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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-21-16 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 March 21 2016, 6:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Jo M. Broden, Karen White, Aaron Perri, Dan Farrell Committee Members Absent: Randy Kelly Other Council Present: John Voorde Others Present: Joseph Molnar (City Clerk's Office), TJ Mannen (Director of Golf Operations) Councilmember Karen White called the Special Advisory Committee for Elbel to order. She thanked everyone for coming and stated her belief that they are moving in a positive direction. There were copies of the minutes from the two (2) previous meetings available for public inspection. Committee Member Dan Farrell gave an overview of the March 7th, 2014 Elbel Committee meeting. Councilmember White thanked Mr. Farrell for his recap and asked for a motion to approve the minutes from both the February 29th meeting and the March 7th meeting. So moved by Councilmember Broden and seconded by Committee Member Aaron Perri. The motion carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. Councilmember White thanked the City Clerk's office for doing such a fine job developing comprehensive minutes and getting those minutes on the website and easily available to the public. TJ Mannen gave an update on the Elbel Golf Course. A lot of openings have been posted for cashiers, maintenance workers, and concession workers at all three (3) golf courses. Some of those positions have already been filled, five (5) at Elbel. Two (2) of the courses opened on March 8th. The overall feeling from the patrons was positive and everyone is excited the City will be operating Elbel for 2016. The winter damage was not as severe as in past years and Erskine is in very good shape, a lot of people were amazed how well the greens were. For Elbel, almost all of the greens are very close to being back at a high level. The #15 green is closed currently though because we don't want more damage to occur before we get to fix it, there is a temporary green right in front of it set up for now. The plan is to work on it in the following weeks and it should be very close to done. We are around $100,000 for season pass sales so far and a lot of that good early turnout has been the hard work of everyone really just getting the word out. Aaron Perri noted the Park Board did set the season rates back to the 2015 levels. This probably isn't the year to look at any major pricing strategy changes before we can get some serious studies done. The rates were changed back to 2015 levels, which were approved about an hour ago, and should help in making sure we do not have declining revenue this year. TJ Mannen stated they just came out with an all new website for the golf course system as a whole including Elbel which will allow the department to keep people updated on the state of the greens going forward. Councilmember Broden asked about the state of concessions at Elbel TJ Mannen responded Elbel just received a five (5) star rating from the Health Department for the third consecutive year for concessions. The Health Department is coming to Erskine on Wednesday and the concessions are already open at Elbel. It has been a busy week getting everything up and running but there is interest in doing another nightly event like the one at Erskine but this time doing it at Elbel. There has been nothing set yet but they are also looking at some non -golf events in the future as well. Elbel for Everyone presented a presentation on current and potential complimentary uses for Elbel Park. Chris Cobb, 215 E. Pokagon St. South Bend, thanked the Committee for allowing Elbel for Everyone to give this presentation. This group is making this presentation because the complimentary uses for Elbel Park are what make Elbel attractive to everyone. It is the goal of Elbel for Everyone for all citizens of South Bend to go to Elbel and appreciate the natural beauty of the park. Complementary uses need to fit with golf as the existing priority of the park and that should be the primary use going forward. Complementary uses should also be activities that are ecologically fitting to keep Elbel the crown jewel of the park system for as far into the future as we can see. Complementary uses must take advantage of time, space, organizers, and cost. Finding times of the day and times during the year where the course is not being used for golf is important. Uses must be friendly to the current makeup of the course and the City should look into adding alternate points of access so as not to disturb the golfers. These events would be volunteer driven and organized with a revenue result as neutral or profitable. These are events we could start doing right now this season and this year without additional revenue needed. Those bigger projects of course should be analyzed and looked into as well and be pursued especially with respect towards education for the City. There are already many current complementary activities taking place at Elbel. These include residents meeting on Sundays for birding, local high school athletics (golf and cross country competitions), sledding & cross country skiing, and wildlife photography. OA 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. An ecological study of Elbel is needed and we have already heard a great presentation on the natural and ecological wonders of Elbel. This study would help us find out which practices can and cannot be done at Elbel. This could be done by the Park Department Staff already working for the City and volunteers as well. This is required to happen over the growing season which is the next six (6) to eight (8) months. The final piece is to establish a natural resource management plan for Elbel Park and then in the future for the other major parks as well. This would be built by experts but also by the local community who would be very involved with this. It would guide both the physical care and sustainability of the parks, if any department in the City should be looking at sustainable practices it should be the Parks