MINUTES OF THE FARGO DOME AUTHORITY MEETING
A regular meeting of the Fargo Dome Authority was held on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. in FARGODOME Meeting Room 204 with President Blake Nelson presiding.
Members present: President Blake Nelson, Troy Goergen, David Suppes, Michael Ellingson, Nancy Jordheim (via phone), Rick Steen and Dan Armbrust.
Members absent: None.
Others present: Ryan Green - City of Fargo; Bernie Larson, Assistant General Manager – FARGODOME; Amanda Muellenbach, Administrative and Auxiliary Services Manager – FARGODOME; Susan Thompson, Director of Finance – FARGODOME and Rob Sobolik, General Manager – FARGODOME.
Media present: Barry Amundson – The Forum.
President Blake Nelson called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m.
Dan Armbrust made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to approve the agenda of the October 27, 2020 Fargo Dome Authority meeting as presented. Motion carried.
Mike Ellingson made a motion, seconded by Troy Goergen, to approve the minutes from the September 29, 2020 Fargo Dome Authority meeting. Motion carried.
Rob Sobolik presented the General Manager’s report as follows:
- Year-to-Date Net Income through September 2020 is stated at -$925,301 which is a negative variance (to budget) of $1,053,440.
- Upon review, Rick Steen made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to approve the September 2020 financial statements as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting: None.
The motion was declared carried.
Escrow Balance & Performance Reports: The FARGODOME permanent fund performance, year-to-date, through August 2020 is 6.77%. Please see attachments.
Review of Current Events:
Rob gave an update on the status of current and cancelled events. At this time, most events that were schedule through the end of the year have cancelled. FARGODOME is scheduled to host the Dakota Bowl on November 13, 2020 and ND HS State Volleyball on November 19-21, 2020. There is also a possibility of hosting MN HS Sectional Finals at the end of November. Currently, Rob is working with the North Dakota High School Activities Association, the governor's office and state and local health officials to set a plan for having fans in attendance at the Dakota Bowl and State Volleyball Tournament. Plans that are being discussed for the Dakota Bowl include limited attendance with a capacity of 1,000 fans per game (500 fans per team), reserved seating with distancing, designated parking lots for each team, designated ingress and egress doors for each team, clearing the venue between games, alternating the seats and rows used for each game, limiting locker rooms usage, having concessions open on each side, eliminating the parking charge and requiring masks. The State Volleyball Tournament would have a plan similar to the Dakota Bowl, however, because there are two matches going on at the same time each team would be limited to 250 tickets to keep capacity at 1,000 fans. A discussion ensued with the board generally agreeing with the plan.
Additional Items:
- Dressing Room & Catering Room Remodel: The project continues to move forward. The substantial completion date for the overall project is late November/early December 2020.
- Football Turf: Astroturf is currently here working on repairs to the turf. The plan is to use the turf through 2022, with options to replace the turf reviewed at that time.
- Suite/Advertiser Rebate: Rob continues to work with suiteholders and advertisers on a refund for some of their annual payment for lost events in 2020.
The next Fargo Dome Authority meeting will be on November 24, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:14 p.m.