2005-12-13
CITY OF ENCINITAS
ENCINITAS RANCH GOLF AUTHORITY
MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING
Lilac Room, Civic Center
505 South Vulcan Avenue
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005 at 3:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
Chairman Kaiser called the meeting to order at 3: 15 p.m.
DIRECTORS PRESENT: Edward Kaiser, Kerry Miller, Peter Cota-Robles and
Chris Hazeltine, Cindy Jacob joined the meeting at 3:20 p.m. being all
of the directors.
ALSO PRESENT: John McNair, Rod Linville and Kent Graff, JC Resorts; Staff member
Nancy Sullivan, Paul Hartman of City Engineering Dept, and
Board Secretary Pat Drew.
ORAL COMMUNICATION [3 minutes for each speaker. Maximum 15 minutes for
oral communication.]
None.
Chairman Kaiser advised that there was an emergency issue to be added to the agenda concerning
an odor coming from the golf course. Director Cota-Robles will update the Board. It will be
included as ItemlA on the agenda. Approved 4-0-1 (Jacob)
AGENDIZED BUSINESS ITEMS
1. Approve Minutes of Regular Meeting of October 25,2005.
Director Hazeltine moved approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of October
25,2005, seconded by Director Cota-Robles. Approved 3-1-1 (Miller and Jacob).
Director Jacob joined the meeting at 3 :20 p.m.
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lA.
Odor Complaint from Residents.
(Peter Cota-Robles)
Director Cota-Robles said the basic issue was that starting toward the end of the previous
week they started getting a series of odor complaints from residents primarily in the vicinity
of Quail Gardens Drive and Quail Gardens Lane. City staffwere sent out to investigate and
tracked the odor to the pond on the golf course. Liz Ecke of the Ecke Ranch was looking
into the matter as to responsibility etc. Kent Graff said that he had talked to a gentleman by
the name of Fred Clark from the Ranch who had advised he believed that it may be a check
valve in the reservoir that was malfunctioning. They had someone coming out the next day
to repair the valve and he assumes that over time the odor should go away.
Director Miller asked what it was about the check valve that should cause the odor. Paul
Hartman, with the City's stonn water program, advised that on the previous day he had
gone out and surveyed the detention basin and the pond to try to figure out the source ofthe
odor and determined that it was the pond. He has all his field results from the water quality
indicating that the nutrient levels are high in the pond which would be from fertilizers
which could be from the golf course and could be from the Ecke Ranch. It might be from
both. He had not received any of the bacteria results. In talking to Ben Taylor of the City's
Public Works department who was also investigating the odor, he indicated that they
needed to talk to Ecke. They plan to talk to Ecke Ranch later in the day. He will talk to
them about the valve and try to get details on it. He does feel it is just an over abundance of
nutrient levels in the water causing the algae to grow in the bulrush and the algae seems to
be rotting.
Director Cota-Robles said it is a sulfuric odor. He said one of the reasons he wanted to
bring the matter to the Board's attention was that there is a little bit of lack of clarity of who
ultimately is responsible for the maintenance of the pond. Liz Ecke is going to research the
issue, Chris Calkins, who would know the answer to the question, was unfortunately out of
town. They will check with him when he returns. Director Cota-Robles said that if indeed
it does fall within the purview of the golf course, he feels they need to take some immediate
creative action on it to resolve whatever that action might be. The expert, Paul Hartman, is
available to assist. Kent Graff is to meet with the Ecke maintenance service manager and
an expert on the issue.
Chairman Kaiser asked golf course and City staff to keep the issue on a high priority.
2. Review Summary of Revenues and Expenditures/Financial Statement/update on Capital
Reserves for October, 2005. (Rod Linville/John McNair)
Rod Linville reviewed the summary of the October financial report.
Revenues were $291,479 or 89% of a budget of $327,505; Expenditures were $303,584
compared to a budget of $294,721 or 103% of budget; Net income was a loss of$12,l05
compared to a budget of$3l,751 or -38% of budget; Total rounds were 4,150 compared to
a budget of 4,602 or 90% of budget.
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Net income year to date was $552,985 compared to a budget of $583,928 or 95% of budget.
Total rounds were 24,641 compared to a budget of25,46l or 97% of budget.
He advised that part of the explanation for October looking so bad was that he had made
errors in the budget process. In checking last year's numbers he had determined that in
October 2005 they had done 150 more rounds than last year. He said he had budgeted too
many rounds in the month of October but was not sure how he made the error. There is an
additional issue on the water rates that hit them that they were not aware of when they did
the budget.
Kent Graff said that what occurred was that the water rates went from $1.27/unit up to
$1.56/unit which is about a 20% increase. Usage has been consistent historically but
obviously because of the 20% increase in cost it had a direct affect on operating costs. He
said this is the first increase in the past four years. They have an agreement with the San
Dieguito Water District to provide the rate that would be the lowest rate that they sell to
commercial use which is cheaper than agricultural use.
