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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-19 Minutes MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON NEWCASTLE COMMUNITY HALL BOARD Meeting of the Newcastle Community Hall Board on March 19,2013 at 7 pm in the Council Chambers. Present Were: B. Carmichael S. Rogers W. Woo(councillor) S. DeJong W. Partner(councillor) G. Bell(secretary) Regrets From: C. Abraham(chair) P. DeJong As Chair Cathy Abraham was absent Shirley Rogers filled in as chair. Alan Tibbles—COAA Bowling League Alan Tibbles presented on behalf leagues that will no longer have a bowling alley due to the closure of Liberty Bowl this coming April. See attached presentation and proposal. Newcastle Bowling Association Dorella Lancaster-Forget and Greg Forget represented the Newcastle Bowling Association. Copies of above presentation were given to them to go over and report back to the board in April with comments and concerns. Detailed financials for 2012 were requested. Association is made of 3 members—Dorella Lancaster-Forget, Greg Forget and Faye Forget Proposed spending$100.00 to have Pat Haggerty(bowling lane expert)inspect lanes and give quote on cost to refinish. Will meet with NBA at 6:30 on April 16 2013 to discuss further. MINUTES 1.1 Motion by S. DeJong, seconded by B. Carmichael That minutes of February 2013 be accepted as circulated. "Carried" BUSINESS ARISING 2.1 Ladders that did not pass inspection have been sold for$140.00. Three new ladders to meet commercial requirements have been purchased from Rona Hardware. Thank you Sierd for taking care of this. 2.2 Moving of office furniture will be done next week by Steve Fogg and Glenn Kimbal. 2.3 Cathy Abraham will be arranging to give Librarians tour of building. 2.4 Carpeting of main hall was discussed. It has become a maintenance issue due to staining and seams coming apart. Suggested hardwood instead of carpeting. B. Carmichael would also like to look at replacing railing with something more in character with the room. B. Carmichael will obtain 3 quotes on flooring. 2.5 Chairs—chairs have been repaired at a cost of$90.00. Back of trolley will have a brace put on it to prevent further damage. 2.6 Steve Fogg looking into purchase of snow blower and storage of same. 1 FINANCIAL REPORT 3.1 Motion by S. DeJong, seconded by W. Woo That financial report is accepted as presented. "Carried" BILLS 4.1 Motion by B. Carmichael, seconded by W. Partner That bills for supervision$150.00 be paid as presented. "Carried" CORRESPONDENCE 5.1 Memo from Director of Operations received for information 5.2 PAD invitation to Annual Meeting on April 2 2013—received for information 5.3 Village Concerts sponsor letter received from committee for our files 5.4 Received request from Apple Tree Dentistry to use parking lot on June 2 to have thank you event in the parking lot i.e.bbq,activities,give aways. Refer to Operations Dept to see if we are allowed to use parking lot in this way. HEALTH& SAFETY 6.1 Inspection Report received—copy to be forwarded to Operations Dept. FUNDRAISING REPORT 7.1 -Hotel California tickets SOLD OUT - 90%paid tickets - 4 students from Clarington Central will assist with serving - Newcastle House will be preparing munchies - Lions Club of Newcastle has sponsored concert$1000.00 - Will be handing out flyers with future events being held at the hall. NEW BUSINESS 8.1 Quote from Moore Electric for additional work requested by Model Train Club. Quote is just over $800.00 Model Train will pay 50%. It was agreed by board that even 50%of quote is too high for Board to contribute at this time. Budget for 2013 has already been submitted. Secretary to contact Moore to see if they can bring the price down. 8.2 G. Bell informed board she would be off on vacation for one week March 23 to April 2 8.3 S. DeJong talked with Barr Roofing to take a look at butcher block tables in kitchen for quote on covering them in stainless steel. Secretary to follow up. 8.4 Discussed painting of cupboards and replacing countertops. Board agreed to go ahead with painting of cupboards but hold off on countertops until we hear back from Operations Dept. 8.5 W. Partner announced"In The Face of An Angel" golf tournament at Archibald's Winery on May 26 2013. Cost is$80.00/golfer. Raised$8500.00 for ovarian cancer in 2012. ADJOURNED 9:10 PM 2 Paae 1 of 3 Gabrielle Bell From: "alantibbles"<alantibbles @rogers.com> To: <cornmunityha11 @newcastle.on.ca> Sent: February-25-13 5:39 PM Subject: New Bowling Leagues-Attention Gabrielle Beii Gabrielle: I am a member of the bowling committee of the Clarington Older Adults Association(COAA)and,as a result of the impending closure of the Liberty Bowl in Bowmanville,I am charged with finding another facility for our