Fairfield council backs golf-advisory board approach, asks staff to return with city-run volunteer plan

Fairfield council members directed staff to return with a formal, city-managed golf volunteer program based on the Golf Advisory Board’s recommendation, while emphasizing the need to limit legal risk and define a narrow set of de minimis benefits.

Parks and Recreation Director Christina Konzinger told the council the Touchstone Golf Foundation is dissolving and Kemper Sports — now the course manager — will not continue the foundation’s volunteer program. “If the city is proposing a city program, we would need to define the role of the volunteers … develop a waiver form … apply city policies … and then create a schedule for de minimis benefits,” Konzinger said, summarizing legal guidance staff used to craft the proposal.

Longtime volunteer marshals urged the council to preserve an ample perk package that they say has sustained the program for decades. Ron Collins, who helped start the marshal program, said it has existed since 1990 and asked the council to return oversight “to the city manager’s office like we’ve done for 36 years,” noting the marshals’ role in pace-of-play and customer service.

Marshals and regular golfers described how much they sacrifice to staff shifts and warned that steep cuts to benefits could cause turnover. “Significantly reducing the benefits to volunteers can really lead to increased turnover of the marshals, decreased morale and course degradation,” volunteer Bryce Binns said as he urged specific benefit changes to the proposed policy.

Kemper Sports’ operations vice president, James Burchall, framed the issue around fiscal stewardship. “Our job as your managers is to do the best fiscal and financial responsibility for your facilities,” he said, describing the company’s estimate of lost revenue if too many complimentary rounds are offered.

Councilmembers said they trust the Golf Advisory Board’s on-course knowledge but want a single, clear program to return for final approval. The council majority directed staff to bring back a city-managed program aligned with the GAB recommendation (including two items raised by volunteers: a volunteer scheduler at each course and a target marshal roster), paired with the legal safeguards Konzinger outlined; the item will return to the council as an action in August.

The council did not finalize benefit rates at the meeting. Staff said the proposal will include the advisory board’s detailed recommendation, legal input on de minimis benefits to mitigate FLSA risk, and an operational plan that clarifies which duties are volunteers’ versus paid staff’s.