Minutes of the FARGODOME Authority Meeting
A regular meeting of the Fargo Dome Authority was held on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 at 3:30 p.m. in the FARGODOME Conference Room with President Michael Ellingson presiding.
Members present: President Michael Ellingson, Nancy Jordheim, Blake Nelson, Dan Armbrust, David Suppes, Troy Goergen and Rick Steen.
Members absent: None.
Others present: Peter Monsrud – The City of Fargo; Zach Prante, Accounting Analyst –FARGODOME; Bernie Larson, Assistant General Manager – FARGODOME; Sarah Dykema, Director of Sales and Marketing – FARGODOME; Amanda Muellenbach, Administrative and Auxiliary Services Manager – FARGODOME; Susan Thompson, Director of Finance – FARGODOME and Rob Sobolik, General Manager – FARGODOME.
Media present: None.
President Michael Ellingson called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m.
Michael recognized Blake Nelson for his time as President of the Fargo Dome Authority for the past two years.
Rob requested to add a Capital Project Update to the agenda under additional items.
Dan Armbrust made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to approve the agenda of the May 31, 2022 Fargo Dome Authority meeting as amended. Motion carried.
Nancy Jordheim made a motion, seconded by Troy Goergen, to approve the minutes from the April 26, 2022 Fargo Dome Authority meeting. Motion carried.
Rob Sobolik presented the General Manager’s report as follows:
• Year-to-Date Net Income through April 2022 is stated at $482,246 which is a negative variance (to budget) of $133,903.
• Upon review, David Suppes made a motion, seconded by Rick Steen, to approve the April 2022 financial statements as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting:
The motion was declared carried.
• Past and Upcoming Events: Paw Patrol Live was held May 6-8, 2022. NDSU Spring Commencement was held May 14, 2022. Fargo Marathon was held May 19-21, 2022. Fargo Public Schools Graduation was held May 29, 2022. Happy Harry’s RibFest will be held June 8-11, 2022.
David Suppes presented the Fargo Dome Authority Building and Finance Committee report. The Fargo Dome Authority Building and Finance Committees met on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Items discussed included:
• 2023 Budget Presentation:
• Operating Budget – The committees reviewed the 2023 Operating Budget. Please see attachments.
The Finance Committee accepted a motion to approve the 2023 Operating Budget as presented.
• Capital Budget – The committees reviewed the 2023 Capital Budget. Please see attachments.
2022 Capital Budget and Prior Year’s Carryover – The committees reviewed the 2022 Capital Budget including prior year’s carryover. Please see attachments.
The Building and Finance Committees each accepted a motion to approve the 2023 Capital Budget as presented.
• Project and Capital Budget Updates:
• 2022 Capital Reallocation Request – Rob provided an overview of the Capital Budget re-allocation request to fund additional Capital Projects in 2022. Please see attachment. Rob requested a motion to re-allocate the balances from FD2202, FD2206, FD2211, FD2212, FD2103, FD2116, FD2018, FD1916 and 2022 budgeted/unallocated to fund projects FD2217, FD2218, FD2219 and FD2220.
The Building and Finance Committees each accepted a motion to approve the above reallocation request.
• Verizon/FARGODOME – DAS Upgrade Amendment – Rob provided an overview of the 4th amendment to the agreement between Verizon Wireless and FARGODOME. It was noted that last summer the committee approved the 3rd amendment to the original agreement from 2012 between Verizon Wireless and FARGODOME that included an upgrade to the system to 4G. Since that agreement was approved, the upgrade has not been completed and Verizon has replaced the drawings that were presented last summer with new drawings and a plan to upgrade to 4G and add some 5G as part of the 4th amendment to the agreement. The anticipated completion date for this project is end of summer.
The Building and Finance Committees each accepted a motion to approve the 4th amendment to the agreement between Verizon and FARGODOME.
• April 2022 Financial Statements: The April 2022 Financial Statements were approved by the Finance Committee at the meeting on May 25, 2022.
• Escrow Balance & Performance Reports: The FARGODOME permanent fund performance, year-to-date, through March 2022 is -2.57%. Please see attachments.
David Suppes made a motion, seconded by Rick Steen, to approve the 2023 Operating Budget as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting:
The motion was declared carried.
Dan Armbrust made a motion, seconded by Rick Steen, to approve the 2023 Capital Budget as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting:
The motion was declared carried.
David Suppes made a motion to approve the Building and Finance Committee report as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting:
The motion was declared carried.
The committee had a general discussion on ways to generate additional revenue for the building going forward. Items discussed included parking fees and alcohol at NDSU Football games. There was also a discussion on how staffing would be addressed if either of these items were put in place.
Appointment of Sub-committee Members and Chairpersons:
• Michael Ellingson appointed Dan Armbrust, Nancy Jordheim and Troy Goergen to the Fargo Dome Authority Building Committee and Rick Steen, Blake Nelson, David Suppes and himself to the Fargo Dome Authority Finance Committee.
Dan Armbrust made a motion, seconded by David Suppes, to approve the committee appointments as presented.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting:
The motion was declared carried.
• Michael Ellingson appointed Troy Goergen to chair the Building Committee and David Suppes to chair the Finance Committee.
Additional Items:
• Capital Project Update: Rob provided and overview of the Lift Station Repair. The City of Fargo has a lift station on the NW side of the building (lift station #28) that serves the loading dock of the FARGODOME. The lift station was having some issues recently and emergency repairs were needed on one of the pumps. Public Works repaired the pump at the lift station under the City of Fargo Emergency Purchasing Policy. The cost for repairing the pump was $21,360 and will need to be paid for out of FARGODOME funds. Rob noted that FARGODOME recently sold two pickups and a tractor at the City auction for $73,737. Rob proposed the cost for repairing the pump is paid for by the funds received from selling the pickups and tractor.
Nancy Jordheim made a motion, seconded by Blake Nelson, to approve paying for the $21,360 lift station pump repair with funds from the auction sale of the FARGODOME pickups and tractor.
On call of the roll, Armbrust, Ellingson, Goergen, Jordheim, Nelson, Steen and Suppes voted aye.
Absent and not voting:
The motion was declared carried.
Rob noted that FARGODOME is pricing out the cost of repairing and/or replacing the other pump and two motors in the lift station, along with changing the system
that monitors the lift station from Electro Watchman to City of Fargo Public Works. There will be more information on this at upcoming meetings.
The next Fargo Dome Authority meeting will be on June 28, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.