed by the city property of Elbel, they are all important to the community and
to the ecology.
Third is public access. There is an enthusiastic constituency for Elbel because people have taken
advantage of this given its unique ability to provide access to enjoy and make use of those
ecological riches that are adjacent to it, particularly in Mud Lake.
Fourth is to reduce the strain on city funds. I do not expect this asset or other Parks and
Recreation assets to be profitable. That's not what they're there for. Although it is true in many
cases that through partnerships or changes in structure, we've been able to take property that has
been in that subsidy and receiver of funds and make it net neutral. But we must find something
that balances all four interests.
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Soon we'll be standing here talking about the kickoff for the budget. We'll have to be as prudent
as ever about the use of our limited resources that go throughout nearly 60 Park and Recreation
assets and the programming that goes along with it. Meeting the first three (3) goals for Elbel
have to be accommodated with that last goal.
Lastly, Mayor Buttigieg stated his appreciation for the process, and that he is looking forward to
reviewing the findings of this body.
Councilmember White thanked Mayor Buttigieg for his comments.
Councilmember Broden invited the next presenter to introduce himself.
Larry Magliozzi, Executive Director of the Area Plan Commission, with offices on the 111' floor of
the County -City Building, presented a map that showed a residential district comparable to the city's SF -1
and SF -2 district. This is right on the edge of the agricultural district in the county, which is one of the
most restrictive land use districts in Indiana. The blue is either wetlands or flood plains. To the south and
the west there are smaller wetlands that were part of the edges of the grand Kankakee marsh back from
before the 1900's. In the area zoned R Residential, any land owner has the right to subdivide or develop
that land for residential purposes. There is a large list of uses, including special exception uses, that could
be permitted on this land. Any public hearing process for land use change would require a public hearing
in front of the county council and all property owners in the area would be notified by mail.
The flood plains and wetlands don't necessarily have a restriction from development. The flood plain
ordinance allows some development with very strict standards. Mr. Magliozzi has heard that wetlands
must be replaced four (4) times, and wetlands are expensive to create. Mr. Magliozzi's map is available
in the Office of the City Clerk.
Santiago Garces, Chief Innovation Officer of the City of South Bend, with offices on the 12 h floor of the
County City Building, is responsible for the GIS mapping and analysis of property. Mr. Garces presented
the results of the last survey done by the City, which is available in the Office of the City Clerk. A
registered surveyor goes through the legal description and demarks it on a map. When a property owner
decides to subdivide the land, the owner demarks the subdivision and presents it to the Area Plan
Commission. Once it is approved, it goes to the registrar to change the mapping in the system. The
nature preservation has a different designation than the rest of the park. In the GIS system, within bodies
of water, at least in GIS they don't appear in parcels, they appear as empty space. That area belongs to
the state and is controlled by the Department of Natural Resources. Ariel photography was also provided
by Mr. Garces. There is currently a request in Area Plan Commission to separate the two parcels between
Elbel Major which contains the golf course and Elbel Minor which contains the tree nursery.
Mr. Magliozzi pointed out the major subdivision near the park. It is just waiting on a signature until it is
subdivided out.
Aaron Damrill, with the Army Corps of Engineers, with offices that cover almost all of Northern Indiana
and parts of lower Michigan explained that two of their main tasks are the regulation of Section four (4)
of The Clean Water Act and Section ten (10) of The Rivers and Harbors Act. Section four (4) applies in
Elbel's case. They can apply for a permit to discharge into a water in the U.S. Mr. Damrill stated when
someone comes to us with a project, we first look to avoid the wetland. If the wetland cannot be avoided,
we look to minimize the impact to the wetland. If the impacts cannot be minimized, we have to mitigate
for those impacts. We work hand in hand with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
They are responsible for the water quality certification, and they are looking at the material that is going
in to see if it is going to pollute the water that is already there. Mr. Damrill stated that the process can be
very complicated at times, and he would be happy to answer any questions as they come up.
Councilmember Broden asked how his agency has overlapped with the golf course in the past regarding
its current use.
