Cypress Lake Country Club Board of Directors Meeting Minutes August 29, 2017 PRESENT: EX-OFFICIO: ABSENT: CALL TO ORDER: Scott, Fischer, Ralph Hutchins, Steve Weisberg, Cheryl Schramm, Gary Saft, Chris Black Ed Rodgers Paul Henderson, Elaine Teschner, Steve Shimp Meeting was called to order at 12:30. A Quorum was present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the July Board of Directors meeting were distributed and reviewed. There were no changes. Motion: Mrs. Schramm moved to approve and Mr. Saft seconded. All in favor. Minutes approved. STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE: There were several updates to the action items for the 2016-17 year. The latest update is as follows: MEMBERSHIP RETENTION, ATTRACTION AND MARKETING: The Club has experienced a decline in the number of Golf members over the last twelve months due in part to an aging membership and the planned golf course restoration. The Board has established a goal of retaining existing members and attracting new members to the Club. o Develop and implement a marketing plan to attract 20 new Golf members in the 2017-18 fiscal year: The Club has retained Priority Marketing to assist in the development and implementation of a marketing plan to achieve the goal. The plan has been developed and consists of three major strategies: (1) Utilize public relations, social media marketing and email marketing, (2) Use limited advertising to target industry and consumer print publications, cable TV and direct mail marketing to golfers in key zip codes, and (3) Utilize digital marketing advertising to specific high-level targets. Have added 2 Golf and 3 Sports members in August. o Develop and implement a marketing plan to attract 20 new Sports members in the 2017-18 fiscal year: Priority Marketing will assist in the development of a plan to attract an additional 20 Sports members. The first step was to develop and print a marketing info/ad dedicated to just Sports membership. o Determine vetting requirements for potential members: No formal program has been developed at this point but all new Golf members are required to play a round of golf with either Membership Chair Gary Saft, GM Ed Rodgers, HP Jon Pazdera or Superintendent Bryce Koch. o Develop and implement a new member orientation program: A formal orientation program has been developed and was distributed to the Board for
review and comments. o Create a series of re-opening events: The restoration project is on schedule and the targeted re-opening date of November 1 should be attainable. The Club is planning an opening event for Wednesday, November 1 st that consists of an opening ceremony at 9:00 am; a golf tournament with a 10:00 shotgun start; and an evening event from 5:00 to 8:00 with food and entertainment. There will be a dedication of one, possibly both, of the new bridges on Saturday, November 12 th. Details will be mailed to the membership in early September. KEY LEADERSHIP RETENTION, RECRUITMENT & DEVELOPMENT: The Board recognizes the value of good leadership at all levels of the Club and the need to perpetuate that leadership moving forward. The Board has established recruitment and development of members and staff in leadership positions as a priority to maintain and enhance our current success as a Club. o Create, communicate and implement a Board Succession Plan: It was the consensus of the Board that this action item and the following item that creates a program to recruit and educate potential Board members should be combined into a single action item. o Develop a program to recruit and educate potential Board & Committee members: See above. o Research and develop an employee compensation / benefit plan to retain key staff: The Club industry in southwest Florida has recovered from the great recession and has become highly competitive for qualified talent. The goal of this initiative is assure that our Club remains competitive with wages and benefits to retain key staff and attract new staff when appropriate. o Improve employee training programs: The desire to deliver the best possible membership experience requires an investment is additional staff training and development. The Club s restaurant staff has secured a top quality training video and all service staff will be required to view it and pass the exam at the end. BRANDING & CULTURE: The last five years have seen our Club transition from a country club to a golf club. The course restoration provides an opportunity for the club to further that transition. o Develop and implement a Club culture statement: A preliminary draft of a Culture statement has been developed and distributed to the Board for review. It states We, the members of CLCC, are committed to the enjoyment and preservation of golf for golf s sake; to an unpretentiously world-class golf experience and to leaving our facility better than we find it; and to respecting each other s experiences and those devoted to delivering them. o Develop communication, education and enforcement program: No update on this item at the present time. o Re-brand Cypress Lake Country Club as Cypress Lake Golf Club and Cypress Lake Tennis Club: Marketing research performed by Priority Marketing clearly indicates our strength and Niche in the market is as a Golf club as opposed to a country club. The consensus of the Board was to retain Cypress Lake Country Club as the legal entity but DBA Cypress Lake Golf Club and Cypress Lake Tennis
