1972-02-29 Special CC Minutes365
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL AND THE RECREATION COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF ALAMEDA HELD TUESDAY - - - FEBRUARY 29, 1972
The meeting convened at 7:30 o'clock p.m. with President La Croix presiding.
ROLL CALL:
The roll was called and Councilmen Fore, Levy, Longaker, McCall and President La Croix, Jr., (5),
were noted present. Absent: None.
On roll call by the Clerk, members of the Recreation Commission were noted present as follows:
Commissioners Blanchard, Heaney, O'Maley, Steele, Tebaldi, Towata and Chairman Kranelly, (7). Absent:
None.
Also in attendance were Messrs. H. D. Weller, City Manager; F. M. Cunningham, City Attorney; and D. Grant
Mainland, Director of Recreation and Parks.
Receipt of the Notice and Agenda of this Special Meeting had been acknowledged and was on file with
the Clerk. The purpose of the session was for consideration by the Council and the Commission of recom-
mendations which had been submitted on the Golf Course operations.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1. President La Croix announced this was not a public hearing. After the Council and the Commission had
deliberated on the subject under discussion a recess would be declared and an opportunity would be provided
to members of the audience to submit questions on cards to be furnished. In this way, it was hoped anyone
so desiring would have the opportunity to submit questions germane to the issue under consideration.
President La Croix then read a prepared statement that the joint meeting had been called for discussion of
the Commission's letter to the Council dated February 14, 1972, with regard to the future direction of the
Municipal Golf Courses. He stated the Commission had been studying the problems of the Courses for well
over a year and had submitted a number of alternative approaches. Of the options presented the Commission
felt, and he said he felt the Council agreed, that only two appeared to justify further joint consideration.
These were (1) retention of an architect to develop a plan for complete remodeling of the South Course,
with financing of the project in some way by the City; (2) leasing of the entire Golf Course complex to a
private firm under conditions which would assure reconstruction of the South Course and retention of sub-
stantial policy control by the City over the operations. He urged that discussion be confined to the
issues set forth and the attempt be made to avoid repetition and comment on matters not pertinent to the
issue.
The President said, as he saw it, the basic and only issue confronting the Council and the Commission was
a method by which the South Course could best be reconstructed, for which it seemed quite clear that capital
costs in the vicinity of $700,000 would be required and the choice was simply between the use of City funds
or funds to be provided by a private lessee. He said the conditions which had brought the City to this
point and any degree to which the Golf operations were self- supporting were not pertinent to the making of
this choice; whether or not changes in organization, fees or concessions might be expected to improve the
relationship between revenue and cost, the need for a major capital expenditure remained and that was the
issue to be concerned with this evening. President La Croix requested, therefore, that the temptation be
resisted to go over old grounds and debate other aspects of the Golf subject which had nothing to do with
the particular decision under consideration. He said he had made his statements in the hope that the work
session would be fruitful in deliberating the issues before the Council and the Commission at this time.
President La Croix then invited Chairman Kranelly to comment. Chairman Kranelly stated the Commission,
after receiving direction from the Council to conduct a study of the Golf Course operation, had appointed
a committee of members of its group to study the matter and its report had been unanimously approved and
adopted at the last meeting of the Commission and forwarded to the Council. He summed up his remarks with
the thinking that the matter came down to two points. If the City was to continue to operate the Golf
Courses as a recreation facility, with which proposal the Commission would be heartily in accord, there
would have to be recognition of the fact that the Courses should be brought up to the best possible condition
and be made the best possible facility and then be operated in the best possible way with respect to bring-
ing in the maximum amount of income and hoping to come as close as possible to equaling expenditures although
it would have to be recognized that it was a recreation facility and therefore would have to be subsidized
by the City. If this were not to be the case, he said, and if the Courses had to be operated at a profit
the only thing to do would be to put the operation in the hands of a private concessionaire or lessee.
The Commission felt this was the only way the operation could be guaranteed to earn a profit for the City.
President La Croix thanked Chairman Kranelly for his remarks and called for discussion, first, on retention
of an architect to develop a plan for remodeling of the South Course with financing of the project in some
way by the City.
