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MINUTES OF JANUARY 27, 2009 MEETING OF THE COUNTRY CLUB MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (CCMC)
HELD AT THE SOUTH SHORE COUNTRY CLUB (SSCC)
Members Present: Paul Casey, Kerry Ryan, and William Friend
Others Attending: Jay McGrail, interim director of operations of the SSCC; Joseph Keefe, SSCC golf professional; John Riley, town selectman; and Susan Sullivan, consultant attended portions of the meeting
With a quorum present, the meeting was called to order at 6:42 pm.
The Committee, opened its meeting with a review of the minutes of its January 7,2009 meeting. After discussion, and corrections made, on motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the January 7, 2009 meeting were unanimously approved, subject to such other minor corrections subsequently reported to or deemed necessary by the secretary of the meeting.
The discussion and vote with regard to a new chairman of the Committee was postponed to the next meeting when all committee members will be present.
The Committee then addressed the third matter on the meeting agenda, an overview of the SSCC food and beverage operation. Susan Sullivan, Jay McGrail, Kerry Ryan and William Friend commented on their meetings and conversations with the current lessee of the food and beverage facilities and with the other individuals and organizations interested in leasing the food and beverage facilities when the current lease agreement expires. As part of this review, the Committee discussed the new ideas expressed by the potential lessees for improvement of the facilities and operations. The Committee also discussed the concerns expressed by most of the potential lessees with regard to the length of the lease term, noting that it was generally understood that a term beyond three years would be necessary to permit recovery of the expected expenditures on capital improvements. To address this issue, the Committee decided to explore 7, 10 and 25 year lease terms, depending on the level of improvements proposed by potential lessees and provided the Committee can obtain the necessary approvals for the extended lease terms from the town.
Following this discussion, the Committee discussed and agreed upon the next steps in its process for contacting and interviewing potential food and beverage lessees. This would include follow-up meetings with the current lessee and the other individuals and organizations already expressing interest in leasing the facilities and pursuing additional interested parties to participate in the process. The follow-up meetings would focus on the improvements considered by the potential lessees if the town offered a longer-term lease. Schedules for the meetings were then discussed and work assignments were agreed upon.
Jay McGrail concluded this discussion with an update on the real estate tax due on the restaurant facilities, stating that, while asserting that his agreement with the Town did not obligate him to pay this tax, the lessee had agreed to pay the outstanding tax and had contacted the town to confirm the tax would be paid within the week.
At this time John Riley and Susan Sullivan left the meeting.
The Committee then asked Joseph Keefe to present his ideas for increasing the revenues in the pro shop. Mr. Keefe distributed his Golf Pro Shop Merchandise Plan, which included several alternatives for improving the revenues and, with the assistance of Jay McGail, reviewed each of the alternatives and responded to questions from the Committee members concerning the budget implications. After this discussion, a merchandising approach for the pro shop was agreed upon. It was also agreed that the merchandise plan results would be periodically reviewed and that the plan would be modified if it were later determined to be necessary.
At this time Joseph Keefe left the meeting.
The Committee meeting continued with a review by Jay McGrail of a Five-Year Capital Outlay Budget Report he had prepared for a January 29, 2009 presentation at the Town of Hingham Capital Outlay Committee. Following its discussion and acceptance of this report, William Friend agreed to attend the Capital Outlay Committee meeting with Mr. McGrail Mr. McGrail further noted that he would also be making a quarterly budget review presentation to the Town Advisory Committee at 3:30 PM on the same day. He then handed out the revenue and expense materials he would be presenting to the Advisory Committee and invited any CCMC members available to attend the meeting and join him for the presentation.
Jay McGrail then referred the Committee to his revised Job Description, which he had prepared, as requested by the Committee, at its January 7, 2009 meeting. He advised the Committee that he had worked with William Friend on the revised Job Description and that he had also provided it to the appropriate town administrators. After a short discussion of the Job Description and the responsibilities assigned to Mr. McGrail there under, the Committee excused Jay McGrail from the meeting. The Committee members then expressed their unanimous intention to remove “Interim” from Mr. McGrail’s title and discussed the administrative process necessary to accomplish this intention. After further discussion, on motion duly made and seconded, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the revised job description and recommend to the Town Selectmen that Jay McGrail’s be appointed the SSCC Director of Operations.
Following this vote, Mr. McGrail was invited back into the meeting and informed of the action taken by the Committee. Shortly thereafter, the Committee set the next meeting date, February 23, 2009, and on motion duly made and seconded voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
William K. Friend
.