Friday, April 30th, 2010

Construction Update

It was move in week and the building made it in place without a hitch. The temporary entrance off the highway was perfect and is all put back into place. Great job there by Mark and Doug from the Parks department!

We all wondered how they were going to move the sections onto the foundation and we soon found out.  Imagine 25,000 pounds rolling at you with only a small stop to keep it from rolling into you. When it comes to setting buildings these guys know what they are doing.

Now all that remains is for PGE to hook up the power, the plumber to attach the sewer, the concrete sidewalks to be poured, the sheet rock to be repaired, the walls to be painted the irrigation and landscape to be installed. After that we should be good to go for our first tournament!

Course Conditions
Another wet and sunny week, typical for this time of year. I am so proud of my staff for the work they have been doing. They literally treat this course as if it is their own. I cannot say enough about the great work they have and are continuing to do. The greens are in great shape and the rest of the course is following suit.

I would like to tell you about one of my staff members this week and what he does for us. Steve Pearce has been with us for over six years. I first met Steve when we worked together at Northwest Landscape Industries. He left and went to the City of Tigard and I didn't see him until he walked up to me on the sixteenth green one day and asked me for a job. He was an easy hire since, I knew he was a licensed pesticide applicator and he works about as hard as they come. Steve's job is what I would term the "Pest Manager". He plays a major role in our integrated pest management program. If you see him driving around the course with a small spray tank in the back of his cart he is spot spraying for broad leaf weeds. By treating weeds like this rather than a blanket spray we are obviously saving dollars in pesticide costs but we are also pin pointing the application and not introducing large amounts of pesticide into the environment. By doing this Steve has saved the golf course literally thousands of dollars over the years. Another important job he does is manage our underground pest population. I think the picture speaks for his success.

Lighting Project

Friday, Winner Electric completed the clubhouse portion of the Energy Trust Lighting Upgrade Project.  I really think the lights look so much better but the best thing is we will be using 1/3rd of the power and will save $3,200 the first year alone. They say when you look to become more sustainable you should look for the low hanging fruit. In this case the fruit was so ripe it was about ready to fall off the tree! Minus the Energy Trust rebate and the tax incentive the total cost of the project should be paid off in six months from the energy we are saving. A win-win project.