CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM

Department:	Parks and Recreation		Commission Meeting Date:   April 18, 2017
Staff Contact:	Mark Hecker, Assistant Director Parks and Recreation
Recommendations/Options/Action Requested:
Approve proceeding with bidding and construction of the first two phases of the Eagle Bend Pro Shop Addition (2017 CIP# PR1708) and direct staff to negotiate a partnership agreement with the Kansas Golf Association and Eagle Bend Golf Course.
Executive Summary:		Eagle Bend Golf Course is now the only public 18-hole golf facility in the City of Lawrence due to the recent change of management at the Alvamar Golf Course. Since its opening in 1998, the city has worked hard to make Eagle Bend a first-class operation among municipal golf courses in the region, but city staff has found that the facilities at Eagle Bend inhibit the realization of the golf course’s full potential. The facility has inadequate event space, no kitchen, too few restrooms and almost no storage for pro shop inventory or concessions product. These are basic amenities that need to be improved if the golf course wishes to capitalize on its potential. Eagle Bend also has had limited growth potential due to the size of the cart fleet. The facility currently has the ability to store only 62 carts in the existing cart barn, on most busy days there a need for 72 to 80 carts. On nice weather days many golfers are denied the opportunity to use the facility, simply because of cart shortage, which in turn impacts the golf courses daily revenue. With these issues in mind, a $500,000 Eagle Bend Golf Course Pro Shop Renovation project was developed and budgeted in the 2017 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Preliminary plans were developed to address the following needs/objectives: 1) Additional rental carts 2) Additional cart storage and general storage 3) Development of partnerships in the golf industry to help grow the game of golf in the Lawrence community 4) Added event space for indoor functions related to golf tournaments 5) Additional restroom facilities To address these objectives, a proposed plan has been developed for construction and implementation in three phases during the 2017 and 2018 golf seasons. Phase I -Construct new, larger cart barn: The current golf cart fleet includes 62 rental carts. The current cart barn is completely filled with these 62 carts and there is no space to store additional carts or charge their batteries. To properly meet demand, 74 to 80 carts are needed. The first phase of this project plans for construction of a new cart barn to meet the golf course’s space needs. This phase is estimated to cost $85,000, and construction would occur in May-June of 2017. Phase II -Renovate the existing cart barn for event space, storage, and office space: As part of this project, the City has an opportunity to enter a partnership with the Kansas Golf Association (KGA), the non-profit agency that governs and promotes amateur golf in the state of Kansas. Through this partnership, KGA would locate its headquarters in leased office space at Eagle Bend and would partner with the City to develop and offer joint programming at Eagle Bend. The attached KGA information outlines the discussion points of a proposed partnership agreement between the City and KGA.   Through phase two of the project, half the existing cart barn would be finished as office space to accommodate KGA’s lease. The other half of the existing barn would be used for event space until phase three can be completed. The estimated cost of renovating the existing cart barn to construct office, event and storage space is $80,000. The second phase would be completed by September 2017. Phase III - Construct a New Clubhouse Addition: With a current seating capacity of 50 people the Eagle Bend Pro Shop and concessions area is not large enough to handle daily play or tournament play, which typically involves more than 100-120 golfers. Phase three of the project would construct sufficient indoor event space to accommodate tournament participants with adequate concessions and restroom facilities, as well as accommodate daily golfers not participating in tournament events. The estimated cost of phase three is $350,000. Construction of phase three would be evaluated in 2018 prior to coming back to the City Commission for authorization to proceed. Delaying phase three will enable the city to adequately evaluate the demand for EBGC following closure of Alvamar’s public course. Based on current conceptual designs, staff has submitted the needed paperwork to the US Army Corp of Engineers and has received approval to proceed with the project under the City’s land lease agreement with the Corp.  At the present time, Eagle Bend Golf Course (EBGC) produces sufficient revenues to staff and operate the golf course. However, increased revenue production is needed in the future to provide proper funding of equipment replacement and capital improvements. The benefit/return from this project is that the added space will provide opportunities to generate additional revenue to ensure the future sustainability of this enterprise fund.
Strategic Plan Critical Success Factor		Innovative Infrastructure and Asset Management Collaborative Solutions
Fiscal Impact (Amount/Source):		The fiscal impact to the City is expected to be $165,000.  This item was in the 2017 Eagle Bend Golf Course budget and the 2017 CIP. A portion of this work may be performed in-house, which could positively impact the final project budget. Construction cost of Phase I and Phase II is estimated to cost $165,000 which would be funded using cash from the golf course fund balance. Anticipated annual operational revenue created from Phase I and Phase II is $52,400 per year. Please see the attached “Revenue Projection” worksheet for details on the estimated costs and revenues related to this project. Staff will present additional detailed discussion of the “Revenue Projection” worksheet in its presentation to the Commission.
Attachments:		Preliminary site plans KGA information Revenue projection

Reviewed By: (for CMO use only)

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