Bid Selection Task Force
Feburary 6, 2006
GOLF BID SELECTION TASK FORCE
FEBRUARY 6, 2006
Members Present: Charles Russell, Dennis Walter, Carolyn Chrone, Lynn Chapman,
John Johnson, Beverly Rhyan, Maggie Hanson
Also Present: Rob McDaniel, Dick Rhyan
The agenda for the meeting was distributed.
Mr. Rhyan was asked to provide input on golf courses currently managed by the companies being considered by the Task Force as potential bidders. As a professional golfer, Mr. Rhyan has contacts at and/or is familiar with several of the golf courses and management companies. He identified several golf courses which he felt were not well maintained by the current management group but indicated that he did not know what operating specifications were established by the course owners. He identified some management companies on which he had received positive feedback and others on which the feedback was negative. The courses reviewed were all in environments similar to the conditions at Sun City Texas (SCT).
Mr. Rhyan mentioned that the USGA would, for a fee, provide assistance in identifying what SCT golf courses require for on-going maintenance and improvement. An experienced individual from the USGA in Dallas would spend one-half day at SCT assessing the current conditions and provide a report for a fee of $1500.00. The value of getting such an assessment was discussed. It was decided that the task force would take no action at this time but would not rule out the possibility of getting an assessment at some time in the future. It was agreed that this issue would be discussed at the up-coming meeting with Mr. DeLozier.
Also discussed were the operating costs of various local golf courses and how those costs compare with SCT. Operating costs vary widely however, the task force has no information on what is included in the figures presented. Some include only the cost of course maintenance; others include salaries, utilities and other items.
OnCourse Strategies, a golf course management company operating out of Austin, TX has contacted the task force and expressed an interest in managing the courses at SCT. This company is not on the list of golf management companies currently being evaluated by the group and little is known about them. It was decided that additional information should be obtained to determine if they are a viable candidate for bidding on the management of SCT courses.
Dennis Walter provided an overview of the task force’s responsibilities and timeline. He described the sequence of events that will be included in the selection process. Among these are the distribution of a survey to get input from SCT golfers, development of specifications to be included in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and transition of golf operations to the company selected. Issues related to transition to outside management were discussed including the need for the management company to provide details of their operating policies and the requirement for the company to submit to the Community Association Board an annual operating expense plan. Also discussed was the need to identify in the RFP “Key Personnel” including the head golf professional and superintendent and develop detailed specifications for these positions.
Also discussed was the issue of how and when to communicate current expenses at SCT to potential bidders. Among the expenses considered was the cost of insurance. Rob McDaniel was asked to provide a summary of the current insurance coverage.
The development of specifications for the RFP was discussed using the draft outline distributed prior to the meeting. Details of the specifications for the management of operations were presented and discussed. Also presented for discussion was a list of the information to be requested from bidders and the criteria on which bids would be evaluated. It was suggested and agreed that an introductory letter would be sent to each potential bidder to determine their interest in bidding on management of the courses. The letter will include a brief description of the SCT golfing community and facilities. Recipients will be asked to provide a summary of additional information they would need to develop a proposal. This should assist the task force in developing specifications for the RFP.
Items in the draft RFP outline were assigned to task force members to research and develop initial specifications. These include management of operations, course maintenance specifications, computer support and pro shop operations.