After providing food and beverage service at the 18-hole golf course for three years, Mother’s Café isn’t necessarily going to be operating at that location in the future.
To entertain concessionaire proposals from other providers, the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District had to notify Laurie Emmer that her agreement with the district would be terminated when her current contract expires at the end of the year.
After reviewing a proposal from Emmer, the board voted to take that action at their Oct. 21 meeting.
First discussions about the contract began in September, when the board was reminded that the current contract requires written notice of termination between Oct. 1 and Nov. 10 if the board wanted to evaluate additional concessionaire proposals.
At that time, board members expressed concerns about the limited availability of the beverage cart and the restaurant’s inconsistent hours, stating that they believed the restaurant should operate on the same schedule as the golf course. The current agreement calls for the restaurant to be open until 5 p.m. daily.
No formal action was taken at that time; however, the board requested that the information be relayed to Emmer and that she be given the opportunity to submit a proposal for the coming years.
The proposal Emmer submitted for future years called for the restaurant to be open Friday through Monday from 7 a.m.to 7 p.m., with operating hours from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the other days of the week. The proposal also called for beverage cart operations to be from 10 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m.
Also included in Emmer’s proposal was a request to lower the profit-sharing arrangement with EVRPD. The current contract stipulates that the district is entitled to receive 18 percent of the restaurant’s gross profits. In future years, Emmer requested that it be changed to 9 percent.
The district is responsible for paying utilities and maintaining the facility, including repairs to the restaurant and kitchen, as well as purchasing any requested kitchen equipment. The concessionaire pays a portion of trash service costs but no lease fees.
“It was exactly what the board did not ask for,” said board member Derek Vinge.
While acknowledging that Emmer said business during afternoons and evenings was limited, “if you’re not open, you don’t see numbers coming in,” said Tom Carosello, executive director of EVRPD.
In her proposal summary, Emmer said, “Mother’s Café is grateful for the partnership with the recreation district and golf staff.” Further, she said she viewed the “relationship as positive, communicative, and mutually beneficial.”
Emmer is welcome to respond to the request for proposal for concessionaire services when the document is released in the next two weeks, Carosello said.