MINUTES OF THE FARGO DOME AUTHORITY MEETING
A regular meeting of the Fargo Dome Authority was held on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 3:30 p.m. in the FARGODOME Conference Room with President Troy Goergen presiding.
Members present: President Troy Goergen, Blake Nelson, Dan Armbrust, Nancy Jordheim, David Suppes, Michael Ellingson and Vern Bennett
Members absent: None
Others present: Darrell Vanyo; Derek Fletcher – City of Fargo; Sarah Dykema, Director of Marketing – 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 Troy Goergen called the meeting to order at 3:29 p.m.
Troy requested to add a recognition of Darrell Vanyo to the agenda.
Rob requested to add a discussion on the sound system to the agenda.
David requested to add a discussion regarding an agreement with Baker Tilly to the agenda.
David Suppes made a motion, seconded by Blake Nelson, to approve the agenda of the May 28, 2019 Fargo Dome Authority meeting as amended. Motion carried.
Dan Armbrust made a motion, seconded by Michael Ellingson, to approve the minutes from the April 30, 2019 Fargo Dome Authority meeting. Motion carried.
Troy Goergen thanked Darrell Vanyo for his 12 years of service on the Fargo Dome Authority.
Darrell thanked FARGODOME staff for their work during his years served on the Authority.
Rob thanked Darrell for all of his efforts during his years on the Authority board.
Rob Sobolik presented the General Manager’s report as follows:
Year-to-Date Net Income through April is stated at $353,196, which is a positive variance (to budget) of $126,891.
Upon review, Blake Nelson made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to approve the April financial statements as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Bennett, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None
The motion was declared carried.
Past Events: Something Rotten! on May 1, 2019. P!nk on May 4, 2019. NDSU Spring Commencement on May 11, 2019. Sanford Fargo Marathon on May 16-18, 2019.
Upcoming Events: Fargo Public Schools Graduation on June 2, 2019. Happy Harry’s RibFest on June 5-8, 2019. NDSU Football Youth Camp on June 11-13, 2019. NDSU Football Team Camp on June 14-16, 2019. NDSU Football Individual Camp on June 20-23, 2019. Pentatonix on June 26, 2019.
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, May 22, 2019. Items discussed included:
April 2019 Financial Statements: The April 2019 Financial Statements were approved by the Finance Committee at the meeting on May 22, 2019.
Project Updates:
Building Upgrades: Rob and Susan continue to work with City officials and Authority members on the financing options for the projects. A general discussion ensued. This item will be discussed in further detail at upcoming meetings.
Blake Nelson made a motion to approve the Building and Finance Committee report as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Bennett, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None
The motion was declared carried.
Additional Items:
Sound System: Rob noted that the sound system was last upgraded in 2006. There is $250,000 in the 2019 capital budget allocated for changes and upgrades to the sound system. Upon review of the current system, it was noted that there is a need to replace the amplifiers, along with the speakers. AVI has put together a proposal using the current state contract to replace all amplifiers and speakers for a total of $501,100. It was noted that the work could be completed before the 2019 NDSU Football season. Rob recommended that the Authority accepted a motion to replace all of the amplifiers and speakers through AVI using the $250,000 in the 2019 capital budget, along with reallocating $10,000 from FD1710, $40,000 from FD1716, $10,809 from FD1807, $26,500 from FD1814,$30,000 from FD1905 and $140,000 from FD1913 to FD1906 for arena sound system upgrades. This would bring a new balance of $507,309 to FD1906. Nancy Jordheim made a motion, seconded by Michael Ellingson, to approve the motion above.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Bennett, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None
The motion was declared carried.
Agreement with Baker Tilly: David noted that he, Kent Costin and Susan Thompson had a conference call with Baker Tilly, the retained municipal advisor for the City of Fargo. The purpose of the call was to better understand financing options for potential building upgrades and projects. Baker Tilly suggested a proposal to study the funding options at a cost of $12,500. David suggested that the Authority move forward with Baker Tilly and advance the study of options for funding of potential building upgrades and projects and pay for the study out of the operating budget.
Dan Armbrust made a motion, seconded by Vern Bennett, to move forward with the study of funding options for potential building upgrades with Baker Tilly at a cost of $12,500 to be paid for out of the operating budget.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Bennett, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None
The motion was declared carried.
The next Fargo Dome Authority meeting will be on June 25, 2019 at 3:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:14 p.m.