At the suggestion of Councilman McCall that the Council receive a report on the Committee's study, Chairman
Kranelly stated the members of the committee studying the matter had been Commissioners O'Maley, Steele
and Tebaldi, Chairman. Commissioner Tebaldi, upon request, explained that the Recreation Department staff
had contacted approximately fourteen architects and members of the staff, Mr. Garcia of the Golf Course
staff and Mr. Cummings, the Golf Professional, had conducted the interview of these people, which had boiled
down the list to three architects. The committee had then met with the three finalists and the selection
late in January, after numerous meetings, had been Mr. Robert Dean Putman on the basis of his background,
capability in his own field and in others, knowledgeability and experience. Commissioner Tebaldi said
Mr. Putman was involved at the present time with two golf courses in Spain and had recently laid out and
developed the Rancho Canada courses in the Carmel valley.
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Councilman Fore inquired how Beachcomber Golf had been selected as a possible lessee, expressing the
thinking that submitting the proposal to bid would undoubtedly bring several offers. Commissioner
Tebaldi said the firm had not been solicited, that the committee had not been seeking someone to lease
the Golf Course properties or run the concession as a whole at the time Beachcomber Golf had approached
the City. He said he was not aware of anyone else who might have approached the City in this respect.
Upon inquiry, Mr. Mainland stated he had had no contact with other parties interested in conducting
the Courses in a lease arrangement, that Beachcomber Golf, inasmuch as it had taken over Tilden Golf
Course and apparently intended to continue this type of operation on various courses in the East Bay
area, had approached the Recreation Department as it was aware of the study in progress. With regard
to a further question by Councilman Fore as to its ability to perform financially in its proposal,
Mr. Mainland said he had not investigated the proposal to this extent.
Upon inquiry by Councilman McCall as to whether there were other firms in this type of business in the
State or in the nation operating on a lease basis with options as recommended by the Commission, Mr.
Mainland said he felt sure there were other firms as leasing was not a unique situation as far as golf
was concerned.
City Manager Weller stated he felt the assumption in naming the Beachcomber Golf organization was that
it had been the only one in the immediate area which had actually demonstrated the capacity to perform.
He said he felt there would be no objection, if this should be the direction of interest, to calling for
bids or inviting evidence of interest from others, commenting that Beachcomber Golf had two or three
similar operations in Southern California plus the one at Tilden Park and, so far as he knew, they had
been satisfactory and successful but he felt it should not be indicated that there was any feeling on
the part of the Commission or the staff that the City was dealing with only one prospective interested
party.
Chairman Kranelly explained that the unsolicited Beachcomber proposal had been forwarded to the Council
with the knowledge that its operation had a proven record and it was intended only to show the Commission
and the Council what was possible. He said it was fully realized if the Council should consider the
matter of leasing the facility the proposal would have to be put up for bid to give other organizations
the opportunity to quote.
President La Croix said he felt very strongly that if consideration were to be given to hiring an archi-
tect and developing a plan for complete remodeling of the South Course to be financed by the City, the
taxpaying public of the City should not be assessed to accomplish this, that the vast majority of the
users of the Courses came from outside the City and were not taxpayers in Alameda. He suggested that
in considering the possible remodeling of the South Course, only one plan would be open to the City and
that would be selling off of land under jurisdiction of the Recreation Commission for financing the
project. He called for discussion on Item No. 1, with regard to hiring an architect to draft plans for
remodeling of the South Course.
Councilman McCall said it was known something would have to be done, there had been discussions by the
Commission, the staff and the general public, and the only way to determine the cost factors would be
to hire an architect and if he was wrong in his understanding that the Commission had in mind proceeding
in this direction as quickly as possible he would like to be so informed. Chairman Kranelly said he
would be very happy if the City could develop the Course as desired by the Commission and keep it as a
recreation facility; doing this would presuppose the matter of the capital expenditure and whether the
facility would support itself. He said he felt these were matters to be settled. If this should be
the decision the architect would be retained, he would develop a preliminary plan and then come up with
final plans and specifications at a cost of approximately $12,000 to that point; the architect would
want $3,500 for a retainer, $4,000 for a plan fee and an additional $5,500 for final plans and specifi-
cations. At that point the City would be informed on the cost factor, and it would have a complete plan
for remodeling the South Course, including correction of the soil condition, drainage problems, et
cetera.
