Golf course consultation process unclear
By Kim Westad, Times Colonist February 23, 2012

How public consultation on Cedar Hill Golf Course costs will be carried out is not yet clear, but it should be by the end of March, Mayor Frank Leonard said Wednesday.

Leonard said the consultation with course-user groups and the public “isn’t going to look like a royal commission.”

The consultation is part of a motion that passed after a fiery public meeting Tuesday night about how to deal with a $300,000 deficit in golf course operations at the municipallyowned Cedar Hill course.

“It will be treated like any other rec centre where managers resolve operational issues with users and the public, and we [the council] look at the bottom line once a year,” Leonard said.

Val Mieras, president of the Cedar Hill Golf Club, said what the consultation will translate to is a mystery to many who attended the meeting, and they are not happy.

“I can tell you the consultation I have been involved with was a total sham and Saanich administration did not really care what we thought. I’m very disheartened.”

Hundreds of residents attended three public meetings, held after Saanich council decided unanimously and in camera to close the golf course restaurant.

It was estimated to lose $521,000 in 2012, so council voted to reduce its full service to a “grab-and-go” style. The restaurant closed its doors last Saturday.

The council said it was done in camera because it dealt with personnel issues.

Since then, the three public meetings held to allow public input on municipal staff recommendations on how to deal with the $300,000 deficit have grown increasingly tense between the public and the council, and also among the politicians.

The council split 5-4 on Tuesday in favour of a motion to raise fees at the golf course over the next three years, and to decrease the number of rounds pass-holders can have over the spring and summer. The motion also called for the director of parks and recreation to “engage golf users and the public to discuss how the operations can best meet customer and community needs in the context of the Cedar Hill deficit reduction strategy.”

But the motion came with little clarity on how the engagement would happen, said Coun. Dean Murdock, one of the four who voted against it.

He asked that staff report back to council on how the engagement would take place, but that was dismissed.

“I’d like to be able to go to the community and tell them we have a public process in place for engagement and that it may not be perfect, but it’s a start,” Murdock said. “I can’t do that with this motion.”

Saanich increases fees at troubled golf course
By Kim Westad, Times Colonist February 22, 2012

Saanich council split 5-4 in favour of increasing fees at Cedar Hill Golf Course after a heated public meeting Tuesday night.

Full season pass holders will see a five per cent increase each year for the next three years, along with a decrease in the number of rounds they can play between April 15 and Oct. 15. A 2011 pass cost 1,350 and will rise to $1,417.50 in 2012, with another 5 per cent increase in 2013 and in 2014. The daily green fee will go up $9 over the next three years, starting with a $5 increase in 2012.But the actual fee increase was not the most contentious issue for the 200 people who came out to the third public meeting to talk about the growing deficit at the municipally owned golf course.

Many at the meeting were angry about lack of public consultation in dealing with financial problems at the golf course and restaurant.

The municipally owned facilities were projected to lose more than $800,000 in 2012. Both have been losing money for the past several years.

In January, council voted unanimously in favour of closing the full-service restaurant, which was projected to lose $521,000 this year, and replacing it with light food service. That decision was made at an in-camera meeting because personnel issues were also being discussed.

The restaurant, loved by many residents throughout the region but unknown to as many others, closed Saturday.

Many on Tuesday said they were surprised to learn about the financial difficulties at the restaurant and golf course and said they felt “blindsided” by the in-camera decision to close the restaurant.

“You are not the only people that are in charge,” said Patricia Houston. “This belongs to all of us. – You need to consult with us as members of the community when things are not going well. We want to know – we want to know when the restaurant is in real trouble. We’ll help.”

Some speakers were in tears, while others shouted for the resignation of management and council.

Still others called for a six-month reprieve for the restaurant and many had suggestions for improving how the facilities are run.

Coun. Nichola Wade made a motion that recommended the fee increases, but also called for staff to have public consultation with golf users and the public to discuss how operations could be improved, keeping in mind the need for debt reduction. Staff will report back to council on those discussions.

The motion narrowly passed, with a deep split on council. Wade, councillors Paul Gerrard, Leif Wergeland and Susan Brice and Mayor Frank Leonard voted in favour of the motion.

Councillors Dean Murdock, Vic Derman, Vicki Sanders and Judy Brownoff voted against it, preferring a facilitated public consultation on all financial issues facing the operation, including food services.

Saanich council divided on approval to hike Cedar Hill golf course rates
By Kyle Slavin – Saanich News

If you plan to hit the links at the Cedar Hill golf course, expect to shell out more money come April.

Saanich council voted Tuesday night to support a rate increase for pass-holders and green fee players to help reduce a massive $820,000 deficit facing the course and clubhouse.

“This motion allows us to get started,” said Coun. Susan Brice, one of five council members – including Mayor Frank Leonard – who supported the increase. “At this stage, I think the goal for all of us is just keeping a happy golfing experience at an affordable rate.”

