Does anyone else get the impression the rookie Town Manager is going overboard to keep our famished White Elephant under town control?
Town Meeting “strongly urges” the Select Board to put out an RFP for Cherry Hill by “no later than August, 2006.” The town manager finally gets around to it on March 1’st, 2007; and according to state bidding law the offer requires a minimum of two weeks public notice.
In 2004 when the previous town manager put Cherry Hill out to bid he did so with two months notice.
One little ad in the legal section of the Daily Hampshire Gazette (exactly two weeks from response deadline) and placement on the town web page is hardly maximum exposure.
Plus the first RFP was written requiring a bidder to show up at the Clubhouse for a conference a week before bid deadline, otherwise you couldn’t bid. Thus the two-week notice was really only one-week notice.
So I called him on it (strike one) and Mr. Shaffer reissues a second RFP. Niblick Management responds with a $5,000 offer plus an additional $25,000 to $30,000 annual Payment In Lieu of Taxes.
The town manger instantly rejects it because, although he approved the RFP documents, somehow he forgot that the property tax payment was included and reported to the Select board only the $5,000.
Then when I call him on that (strike two) he “reconsiders” the deal; but then rejects it because Niblick, not surprisingly, wants a three-year deal.
Strike three!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Take the deal or take a hike
The Amherst town manager wants residents to dig down deep to absorb a $2.5 million tax Override because it’s a “three year plan” as opposed to all the previous Overrides that were only "one year solutions", yet he summarily rejects a private offer to remove a debilitating Vampire that has been sucking the town treasury dry for its entire municipal existence because the golf contract called for a “three year plan”.
In fiscal years 2004,2005, and 2006 Cherry Hill Golf Course squandered $282,8755 in taxes on operational losses. If, however, the Niblick Management three-year contract been in effect back then Amherst would have reaped over $100,000 in profit. A six-digit gain replacing six-digit losses is a tremendous turnaround.
Town Meeting voted last June to “strongly urge” the Select board to put the floundering golf business out to bid. Why did the town manger hastily reject this offer without consulting Town Meeting or even our diffident Finance Committee?
In 2005 the Select board and Town Meeting approved a lease with Verizon for a cell tower at the Ruxton Gravel pit for $20,000 in annual rent. The term of the lease was twenty years.
In 2003 the Select board and long-time town manger Barry Del Castilho entered into his final contract before retirement...a three-year deal. In 2003 when Mark Harpo Power was bequeathed the no-bid, concession contract at Cherry Hill (for well below market rate), it too, was a three-year deal.
Why would a businessperson expend “blood, sweat, toil and tears” not too mention capital on a dying business when only one year later the town can tell him to take a hike?
According the to 2004 Annual Town Report: “The Finance Committee concluded that the Town should no longer operate the Cherry Hill Golf Course. Instead, request for proposals for outside management should be put out by the Fall of 2004. If this is not done the course should be closed.”
It’s time to renew that ultimatum and take this deal or close it down. And if this is any indication of the town manager’s day-to-day managerial acumen, perhaps the Select board should rethink his contract.
In fiscal years 2004,2005, and 2006 Cherry Hill Golf Course squandered $282,8755 in taxes on operational losses. If, however, the Niblick Management three-year contract been in effect back then Amherst would have reaped over $100,000 in profit. A six-digit gain replacing six-digit losses is a tremendous turnaround.
Town Meeting voted last June to “strongly urge” the Select board to put the floundering golf business out to bid. Why did the town manger hastily reject this offer without consulting Town Meeting or even our diffident Finance Committee?
In 2005 the Select board and Town Meeting approved a lease with Verizon for a cell tower at the Ruxton Gravel pit for $20,000 in annual rent. The term of the lease was twenty years.
In 2003 the Select board and long-time town manger Barry Del Castilho entered into his final contract before retirement...a three-year deal. In 2003 when Mark Harpo Power was bequeathed the no-bid, concession contract at Cherry Hill (for well below market rate), it too, was a three-year deal.
Why would a businessperson expend “blood, sweat, toil and tears” not too mention capital on a dying business when only one year later the town can tell him to take a hike?
According the to 2004 Annual Town Report: “The Finance Committee concluded that the Town should no longer operate the Cherry Hill Golf Course. Instead, request for proposals for outside management should be put out by the Fall of 2004. If this is not done the course should be closed.”
It’s time to renew that ultimatum and take this deal or close it down. And if this is any indication of the town manager’s day-to-day managerial acumen, perhaps the Select board should rethink his contract.