Mr. Damrill stated we've had different actions around it but nothing specific to Elbe] from the Army
Corps of Engineers.
Councilmember Broden asked if he has had a chance to speak to Matt about it yet, and whether or not
runoff would fall under Matt's jurisdiction.
Mr. Damrill stated that it would be under a separate department.
Councilmember Broden asked if it is considered a public access lake.
Mr. Damrill stated that that is outside of his jurisdiction.
Aimee Buccallato explained that she is an architect and has worked on some projects that intersect
with these issues at a county level. Every project has its own particular circumstances.
Santiago Garces presented a survey that was done in September of 2015, which shows the subdivision
that he and Mr. Magliozzi had discussed. It shows how the area is contained by the wetlands with what is
owned by the city.
Councilmember Broden asked if this postdated any appraisals that were done. Committeemember Perri
and Mr. Garces confirmed that the appraisals predated the actual subdivision.
Committeemember Perri stated that the tree nursery contains about $80,000 worth of tree inventory that
we populate to replace or add trees throughout the parks system primarily.
Scott Namestick, Botanist with Orbis Environmental Consulting, came here today to talk about the
ecology of Mud Lake as it relates to the Kettle Lakes Region. The area runs from the south end of
Chamberlain Lake up past the state line into Michigan, just west of the bypass. I'm going to talk
specifically about four (4) areas within the Kettle Lakes region: Chamberlain Lake, South Chain Lake,
Lydick Bog and Mud Lake. They are all different in ecology and the ways that they are protected or not
protected.
The tool used to assess these natural areas is the floristic quality assessment. It is used to identify natural
areas and compare them with one another. It can also be used to track the natural area over a series of
years. Mr. Namestick presented his findings from visits to the Kettle Lakes Region. He found that there
are 22 species on the Indiana list of threatened and rare species that occur at Chamberlain Lake.
Chamberlain Lake is owned in part by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and other parts of it
are privately owned.
South Chain Lake is the only natural plant community that remains in its area due to development.
Anything that was there has been eliminated and is no longer deemed significant. It is privately owned.
Lydick Bog consists of two plant communities, and 85 plant species were documented within just the bog
itself. Ninety -five (95) percent of them are native to Indiana. In these nutrient -poor systems, you often
don't get that many species. Seven (7) Indiana endangered and threatened rare plant species were
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identified. This property is privately owned, and a portion of it went up for sale recently, and a land trust
is taking steps to protect that portion of Lydick Bog.
Mud Lake has three (3) plant communities that I am aware of. It is very different than what we see in the
other sites. Fifty -five (55) plant species were documented, and eighty -seven (87) percent of those were
native to Indiana. There have been five (5) endangered threatened and rare plant species documented
from Mud Lake. I found two (2) plants that were state endangered, which means that they're known from
up to five (5) places in the state that have never been found in the county before, so there's so much that
we don't know about the plant life that exists at Mud Lake and throughout the Kettle Lakes Region.
There have been a handful of bird surveys conducted at Mud Lake, some of them are very historical and
others are much more recent. There are many unique species that have been spotted in the Mud Lake
area. Mud Lake is threatened by the potential for development, and climate change is a threat to all of
these systems. Degradation to the wetland as a result of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers is a threat
especially if the property were to change hands and different management techniques would take place on
the golf course. The biggest threat is invasive species. Mud Lake currently has an invasive species that
will probably spread around the entire lake within the next twenty (20) years and remove the biodiversity
that is present there.
The Kettle Lakes region is incredibly unique, and Mud Lake is a part of that region. Each of those lakes
provides a different aspect of uniqueness to the Kettle Lakes Region in terms of endangered threatened
and rare species and other conservative species. There is a lot we do not know about the plant life and the
animal life that uses Mud Lake and the Kettle Lakes region, and only a portion of it is truly protected.
The committee discussed whether Mud Lake is private or public. Mr. Namestick responded that it is his
understanding that it is not public. There is no public access. His guess is that the city owns the lake and
a portion is under private ownership at the north end. Mr. Damrill stated that the Department of Natural
Resources might have legal lake limits on Mud Lake. The commission came to the conclusion that they
needed more information on the ownership of Mud Lake.
