02-29-16 Special Elbel Committee Minutes

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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 7