A quarterly financial report, a golf advisory report and comments from the gallery were all part of Tuesday’s Becker City Council short meeting.

 

Treasurer Sarah Brunn presented council with the 2015 third quarter summary which was recently reviewed and approved by the budget and finance committee.

 

Brunn said the year-to-date financials for the city are going well with 72% of this year’s general fund revenues tallied. The budget was set for $3.9 million for 2015 and the YTD so far is at around $2.3 million.

 

In the general fund, Brunn noted charges and fees revenues YTD are at about $68,151 — significantly lower thatn the $103,000 budgeted. She also said professional services and parks personnel expenditures are higher than expected after three quarters.

 

She said the fire fund is tracking on course with revenues behind last year by 9.5% and expenditures behind by 10.59%. The EDA fund’s expenditures are tracking lower than expected due to staff changes. EDA revenues are at 19.68% higher than 2014 while expenditures are -21.39%.

 

The community center is seeing its property tax and user fee revenues lower than expected as well as expenditures for personnel in the Adventure Zone higher than expected. The BCC’s revenues are coming in at 7.21% higher than last year with expenditures at .51% higher.

 

Brunn said she was happy with the tracking of the utility finds which include water and domestic and industrial wastewater. Revenues are a little behind last year’s mark at a - 7.3% while expenses are at -4.73%.

 

The golf fund is seeing a 28.44% uptick over 2014 while expenditures are at 31.46% over last year — Brunn said that is mainly due to the fact the golf course operated the food and beverage part of their business which accrued added expense.

 

Director of Golf Troy Malo asked council to approve and accept the golf advisory board’s latest report along with public comments to be issued into public record.

 

Malo reminded the public and council that the City of Becker tasked him and his advisory board back in January to develop a five-year plan with projections for Pebble Creek Golf Course. The goal of the plan is to get the golf course to a cash-neutral position by year five.

 

The process of putting together the plan was for the advisory board to look at trends, work with historical data and to review the current market and industry trends on a national, regional and local level and also evaluate supply and demand in the golf market.

 

After completion fo the analysis, the advisory board concluded the business strategy and determined the effectiveness of the current management and declared the golf course favorable for long-term success.

 

However, Malo pointed out, there are still some recommendations the board has to allow for improvement of the performance of staff and personnel at the golf course.

 

The advisory board presented their report last month at the executive session and at that time, council made the decision to allow for public comment for a period of 45 days (that period ended October 15). Council reviewed the public comments and included the statements to become a part of the permanent record.

 

Malo asked council to approve and accept the advisory report — along with the comments — with the hope it aids in providing an option for discussion by the city, council and Pebble Creek staff to continue on a path toward improved financial performance and self-sustainability while remaining an important asset to the community.

 

The advisory board’s recommendations were to move the golf course funding from the Enterprise Fund into a “special revenue fund”, similar to the BCC, with a separate capital fund to more easily define the true cost of owning and operating a golf course. They also recommended the city continue to reinvest in the facility via the Master Plan and CIP funds provided through the levy.

 

Also recommended was to continue the food and beverage part of the operation as a city function, update the clubhouse to be competitive when seeking banquets and weddings, eliminate the negative PR generated by elected officials, be cautious when trimming expenses, give staff more support and resources, increase the food and beverage part of the business for weddings and banquets and market the clubhouse better.

 

Following Malo’s comments, Mayor Lefty Kleis responded by saying, “This is nothing new, all you are doing is kicking the can down the road.”

 

“I see nothing in here that will change my mond about how I feel about the golf course,” he said.

 

Council Members Rick Hendrickson and Adam Oliver reminded the mayor that this is just a report from the advisory board and the public comments “accepted” by council, not necessarily to approve the plan.

 

Mayor Kleis reminded the people of Becker that it is not his intention to “get rid of the golf course”, but to find a buyer for the golf course so the city is no longer in business of running it.

 

“I don’t want golf to go away from Becker, I just want someone else owning and running it other than the city,” he said.

 

Oliver reminded Mayor Kleis that should the city ever sell the golf course to a private party, the city would have no way to stop that potential buyer from eventually selling the property off to a developer (for example) anytime in the future.

 

Council took a vote on accepting the report and the public comments and it was passed unanimously.

 

It should be noted, of the 43 public comments received by council and accepted into the public record, 32 were in favor of the advisory board’s report and keeping the golf course with the city while 11 were against it.

 

• A reminder to all citizens that curb-side leaf pickup has been discontinued by the city;

 

• The next Meet-the-Mayor gathering is scheduled for today (Saturday) at Ellis Bakery from 9-11 a.m.;

 

• The annual Faith In Action Rake the Town event is the weekend of Oct. 30-Nov. 1;

 

• The public is invited to review and comment on draft ideas for enhancing and redeveloping areas along the north side of Hwy. 10 and that event will be held Thurs., Oct. 29 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Becker Community Center.

 

The next Becker City Council meeting will be Wed., Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. (due to election day the night before).