Councilmember Broden inquired about the distance between Chamberlain Lake and Mud Lake, and Mr.
Damrill guessed that it was about ten (10) miles.
Dan Brazo and Matt Cielen presented on the Audobon Sanctuary program that the University of Notre
Dame Warren Golf Course is a part of. The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf is an
education and certification program that helps golf courses protect our environment and preserve the
natural heritage of the game of golf. By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife
habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency, and minimize potentially harmful impacts of golf
course operations.
It looks at water quality, water quantity, irrigation, chemical usage, wildlife habitats, and outreach to the
public. Getting this certification is a time consuming effort, and you recertify every two (2) years. Then
you would have a consultant come out once a week to check on upkeep. The consultants would cost
about $5,000 per year. The summary of the program is available in the Office of the City Clerk.
Mr. Cielen stated that there is a savings in maintenance once you have established native areas. It is a
common sense situation that will eventually run itself. At the end, you'll have a healthier place, more
native areas, and the golf course will end up being a safe haven for animals, insects, and butterflies.
Aimee Buccallato asked if there was intent to certify the golf course all along, and Mr. Brazo stated that
that there was intent from the start date to certify the course, but they did not do much construction other
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than rerouting Juday Creek. Aimee asked questions regarding the time and money it would take to get an
existing course certified, and Mr. Cielen acknowledged the costs and time, but reiterated that they include
common sense things.
Committeemember Perri explained the Park's Master Plan, which is available in the Office of the City
Clerk. It addresses nearly thirty (3)0 million dollars in needs throughout the Park's system. A five (5)
million dollar park bond was taken out, and there is quite a bit of work underway. There is a document
on the Park's website that is kept up to date in real time that shows the progress of the park bond projects
that are underway. We have to prioritize spending, so there is a statistically significant survey that shows
how community members prioritize the many aspects of parks in South Bend. The community was also
asked what type of subsidy is appropriate for the activities that we do. The community responded that a
subsidy for golf is not appropriate, as evidenced through this plan. Since golf is primarily an individual
benefit sport, the fees should cover the sport and not have other subsidies come in to it, according to the
survey.
There is also an Elbel Master Plan that is available through the Office of the City Clerk.
Councilmember Broden asked if the Park Master Plan action plans have been worked on, and how it fits
into the overall budget process, and how the board has been using it as a guiding document.
Committeemember Perri responded that most of the action plans deal with maintenance, what is
appropriate and what is the direct cost. In fact, the park bond has been dubbed the maintenance bond,
because it is being used to keep up with all sorts of things.
The committee reiterated that the Park's Master Plan is available in the Clerk's Office and on the Park
Department's webpage.
Committeemember Perri mentioned that there is a ten (10) year financial document available in the Office
of the City Clerk and online.
John Murphy, City Controller, presented the ten (10) year financial document. The operating loss has
increased over the years. Back in 2008 before the circuit breakers, we were able to use COIT for parks,
but unfortunately we are no longer able to use those funds for parks. Elbel had an average loss of
$120,000 over the ten (10) year period. A loss is when it is subsidized or paid for by other sources that
aren't generated at the course. Primarily, property taxes is the largest source of revenue in the general
fund. The golf courses themselves are in a different format. The losses for all three golf courses together
is on average $225,765 over that ten (10) year time period. Elbel generates about six (6) percent of the
golf course revenue in the city, and accounts for seven and a half (7.5) percent of golf expenditures. Elbel
makes up about half of the total amount of golf course losses. Averaging the losses over a ten (10) year
period is fair because it accounts for the years with large expenditures such as new golf carts. That is why
the averages are more important to look at than just looking at one year.
The commission asked questions of the experts and discussed the life cycle of the large equipment bought
and maintained by golf courses, and what the plan is to inventory the items and keep track of their life
cycles. Mr. Murphy explained that all of the city departments have a five (5) year capital program which
is built into the budget.
