Convention Center Committee - March 14, 2025

CONVENTION CENTER COMMITTEE MEETING
March 14, 2025
1:00 p.m.

Present: Katlyn Balstad, Mallari Ackerman, Clare Hughes, Joe Raso, Kent Kolstad (via video conference), Emma McIntyre, Taylor Snelling, Denise Kolpack, Tim Mahoney, Dave Piepkorn.

Absent: Charley Johnson, John Strand, Michelle Turnberg, Shannon Full.

Others Present: Jim Gilmour, Assistant City Attorney Erik Johnson (via video conference), Michael Redlinger, Susan Thompson, HVS Managing Director Tom Hazinski.

Mallari Ackerman reviewed the itinerary for the upcoming trip to St. Cloud and Rochester to tour convention centers. She said the meeting scheduled for Friday, March 28th has been canceled.
Jim Gilmour provided a draft outline of suggestions for the RFP, emphasizing a phased approach.
• Phase 1: Focus on team qualifications, site control, site cost, infrastructure, conceptual designs, parking and adjacent amenities.
• Phase 2: Detailed operational plans and architectural drawings for shortlisted developers.
Susan Thompson said it might be difficult to put together a financial plan without assumptions. In addition, she said, it might not be wise to set a dollar amount for the project as you will need to set aside money to build the facility and place money in an escrow account to take care of long-term capital planning. She said it should be a conversation that needs to take place.
Ms. Ackerman shared feedback from the local and state planners regarding facility needs, including loading dock specifications (minimum 15-foot height). She said she was not sure how much detail to include in the RFP, balancing specific requirements with developer creativity.
Kent Kolstad suggested using minimum requirements for items such as loading dock and ceiling heights.
Ms. Thompson raised the question about the definition of “potential for city funding” within the finance criteria.
Joe Raso said in relation to the criteria are there individuals who have some expertise or can dig into some of the criteria and bring that back to the group. He said he can provide his opinion; however, someone with more expertise should be weighing in on these items.
The Committee discussed the importance of financial feasibility and the potential need for a two-tiered evaluation process (criteria compliance and financial viability).
Commissioner Dave Piepkorn said an emphasis should be placed on the impact of land acquisition and ongoing staffing costs on the project budget.
Commissioner Denise Kolpack mentioned the importance of the experience and unique amenities, citing a recent visit to Louisville, Kentucky.
Tom Hazinski joined the meeting and provided an overview of the proposed evaluation approach, which involves numerical ranking of sites based on predefined criteria. He said criteria is categorized into site considerations, access, urban impacts and financial aspects and each criterion is rated on a scale of 1-3 and the importance of each criterion is weighted on a scale of 1-5. He said the analysis allows for different priority rankings to be applied. Mr. Hazinski emphasized the need to tailor the criteria to the specific needs of the Fargo community.
The Committee requested written definitions of the selection criteria from Mr. Hazinski.
Ms. Ackerman said she will distribute updated RFP information once the selection and definitions have been defined.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.