FARGODOME Authority - August 22, Minutes
A special meeting of the Fargo Dome Authority was held on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. in the FARGODOME Conference Room with President Troy Goergen presiding.
Members present: President Troy Goergen, Blake Nelson, Nancy Jordheim, Darrell Vanyo, David Suppes and Michael Ellingson.
Members absent: Dan Armbrust.
Others present: Bernie Larson, Assistant General Manager – FARGODOME; Sarah Tabery, Director of Marketing and Sales – FARGODOME; Susan Thompson, Director of Finance – FARGODOME; Amanda Muellenbach, Administrative and Auxiliary Services Manager - FARGODOME and Rob Sobolik, General Manager – FARGODOME.
Media present: None
President Troy Goergen called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Darrell Vanyo made a motion, seconded by Michael Ellingson, to approve the agenda of the August 22, 2018 Fargo Dome Authority meeting as presented. Motion carried.
Discussion on Insurance RFQ Interviews: The Authority recapped the following discussion points regarding the Insurance Request for Qualification (RFQ) Review and Recommendation from the Building and Finance Committee meeting that was held prior to this meeting.
Susan provided an overview of the insurance RFQ process. The FARGODOME currently has liability insurance with K&K Insurance through Insure Forward and property insurance directly through FM Global, both of which have terms through 12/31/18. Susan started to review the process of bidding insurance last year. Leveraging a Board member’s expertise, Susan visited with FDA member Dan Armbrust regarding general information about the RFQ process. Dan provided Susan with four sample RFQs issued by various municipalities to use as a guide in preparing a comprehensive RFQ document. City Attorney, Erik Johnson, reviewed the final RFQ document which was completed in May 2018. At this point, Dan Armbrust removed/recused himself from the insurance review process due to the perception of a possible conflict of interest, as Dan is the Chairman of Dawson Insurance. Dan was not apprised of RFQ responses; he was not copied on the written responses; he was not invited to the interviews; he did not participate in the interviews; and he did not review any of the scoring/evaluation criteria.
Representatives of the Authority (excluding Dan Armbrust) reviewed and evaluated/scored the three written responses received for the insurance RFQ. Since only three responses were received, the Authority (excluding Dan Armbrust) decided to interview all three respondents. Firms presenting were Insure Forward (incumbent), Dawson Insurance, and AON Risk of Chicago. Mike Ellingson, Troy Goergen and Blake Nelson attended the Insurance Agent presentations on Wednesday, August 15 and evaluated/scored the presentations. The evaluations scored Dawson Insurance with the
most points, followed by Aon Risk of Chicago, then Insure Forward. Troy Goergen made a recommendation on behalf of the committee members that reviewed the written
responses and were present at the interviews to move forward with hiring Dawson Insurance to work with the FARGODOME to select insurance coverages. Authority
members had the following comments regarding the RFQ written responses and interviews:
Nancy Jordheim stated that it was clear to her that Dan Armbrust did recuse himself from the insurance review process. Nancy also stated that while she did not participate
in the interview process, she ranked Dawson insurance the highest based on the written responses to the RFQ.
David Suppes stated that he ranked Dawson insurance the highest, followed by Aon Risk of Chicago, then Insure Forward based on the written responses to the RFQ.
Blake Nelson stated that he scored Dawson Insurance with the most points, followed by Aon Risk and Insure Forward. He noted that Dawson Insurance and Aon Risk had more
industry related experience and references along with greater financial strength. He also noted the need for an agent to provide the FARGODOME with options for changing
need and different risk, which both Dawson and Aon Risk emphasized in their interviews. He noted that Dawson had an advantage in that they were local, but also
had a partnership with Marsh & McLennan Agency on a national level.
Mike Ellingson noted that he scored Dawson Insurance with the most points, followed by Aon Risk and Insure Forward. He noted that Dawson and Aon Risk seemed to be
more proactive in talking about different needs and risk, while Insure Forward seemed more reactive in these areas. He stated that he believed Dawson had a better
presentation overall and a good team approach.
Troy Goergen had the same ranking of Dawson with the most points, followed by Aon Risk and Insure Forward. Troy noted Dawson’s ties with Marsh & McLennan Agency as
a strength as they have specialized in insuring similar to the FARGODOME. He noted that he believes Dawson would be able to offer more complete coverage.
The FDA members present acknowledged FDA member Dan Armbrust’s employer relationship with Dawson Insurance and recognized his efforts to fully recuse himself
from any aspect of the RFQ response evaluation and voting process.
Based on the scoring summary, a recommendation from the Authority members that participated in the review/scoring process, and board comments, the Finance and
Building Committees both accepted a motion, to make a recommendation to the Fargo Dome Authority to move forward with hiring Dawson Insurance to help the
FARGODOME select insurance coverages.
Based on the scoring summary, a recommendation from the Authority members that participated in the review/scoring process, board comments and a recommendation
from the Building and Finance Committee, Darrell Vanyo made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to move forward with hiring Dawson Insurance to help the
FARGODOME select insurance coverages.
On call of the roll, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Suppes and Vanyo voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Armbrust.
The motion was declared carried.
This items will be forwarded to the City Commission for final approval.
The next Fargo Dome Authority meeting will be on August 28, 2018 at 3:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:06 p.m.