Councilman McCall inquired as to whether, if Mr. Putman were to be hired, he would anticipate a regula-
tion eighteen -hole course or, as an alternate, consider it as an executive course and submit alternate
proposals, and whether a rate increase of fifty cents would take care of the overall cost of the architect
and any other contingency.
Chairman Kranelly stated the Commission had explored these avenues and submitted its recommendations
and these matters would be for Council decision. He said it had been indicated in preliminary discussion
with the architect that the Golf Course would be on a reduced area; this would force putting it into
less acreage and the Course would certainly be a shorter, more compact, and very likely an executive
course as close as possible to a championship course and if not possible, it would definitely be an
executive course to fit into the area available, encompassing the course, a new driving range, and other
features.
Upon request by Councilman McCall for an expression of where funds would be obtained to accomplish the
project, Mr. Weller reported he felt there were four alternatives, one of which could be disposed of
rather rapidly - the possibility of a revenue bond issue which he felt could not conceivably receive the
majority vote of the people of the community. Second, on the basis of past records, he felt there was
no way the purchasers of the bonds would have any assurance they would ever be paid off by Golf Course
revenue as the record had been quite the contrary, so he felt the possibility of a revenue bond issue
was too remote to be considered. A general obligation issue, which was the type passed by the City in
1955, he also felt would not get the necessary two - thirds majority and again it would be extremely
difficult to finance as it would become a direct burden on the taxpayer. Another possibility, to which
Councilman McCall had alluded, was that of increasing green fees and he said he felt this was a self -
defeating principle as increasing the fees sufficiently to retire this kind of bond issue would cause
the volume of play to drop to the point where there would be no more money available for the purpose.
He said it seemed to him that the avenue of bond financing was pretty well out of the question as it had
no practical application in this kind of situation.
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Mr. Weller said the most obvious possibility would be to draw from the City's Capital Outlay Fund as done
in the case of the North Course project and this could be done, although it would have to be done on the
basis of the Council's judgment as to priorities of the capital needs of the community and with the clear
understanding that the money, in all probability, would never be paid back. In other words, it would
simply represent a contribution to a particular kind of public facility and this could be done. The other
possibility, and the one recommended by the Commission, was the sale of City -owned properties on Bay Farm
Island, either a portion of the present South Course or the acreage just off County Road and Golf Course
Drive, or both, with a part or all of the proceeds being used to finance reconstruction of the Course.
He said he felt the economics were such that this could probably be done. Here again was the question of
equity which the Council would have to determine as a policy judgment as a community asset would be sold
and the proceeds would be utilized for a particular and specific purpose which would not necessarily run
to the benefit of everyone in the community. He said he thought this would be the most promising way of
financing the project if the South Course reconstruction were to be financed from City funds.
Commissioner Steele said he had made a study of recreation properties in the City, of which there were 347
acres, and 133 acres of beach and regional properties, including the Golf Courses, so there was not actually
too much land in City possession. He questioned sale of the land, whether the City would lose or gain in
the future by such sale, and whether anything would be accomplished.
Mr. Weller said his personal view was that the value of open space would depend to a considerable extent
on its location and his guess would be, irrespective of the avanue followed, that a portion of the present
Golf Course would become surplus in any case simply because the present Course was too loose and a bad
course in the sense of its physical layout, and the surplus land available was not adaptable to general
public recreational purposes. He said in terms of the agreement with Utah and assuming the development
would take place, the City would be able to acquire approximately ninety acres, depending upon the actual
configuration of the development, which in the judgment of the School District, Recreation Department and
the City staff would be adequate to provide for the open space and public recreation requirements on Bay
Farm Island. This was over and above the land under discussion so he felt the easy and proper answer to
the question was that the City would not be selling land which it would subsequently want to buy back,
that the land in question was really surplus in terms of its location and its other potential public
utility, and it would be a mistake to rebuild the Course on the same acreage simply because it would
enhance and increase the maintenance problem, the length of the irrigation system and it would do nothing
to improve the playability of the Golf Course. He said the determination of the acreage required and its
location, which would be determined by an architect, would be based on the judgment of what would be neces-
sary to come up with a good sound golf course, not on the basis of where the highest value of land was
which the City could peddle as surplus. He said whether the amount would be thirty, forty or ten acres,
he did not think the City would be stripping itself of an asset which it would subsequently regret having
lost.
