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	*Grand Forks Events Center Commission* *Regular Monthly Meeting* *Wednesday, June 23, 2010 7:30 a.m.* *Alerus Center Meadowlark Room #12* CALL TO ORDER Randy Newman, Chair, called the Alerus Center Commission meeting to order on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at approximately 7:33 a.m. ROLL CALL Present were Brian Faison, Curt Kreun, Darrell Larson, Randy Newman, Dwight Thompson, Laura Block and Duane Hafner establishing a quorum. City: Saroj Jerath, Candi Stjern Brady Martz: Joe Martin, Janelle Mulroy VenuWorks Inc: Doug Kuhnel, Betty Beisker Alerus Center: Vione Jordheim, Jeremy Linstad, Wendy Nimens, Roger Swanson, Rod Oas, Tami Pearson, Charlene Wifall CHANGES TO AGENDA Randy Newman requested the following changes to the agenda: Move #7 – Brady Martz 2009 Audit Report to follow the approval of the minutes Move #6 – VenuWorks Contract under Committee Reports APPROVAL OF MINUTES – May 26, 2010 *A motion was made by Dwight Thompson to approve the May 26, 2010 minutes. Seconded by Curt Kreun. Motion passed unanimously.* BRADY MARTZ 2009 AUDIT REPORT Joe Martin reviewed with the Commission the Combining Balance Sheet and the Combining Statement of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Retained Earnings. It was noted that Brady Martz has always done an audit on the Alerus Center as part of the City of Grand Forks audit. Last year was the first year it was presented to the Commission and 2009 was the first year to do Agreed Upon Procedures. This will be a continuing practice. Complete reports were distributed in the packet and are on file. The Management Letter Memorandum was reviewed by Joe Martin. In the past the Management Letter was combined with the City. The Commission requested that the Alerus Center be separated out. There were seven observations discussed with management. Management agrees and will implement the recommendations. Complete Management Report was distributed in the packet and is on file. Of note; VenuWorks, Inc. did reimburse the operations account for credit card charges that were unrelated to expenses. The Agreed Upon Procedures were reviewed by Janelle Mulroy. All procedures performed by Brady Martz were in compliance. Cash flow statements were being sent only to the City. It was recommended that the Grand Forks Events Center Commission receive those statements as well. The Commission will follow-up with VenuWorks, Inc. as the Alerus Center staff does need to be in compliance with City policy. VenuWorks, Inc. did reimburse approximately $13,000 for travel that did not comply with City policy. Plus they offset the Brady Martz fee by reimbursing the Alerus Center Operating Budget for $10,000. The City’s Director of Finance indicated that staff has been in compliance with City policy. *A motion was made by Darrell Larson to go into executive session for the purpose of reviewing the reports with the City Auditor. Curt Kreun seconded. Motion passed unanimously.* The Grand Forks Events Center Commission went into Executive Session at approximately 8:15 a.m. The Grand Forks Events Center Commission reconvened its Regular Monthly Meeting at approximately 8:30 a.m. *A motion was made by Laura Block to accept the Brady Martz reports as presented. Duane Hafner seconded. Motion passed unanimously.* APPROVAL OF MAY 2010 FINANCIALS The May 2010 financials were presented as included in the packets. April revenue less hospitality tax is $289,879; budgeted revenue less hospitality tax is $226,587 and year-to-date revenue less hospitality tax is $1,479,510 or 35% of budget. May expenses are $291,282; budgeted expenses are $321,111 and year-to-date expenses are $1,733,997 or 38% of budget. Mr. Newman and Mr. Swanson attended the City Council meeting on Monday evening with regards to the event fund process. A process has been in place but will now include the City Council. It is the belief of the Commission that in order to satisfy our mission we need to bring events to the Grand Forks area. Revenues are down in ads/sponsors because we are unable to provide events for advertisers or suites. Parking is down because we don’t have people coming to events. May was a good month as revenues exceeded the budget by $63,292. An initial meeting has been scheduled for Friday, June 25^th at 8am at Altos Restaurant to begin the process of putting into place an event fund. An Event Fund Committee consisting of Randy Newman, Darrell Larson and Dwight Thompson will meet with Roger Swanson and the City Finance Committee Chair to begin discussions on the event fund. The process currently in place will be brought to the meeting. *A motion was made by Dwight Thompson to approve the May 2010 Financials and forward them to the appropriate City officials. Curt Kreun seconded. Motion passed unanimously.