But the heated budget meeting, a continuation of one that began on Feb. 7, saw 30 speakers address council on a number of concerns, many who feel a happy golfing experience won’t be achieved with these approved changes.

For pass-holders, that’s because they’ll have to pay more to get less.

Council supported a $68 increase to $1,418 for a full annual pass, which allows pass-holders to play on the weekends. A restricted pass will increase by $37 to $1087, and holders can only play Monday through Thursday.

While last year’s full pass allowed a maximum of 120 rounds per year, this year’s more expensive pass would only allow for 90 rounds annually. There are restrictions on how many rounds pass-holders can play each week, and how many can be played in the summer.

“We’re not opposed to paying more, we’re opposed to getting less,” Cedar Hill Golf Club president Val Mieras said after the meeting. “And this is not going to increase their revenue because a lot of our members may just choose not to purchase the pass.”

Green fees will also increase by $5 this year, and $2 each year in 2013 and 2014.

Closing the restaurant at Cedar Hill golf course, which happened last Friday, will have a $98,000 impact on this year’s operating budget. But when the entire course – including golf and food services – is operating at an $818,000 deficit (including debt) in 2012. Saanich projects the course to earn $1.37 million this year, while it runs at a cost of $2.09 million.

Tuesday night’s meeting, held at the Garth Homer Society, with more than 150 residents in attendance, saw council split 5-4 on the decision to increase fees.

Four councillors, who told the News earlier this month that their in-camera decision to close the golf course restaurant was a “mistake”, having not consulted with the public, opposed the fee increase and instead opted to attempt to start a consultation process before making any more decisions. That failed.

“I want to know everyone who wanted to provide input … has the opportunity to do that,” said Coun. Dean Murdock. “Considering fees in isolation seems counter-intuitive. … It gives us a very small snapshot into a much larger picture. Where’s the business plan?”

Coun. Nichola Wade garnered support from three of her fellow councillors and the mayor to approve the fee increases, then subsequently begin consulting with the public.

“It’s like talking to a wall,” Mieras said. She, along with other members of the golf club, have been invited to ‘stakeholder meetings’ with Saanich management over the last couple months to provide input on the changes.

Since the get-go, she says there’s been strong opposition to the “pay more, get less,” and she feels like the golf course’s loyal customers are being ignored.

“You are not the only people that are in charge. This belongs to all of us,” said Patricia Houston, who lives on Tracksell Avenue right next to the golf course. “We not only contribute money, by way of taxes, we contribute a sense of community. You need to consult with us, as members of this community, when things are in trouble.”

“Silence is deafening,” Camrose Crescent resident Kevin Moore told council, upon asking for anyone in the 150-plus-member audience to applaud if they supported the decisions council had made with regards to the golf course.

Coun. Vicki Sanders, who along with Murdock and councillors Judy Brownoff and Vic Derman didn’t support the motion, said the decision-making has been done “hastily and ill-informed.”

Mayor Frank Leonard reassured the unhappy crowd that, as part of the approved recommendation, council will monitor how the changes are impacting the financial situation at the golf course.

“If this isn’t working, we need to find out quick,” he said.

Coun. Leif Wergeland, who along with Wade, Brice, Leonard and Coun. Paul Gerrard supported the motion, said decisions need to made by looking at the bigger picture. “We cannot do things in piecemeal. … I have to look at the whole budget.”

Mieras said she’s concerned that council’s approval to increase fees without starting the consultation process beforehand will drive business away.

“We have a lot of rethinking to do with the club now. I don’t want to lose the passes with a knee-jerk reaction and say ‘don’t buy them (out of protest).’ I don’t know what the result’s going to be,” she said. “I don’t want to lose the club – we’ve been here 60 years, and we want to be here another 60 years, but right now I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Recommendation to increase fees at Cedar Hill Golf Course passes
CFAX 1070 Feb 21, 2012

A staff recommendation to increase green and pass fees while offering pass holders a reduced number of rounds at the Cedar Hill Golf Course, was passed by a slim majority of Saanich Council members Tuesday night.

The recommendation was made in response to a deficit facing the municipally owned golf course.

Saanich Councillor Dean Murdock says 4 councillors and the mayor supported the recommendations, and 4, including himself, opposed it.

Murdock says in his opinion, dealing with fees isn’t enough to ensure the courses’ sustainability.

“I’m not convinced that just looking at fees was going to do that, in fact, the recommendation in my view would have the opposite effect, I thought that it was going to increase the cost of an annual pass and then further restrict the amount of time the pass holder could play a round at the golf course, so pass holders are getting, they’re paying more to get less, and I really don’t think that, that’s going to help the situation, I think it would actually make it worse”

Murdock says fees would be set for the next three years, but there has been a request that staff report back on fees annually.

Murdock says the new fees take effect April 1st, 2012.