bowlers. To be honest,most of us were unaware that there was an alley in Newcastle and so our attention was focused almost exclusively on moving to NEB5 in Oshawa. However,NEBS is a bit too for for most of our bowlers to travel,a bit too expensive and, frankly,a bit too"big and brash"for our needs. So,when we learned about the Newcastle bowl,it seemed like a perfect solution. While COAA was examining its future bowling options,several other leagues were also in the some position but they were having less luck in finding an alternative.It turns out there are at least 5 leagues(including COAA)representing 140 bowlers looking for facilities.Four of these leagues require weekday,daytime facilities while one is an evening league. Rather than each group attempting to negotiate facilities individually,they have asked me to represent them collectively_ Having giving this a lot of thought,I believe there is a way to accommodate everyone's needs,and generate between $14,000 and$15,000 annual net profit for the Hall. This will be from new business alone and does not include any existing revenues from NBA. These are the challenges that I believe my solution will address: L There are only 4 lanes at Newcastle as opposed to 12 lanes at Bowmanville. This makes things difficult but not impossible. For example,COAA,which currently uses 10 lanes for 50 bowlers,will need to reduce the number of bowlers to 40 and divide them into two afternoon sessions(lpm to 2:30pm and 2:45pm to 4:15pm). Other leagues are in a similar position. COAA was initially told that Thursday afternoon was not open because Newcastle Bowling Association(NBA)does not have anyone available to operate the lanes at that time. I offered to help in this regard but that became unnecessary because NBA later agreed to operate the Thursday afternoon sessions. However,while COAA's needs appear to be fulfilled,the indication is that the facility will likely not be open for the other leagues because the current operator is not available to run the lanes during the daytimes_ 2. The second problem concerns the lanes themselves. They are in poor condition and we were initially told that they may not last much longer. There was also some suggestion that the cost of resurfacing the lanes(NBA estimates $30,000)was prohibitive and,therefore,there was a chance that the lanes may be closed. 3. A third problem relates to the current schedule for open bowling on Tuesday evenings. This is the time when"walk- ins"can rent lanes for social bowling but it is also the time when people involved with the leagues can"bowl-off". With only 4 lanes available,someone wishing to bowl-off has to call ahead to ensure a lane will be available.Given that the NBA leagues only represents about 65 bowlers,this is a manageable problem. However,if we bring in another 150 bowlers,the current open bowl slot will not be adequate. A couple of daytime open-bowling slots will be needed, which further adds to the problems described in point 1.above. The prices currently paid for league bowling at Liberty Bowl is significantly more that the charges at Newcastle. Therefore,I have adjusted the rates to more reasonably reflect the situation. Based upon this,I project a gross income per season of$24,300(Iane charges,shoe rental and refreshments).I have estimated the cost of operation at about $9,000- This assumes paying lane operators at minimum wage($10.25 per hour)and includes cleaning,marketing for new opportunities,bookkeeping,banking and also time needed to run additional open bowl sessions during the daytime. Assuming negotiations with these leagues is successful,I predict a net operating profit from these new leagues alone of approximately$15,000 per season(September through April).Furthermore,I believe there is an opportunity to attract new leagues to the facility if daytime bowling is supported. The demographics of the 5 new leagues is as follows: 12/03/2013 Page 2 of 3 COAA Thursday afternoon early session 20 bowlers 2 games COAA Thursday afternoon late session 20 bowlers 2 games MM Ladies Thursday morning(times to be determined) 20 bowlers 2games Tuesday Women* Tuesday evening early session(times to be determined) 20 bowlers 3 games Tuesday Women't Tuesday evening late session(times to be determined) 20 bowlers 3 games ML Ladies Wednesday(times to be determined) 20 bowlers 2games Young adults Any daytime(times to be determined) 20 bowlers 2games The date conflict is recognized and is negotiable Most bowling leagues finish their season in April,After that,members disperse and don't reassemble until the new season starts in September.Therefore it is critical for each league to know what their plans for next season are,long before their bowlers disappear for the summer.Therefore,on their behalf,I am