FARGODOME Authority - August 28, 2018 Minutes
A regular meeting of the Fargo Dome Authority was held on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. in the FARGODOME Conference Room with President Troy Goergen presiding.
Members present: President Troy Goergen, Blake Nelson, Nancy Jordheim, Dan Armbrust, Darrell Vanyo, David Suppes and Michael Ellingson.
Members absent:
Others present: 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 3:30 p.m.
Rob requested to add a discussion on National Architecture Interviews to the agenda under additional items.
Darrell Vanyo made a motion, seconded by Nancy Jordheim, to approve the agenda of the August 28, 2018 Fargo Dome Authority meeting as amended. Motion carried.
Blake Nelson made a motion, seconded by Michael Ellingson, to approve the minutes from the July 31, 2018 Fargo Dome Authority meeting. Motion carried.
Darrell Vanyo made a motion, seconded by Nancy Jordheim, to approve the minutes from the August 22, 2018 Special Fargo Dome Authority meeting. Motion carried.
Rob Sobolik presented the General Manager’s report as follows:
• Year-to-Date Net Income through July 2018 is stated at $331,324, which is a negative variance (to budget) of $983.
• Upon review, Blake Nelson made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to approve the July financial statements as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Suppes and Vanyo voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None.
The motion was declared carried.
• Past Events NDSU Fan Day on August 14, 2018. Fargo South HS Football vs. Williston on August 24, 2018.
• Upcoming Events: NDSU vs. Cal-Poly on September 1, 2018. Fargo South HS Football vs. Grand Forks Red River on September 7, 2018. NDSU Football vs. North Alabama on September 15, 2018. Fargo South HS Football vs. Bismarck on September 21, 2018. NDSU Football vs. Delaware on September 22, 2018. NDSU Engineering and Tech Expo on September 25-27, 2018. Fargo South HS
Football vs. Grand Forks Central on September 28, 2018. NDSU Football vs. SDSU on September 29, 2018. Lisbon Youth Football on September 30, 2018.
• 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 22, 2018. Items discussed included:
• July 2018 Financial Statements: The July 2018 Financial Statements were approved by the Finance Committee at the meeting on August 22, 2018.
• Insurance Request for Qualification (RFQ) Review and Recommendation: 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:
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 committee and 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 Committee 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, and board comments, the Building Committee 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.
It was noted that since the Building and Finance Committee meeting, the recommendation to move forward with hiring Dawson Insurance was approved by both the Fargo Dome Authority and the City Commission.
Additional Items:
Building Upgrades: FARGODOME staff met with RL Engebretson to review national firms that responded to an RFP they sent out to partner with them on the FARGODOME building upgrade project. Interviews with the firms will take place next week.
Accessible Seating: Rob will be meeting with representatives from Freedom Resource Group to tour the building and review accessible seating and other items.
Landscaping: Rob noted that there would be possible reallocation requests at upcoming meetings that will address landscaping needs on FARGODOME grounds. Dave Piepkorn expressed concern about the appearance of landscaping around the FARGODOME and said that he would like to see improvements as soon as possible.
Blake Nelson made a motion to approve the Building and Finance Committee report as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Suppes and Vanyo voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None.
The motion was declared carried.
Additional Items:
• National Architect Interviews: Rob noted that FARGODOME staff met with RL Engebretson to review national firms that responded to an RFP they sent out to partner with them on the FARGODOME building upgrade project. Two firms responded to the RFP, Perkins & Will and Populous. Interviews with the firms will take place on Wednesday, September 5. The contract with the national firm will be between RL Engebretson and the firm selected, but RL Engebretson would like input from FARGODOME staff and/or the Authority on the firm selected.
The next Fargo Dome Authority meeting will be on September 25, 2018 at 3:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:04 p.m.