Proposals may be solicited for golf course management

Members of the Atchafalaya Golf Course Commission will be asked to issue requests for proposals from management companies.
The St. Mary Parish Council approved the request Wednesday after hearing from representatives of one such company, Toucshtone Golf Management.
Touchstone manages 33 golf courses across the country, according to regional Vice President Chris Robertson.
Chief Operating Officer Mark Luthman said they “work closely with the owners to help them achieve their goals.”
He said the company’s role is to develop and implement a marketing strategy, recruit talented staff and provide them with the tools to be successful and finally to deliver a quality product.
Touchstone strives to “operate the golf course as a community asset,” he said. “That takes the form of junior golf lessons … to social events for golfers and non-golfers alike.”
After looking at Atchafalaya at Idlewild financials, Luthman said, “There are a lot of things being done right and I also see that there’s probably some opportunities from both a marketing standpoint in growing rounds and an expense efficiency standpoint.”
Councilman Steve Bierhorst said the commission “has done a phenomenal job” in increasing play by hosting youth, high school and college tournaments. He added that once the bonds are paid off in a few years he thinks the course will be operating in the black.
“To me it seems (the commission) is doing all the right things,” Bierhorst said. “My hat’s off to those guys. They work their tails off.” He added that the revenues do not reflect the high amount of business that’s done both on the course and in the club house.
Golf Course Commissioner Jerry Adams told the council that he thinks it would be a good idea to “look at the numbers” presented in response to RFPs.
In his opinion, he said, the golf course is now not up to the standards that it was when it first opened.
“When the condition of the golf course goes down, so does the play,” he said. “You have to have a finished product to attract people from out of town to come play.”
Luthman told the council that he would expect anywhere from six to 10 management companies to submit RFPs. A typical management fee, he said, ranges from $80,000 to $100,000 per year.
The golf course in Patterson has continued to run in the red since opening in 2006. The parish council subsidizes the losses and also is indebted with construction bonds.
“There is little to no downside,” to seeking RFPs, Luthman said. “It’s a low risk strategy.”
A motion by Councilman Glen Hidalgo and second from Councilman David Hanagriff requesting that the commission consider soliciting RFPs passed on a 6-2 vote. Also voting in favor were Logan Fromenthal, Sterling Fryou, Ken Singleton and Tim Tregle. In opposition were Bierhorst and Foulcard. Lionel “Butch” Metz and Kevin Voisin had left the meeting at the time of the vote and Charles “Butch”
In other business the council:
—Heard from Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange that a public hearing will be called on Dec. 17 on the proposal to issue general obligation bonds for a proposed road district. The road district would encompass the entire parish with the exclusion of Morgan City. Voters from the rest of the parish would then be asked to approve a road improvement bond package to be repaid with a 1 mill property tax that would basically be a shift of millage currently dedicated to the library debt. He said that mileage is now 1¼ mills and would drop to one-quarter mill. Morgan LaGrange said Morgan City would be excluded from the road district since it already levies a three-tenths sales tax dedicated to road improvements and also is excluded from the library tax since it operates its own library.
—Introduced ordinances on the 2015 fiscal year budget and five-year capital outlay program.
—Adopted ordinances to rezone property for Diane Matthews at 144 Yellow Bayou Road in Centerville from single family residential to existing neighborhood to allow for placement of a motor home; and increasing the membership of Sewerage District 8 board from three members to five.
—Passed resolutions seeking state capital outlay funds for reconstruction of Chitimacha Trail Road from La. 328 to La. 670, Flattown Road from Chitimacha Trail Road to Ralph Darden Parkway and Charenton Beach Road from La. 87 to the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee; hard surfacing of Atchafalaya Basin Levee Road from Charenton Beach to the parish line; the re-roofing, waterproofing, repairs and conversion of the Kemper House Tourist Building near Patterson for use as a government conference center; Yokely Levee flood protection improvements; installation of culverts and associated infrastructure at Middle Road in Bayou Vista for Sub-Gravity Drainage District 1 of District 2; replacement of ball field lighting and capital improvements at Kemper Williams Park; repairs and capital improvements at Elizabeth Davis Park in Four Corners, Centerville Park, Sorrel Park, St. Joseph Park and Bring Back the Neighborhood Park near Baldwin; construction of a warehouse, drives and parking area at St. Mary Center of Hope; capital improvements and construction by Recreation District 3, Bayou Vista; construction of a new central fire station for Fire District 11 in Four Corners; drainage pump station improvements near Franklin by Consolidated Drainage District 1.
—Heard from Hanagriff his displeasure in the fact that the rezoning of Garden City property on La. 3215 was removed from the Planning and Zoning Commission’s agenda upon legal counsel’s advice. Hanagriff had initiated the rezoning of the property from high-density residential to agricultural. However, the council has now given preliminary approval for developer Lloyd Harris to construct a 168-unit gated apartment complex.

—Appointed Derek Stewart Sr. to Fire Protection District 11; Mary Bailey and Susan Guidry to the Library Board; and James Richard to the Communications District.