respectfully requesting a decision from the Hall as soon as possible but not later than the end of March with regard to whether our leagues'requirements can be accommodated for an initial twelve month period,commencing September 2013. I will be happy to act as an intermediary on the leagues'behalf to discuss/negotiate alternative times,dates,etc.at your convenience. I fully understand the current situation and the difficulties that supporting our needs is putting upon both the facility and the NBA. Nevertheless,with the closing of Liberty Bowl,the community is losing a significant recreational venue and a large number of Clarington residents will,if nothing else is available,take their business to Oshawa. We have a unique and largely unused facility in Newcastle and I feel strongly that every effort should be made to keep this business within our community.At the some time,greatly increased revenue will be generated to help maintain this wonderful asset.Therefore, I am presenting the following for your consideration. In my opinion,it provides a win-win solution for all-the Hall,NBA and the new leagues. • The status quo will be maintained with NBA. Nothing will change,including the annual lease.They will continue to operate,and continue to be responsible for only the bowling that they currently support. • A new bowling organization will be maintained by and for the Hall,to operate the alley for the new leagues: • All income,after expenses,will be returned to the Hall. • The prime goal of the organization is to maximize the Monday to Friday,gam to 5pm window of revenue opportunity. • The administrator of the organization will provide reports_statistical,financial,etc.-on a regular basis to the Hall. • All shoe rental revenues gathered by the organization will be given to NBA(on the assumption that the shoes are owned by NBA). • The organization will not retain any prof it,therefore it will not pay any rent. • bay-to-day expenses for cleaning,small repair costs,printing,etc.,will be taken out of rental earnings at source and with receipts. • Lane operating costs(the hourly minimum wage)will be invoiced weekly or bi-weekly by the individuals to the Hall. This will remove any responsibilities for tax,EI,etc.from the Hall. Hourly paid people will be expected to declare their income privately. • Costs of repairs to pin setting equipment will be pro-rated across the NBA and the organization based upon the number of league bowlers. For example,if NBA has 60 league bowlers and the organization has 140,then NBA will pay 30%of all repairs and the organization(in effect,the Hall)will pay 70%.Refreshment sales and costs will be divided similarly.Spare parts that have been bought by the NBA in the past will be paid for by the Hall,when and if they are used and at a fair market price. • The organization will use experienced,part-time(and soon to be unemployed)operators currently used by, Liberty Bowl.These operators will be paid at the same rate as that used by NBA(minimum wage,$10.25 per hour). • The organization will undertake to assume full accountability and responsibility for the facility while their leagues are present. • The NBA and the organization will be allowed to bring in new leagues at any time,providing it does not conflict with each other's or the Hail's schedule. 12/03/2013 Page 3 of 3 o The organization will create some additional open-bawling time slots during the day. These will be open to anyone. including NBA league bowlers wishing to bowl off. Similarly,the NBA open bowl will be open to the organization's league bowlers. A process will be developed to make sure that league bowlers'bowl-off payments are appropriately accounted. o It is assumed that the Hall maintains liability insurance,so this is not considered to be a responsibility of the organization. o The organization may be dissolved at any time by the Hall. • The Hall will agree to use part of the profits from the first year's operation of the organization to pay for the lanes to be refinished in the summer of 2014. Refinishing involves sanding the lanes level with special equipment,repairing and filling holes and applying protective coatings to protect the surface. Costs for this have been estimated at between$1,000 and $1,200 per lane(quotation provided by Pat Haggerty,owner of Striker Bowl Inc and verified by the current owner of Liberty Bowl). This is seen as an interim(perhaps 3-5 years)solution_ A longer-term,and more expensive solution,as suggested by NBA,will become necessary if both the NBA and the organization succeed in expanding usage of the facility during the interim period. However,the greatly increased profits will more than cover larger renovations. