Convention Center Committee Meeting - November 7, 2025
Present: Katlyn Balstad, Charley Johnson, Mallari Ackerman, Clare Hughes, Joe Raso, Kent Kolstad (via conference call), Emma McIntyre, Taylor Snelling, Denise Kolpack, Tim Mahoney, Dave Piepkorn, Shannon Full (via conference call).
Absent: John Strand, Michelle Turnberg.
Others Present: Jim Gilmour, Shirley Hughes, Susan Thompson.
Charley Johnson said he has heard from a couple of developers who are concerned that the deadline for the second round of RFP submissions was too tight, especially due to the upcoming holidays.
Mr. Johnson proposed extending the deadline by two weeks, moving it from January 30th/31st to Friday, February 13th.
Mayor Mahoney said he was contacted by a developer who has advocated for a 30- to 60-day extension.
Susan Thompson said she would advocate for a 30-day extension to accommodate the City-based developer who is "a little behind to get started" due to necessary discussions with the City Attorney.
Commissioner Kolpack moved to extend the RFP deadline to Friday,
February 27, 2026. Second by Emma McIntyre. On call of the roll all Committee Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
The Committee discussed when to hold a full discussion meeting for the proposals —before or after the scoring.
• Decision: The Committee agreed that having the discussion before the scoring would be most helpful. This would allow members to leverage their collective expertise to fully understand the proposals before formally grading them.
• Action: The new schedule will include a dedicated discussion meeting after the presentations and before the scoring deadline.
Jim Gilmour led the review of the second-round of RFP requirements.
• Submission Time: Proposals will now be due at 4:00 pm instead of 5:00 pm to facilitate immediate distribution to the Committee.
• Financial Confidentiality: Private financial details (e.g., personal financial statements) will be kept confidential from the public record and reviewed only by the City's financial advisers.
• City Rank Flexibility: The Committee will forward a ranking (1 through 4) to the City Commission and the raw scores do not have to be strictly followed in that ranking. The City Commission is ultimately free to choose any ranked proposal.
• Developer Questions Deadline: The deadline for developer questions was moved to January 2nd to allow time over the holidays.
• Coordination with Existing Events (Addition): It was requested that developers with existing venues provide a proposed hypothetical calendar showing how the new Convention Center events would integrate with their existing schedules (e.g., football games at the FARGODOME). This will be added to the RFP requirements.
• Unique Aesthetics/Local Flavor (Addition): The Committee requested that developers include details on local flavor, unique aesthetics or regional integration specifically for the Convention Center facility plan.
Scoring Criteria Weighting (Critical Change)
The Committee discussed changing the scoring from equal weighting to a weighted system, with finance and operations being the most critical areas.
• Structural Change: The Sales Plan (formerly a separate category) will be merged into the Operating Plan. This reduced the total categories to seven.
• New Weighted Criteria (Total 100%): The Committee agreed on the following percentage weights, with scores graded from 0 to 5 for each category:
Category & Weight (%)
Site Location 10%
Convention Center Facility Plan 15%
Hotel Plan 15%
Financing Plan 20%
Operating and Sales Plan 20%
Schedule 10%
Visitor Experience 10%
Revised Timeline Summary (Target Dates)
Date & Event
November 10th (Monday) Present Phase 2 RFP to City Commission
November 11th (Tuesday) Phase 2 RFP Available
January 2nd Developer Questions Due (4:00 pm)
January 9th Committee Meeting to Review Developer Questions
February 27th (Friday) Proposals Due (4:00 pm)
March 5th Two Developer Presentations
March 6th Two Developer Presentations
March 13th (Friday) Committee Discussion Meeting (Post-Presentations)
March 18th (Wednesday) Committee Scoring Due (with paragraph feedback)
March 20th (Friday) Committee Final Discussion Meeting (with HVS/Key Players)
March 30th (Monday) Final Recommendation to City Commission
The meeting was adjourned at 2:01 p.m.