Monday, April 9, 2007
His Lordship responds (sort of)
Rookie Select board Chair, Gerry Weiss responded to my Cherry Hill challenge to the (still-hiding-under-his-desk) Town Manager.
From: gerryweiss@comcast.net
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 7:41 AM
Subject: And if you had taken my bet last year you would have lost
Larry read it correctly. The bidder meant to bid $5000.
From: amherstac@aol.com
To: gerryweiss@comcast.net
Sent: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 8:41 AM
PLUS taxes, plus liquor license. I read the contract and gee, I've only been in business for 25 years. Maybe you should read the contract. And if he was that naive and doesn't know how to read a contract then why did he tell the Gazette (twice now) that he fully expected to pay $30,000 in additional taxes?
And he also bid $5,000 fully expecting to pay somebody else $15,000 in fertilizer, and somebody else $7,000 in electricity and $10,000 in advertising, and so on and so on. Quite frankly I think he's out of his mind (even if it were only $5,000)
From: gerryweiss@comcast.net
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 7:41 AM
Subject: And if you had taken my bet last year you would have lost
Larry read it correctly. The bidder meant to bid $5000.
From: amherstac@aol.com
To: gerryweiss@comcast.net
Sent: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 8:41 AM
PLUS taxes, plus liquor license. I read the contract and gee, I've only been in business for 25 years. Maybe you should read the contract. And if he was that naive and doesn't know how to read a contract then why did he tell the Gazette (twice now) that he fully expected to pay $30,000 in additional taxes?
And he also bid $5,000 fully expecting to pay somebody else $15,000 in fertilizer, and somebody else $7,000 in electricity and $10,000 in advertising, and so on and so on. Quite frankly I think he's out of his mind (even if it were only $5,000)
Friday, April 6, 2007
Golf Optimism? Wanna Bet!
Town manager Larry Shaffer must have shared Kool Aid from the same glass as long-time former town manger Barry Del Castilho as he has picked up that Pollyannaish plague where you constantly sing, “The sun will come out tomorrow”
On Wednesday night in an unscheduled Select board report on the Cherry Hill bid fiasco Mr. Shaffer, a.k.a. Nostradamus, issued a startling prediction.
Even though admitting current revenues are an abysmal $92,000 (last year as of April 1’st they were at $99,208) he predicts $130,000 over April, May and June for a total intake of $221,000 to $222,000.
First off, $130,000 over 3 months would be, after 20 years of operation, a new record. Last year, a very typical year, they generated $97,454 over those three months and had opened prior to April 1’st.
Thus, they were $7,000 over current revenues and finished the year at $196,667 or $10,000 under the $206,903 target. So this year, with their most experienced Manger and only full-time employee put out to pasture, they are suddenly going to perform 30% better? (Unless of course, they think he was embezzling $30,000 per year).
Interestingly according to last year’s Finance Committee report to Town Meeting Cherry Hill needs to intake, after factoring in hidden costs now shifted to other parts of the municipal budget, $220,000 to break even.
So let’s make a deal Mr. Shaffer: for every dollar OVER $220,000 (the break even point) the golf business generates I will match it as long as you, conversely, cover anything UNDER $220,000. That way taxpayers are guaranteed to break even.
It’s pretty easy—especially in Amherst--to talk the talk.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Back to back hole-in-one’s!
Anne Awad is no longer Select board Czar and the rashly rejected Cherry Hill Golf Course bid will get a second look.
Her highness was bumped from her exalted leadership position by everybody’s favorite therapist Gerry Weiss. So how does that make him feel? “I hope I deserve this chairship,” declared Gerry. Yeah, me too (I can use the target practice).
Since Mr. Weiss championed the $2.5 million Override and ran roughshod over Ms. Awad and hubby Mr. Hubley’s suggestion of a $1.5 million fallback amount, he certainly earned "this chairship." As that other Chair (Mao) might say, “Be careful what you wish for…”
So now our rookie town manager admits he didn’t carefully read his own contract and therefore didn’t realize the $5,000 bid for our starving White Elephant also included tax payments of an additional $25,000. Yikes!
Makes you wonder what other contracts he fails to carefully peruse. Like, for instance, the SAFER Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Federal grant that brought us five desperately needed firefighters 2.5 years ago.
According to that document “Grantees that do not fulfill their obligations under these grants will be considered in default and required to return the Federal funds disbursed under the grant award.” In this case the town entered into a legally binding five-year contract.