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely Alan Tibbles 905-623-4348 12/03/2013 Good evening: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to present my proposal to you for a new daytime bowling set-up in the Newcastle Community Hall. First let me introduce myself. My name is Alan Tibbles and I'm from Bowmanville where my wife and I have lived for nearly 40 years. I'm retired after a long career in the Information Technology business having worked in numerous senior positions with banks,trust companies and IBM. I've been involved with bowling from a recreational standpoint for many years and I've run a couple of bowling leagues both in Bowmanville and in Toronto. I formally represent the bowling needs of the Clarington Older Adults Association which is looking to find an alternative location for next season, now that the Liberty Bowl in Bowmanville is closing in April. Informally, I am representing 4 other leagues in a similar position. The total number of bowlers I'm representing is approximately 140. With only one exception, these all require weekday, daytime facilities. Currently, the only real alternative we have is Nebs bowling alley located at Taunton and Wilson in north Oshawa. For most of us, this is not convenient for a number of reasons. First, most of us are seniors and we don't relish the idea of a 25 minute drive each way, in the winter to bowl for 1.5 hours. Second, Nebs is a bit big and brash for us. They have just expanded again from 48 to 52 lanes of 5-pin bowling and, while the facility is terrific, it's really designed for younger people. I'm also aware of a couple of small leagues in the Courtice area that use Nebs but might be interested in moving to a more convenient and more cosy atmosphere such as that available at Newcastle. I made my proposal (and I believe you all have a copy) because I gathered, after speaking with Dorella of the Newcastle Bowling Association, that daytime bowling (with a few exceptions) was not really available for other leagues for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, I was given to understand that the future of bowling at the Hall was in doubt because of the need to do expensive renovations to the existing lanes. With this in mind and after extensive consultation with Nancy Evans (the co- owner of Liberty Bowl), Pat Haggerty, owner of Striker Bowling Solutions (Canada's largest supplier of bowling lanes, equipment, and services) and 4 other bowling leagues, I am convinced that we can provide weekday, daytime facilities starting in September that will yield, at minimum, $14,000 net profit for Newcastle Community Hall per season and which will allow the Newcastle Bowling Association to continue with their existing arrangements. Let me stress that I have absolutely no interest in changing the arrangement that you have with Dorella and the NBA. My proposal is simply to provide additional daytime bowling for local residents. At Newcastle Community Hall. All expenses and operating costs would come from the revenue generated. Any operating staff will be compensated at minimum wage and will provide the same types of management services as currently provided by NBA (custodianship and supervision of the alleys, cleaning, small repairs, collection of bowling fees, etc.) In addition, they will also strive to maximize the daytime rental opportunities in order to increase revenues for the Hall. My proposal will make one change to the current structure with NBA. At present NBA pays for repairs. I am suggesting that repairs will be on a shared basis using a pro-rated formula. So, for example, if the new side of the business brings in 140 bowlers and NBA has 80, the new side pays 63% and NBA pays 37%. The same formula would apply to the cost of purchases for supplies — score sheets, shoes, pens, balls, etc. Currently, NBA operates an "open bowl" on Tuesday evenings where non- league bowlers can use the facility on a fee-per-game basis. This time is also used for league bowlers to "bowl off". If we bring in an additional 140 bowlers, clearly the Tuesday evening facility will not be enough. Therefore, I have allowed for additional bowl-off periods during the daytime throughout the week and the cost of operating these bowl-off times has already been allowed for in my proposal. However, I have not provided any estimates of additional income from opportunities such as daytime rentals for parties — "pizza and bowl" lunches, kids birthday parties, etc. nor for any income opportunities that may arise in late April or May after the leagues have finished. With regards to the major issue relating to the condition of the lanes themselves, the cost of a full resurfacing (which means laying a new synthetic surface on top of the existing lanes) has been quoted in the range of $25- $30,000. However, this does not make any business sense at this