Golf course profitable despite setbacks, Lynnwood Link kicks off

image (2)
Paul Krauss (left) and David Kleitsch (right) address council.

Despite limited parking space, irrigation equipment failure and major traffic disruptions, the city’s golf course had a second successful revenue year, thanks to Mother Nature and management by Premier Golf Centers (PGC).

Bill Schickler, president of PGC, presented council with the Lynnwood Municipal Golf Course’s annual report and verified that revenue from the Lynnwood Municipal Golf Course in 2015 was up 9 percent, or $97,000, over 2014 with net income at $470,282. Schickler was accompanied by Matt Amundson, operations director and Beth Hagen, chief financial officer.

The budgeted net income was $522,069, but Schickler estimated that up to $100,000 of revenue may have been lost due to road construction at the golf course entrance and the 90-plus days the course was impacted by irrigation equipment failure.

“Had it not been for those two factors, we would certainly have exceeded budget,” Schickler said. “Seeing that revenues were not meeting plans, we tightly controlled expenses and brought them in at 12 percent below budget.”

The stellar summer weather last year also helped mitigate the setbacks, he said.

“It was the first year in about six years that we had favorable golf weather. We outperformed the market,” he said.

image (3)
Mayor Nicola Smith, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts director Lynn Sordel, president of Premier Golf Bill Schickle,  Premier Golf director of operations Matt Amundson and Premier Golf chief financial officer Beth Hagen (left to right) address council.

Despite one of the wettest starts of the year in recorded history, Schickler said he expected similarly positive budget numbers for 2016 now that a delayed parking expansion is ready to go forward.

“Limited parking continues to be a major obstacle to achieving greater revenue and profits,” Schickler said. “Fortunately, you have approved the parking expansion project, which is now in the early planning stages.”

“Parking requires the (Edmonds Community) College’s consent because of the location,” said Lynn Sordel, parks director. He explained that the college had not been able to fix on an appropriate site for the expansion until recently, but had been supplying the city with 45-50 spaces for the golf course over the last two summers.

Appropriating funding was another factor for the college, said Schickle.

“We’ve had really good help there. We’re also working on a new agreement for leasing (parking) for the golf course,” Sordel said. He added that the new parking area will be in the “grassy area in front of the Pro Shop.”

Council President M. Christopher Boyer commended PGC and gave the newly elected city council members a brief history of the golf course.

“Before our partnership with Premier Golf Management, the Lynnwood course was not financially healthy,” Boyer said. “Now it is not only supporting its own operations, it is in a position to return money to the general fund that had been borrowed previously.”

“It’s also the first time we were able to make a payment to the college, something we hadn’t been able to do during the entire previous life of the course,” he said.

The council also heard an update by Economic Development Director David Kleitsch and Community Development Director Paul Krauss on the Lynnwood Link Extension (LLE) Project.

The city has been working with Sound Transit on the project since 2008 and is getting to the point where “we have 30 percent of the construction documents,” said Kleitsch. Discussions between Sound Transit and the city on general provisions to guide the project forward have resulted in a non-binding term sheet he described as a “high-level guideline” that identifies considerations to be addressed.

City residents can look forward to a solid public process on the LLE as part of the mayor’s community outreach plan, including multiple open houses and public hearings, Kleitsch said.

According to a related memo sent to the council by Kleitsch and Krauss, the LLE will provide riders with a 28-minute ride to and from downtown Seattle, with construction expected to begin in 2018 and service in 2023. The memo also states that “Sound Transit will construct elevated track within Washington State Department of Transportation, City of Lynnwood and private right of way, an elevated light rail station with a mezzanine adjacent to the Lynnwood Transit Center and a multi-story parking garage adding approximately 500 new spaces.”

As the City Council concluded the evening with liaison reports and comments, Council member George Hurst re-addressed public comments raised during last week’s session over misconduct reported at the Diversity Commission’s November meeting.

Hurst said he was present at the meeting and felt that former commissioner Ty Tufono had indeed personally offended a public citizen who came to comment, as well as 2015 Diversity Commission Chair, Rosamaria Graziani.

“I don’t know what happened,” Hurst said, “it was a demeaning attack. It really concerned me and I walked away thinking I would never let that commissioner serve on another board or represent the city. It wasn’t a good experience.”

Tufono has not responded to repeated attempts by Lynnwood Today to contact her for her side of the story.

–Photos and story by Karen Law

  1. Thanks for reporting that Council member Hurst validated the Latino community’s sentiments about former Commissioner Tufono.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.