In reply to a question by Councilman Longaker, Mr. Weller said consideration had been given to using some
of the land in question at some time in the future for barter or trade -off for upland park area as place
utility played a large part in the location of any public area, public parks particularly, and the City
would undoubtedly be better off if such an exchange should be made.
Commissioner Steele said he had studied the General Plan which recommended one acre of land for recreation
for every 700 people. He pointed out that this could represent 700 acres for recreation in the future.
President La Croix expressed the personal thinking that this was something the City of Alameda would not
be able to reach, that this was a maximum figure. He pointed out a number of recreational facilities
which had been provided in the City over the years on short acreage.
Mr. Weller said he would like to return to the point of the location, accessibility and utility of the
land, stating if the desire were to satisfy the ideal conditions prescribed in the General Plan, which he
said parenthetically were almost arbitrary in consideration of standards of library facilities or school
facilities, the same kind of massive deficiencies would be encountered as no community could meet standards
established by people in a particular field. He suggested that taking the whole 700 acres of Bay Farm
Island the City could wind up with a park of this size but it would have no utility nor would it respond
to the needs of the community. The area must be put where the people are and where the people will use it
and merely saying that the City needs 700 acres for recreation had no meaning. He expressed the opinion
that in terms of the particular situation under discussion, selling or releasing the area would not have
the place utility required to bring up the standards mentioned.
President La Croix suggested that Item No. 1 had been quite thoroughly discussed and it would be proper
to request that the staff through the City Manager submit to the Council at the earliest possible date a
report and recommendations as to the possibility and feasibility of moving in this direction to correct
the undesirable conditions on the Golf Course, hiring an architect to prepare plans and acquiring the
necessary funds. This was agreeable to other members of the Council and the City Manager was requested to
proceed accordingly.
President La Croix then brought up for discussion Item No. 2, leasing the entire Golf Course complex to a
private firm, on which a twelve -point summary dated February 9, 1972, had been submitted to the Councilmen
for information. He requested clarification of Item No. 6 - "Absorption of personnel not otherwise placed."
Mr. Mainland stated this matter had not been discussed at any depth but Beachcomber Golf were interested
in personnel who were familiar with the golf operation and the Course itself; presumably some employees
would be placed in other Departments of the City and if there were any who were not so placed Beachcomber
would offer employment to these people at the Golf Course operation.
President La Croix commented that there were several Golf Course employees in the audience and he pointed
out that the employment and consideration of these people was paramount in the thinking of the Council.
In explanation, Mr. Mainland, who had conducted discussions with Beachcomber Golf after the preliminary
meeting with the committee, stated he felt the proposal was pretty well spelled out in the summary of twelve
points which was, hopefully, a broad look at what could be expected if a lessee should take over the opera-
tion of the Golf Course setup, although there would obviously be many points in the actual lease which
were not covered in the summary.
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President La Croix enumerated the points of the summary with brief discussion.
Councilman McCall inquired if absorbing by the lessee of personnel not otherwise placed would provide
to the employees the same status now enjoyed with regard to salary, wages and fringe benefits, express-
ing the thinking that the statement was wide open and did not mean what it said.
President La Croix said this was a fair question but the discussion had not reached a point where these
matters had been firmed up.
With regard to Item No. 9 regarding development of a neighborhood park, Mr. Mainland said the proposal
had suggested the lessees might be willing to take unused portions of the Golf Course for this purpose.
He said he had suggested the location might not be suitable for a neighborhood park and Beachcomber
had indicated they would do the same thing with another location, not on the Golf Course.
Councilman Longaker raised the question of reduced costs for senior citizens. Mr. Mainland said there
had as yet been no spelling out of any such points.
Councilman Longaker said it was obviously a very attractive thought to go from "instant debt" to "instant
profit" without the proposal of selling any land or raising taxes or the City putting out any additional
funds. He said he felt the Council would have to take a good look at any possible contracts and any
other groups which might be interested in bidding on this kind of setup would have to be taken into
consideration.
President La Croix suggested that this matter be referred to the staff through the City Manager for
possible meetings with the Beachcomber Golf people with notice to the public that any parties interested
in this phase of the golf program who might wish to contact the City of Alameda with regard to a possible
lease arrangement should be afforded the opportunity to do so, as this was only proper, with the request
that the Council receive a report and recommendation at the earliest possible date as to the direction
it might take in this respect. He said he would want to see, first of all, with all due consideration
of a proposed lese the retention of existing pesonnel and an explanation of what could be done in
providing similar positions for these people in City government. He said he felt this was a paramount
consideration.
