OSOYOOS TIMES-October 14, 2009

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

An emotionally charged meeting of members of the Osoyoos Golf and Country Club ended with the suggestion that a survey be conducted to see which members will pay a recently announced dues adjustment and to determine if members want a change in course management.
Roughly 250 club members gathered at Desert Park’s grandstand building on Oct. 8 to discuss last month’s announcement from club President Fred Meester that, due to a cash shortfall for 2009 of $275,000, active members will have to pay an additional $410 and members paying retainer dues will have to cough up an extra $110.
The club’s cash shortfall is being blamed on the current recession and Meester has said the club was unable to bring in the revenue it had budgeted for 2009 due to a lack of new members and fewer tourists playing the course this year.
The club has extended the dues adjustment payment deadline from Oct. 31 to Nov. 16.
Hosted by members Brian Bagnall and Lowell Ritchey, the meeting’s goals included determining the number of members willing to pay the dues adjustment and to figure out if the club can survive with its current management structure.
Bagnall opened the meeting by saying the club went from a surplus of $700,000 in 2004 to a shortfall of $275,000 this year.
Ritchey said the club is losing money while golf clubs in Christina Lake, Oliver, Oroville and Rock Creek are making money.
It was pointed out by some members, however, that those courses are different in terms of size and quality compared to the Osoyoos club.
Ritchey also told the gathering that it was clear by the end of 2008 the club’s mortgage agreement with the Bank of Montreal— which states the club must make a profit or break even each year— was not being met, yet the club’s board of directors were not aware of the problem until the end of August.
Club members have not been given a detailed financial plan by the club’s board, Ritchey said, and members have no information on what course fees could be next year or about the club’s plan to deal with its $4 million debt.
“Why would I pay any more money into the club without a clear, long-term business plan?” he said.
He added that he will have to pay more than $1,600 this year if he covers the $410 dues adjustment and that would likely increase if other members decided to leave the club over the adjustment issue.
If 50 active members and 10 members on retainer declined to pay the dues adjustment, Ritchey said he would have to pay more than $2,000 next year.
And if 150 active members and 10 members on retainer declined to pay, Ritchey said, he would pay nearly $2,400 in 2010.
Members may have to take on further costs in the next few years since the club’s Park Meadows course will need a new irrigation system, he said.
Ritchey finished his opening remarks by telling the gathering that if the club went under, the Town of Osoyoos would take it over, which could lead to cheaper golf at the course.
Currently, the club is exempted from Town property taxes and pays $1 per year for its lease for the golf course to the Town.
The club does pay water, sewer, gas and other utility fees and the Town provides reclaimed water for irrigation.
Following Ritchey’s comments, members were given the opportunity to voice their questions and concerns.
Some members said the club’s board has not been forthcoming about where money is being spent and more information about the club’s finances has to be presented in a transparent manner to the membership.
Meester, who was in attendance at the meeting, told the gathering that a five-year plan for the club would be completed after the board had finished preparing its budget sometime next month.
Questions were also brought up about whether the club had too many grounds keeper and pro-shop staff or if dues would be reduced in following years if the club began making profits again.
One man asked if there were guidelines available for how many staff should work at the course and how much certain employees should be paid.
Others said the issue isn’t the $410 dues adjustment, but whether the club is being properly managed, especially since bonuses were being handed out to club staff even when it was known the club was facing a serious cash shortfall.
One member suggested the club’s general manager, Randy LaRoche, be fired, and added that some current board members lack the skills to run the club.
Many agreed the club has to work harder at bringing in new members and promoting the course across Canada.
Bringing in new members, Ritchey said, could be accomplished by lowering initiation fees.
On the other hand, it was also pointed out that members have an obligation to pay for the club’s financial needs for 2009 and that it’s unfair for members to say they won’t pay the dues adjustment after agreeing three years ago to upgrade the course and to go into debt.
As for the suggestion that the Town would take over the course if the members chose not to pay, several people said the bank will go after the Town to pay the $4 million debt and the Town will then go after the members.
One of the final suggestions of the evening was for the members to pay their dues adjustments into a trust fund and then send a message to the management that “if we don’t get this, this and this, you won’t get the money.”
Bagnall said a survey would be sent out by phone, email and through the member association’s website asking members if they will pay the dues adjustment, if they believe a change in management is needed and if they agree with the idea of paying dues adjustment money into a trust fund.
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