1965-11-23 Special CC Minutes466
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALAMEDA
HELD TUESDAY EVENING NOVEMBER 23, 1965
The meeting convened at 7:30 o'clock p.m. with President Godfrey presiding.
ROLL CALL:
The roll was called and Councilmen Bartley, La Croix, Jr., McCall, Rose and President Godfrey,
(5), were noted present. Absent: None.
Also in attendance were Messrs. Hay, Chairman, and Heaney and Peterson, of the Advisory Golf Commis-
sion. President Godfrey stated that Mr. Favier was absent due to a previous commitment and Mr. Veres
was ill.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1Y Receipt of the Notice and Agenda of this special meeting of the City Council had been acknowledged
by each of the Councilmen and was on file. The purpose of said meeting was to consider and discuss
the Report on the Alameda Golf Courses prepared by Mr. Richard E. Watson, Assistant City Manager, under
date of November 10, 1965, and to take action on the matter if so desired.
President Godfrey read a portion of Ordinance No. 1138, New Series, which sets forth the powers and
duties of the Advisory Golf Commission. He also pointed up the fact that the discussion at this meet-
ing would be primarily to ascertain the exact trouble with the Golf Courses and just what steps to
take to remedy the problems and provide proper operating conditions - and not to go into the history
of the situation or the managerial aspects of the matter.
Upon invitation of the President, Mr. Watson commented that his report was the result of the City
Manager's request of several months ago to review the manpower situation at the Golf Courses which had
stemmed from budget discussions at which the Golf Course Manager had requested additional help. He
said he had carefully reviewed conditions in order to determine whether or not extra manpower was
needed and, as noted in his report, he had concluded that more manpower was indeed necessary for pro-
per maintenance of the two Courses. Further, he had taken into account other operations such as
"Revenue ", particularly with regard to the Monthly Pass Ticket as recently requested. Also, the
present rates were reviewed and related to the rates charged at other Golf Courses in the area and
it had been concluded that Alameda could raise its rates and still be in line with competitive Courses.
Then, too, the condition of the Courses had been inspected and it had been found that said condition
had deteriorated to the point where ordinary day to day maintenance could not bring the Course back
to an adequate state. He believed the City should definitely obtain competent advice from a con-
sultant and architect and a group of people trained in soils analysis, metallurgy, etcetera - to inform
the Council precisely what was wrong and the best approach to take in order to correct whatever faults
prevailed. He mentioned several other items which had been included in his report for consideration
in the long -range program of future improvements and reorganization.
City Manager Weller was called upon and remarked that he concurred, generally, with Mr. Watson's
report. He felt it was necessary, also, to emphasize the fact that the foundation for most of the
existing problems originated with the construction of the New Course" some years ago. He pointed
out that the recommendations for the future were secondary to the immediate problem of substantial
renovation and reconstruction - particularly on the New Course. This, he thought, would have the
effect of providing more maintenance- manpower for the Old Course. He agreed there certainly should
be competent professional advisors called in to ascertain the drainage and soil conditions, etcetera,
and then, after the analyses were completed, to recommend the proper methods to overcome the problems.
Each of the Councilmen then expressed his views on the subject and his agreement in general with the
report and voiced the opinion that the important step at this time was to take action to find the
cause of the trouble by professional study and, upon competent recommendation, to follow the method
best suited to completely correct the problems.
President Godfrey then called upon the members of the Advisory Golf Commission for their thoughts on
the subject. Mr. Hay, Chairman, commented that at the Commission's last meeting, after having studied
Mr. Watson's report, all of the members were definitely in favor of encouraging the recommendation
for the employment of an architect or soil consultant to survey the two Courses and to proceed with
whatever steps were necessary to restore these Courses to good condition. He referred to the minutes
of a Commission meeting held in May, 1964, at which time there had been discussion about what could
be done to improve the Fairways on the Courses. There had been several methods suggested - all of
which would have been more or less experimental and quite expensive. Mr. Hay said they believed now
that under the deteriorated conditions prevailing, the City was not in position to try out many new
ideas but should act to engage expert consultants on this project.
Mr. Heaney concurred, pointing up that everyone knew there was a major project to be undertaken on
the Golf Courses. He felt that when professional advice had been procured and an estimated cost
obtained, then the City could establish a program to finance the necessary work to improve the Golf
Courses.
Mr. Peterson stated the Commission realized there was indeed a serious problem involved and agreed
the hiring of an expert was the only solution. He stressed that he felt this should be done as soon
as possible.
It was developed that a Golf Course Architect was the one man first needed.
Councilman Rose suggested the Golf Commission be directed to call for and screen applications for the
required professional consultant and recommend to the City Council one, two or three names of such
applicants for its choice, as the first step in this project. Further, when the recommendations of .
whoever may be employed shall have been received - and if one proved to be acceptable to the City
Council, then the City should be prepared to advance from its Capital Outlays Fund a reasonable sum
which he thought would be approximately $200 to $250 thousand dollars. Councilman Rose further sug-
gested that, after the improvements were made, for whatever amount was felt to be satisfactory by
the Council - the sum mentioned should not be in the nature of a direct advance but rather, a loan to
be repaid to the City by a twenty -five cents additional fee on every round of play. He said that
since the two Courses have been open, they have averaged 180,000 rounds of golf per year which meant
that each year there could be returned $45,000 by this extra twenty -five cents fee. Councilman Rose
pointed out, therefore, the total sum could be recovered by the City within the period of five to six
years, without interest. If it were the desire of the Council to charge interest, another year or
year and one -half would be required to repay said amount to the City.
It was developed that this twenty -five cents increase would not be justified until after completion
of the improvements. The rate comparison was between the Golf Courses at Chabot, Tilden and Alameda,
as contained in the report.
Upon inquiry, Mr. Hay replied that he was sure the Golf Commission would be able to undertake the
responsibility of lining up several prospective Golf Course Architects for the Council's ultimate
choice. It was clarified that after the proposed Architect had been retained and his survey had been
made, then his eventual recommendations would be reviewed by the City Council. The President said
he understood that it was the unanimous consensus of all that some kind of expert be chosen by the
City Council from the applicants submitted by the Advisory Golf Commission - and asked the pleasure
of the Council.
Councilman Rose moved the Advisory Golf Commission be directed to interview, screen and recommend to
the City Council a list of several competent Golf Course Architects and /or Consultants for considera-
tion and decision by the Council as the first step in this project. The motion was seconded by Coun-
cilman McCall and on roll call carried by the following vote. Ayes: Five. Noes: None. Absent:
None.
The City Clerk was instructed to write to the Advisory Golf Commission quoting the motion as it had
been made and carried.
ADJOURNMENT:
2. There being no further business to come before
ing, the Council adjourned.
Respectfully submitted
Clerk
467