It was stated there were twenty -four full -time employees at the Golf Course at the present time.
Councilman Levy said he felt consideration should be given to the services to be offered by the proposed
lessee and cost of play compared to the present rates.
Councilman McCall said he realized this was a business deal but he felt if private enterprise could make
a go of this business the City could do the same thing by good management and the City was now up against
the wall for production to get the best possible from everyone on the Golf Course, in City Hall and
everyone concerned. He suggested the various facilities at the Courses might be leased separately for
a full operation with greater stature, and this would bring higher return to the City. He said he felt
the members of the Recreation Commission were seriously interested in the Golf Courses and in the City
of Alameda and they would find the way. He expressed the opinion that the Beachcomber proposal should
be considered only as a last resort, saying he did not want to see the Golf Course operation get away
from the City.
President La Croix commented that he knew of very few cities which had tried as hard as the City of
Alameda to make its Golf Courses break even and it had not proven over the many years of operation that
it was possible to come close to breaking even. For this reason he said he felt it was necessary to take
a good long look at the lease proposal, and if agreeable to the Council he would ask the City Manager,
working with the City Attorney and the staff, primarily Mr. Mainland, to discuss the possibility of
lease with the Beachcomber people and with any other interested parties who might have the ability to
perform in this area, and to report back to the Council at the earliest possible date its findings and
recommendations.
Mr. Weller said he did not know whether Beachcomber Golf or any other private lessee could make a go of
the Golf operation or not but he suggested there were some substantial differences between public and
private operations. He explained some advantages a private company would have as compared to the
City's position in this respect.
At this time, the President declared a ten - minute recess during which anyone in the audience who so
desired could submit written questions on the subject under discussion.
Upon reconvening, questions with regard to various aspects of the Golf Course problem, the proposals
under discussion, and the personnel involved were answered by members of the Council, the Commission and
the staff.
President La Croix thanked those in attendance for their interest and questions and assured those present
of the interest and concern of the Council and the Commission. He invited Chairman Kranelly to make a
statement.
Chairman Kranelly said inasmuch as the Commission did not often have the opportunity to meet with the
Council he would like to express a few thoughts. He said he hoped the study by staff of the matter
under discussion and submittal of recommendations would be done as expeditiously as possible and that
the matter of financing the project, if the decision should be to retain the Golf Courses as a recreation
facility, would be approached with an open mind, particularly with respect to the point made by Council-
man Fore that he would not consider the sale of any City -owned land. He recalled that this had been
one of the points of the previous Golf Course study submitted by the Director of Recreation and Parks
and it had come about after much discussion and consideration between the Planning and Recreation
Departments and the committee working with them on the subject. He said it had been felt that three
areas on the Golf Course property could be considered surplus, one of which was nearly twenty acres
which might produce in the neighborhood of one million dollars, depending on the zoning.
Councilman McCall said he could only come to the conclusion that the Recreation Commission leaned toward
leasing the Golf Courses, so long as it would be on a good deal.
President La Croix stated he felt the Commission had done exactly what the Council had requested it to do
and had moved expeditiously in making a study and submitting to the Council proposals which its members
felt should be balanced, weighed and studied for decision in the best interest of the community and,
hopefully, for the best interest of the golfers. He said he felt the Commission had done an outstanding
job and that, since the question of the Courses had been raised, the staff working at the Courses and
within City Hall and the Commission deserved a great deal of credit for the good changes which had come
about in the last year. He complimented all who had been involved. He said the Council would move on
the matter as expeditiously as possible, as evidenced this evening; at the time a decision was to be made
as to the direction the Council would take in the matter, he said, an open hearing would be held on the
floor of the Council Chamber for discussion of the issue and no decision would be made until the opportunity
had been provided for proper questions. He commended Chairman Kranelly and members of the Commission, who
serve the City without remuneration, and thanked them for their contribution to the interests of the City.
ADJOURNMENT:
2. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the City. Council and the Recreation
Commission, meeting jointly, adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
City Clerk
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