time because current income cannot support nor justify such an expense. Clearly, the first thing we have to do is to prove that the business is there and that we can earn enough to not only pay for on-going renovations but also to provide a steady income stream for the Hall. My proposal, therefore, is to run the daytime bowling for one season which, as you will see from my spreadsheet, will bring in a gross income of over $24,000 and a net profit of about $14,000. Then, I would propose that we have the lanes temporarily overhauled — sanded, leveled and refinished — at a cost of $4-$5,000. This could be done in the summer of 2014 and will sustain the alleys for probably a further 4 years after which we could re-evaluate the benefits and costs of a full resurfacing exercise. If necessary, Striker Bowling Solutions is prepared to do a complete on sight "survey" of the lanes for$100. This would provide a confirmation that the lanes are sustainable. I really hate to see income leaving the municipality when, with a few minor changes to the status quo, we can keep it in our town. Secondly, I think the loss of such an important recreational facility such as Liberty Bowl is sad and we should do everything we can to provide local alternatives. Finally, there's the historic value of this little known gem in the basement which will die from neglect unless something is done to preserve it. In conclusion, I think we all need to realize that this golden opportunity will disappear as we get closer to the start of bowling for next season which starts in September. All the leagues I represent need to know where they are going and need to make their decisions by the middle of August at the very latest. Once they've moved to Nebs the chances of getting them back is remote. Thank you for listening and if there are any questions I'd be pleased to answer them, Alan Tibbles Notes Note 1 This is based upon a league rate of$2.50 per game, per bowler and$1 per session for shoe rental. The non-league rate per game would be$3 per game, The only exception is for the Handicapped Adults where the charge is$2 per Note 2 This is based upon selling pop and coffee at$1.25 each, There will be 140 bowlers so 1 have assumed we should be able to make 80 sales per week. Note 3 This assumes paying$10.25 per hour for operating staff and assuming that these people will do clean-up afterwards, open up 30 minutes before bowlers arrive, 30 minutes after bowlers leave. Note 4 This will cover for time spent doing all administrative functions such as marketing, purchasing, bookkeeping, bank deposits, staff administration and day-to-day repairs. Note 5 There is a "no show"rate in all bowling alleys where bowlers have not"banked"or"bowled off", It's reasonable to allow for a 5%contingency. Note 6 Presently, open bowling (for the public), is limited to one evening per week(Thursday 6pm until 8pm). If there are 140 new bowlers, this will be insufficient to accommodate walk-ins and league bowlers wishing to bowl off. Therefore, additional daytime or evening open bowl times will be required. However, this should bring additional revenue. Lanes Estimates provided by Striker Bowl (Pat Haggerty) Price from-to Sanding and refinishing(recommended) $1,000 - $1,200 per lane Resurfacing(new synthetic surface applied on top of existing wood) $5,000 - $7,000 per lane 1 Revenue projection for Newcastle Bowling Alley with 5 new leagues Name of League Day Times Bowlers Carnes Revenue Comments Rental Shoes C.O.A.A. Early shift Thurs 1:00 to 2 30 20 2 $100 $10 Confirmed. Late shift Thurs 2:45 to 4 95 20 2 $100 $10 MM Ladies Thurs TBD to TBD 20 2 $100 $8 Strongly interested but we may have Cate flexiblel to change the day Tuesday women Early shift Tues 6:3C�,—to 8:30, 20 3 $150 $8 Strongly interested.Will have to split .Late shift Tues 8:3 to 14:3 - 24 3 $154 $8 into two shifts. ML Ladies Wed TBD to TBD 20 2 $100 $8 Strongly interested. Handicapped Adults Date:flexible TBD to TBD 20 2 $40 n/c Strongly interested. Weekly bowling revenues $740 $52 See Note l below Weekly refreshment sales $100 See Note 2 below Weekly operating expenses(staff) $2a' See Note 3 below Weekly management cost -$100 See Note 4 below Net profit/loss per week $667 Number of weeks(max 29) 27 Total annual profitlloss $15,309 Less"no show"contingency(5%) $14,544 See Note 5 below Existing costslrevenues Tease assts removed): Income from bowling-(guess) $11,000 Miscellaneous income(parties, refreshments, etc)-guess $1,000 `C\C\\L Operating/management costs-(guess) -$5,000 Repairs,supplies,cleaning,etc.-(guess) -$5,900 Net profitlloss $1,100 Assume 33%revenue increase $3,960 Assume 10%costs increase(additional repairs) -$590 New net profit/loss $4,470 Combined existinglnew profit/loss F $19,779 See Note 6 below