Club. It is also the consensus of the Board that this change would require a vote of the membership at the next Annual Meeting. o Further develop and enhance the new food and beverage program: The change made in early January yielded better than anticipated results both in member satisfaction and participation as validated in the Annual Member Survey. Moving forward the emphasis will be on training of both front and back-of the house staff. Chef Jose has elected to step down and resume his former position as Sous Chef due to personal reasons and the Club has hired a new Executive Chef. GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT: Ed Rodgers reported on operations. July is the first month of the new fiscal year and revenues exceeded budget by $8K but experienced increased expenses of approximately $10K. The variances in expenses were discussed and the consensus of the Board was that the membership dues line item is the area to be focused on for the coming six months. Growing the membership is the best and most practical solution. The Board discussed the results of the recent Annual Member Survey. Overall, the survey results were very positive. Response rate was 42.5% which is the norm for us. Member experience stayed above 4.0 and 98% of the membership would recommend the club to a friend. Statistically, we rated 78 items 62 went up from last year, 15 went down and one remained unchanged. Of the items that went down, the changes were minuscule with drops in the hundredths of points. Casual dining was much improved over past surveys and the performance of the F&B operation was the best in the last six years. Golf operations continued to post the highest ratings in the club. The golf course rating actually went up from a year ago and are back to previous levels. The Mexican tile floor in the main lobby and hallways has been replaced. We still have some minor items to finish. The Snack Bar upgrades are scheduled to take place over the next couple of weeks and should be finished by mid-october. Tennis upgrades are nearly complete. The facility is much improved with new restrooms and member area. Member response has been very positive. Restoration of the golf course is moving along on schedule. A review of all invoices and outstanding work indicate that the project will come in on budget. Everything is grassed and we are on schedule to reopen on November 1 st. Lepanto will continue a presence on site through September to do repair work and bridges. The work to repave the parking lot is out to bid. We are exploring the possibility of realigning the front entrance to allow for better flow of traffic including truck traffic and delivers. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Finance Committee: The Finance Committee did not meet this month. The July financials were distributed prior to the meeting and reviewed by the Board.
Membership totals at the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year have dipped to the lowest level since 2012. We have 6 reservation pending for the re-opening but the Club has retained Priority Marketing to assist in the development and implementation of a marketing plan to add twenty new members in the coming year. Memberships / Players Update: As of: 6/01/2017 7/01/2017 8/01/2017 o Founder Family: 93 186 92 184 92 184 o Founder Under 30: 1 2 1 2 1 2 o Founder Under 40: 3 4 3 4 3 4 o Founder Single: 172 172 171 171 171 171 o Associate Family: 3 6 3 6 3 6 o Associate Single: 61 61 61 61 61 61 o Heritage: 8 8 8 8 8 8 Total Players 341 439 341 436 341 436 o Sports: 140 125 126 o Social: 45 43 43 Green Committee: No meeting this month. Golf Committee: No meeting this month. House Committee: Minutes of the House Committee meeting were distributed prior to the meeting. Mr. Weisberg provided a brief update on the status of the restaurant operation and the proposed server training program. By-Laws/Long Range Planning Committee: No meeting this month. Tennis Committee: No meeting this month. Employee Relations: No meeting this month. OLD BUSINESS: There was no Old Business. NEW BUSINESS: There were several items discussed under new business. There was one capital request from F&B to replace the hot-well steam table unit at a cost of $3,739.05. The item is budgeted in the 2017-18 capital plan. Motion: Mr. Saft moves to approve the purchase of the hot-well replacement unit at a cost of $3,739.05. Mrs. Schramm seconded. All in favor. Motion passes. The Board reviewed and approved the marketing plan for the reopening. The total cost of the program presented by Priority Marketing totals $37,350 and is budgeted in the
2017-18 operating budget. The Board discussed at length the first draft of the Club Culture statement developed by Chris Black after the Strategic Planning Session in April. The consensus of the directors was that this draft is a great start. The primary focus of the statement was golf and excluded both f&b and tennis. It was decided that tennis would develop their own culture statement at some point in the future. MEETING ADJOURNED: Meeting adjourned at 2:05 pm. EXECUTIVE SESSION: No Executive Session Next Board Meeting: The next Board of Directors Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at 12:30. Respectfully submitted by: Steve Weisberg, Secretary