During the special meeting held Wednesday morning the Hamilton County supervisors announced that the staff had already been notified.

The supervisors faced a full room at the meeting held to discuss the Briggs Woods Conference Center.

But some decisions were already made.

Supervisor Rick Young opened the meeting with a summary of the origin of the facility, including the construction of the operations just off of the Briggs Woods Golf Course in 2019. He explained the meeting was to provide public information and to dispel the rumors that were circulating.

When the conference center first opened in 2019, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Its first full year of operation hitting the Covid epidemic, essentially shutting off any revenue, and all bookings canceled.

Now it’s not a disease that is impacting the conference center. It’s the governor’s 2% cap on county and city property taxes. And it’s a revenue cap that can’t sustain the full-time staff at the center.

So the Briggs Woods Conference center is not closing. But the food service operation is changing, essentially disappearing. For now. The supervisors are telling the staff that their jobs are being eliminated and they have been given 60 days notice.

“We’re making a structural change,” said April Ely. “We’re trying to figure out how we can preserve it and how to manage it.”

During the meeting, Young praised the staff, noting the condition of the building, and the reputation they have earned.

But the result is the same. There just isn’t enough volume to justify a full-time five person staff. The cost to the Hamilton County taxpayers has averaged $300,000. And with the 2% cap in place, there is no way to pay them.

John Morasco of Armstrong Consulting presented his findings to the room, which included analyzing their margins, looking at the operations, and helped trim back the expenses.

“The financial structure is set up with a very high payroll cost,” he said. “The industry average is for food costs to be at 35%, and the conference center was running at 46%.

“Sue and Lynne are jumping through hoops to bring those costs down,” said Morasco. With changing some of their purchasing practices and doing competitive bids, they had brought that cost down to 38%.

Lynne Chalfant is the conference manager, who began at working at the conference center after working at the Briggs Woods clubhouse. Sue Mourlam worked for nearly 20 years at the Southfield Care center before being hired at Briggs Woods as dietary manager.

Despite their work, the first quarter did not make the numbers.

“The staff did a great job,”Morasco said. “I don’t know about the marketing, but the numbers didn’t happen.”

There just wasn’t enough volume.

In August of 2025, the Conference Center had just hosted its 100th wedding and reception. The staff had completed 1,860 events, and had hoped for an income of $1 million for the fiscal year.

It just didn’t happen.

The harsh winter, simplification of weddings, not strong enough marketing, and other factors may just created the perfect storm. With the new cap, the Supervisors said they had no choice.

It doesn’t change the frustration and disappointment expressed during the meeting.

Questions and comments from the public included comments from Joel Peterson who helped build the facility said he knew they had the easy part from the beginning.

Dean Bowden, a major contributor suggested setting up an endowment to sustain the operations.

Stu Vogelbacher, who volunteers at the golf course questioned their marketing efforts.

Jim Richardson who serves on the Conservation board made note of the economic importance of the full operation.

Brian Lammers, executive director of the Conservation office clarified that the levy was not part of the $300,000 deficit.

Kurtis Bower, who just lost the District House 55 race who was in attendance, explained that the cost to the General Budget cannot be replaced with private money.

Travis Brown, General Manager of the Briggs Woods Golf Course said the change is going to impact the golf events.

They asked for time.

They asked for a committee.

The supervisors are working on a plan and there were offers to help.

But it may be too late for the existing staff.