The new Goose Pond Colony brochure front and back.
(Click on image, then link beside image for an expanded view, .)
Link to the Goose Pond Colony/Plantation Web site: http://www.goosepond.org/
BOARD MEETING AGENDA WITH NOTES Prior to the Board meeting board Chairperson Mike Baggett read statement. (see below)
A retired citizen made a suggestion that the GPC board make an appeal to the community for volunteer support for projects such as local fishing tournaments and The Plantation Golf Course, he also suggested school partnership programs. It was suggested the board has a responsibility to foster enhancement of advertising to find new ways to support the facility.
Click on image then link to left of image for an expanded view of letter.
Important points of the Park Board letter pictured above: 1) The Parks and Recreation Board was formed by law of the State of Alabama as a Corporation in 1981. 2) The board receives no compensation. 3) Goose Pond Colony/Plantation is a $3 million dollar annual business which receives no taxpayer subsidies. 4) Since 2005 the $6.5 million debt has been reduced to approximately $4.6 million debt. 5) The business decisions to cut back operations at Plantation Point has been made over the course of the year with many, many meetings and discussions with elected officials, home owners and citizens in the attempts to resolve the continuing losses at Plantation Point. 6) GPC golf has remained steady at a 66% utilization rate while Plantation course play rates have dropped 27% in the past 2 years and had a 38% utilization rate the last FY ending in September. 7) The Plantation course was purchased 12 years ago through financing that required payments of interest only as it was unable to generate revenue sufficient to pay regular principal and interest payments. since that day the Plantation course has never generated revenue sufficient to pay the interest. The GPC Golf Course, Marina, campground and Cabins make the required payments. 8) Starting in 2011 GPC was required to begin paying principle plus interest on the Plantation course purchased 12 years ago.. 9) To ensure the payments are made the GPC Board has made some very difficult decisions... 10) The decisions will allow the course to remain open and provide needed capital to perform maintenance on the entire complex that has been neglected because of the losses which had to be covered at the Plantation Course. 11) The course will be open part time, Friday Saturday and Sunday in the spring summer and fall; closed in the winter. 12) At the Monday night Scottsboro council Meeting Mr. Arthur Davis made some strong accusations toward the Goose Pond Colony Board, city council and its attorneys. 13) The GPC Board takes great exception to the accusations but welcomes any inquiries to the facilities. 14) We are audited annually and have an open door policy to anyone who wants to discuss or look at the operations of GPC/Plantation. 15) The efforts by Mr Davis to discredit the GPC Board coincide with the decision to limit operations at Plantation Point where he and his wife play golf. 16) The GPC Board cannot continue to neglect the entire complex to satisfy people such as Mr. Davis who does not like to play golf at GPC. (My comment: Mr. Davis is not the only person attempting to influence the board to make unwise decisions, Council member Smith is likewise involved. It appears this is a political move by Mr. Smith to manipulate a seperate corporate entity of the city for personal and political purposes for the benefit of the few while neglecting the overall needs of the facility and the community.) 17) The GPC Board respects the actions of the City Council and the city's managers and maintain a continuous dialog with the Mayor and the City financial Manager about the parks operations. 18) We consult with the Mayor and City Financial Manager... [we] would never be influenced by political motivations. (My comment: I have followed the GPC boards actions for many years, it is due to the due diligence of this current GPC Board and the current professional complex Management that our park complex is not bankrupt! Several years back I did not agree with the actions to place the city's Financial Director at the helm of the GPC complex and filed an Attorney Generals Complaint. If not for the actions of the past City Council, the Attorneys involved, the excellent management by the City's Financial Director and the current GPC board the citizens of Scottsboro would have suffered a tremendous loss. This citizen says thank you for the exceptional action at an exceptional time which saved the GPC facility from sure bankruptcy due to misappropriation and mismanagement which was occuring many years previous. Goose Pond colony is a wonderful asset for the city of Scottsboro. I suggest all City Council members do what is right for the citizens as a whole, not a select few.) 19) We look forward to and encourage any inquiry into the operations at Goose Pond Colony and Plantation Point. 20) GPC Park Board meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, the park board encourages participation.
Article and discussion about the issue at The Daily Sentinel newspaper: http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_9407f2aa-f9e0-11e0-851f-001cc4c002e0.html
Comments of Mr. Arthur "Buzzy"Davis. (I had spoken with Mr. Davis about our disagreement concerning this issue. I informed him I would include his comments if he would send them to me.)
Oct 22, 2011-Mr. Morgan: I'm surprised that by inference or tacitly you approve of deceptive advertising resulting from joint funds of a Public Board,a City and a County Chamber of Commerce. Advertising TWO PUBLICLY OWNED GOLF COURSES OPEN YEAR ROUND was a clear inducement to move here. Some moved lock,stock and barrel,bought homes and spend the vast majority of their income in Scottsboro. There are 42 homes that surround Plantation Pointe G.C. Closure of that course for 4 days per week and entirely for the Winter has a real,significant effect on values. One realtor estimated that eliminating the G.C. would reduce values by as much as 40%. The closures warrant partial abatements in real estate taxes.
Some 20 members have resigned their memberships due to the uncompensated reduction in services. The City and G.P.C. have a symbiotic relationship. What one entity does that appears beneficial to the one does not necessarily benefit the other.