The commission discussed the state of the course today, and what the projection would look like moving
forward, and whether or not deferred maintenance (if there is any) would be captured. TJ Mannen,
Elbel's Director of Golf indicated that there are minor improvements to be made to the clubhouse.
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Aimee Buccallato asked what the numbers look like regarding the city continuing to maintain the golf
course in the future, and what it looks like in terms of getting it back on track. Mr. Murphy indicated that
there are more details in the ten (10) year budget plan.
Committeemember Perri indicated that the 2016 budget is located in the back of the ten (10) year budget
plan. He anticipates that the $120,000 is going to be the annual need to get back to where they were
before. With the $68,000 additional appropriation, Elbel will need to be subsidized $101,000 this year.
The total for all three (3) courses in 2016 is budgeted at $234,000. Committeemember Perri stated that he
does have some concerns with the revenue projections, so he put a few adjusted budgets together that he
can explain in greater detail, perhaps in the next meeting.
Councilmember White asked if the fees would be increased, and whether or not that would be part of the
revenue. Committeemember Perri stated that they should look at that scenario.
Committeemember Perri discussed his concerns regarding the revenues. If you look at revenue averages,
I had a hard time justifying an additional $80,000 in revenue, when the trend wasn't looking that way. We
haven't seen $687,000 in revenue since 2010. When I look at the trends, I do have concerns with how the
revenue is budgeted, as well as the fact that it has been widely publicized that Elbel has been in limbo.
Some leagues and outings have scheduled in other places, which could affect the revenue line.
Councilmember White questioned the PR and marketing of the golf course. TJ Mannen stated that they
got seven (7) of the nine (9) leagues back, and we're still contacting people for the outings.
SJ Sabo, with offices at 1300 Block Mishawaka Avenue, questioned the distinct lack of numbers on users
or usage. It seems to Mr. Sabo that that's a pretty fundamental issue that should enter into this
calculation. He believes that we must establish priorities early on that reject the lease option, declare the
council's intent to protect and preserve this community's parklands, know what you're dealing with,
reject the (45) forty-five day deadline, and develop viable alternatives.
Karen Hawn, 50727 Shawn Court in South Bend, expressed that she believes Elbel could be a multi -use
facility, incorporating fat tire biking. Love Creek in Berrien Springs has a fat tire route now, where
people can rent bikes and use them throughout the year. Due to cycling's increasing popularity and golf's
decreasing popularity, she believes this plan would get a lot of support from the biking community.
Mathew Insley, 511 South St. Joseph Street in South Bend would like to hear more about the state of
Elbel as a golf course relating to its financial losses. He is curious about the management of the course
and what sort of administrative challenges the physical state of the course has faced. How well has it
been run? How well has it been kept up?
He would also like to know how long a full floristic quality assessment would take at Elbel, and would
that be the kind of thing that this body could consider.
Mr. Damrill stated that a full study would take one (1) growing season, or one (1) year.
Jennifer Betz, 511 S. St. Joseph Street, South Bend, IN 46601, expressed her gratitude for the robust
conversation. She wanted to note that when the Park's Master Plan happened, it was never put to the
public that twenty-five (25) percent of our park land would be sold, and it's importance is something you
can't rank. She also wanted to stress the importance of doing a floristic quality assessment. If this
becomes a multi -use property, in order to get funding you have to have data, and it was shown tonight
that there is a dearth of environmental information which would open up new funding for us. She
questioned who determines the water quality, and whether or not that had been studied in addition to the
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floristic quality assessment. Also, she worries that without knowing what we have, it's almost impossible
to set lease conditions that would protect what we have. She also requested that they take as much time
as they need.
Chris Cobb, 215 E. Pokagon Street, South Bend, thanked the committee for initiating this process. Mr.
Cobb was hoping to get more information about the property itself and the relationship of the wetlands to
the rest of the property in terms of ownership, and the status of Mud Lake in terms of public access. If
environmental protection or multi -uses are to go forward, that's going to hinge on the wetlands being
engaged with in an appropriate way. He believes that more digging must be done to provide clarity about
where the city's responsibilities are and what kind of initiatives would have to be taken to establish
appropriate protections that are really needed. He believes that the city could take actions as a public
owner of land fronting on Mud Lake that would lead to its classification as a public access body of water.