Since the town has already consumed $350,000 of the $500,000 SAFER grant on the five firefighters and would have to repay that amount, it seems a tad foolish to now threaten cutting these hard-won positions to save $80,000 (the town’s matching amount, of which half will be paid by ambulance revenues) in the next Fiscal Year.
But if you want to terrorize folks into supporting the $2.5 million Override, target both sides of the factions: scare the retired folks with no kids in the schools by threatening to cut five firefighters and two police officers, frighten parents with teacher cuts, and throw in the outdoor War Memorial pool cut to alarm the low-income residents who rely on it all summer for their kids recreation.
Nice package.
Her highness was bumped from her exalted leadership position by everybody’s favorite therapist Gerry Weiss. So how does that make him feel? “I hope I deserve this chairship,” declared Gerry. Yeah, me too (I can use the target practice).
Since Mr. Weiss championed the $2.5 million Override and ran roughshod over Ms. Awad and hubby Mr. Hubley’s suggestion of a $1.5 million fallback amount, he certainly earned "this chairship." As that other Chair (Mao) might say, “Be careful what you wish for…”
So now our rookie town manager admits he didn’t carefully read his own contract and therefore didn’t realize the $5,000 bid for our starving White Elephant also included tax payments of an additional $25,000. Yikes!
Makes you wonder what other contracts he fails to carefully peruse. Like, for instance, the SAFER Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Federal grant that brought us five desperately needed firefighters 2.5 years ago.
According to that document “Grantees that do not fulfill their obligations under these grants will be considered in default and required to return the Federal funds disbursed under the grant award.” In this case the town entered into a legally binding five-year contract.
Since the town has already consumed $350,000 of the $500,000 SAFER grant on the five firefighters and would have to repay that amount, it seems a tad foolish to now threaten cutting these hard-won positions to save $80,000 (the town’s matching amount, of which half will be paid by ambulance revenues) in the next Fiscal Year.
But if you want to terrorize folks into supporting the $2.5 million Override, target both sides of the factions: scare the retired folks with no kids in the schools by threatening to cut five firefighters and two police officers, frighten parents with teacher cuts, and throw in the outdoor War Memorial pool cut to alarm the low-income residents who rely on it all summer for their kids recreation.
Nice package.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Cherry Hill: The Plundering Continues...
According to the Cherry Hill bid documents Niblick Golf Management responded to and was summarily rejected, IN ADDITION to the $5,000 cash on the barrel offer for a one-year lease (either party can terminate after one year) the “contractor will be responsible for the payment of real estate and personal property taxes as assessed by the Town Assessor’s office.”
Last year Cherry Hill, IF it had been on the taxrolls, WOULD have paid $16,000 in real estate taxes and $6,000 in personal property taxes; thus this deal would generate an additional $24,000 in new revenues to the town.
The contract also calls for payment of the beer/wine permit, an additional $700. So that $5,000 offer is really just a downpayment towards a total of $30,000 in new annual revenue. Last year--despite optimistic predictions from town officials all year long--the golf business still lost $59,000. So had this contract been in effect then, it would have been an almost $90,000 turnaround. How many teachers, police, or firefighters is that?
In his Bid introductory statement Niblick CEO Timothy Gordon states: “We believe that our company can work with the community to relieve the town of the financial burden of operating the course, while expanding the recreational opportunities it affords residents.”
Sounds like a hole-in-one to me!
He sagaciously continues: “”The financial information made available to us shows that despite cuts in expenses, the course has yet to achieve a true profit. Your struggles with profitability have given you a window into the nature of this capital and labor intensive business.”
Three years ago, on the morning of the deadline for the last Cherry Hill RFP attempt, Town Manager Barry Del Castilho emailed the entire Select board and stated that $30,000 was the figure he had in mind as a minimum bid. But no one responded…until now:
If town officials do not resurrect this deal (of a lifetime) somebody should walk the plank!
Monday, April 2, 2007
No Golf For You!
Rather than jettison the floundering, costly albatross otherwise known as the Cherry Hill Golf Course for a guaranteed $5,000 the town will turn down that recent bid from Niblick Golf Management and continue on the steady course to another losing year costing taxpayers an easy $50,000 by Fiscal Year end (June 30”th).
Let’s see, a positive $5,000 where there had once been a minus $50,000 amounts to a $55,000 turnaround. But I guess that math is too complicated for town officials.
And we still don’t know what Danny Boy did to get himself fired (I mean forced to resign) as Golf course superintendent. Losing your ONLY full-time employee in mid season is kind of like firing the Captain of the Titanic moments after hitting the iceberg.
FORE!
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