Golfers want their coffee, and a controversy’s brewing over the cost of providing it.
Efforts to calm the dark, aromatic waters led First Selectman Rudy Marconi to pull a discussion of the town golf course’s food concession agreement from the agenda of the Sept. 3 selectmen’s meeting.
“The time to open the concession stand is the issue,” Mr. Marconi said.
The problem was expressed in an e-mail circulating among golfers last week.
“All of you,” it said, “…have had early morning tee times on the weekend or have attended the tee-time lottery and have either been subjected to starting your round of golf without having the benefit of restaurant services or sitting there at the lottery as we did yesterday with a coffee urn sitting on the counter filled only with cold water and not even turned on.
“Most of the time, restaurant services are not available until almost 7:30 each morning. During the summer almost half the morning golfers are without restaurant services.”
Henry Seemann, a dentist and regular golfer at the course who took over ownership of the food concession this year, had asked to be on the selectmen’s agenda last week. He wanted to talk about the concession agreement with the town.
Mr. Marconi told last Wednesday night’s meeting the item had been pulled.
“We’re having meetings with Henry,” he later explained.
“The concession agreement basically says the concession facility should be open through the early morning tee times.
“If your tee time is 7, you should be able to get there at 6:30 and have a cup of coffee,” Mr. Marconi said.
But providing those early morning services has a cost.
“To pay for an individual from 6 to 10 every morning is an expense that is making a financially successful operation difficult,” Mr. Marconi said.
“To have someone there seven days a week for four hours — it’s expensive.”
This was the subject Dr. Seemann wanted to discuss.
“He suggested possibly a coffee vending machine,” Mr. Marconi said.
A consideration from the town’s viewpoint is keeping the flow of income steady at the course itself, which provides the town with more then $1.2 million a year in revenue.
There’s been a nationwide cooling of the golf trend, and the number of Ridgefielders who are golf course members has fallen from 2,600 to about 1,900 in recent years, Mr. Marconi said.
But town course golf pro Frank Sergiovanni has maintained revenues fairly well. Part of his effort has been to increase play by out-of-town golfers, who pay more.
“The Golf Committee feels that if we want to maintain the consistency of revenues, we can’t afford to compromise on any of our amenities,” Mr. Marconi said, “such as the availability of coffee and sandwiches in the early morning.”