Mr. Cobb asked would be the advantages and disadvantages of changing the status of Mud Lake.
Marsha Kizer, Andrea Court, Mishawaka, is the President of the Women's (18) Eighteen Hole League at
Elbel. She doesn't understand why Elbel is singled out. Golf is increasing, it is coming back since the
recession, which affected golf courses. Elbel is one of the most woman- friendly golf courses she knows
of. TJ and his staff are more than helpful when anything comes up. The amenities are better than
Erskine. She was raised on Erskin, but fell in love with Elbel. Seniors are enjoying the golf courses, and
10,000 baby boomers retire every day. Their league increased by twenty -two (22) percent last year. They
are hopeful that Elbe] will remain a golf course and a city park. They go there for the beauty of the
course and to have fun.
Laura Fuderer, 18485 Garwood Court South Bend 46637 wanted to clarify what Matt Cielen and Dan
Brazo forgot to mention, which is that Audubon International had absolutely no relation to the
International Audubon Society of which the South Bend /Elkhart Audubon Society is a chapter.
Sally Durengowski, 17888 Amberwood Lane, South Bend, mentioned that the season pass rounds that
were included in the 2015 financials packet were not included in the comparative packet, so it is missing
6,629 rounds. She would like to get more information on the expense side regarding staff costs, shared
administration, non - reverting funds, and any other funds within the golf budget as a whole, Elbel's
budget, or in the park's budget. We need to have robust conversation about this enterprise as a business
operation. We need to get past the municipality mentality.
Terry Niemier, 3575 W. Bertrand Road, Niles MI, lives very close to Elbel and wanted to throw out ideas
about how to move forward with Elbel. She asked if it is a possibility to turn Elbel into a nine (9) hole
course and diversify the rest to take some of the strain off of the budget. She would welcome the
opportunity to actually present an idea.
Councilmember White thanked everyone who presented and attended. She indicated that moving
forward, the commission will have to focus on looking at the financial aspects in regards to the actual
expenses, capital, operating costs, any shared administrative costs, and also the number of users that we
need to have. We need to get a good sense of the expenditures and what we need from a revenue
perspective, some of the legal issues surrounding ownership and what that will entail, and what studies
we believe that we will need to move forward with our discussions.
The framing of the next meeting will come from the minutes of this meeting.
Councilmember Kelly believes that one of the most important issues is ownership, and clearing up the
question on what access we even have before we begin formulating ideas and plans.
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Committeemember Perri believes that we have the information we need, it is just a matter of getting it in a
more user friendly format. He mentioned getting an assessment of how the course has been run and
operated.
Councilmember Broden believes that we need to get some of the baseline information and then invite the
experts, and decide as a committee how best to extend that time to deal with the missing information and
the need to drill down on the information that we already have. We also need to decide how we are going
to portion out our work to make sure we are effective, whether it is in smaller meetings or in our large
meetings.
Councilmember White stated that we may have to look into sub committees, which can gather some of
this information then report back out to the larger group.
Amy stated that the most important thing to be done right now is to get more information so we know
what can be done. The public has some good ideas about what could be done, so if we can figure out
ways that the public can engage, she would like them to be considered.
Councilmember White stated that the public can email any member of the commission or the Office of
the City Clerk with questions and suggestions.
We have to have a clear understanding of expenditures, operating and capital, and that we must be ready
for the golf season as well.
Councilmember Broden stated that it is very important that public input is a priority. She believes that the
public must be involved as much as possible. In the next couple of days we will talk among ourselves
and invite the public to look at the organization and come up with a good structure or format that we can
put in place. We need to be able to march this forward with public input and expertise from golfers,
management, lease experts, and environmental experts. It is possible that one (1) to two (2) years would
be a reasonable timeframe.
Councilmember White stated that it is critical that we find a structure that will allow public input from the
public and the experts.
Councilmember White adjourned the meeting at 8:21 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Randy Kelly, Ch irperson, ARC Committee
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