* APPROVAL OF 2011 BUDGET The Budget Committee met with staff to work on the 2011 budget. Recommendations were implemented. The Commission has always tried to go forward with a 0 balance budget and were forced to forecast revenues that were anticipated but not always able to be delivered. The budget shows a loss of $134,000+. The Budget Committee is in support of the recommended 2011 budget as presented. *A motion was made by Dwight Thompson to approve the Alerus Center 2011 Fiscal Year Budget as presented and forward to the City. Curt Kreun seconded. Motion passed unanimously.* ECONOMIC IMPACT UPDATE Dr. Flynn was unable to attend the meeting; however, staff did meet with him yesterday. Dr. Flynn did adjust some of the formulas to come up with a net economic impact number. These are objective as to what could have been held here or held elsewhere; it is a matter of opinion. There is no exact formula for net economic impact. Moving forward both current formula and net formulas will be shown. An attempt will still be made to have Dr. Flynn attend when available. His surveys will also continue. Staff will continue to report both through the end of the year. As net is suggestive a decision will be made if the Commission wants to continue with net numbers. COMMITTEE REPORTS Budget Committee – The Budget Committee will be dissolved as the 2011 budget has been finalized, approved and forwarded to the City. Thank you to Dwight Thompson and David Evenson for their work on this Committee. Renovation Committee – Minutes of the Renovation Committee meeting held on June 17^th along with a master schedule of Alerus Center upgrades and improvements were distributed. The escalator bid came in over the approved budget amount. It was recommended to reject the bid and re-bid when a timeframe better allows; possibly January 2011 for readiness by the 2011 football season. *A motion was made by Curt Kreun to reject the escalator bids. Duane Hafner seconded. Motion passed unanimously.* The Club Suite and Radio Rooms need to go out to bid in July for August construction in order to meet the football schedule. Energy Services Group has provided their final draft report. A time will be set with them to report their findings. The Furniture and Fixture bids were initially presented for approval. However due to cash short falls the Committee recommends that the motion for approval be rescinded. The Committee is delaying projects that do not have money committed to them until cash is available. They will then look at the feasibility of the project and go forward at that time. The commitment to the City Council was that projects would only go forward when funds were available. *A motion was made by Curt Kreun to rescind the existing Furniture and Fixture motion approving the bid due to funding constraints. Darrell Larson seconded. Motion passed unanimously.* Duane Hafner requested to be a member of the Renovation Committee. He will be added and will meet with staff to get a better update on the projects. Capital cash flow projections and capital budget updates were reviewed. Celebration Committee – The Committee will be meeting following the Commission meeting. VENUWORKS CONTRACT A draft copy of the Management Agreement with VenuWorks was distributed. Commission Executive Committee is awaiting the document from the City Attorney in its final draft. When the document becomes available a meeting will be set for approval. The Commission and VenuWorks each retain a 90 day notification of intention to terminate the contract. The Commission will annually review the relationship with VenuWorks in order that all are aware of what the Commissions expectations are. MANAGEMENT REPORTS Due to time constraints individual staff reports were not given. Congratulations were extended to the staff on a good month and a job well done. OTHER Acknowledgement and thanks were given to VenuWorks Corporate staff for attending. A motion was made by Curt Kreun to send a letter, on behalf of the Commission, to President Kelley, University of North Dakota, to keep Brian Faison as the UND representative on the Commission. Duane Hafner seconded. Motion passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 9:20 a.m. ____________________________ ____________________________ Respectfully submitted, Vione Jordheim Darrell Larson Director of Administrative Services, Alerus Center GFECC Secretary