Department. Mr. Perri stated he would like to see the department be a leader in the community regarding sustainability. This ecological study would include what are our plant and tree quotas, invasive species management, landscaping management, sustainable resource utilization such as rain gardens or green roofs, and monitoring of ongoing projects. This will be a long year to year and a half process. A fifth project going forward, after hearing that presentation by Elbel for Everyone, would be to establish some type of permanent vehicle for the residents to participate in the Parks Department because this process has surely shown there is a need. The public was given an opportunity to comment on both the presentations heard earlier. Evelyn Emery, Crumstown Highway, stated she loved the presentation but was concerned about the lack of the old park ethic. Parks should be a place for peace and quiet for people to relax and get away from the world for a while. Parks are part of the services of the City, not a business. Please look into placing paved paths in the parks so seniors can walk as well. She asked that some type of bill be put forward so that the parks are only used for park land and not being taken by the City to put in other buildings like that fire house. South Bend needs to follow Mishawaka more and how they are beautifying their parks. We need a landscape architect to beautify our city. Casey Zoen, 1265 Chapel Gate, thanked the Committee for allowing public input. She is a local bird watcher and a member of South Bend - Elkhart Audobon Society and commended Mr. Perri for the idea of a natural resource management plan and it is correct that we should do an assessment this year and do longer plans next year. On top of the floral quality assessment there is also a lot of biological metrics that can be analyzed as well. Catherine Osborne, 517 River Ave South Bend, also thanked Mr. Perri for his presentation and the long term thinking that is embedded in it. She seconded the comment that the parks should not be thought of in a piecemeal way and hopefully greater appreciation for parks and better funding for parks will come out of this entire Elbel discussion. She supported the proposal to hire both golf and ecological experts because while volunteers can do a lot there are certain things professionals do that are needed that volunteers cannot perform. Jen Betz, 511 S. St. Joseph St., thanked Mr. Perri for his presentation as well as adding the fifth point to get more involvement from the residents in the parks department. This Committee has 4 been doing good work and that work should be expanded past the forty -five (45) day limit. She expressed that while money is tight, money spent on ecological assessments will help the City to get grants and if that data is collected by volunteers it is not seen in the same light as expert gathered data. She also supported that the parks should be a place for peace and quiet which is maybe something that they did not express in their presentation but it is an essential function of the parks. Chris Cobb, 215 E Pokagon St. South Bend, thanked the Parks Department and thanked Mr. Perri for truly listening to the residents and the thoughts they have been bringing forward. He would like to see some answer to the legal ownership of Mud Lake as that will affect how Elbel will be managed from an ecological standpoint. Mr. Cobb stated the Park Board, as far as he knows, is structured based on Indiana law and there are not many changes that can be made with the Board. However, many other cities throughout the country have closer connections between the Park Board and the residents of the City. Some have the members of the Park Board represent specific sections of their cities and other representatives say from the schools or from other community organizations. Just because there is a fixed structure at the top does not mean things cannot be more resident based lower down. Therese Niemier, 3575 W. Bertrand Rd. Niles MI, expressed her gratitude from Elbel for Everyone and from the Parks Department. She spoke in favor of establishing an educational farm at Elbel Park. She provided a letter detailing the idea which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. The establishment of a working educational farm that is integrated into a community space such as Elbel would aid in building the Michiana area as a regional sustainable food hub. She proposed her farm, Bertrand Farm Inc., purchase twenty (20) acres of land at Elbel to begin this idea. Steve Francis, 54174 Judy Lake Dr., stated he is on the state executive board for the Sierra Club as well as the local steering committee. What a world of difference a few weeks makes in the change of tone and the amount of ideas coming from the department and from the community which is putting us on a path going forward for truly positive developments for not just Elbel but the Parks Dept. as a whole. It is great that this conversation is expanding from Elbel to looking at the entire Parks Dept. and how we take care of all our parks. In regards to Elbel, a consultant should always be vetted very carefully. He offered his services in anything he could do regarding the ecological study of the parks and suggested adding some type of place online where residents can submit comments and questions to the Parks Dept. Mathew Insley, 511 S. St. Joseph South Bend, thanked the Committee for their work and expressed the joy of seeing their questions and concerns taken into consideration. Just a few months ago, the City almost lost Elbel and now everyone is talking about what a treasured resource it is for the City. The turning point in that discussion is understanding the park as more than a golf course, even though it is a great golf course, a piece of property like Elbel is a rich and multifaceted park with a number of civic opportunities not just golf. This conversation has brought up the idea that we should fit within the environment and not just dictate our concerns and needs upon the environment. I Jason Banicki Critchlow, 3822 W. Ford St., expressed he was very excited about the