You may choose to applaud that Board for their historical efforts and volunteerism and to the extent that their efforts have benefited the citizens of Scottsboro,their statutory beneficiaries,I would join you. But on this issue you seem to be viewing the Colony as a totally separate entity which doesn't consider the larger picture. It may be human nature to award points for past performance,but is it necessarily logical in evaluating current decisions and their impact.
BTW in 2008 if a couple moves to Scottsboro and buys a home from a family that moves to Grant, whose principal wage earner is employed in Huntsville is that a benefit to the City of Scottsboro? Have you weighed the value of the amount of money that a family has spent in Scottsboro since 2008 before making a judgment?
You mentioned "selfish golfers" seeking "moral justification". What is your "moral justification" for supporting the recent actions of the Goose Pond Board without determining the "moral justification" of their actions in reducing services to customers in the middle of a contract year without offering compensation or a prorata adjustment?
You have their quoted formal rebuttal. It says :"We regret any inconvenience that this may cause but offer the Goose Pond Colony Course seven days a week and will keep it open during the winter to compensate for the days the Plantation Course is closed."
Think about that comment. Goose Pond Colony Course has been open weather permitting all winter seven days a week. Consequently it is not "compensation." It is spin. In effect you seem to be justifying the position you are taking by accepting as given all of the foregoing comments without truly evaluating meaning. This may seem trivial to you,but what you are missing is the impersonal,arrogant style of communication that this Board uses in dealing with services. It really has little to do with golf,but speaks volumes about the management style and dearth of customer relations.
If you had an annual contract payable monthly to rent two parking spaces on opposite sides of the City and 6 months into the year were told you couldn't park in one of the spaces 4 days a week and there would be no adjustment in price,but you'd be compensated by being able to park in the other space 7 days per week,would you believe that you were being compensated? Would you continue to do business with that entity?
What you and that Board seem to be unwilling to accept is that they have made a material change in an agreement that they have stuffed down their customers throats. It just so happens that they are a public non-profit corporation created for the purpose of serving those customers.
I wouldn't return to any retail store that treated me that way and I wouldn't have treated my customers that way when I was in business.
I would be equally opposed to any action this board took that reduced services in the same manner for their other customers:including,but not limited to: campers;boat slip users;lodge and cabin guests;swimmers and others.
When I moved here and joined the two golf courses as a gesture of public support I paid my full membership in advance two years running knowing there was no discount. I could have paid monthly. I am inactive and retired,but joined the Chamber of Commerce and pay dues each year. I use all services of the City,though other competitors may charge less. Why? It's my way of showing public support.
When we receive our bill from the City on a weekday we routinely pay it that day or the next. Shortly after I moved here I made it known verbally to the Mayor what my background was and that I would be available to serve as a volunteer. I have publicly offered to volunteer in this connection 3 times:June;August;and September.
All I expect is objectivity from those who take public positions on issues. Characterizing former members of the "two public golf courses" as selfish may require a mirror image self review of all entities taking sides on this. Reasonable minds may differ,but mutual communication and continuing dialogue and not unilateral edicts that are not open to constant review should not be and cannot be tolerated from public offcials who serve citizens.
Arthur "Buzzy" Davis
My comment to Mr. Davis:
Mr. Davis until you demonstrate evidence of your claims it is just more rhetoric without a foundation.
I have stated many times in public and within media forums, "show me the evidence" and I will stand with you. Until this occurs it is my opinion that the golfers who prefer to play golf at Plantation Point are attempting to have their way regardless of the facts and ignore the larger problems. There is more to the GPC park facility other than Plantation Point.
2 comments:
Mr. Morgan says, "Show me the evidence." So, one more time, here goes.
In "Swinging Away," a news article in the Daily Sentinel, the reporter writes, "Baggett said before he came on the board there were times free services were given. 'The board had no money,' he said. 'If one guy came out to fix a busted roof on a cabin, they might give him a six-month free golf membership. Someone who mowed the yard got a campground membership.' Baggett said all of that has since been cut out. 'We have a policy in place now,' he said."
The facts:
1. Workers at Goose Pond Colony are still being paid with free services instead of money. Just ask the starters and marshals. They get free golf memberships for their hours of work.
2. The wages of workers at Goose Pond Colony who are paid are kept artificially low through the promise of free services. Sorry to say, many workers can't afford to benefit from them.
3. The actual expenses associated with wages and salaries, including non-monetary benefits of substantial monetary value, are not reported on the annual P&L statement. If you think they are, show us.
4. The State of Alabama Department of Revenue considers non-monetary compensation of value as taxable income that needs to be reported on an individual's annual tax return. So does the Internal Revenue Service which created a 1099 form for that very purpose. Ask any employee if he's ever seen a 1099.
By the way, failure to report taxable income is considered tax evasion, punishable by fines or imprisonment.
Question: Was Baggett believable when he was reported to have said, "All of that has since been cut out. We have a policy in place now."? I don't think so.
Thank you for your comment.
Discounts provided to employees as a result of employment are not taxable income. Many businesses and governmental entities provide discounts to employees and benefits which are not considered taxable income.
You are grasping for straws anonymous poster in your attempt to play golf, very selfish of you.
Once again, I'll explain, financial benefits received by elected and appointed officials in violation of state law is another matter.
There are 2 classes of civil servants, classified (regular paid employees hired by an entity)and unclassified (Appointed and elected civil servants, occasionally special contracted employees, will fall into this category.).
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