Mr. McNair advised that as of October 31 they have a balance of $5,268.47 in the Capital
Reserve account. They spent $60,916.92 during the month of which $26,129 was for ih
hole improvement, $27,475 in cart path improvements and $6,705 for #6 and #7 tees. He
said they plan to hold off until February or March for any additional improvements so as to
build up the reserve.
In the Club House Expansion the capital reserve account has $381,996 in it. The Long
Term Capital Reserve account has a balance of$65,303, 13.
3.
Green Fee Rates
(Rod Linville)
Mr. Linville said he had been approached by the Board of the Ladies Golf Club. They said
that their membership had dropped over the past couple of years and they believe it is due to
the green fee rates going up. Their members can't afford to pay the higher rates. In addition
to their membership falling off, their Tuesday play numbers have dropped as well. He said
that where they used to get 30-40 ladies now they are only getting 12-20. The Club has
approached him and asked if he would ask the Board for a discounted rate for Ladies Club
day on Tuesdays. He explained to them that if he takes it to the ERGA Board and the
Board considers it, he would have an uproar from the Men's Club who play on Wednesday
if a discount is not also given to them. The Men's Club has been steady with about 50-60
players every Wednesday.
Mr. McNair said that his recommendation would be to offer a free round every 20 played
rounds. That way it also would build loyalty.
Chairman Kaiser suggested that maybe the direction the Board ought to take is for Rod
Linville to talk to the Ladies Club and ask them if, for right now, they would like some
assistance in trying to get better organized, and that the Board might think in terms of
finding a way to adjust as we get closer to Carlsbad's opening. Mr. Linville said he would
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go back to their board and tell them that he would like to help them market the Ladies Club
and to get it better organized.
4.
Report on Course Enhancements
(Kent Graff)
Kent Graff advised that in the spring they will look at more areas that they can improve
upon. He said that the one thing he wanted to bring up was that San Dieguito Water District
has asked to put up a security camera on the driving range over their reservoir. The two
things they have requested would be a camera that would be attached to one of the driving
range poles that would project down over the reservoir so that they would be able to
monitor it. The second thing is that they need to put a repeater to get the communication to
provide the links for the camera. This would require putting a repeater on the driving range
pole close to the clubhouse. He said it would really have no visible effect. The repeater is
about eighteen inches long but will require some trenching. One of the things he is trying to
negotiate with the Water District is possibly using the golf course's power (about one light
bulb's worth) and in turn getting some additional work for the golf course such as trenching.
5.
Update on Status of Clubhouse Improvements,
(John McNair)
Kent Graff said they had run into a little stalemate with the engineering process. However,
he has now received the plan for the engineering of the building which has held up
everything, Joe Ramos will now be able to implement the engineering into his plans which
he will then submit to the Building Department and move forward with the plan check.
6.
Update on Cell Tower Discussions.
(John McNair)
Mr. McNair said that he is still moving forward with WCP (Wireless Capital Partners) and
the General Counsel's office, to get the first part of the agreement ready on the legal side.
He said he can't sell the lease until the cell tower is operable.
Mr. McNair advised that he is talking to another cell tower group. Cricket would like to
have the golf course location. He told him that if Cricket could find a way to work with
Sprint or Nextel they could consider it. Or, if they could get enough reception from
equipment inside the first flag pole of the driving range, they could put their equipment
center right behind and have them build a new, larger range ball area, The only difference
that a golfer would ever see was that the range ball machine area would be slightly bigger.
Mr. McNair asked the Board if they were agreeable to this concept. The Board agreed that
they felt the concept would work.
Mr. McNair said that a couple of years ago there had been a suggestion to put the golf
course logo on the water tower. He thought this would be a good idea and wanted to re-
introduce the idea to the Board. No action was taken.
7.
Incidents and Accidents.
(Rod Linville)
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Mr. Linville said they had had another vehicle stolen out of the parking lot - another SUV.
The Sheriffs were called and took a repOli. In addition, someone attempted to break into
his own car. The lock was pulled out but they couldn't get in. They also had an unusual
accident happen where a window was broken out by a club head that flew off the range
backwards, bounced on the concrete and then flew into the vehicle's window. He discussed
putting in a video camera for security of the parking lot. He will look into the cost of a
system,
8. Directors and/or Manager Reports
[For reported topics not described on this agenda, State law prohibits Board
discussion, responses, and action. A Boardmember may ask questions, but only to
clarify what the speaker is reporting.]
No reports.
9. Next Meeting - Tuesday, January 24,2006 at 4:00 p.m.
10. Adjournment
Chairman Kaiser adjoumed the meeting at 4:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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Patricia Drew, Board Secretary
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Edward 0, Kaiser, Chairman of the Board
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