golf course consultant and a fresh set of eyes is needed to find where we can increase revenue and decrease expenses. He was disappointed the rates were reversed back to 2015 levels. He stated Elbel is priced a little higher than most of the comparable courses around the area and that is a problem and maybe that is something to look at next year. Jeff Botich, Granger IN, thanked Mr. Perri and the Committee as a whole for all the work they have done. What is important to understand is everyone can use the Park at the same time. There just needs to be rules set in place for people out to watch birds being cognizant of what the golfers are doing and the golfers need to be mindful of the environmentalists and the bird watchers. Everything that Jen and Chris were talking about establishing an area by the old superintendent's house is a great idea, multiple interests can use the course at the same time. Chuck Bueder, 15893 Ashville Ln. Granger IN, complimented the plan set forward by both Elbel for Everyone and from Mr. Perri. He is an advocate of dark skies, half of the park experience, history, and future occurs between sunset and sunrise. He recorded the darkness is roughly 19.16 magnitudes per square arc second at Elbel. It is just a number but it is a number we should keep around that area. Keeping our skies dark helps with sustainability as well as cost, he asked them to consult him before any capital investments in outdoor lighting. The Michiana Astronomical Society actually used to meet at Elbel. Marsha Kizer, Andrea Ct. Mishawaka, had prepared a big statement but was blown away by Mr. Perri's report and just wanted to remind everyone this process has been going on for almost a year and a half and it is so great how far the dialogue has come since then. Mr. Perri has done a super job and the Councilmembers as well. It has become apparent how important this park is to the community. She wanted to point out, at all the meetings she has been to not once did a resident come and speak in opposition to the supporters of Elbel Park. Councilmember White thanked everyone for their comments and for all the work they had done and will continue to do for Elbel. The members of the Committee were given a chance to speak about their thoughts and feedback based on the recommendations and also where they are as an advisory committee. Mr. Farrell asked Mr. Perri if there is a way to speed the consulting time frame up. Mr. Perri stated it seems four (4) to six (6) months is about as quick as we could do that especially when wanting to give the public the chance for input. Councilmember Broden stated that was her biggest question as well. The timing of everything is difficult because we have 2017 Budget discussions beginning very soon and with that as a concern she suggested an RFP process on the ecological study. Whether that could be fast tracked would help because the information gained from there would be very important to the budgetary discussions. Throughout all of this the volunteers do have a tremendous role to play in the future. You can get so much done pulling individuals in but we need the structure as well. Councilmember Karen White asked John Voorde if he would like to add any comments. el Councilmember Voorde stated the Committee has been doing wonderful work as well as all the members of the public who have come out and put their time and effort into it. When this issue came up his response was simply no don't sell the course but it has grown into so much more than that. He stated his appreciation of the surroundings at Elbel and is now getting a sense of what an environmental wonder it really is. He thanked the administration for being so willing to accept the responsibility that we have as stewards of the park system. There are many ways to increase interest in golf and rekindle Elbel going forward. It is one of the few sports that everyone can play and that is why there are so many opportunities that we can take advantage of. Councilmember White stated after this she has decided to try golf. She thanked the Committee for coming together to address a broader issue being the quality of our parks in South Bend. We are not looking at this by a piecemeal strategy but looking at everything comprehensively and strategically looking at the steps we must adhere to looking forward. What was outlined tonight is feasible and needed. She asked Mr. Perri to bring a more formal timeline to the next meeting to see what that would look like. She advised the Committee members to email any more recommendations they would have to Mr. Perri. As the budget process is going to start very soon we need to be realistic for what 2017 will look like from a financial standpoint. We need to look at what the Park Bond is going to cover and where the gaps are as well. Mr. Perri stated they will look into the legal ownership of Mud Lake at the next meeting because as the public comments mentioned that is an important piece of this puzzle. Councilmember White suggested let's have a dedicated part of the next agenda on how the residents and public can communicate with the Parks Dept. Councilmember Broden announced the next meeting will take place on Wednesday April 131" at 6:00 p.m. It will focus on many of these legal questions and ordinance clarification on what the recommendations of this Committee are. The Committee discussed other possible items for the last agenda including what types of recommendations the Committee can make. Mr. Perri cautioned against this Committee getting mission creep because it was established for Elbel, but he expressed support for sub - committees made up of residents that provide a proper way for residents to communicate with the Park Board and Park Dept. Public input has been the main catalyst of our progress so far and it is important to keep that momentum. Councilmember White thanked everyone for coming and she looks forward to seeing everyone on April 13th. With no further business before the Committee, Councilmember White adjourned the meeting at 7:34 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Kelly, hairperso , PARC Committee 7