FARGODOME Authority- August 29, 2017 Minutes
A regular meeting of the Fargo Dome Authority was held on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. in the FARGODOME Conference Room with President David Suppes presiding.
Members present: President David Suppes, Blake Nelson, Troy Goergen, Michael Ellingson, Darrell Vanyo.
Members absent: Dan Armbrust and Nancy Jordheim.
Others present: Sarah Tabery, Director of Marketing and Sales – FARGODOME; Susan Thompson, Director of Finance – FARGODOME; Bernie Larson, Assistant General Manager – FARGODOME; Amanda Muellenbach, Administrative and Auxiliary Services Manager - FARGODOME and Rob Sobolik, General Manager – FARGODOME.
Media present: None
President David Suppes called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m.
David requested to add an Update on the Convention Center Study to the agenda under Additional Items.
Rob requested to add a Discussion on Suite Renewals and Discussion on NDSU Tailgating to the agenda under Additional Items.
Darrell Vanyo made a motion, seconded by Troy Goergen, to approve the agenda of the August 29, 2017 Fargo Dome Authority meeting as amended. Motion carried.
Blake Nelson made a motion, seconded by Michael Ellingson, to approve the minutes from the July 25, 2017 Fargo Dome Authority meeting. Motion carried.
Rob Sobolik presented the General Manager’s report as follows:
• Year-to-Date Net Income through July 2017 is stated at $308,531 which is a positive variance (to budget) of $107,767.
• Upon review, Blake Nelson made a motion, seconded by Darrell Vanyo, to approve the July 2017 financial statements as presented.
On call of the roll, Ellingson, Goergen, Nelson, Suppes and Vanyo voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Armbrust and Jordheim.
The motion was declared carried.
• Past Events: Bruno Mars on August 4, 2017. NDSU Fan Day on August 16, 2017. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on August 24, 2017.
• Upcoming Events: NDSU Football vs. Mississippi Valley State on September 2, 2017. Lisbon Youth Football on September 17, 2017. NDSU Football vs. Robert Morris on September 23, 2017.
• Comments on Past Events: Nothing to report.
Blake Nelson presented the Fargo Dome Authority Building and Finance Committee report. The Fargo Dome Authority Building and Finance Committees met on
Wednesday, August 23, 2017. Items discussed included:
• July 2017 Financial Statements: The July 2017 Financial Statements were approved by the Finance Committee at the meeting on August 23, 2017.
Project Updates:
• Handicap Seating Expansion: Rob noted that the handicap seating expansion project in the NE and SW corners is complete.
• Convention Center Update: Rob stated that he will be working with the City and Springsted to review sales tax receipts to better understand the
bonding capacity for the potential project. This item will be further discussed at upcoming meetings.
Additional Items:
• Cooling System Chemical Treatment Plan: Rob noted that a chemical treatment plan for the cooling system has been approved in the capital
budget for $20,000. FARGODOME also sent out an RFP as per the City’s request for a competitive bid process and received three responses back.
Fremont Industries bid $8,924 for equipment and installation. Agassiz Chemical bid $16,185 for equipment and installation. Nalco bid $6,375 for
installation and $3,900 per year to lease the equipment. Rob requested that the Finance and Building Committees approve a motion to award the
bid to Fremont Industries for the purchase and installation of equipment for the cooling towers.
The Building Committee and the Finance Committee both accepted motions to approve the bid from Fremont Industries. Blake Nelson made a motion to approve the Building and Finance Committee report as presented.
On call of the roll, Ellingson, Goergen, Nelson, Suppes and Vanyo voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Armbrust and Jordheim.
The motion was declared carried.
Additional Items:
• Convention Center Study Update: The committee had a general discussion on the status of the Convention Center Study and what the next step will be. Rob
noted that he will be working with the City and Springsted to review sales tax receipts to better understand the bonding capacity for the potential project. Once
the committee has a better understanding of the bonding capacity, it was suggested that the President of the Authority reach out to Bruce Grubb with the
City or the Mayor to schedule a meeting. This items will be further discussed at upcoming meetings.
• Suite Renewals: Rob noted that he has been working on a number of suite renewals over the past few months and all have renewed. He noted that
throughout the renewal process, several have asked about the policy for consuming alcohol in suites during NDSU games and if it was going to change to
allow for the consumption of alcohol to be permitted. Rob noted that it was common for universities to allow consumption of alcohol in suites during
university sporting events. This item will be further discussed at upcoming meetings.
• NDSU Tailgating: The committee had a general discussion regarding the possibility of allowing the consumption of alcohol in certain areas of parking lot C
designated for overflow tailgating. The current ordinance states that the consumption of alcohol is allowed in certain parking lots as designated for tailgating by NDSU. Parking lot C currently is not one of the designated parking lots that allows the consumption of alcohol during tailgating.
With the number of general admission parking spaces decreasing this year in the designated tailgating lots, Rob and FARGODOME staff are anticipating a greater need for overflow space. Rob suggested using a portion of parking lot C for overflow tailgating and asked if the Authority would be open to allowing alcohol consumption in this area. Rob noted that the Authority, NDSU and the Fargo Police Department would all need to agree on this change.
Troy noted that NDSU would like to see how the game this weekend goes before any final decisions are made. The general consensus of the Authority was that they are agreeable to allowing alcohol consumption in certain areas of parking lot C designed for overflow general admission tailgating.
The next Fargo Dome Authority meeting will be on September 26, 2017 at 3:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:31 p.m.