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MPEC Advisory Board Minutes - 10/13/2010(n P C MPEC ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES October 13, 2010 MPEC Board Room The MPEC Advisory Board meeting began at 8:30 a.m. on October 13, 2010. The following Advisory Board members were in attendance: Darron Leiker Glenn Barham Woody Gossom Rick Hatcher Larry Sanner Ashton Gustafson The following MPEC employees were present: Bob Sullivan — MPEC Director Bill Dixon — MPEC Comptroller Lindsay Greer — CVB Director Katie Comello — Administrative Assistant The following Advisory Board members were absent: Pat Norriss Michael Latham The meeting was called to order at 8:30 by MPEC Director Bob Sullivan. A motion to approve the minutes was made and seconded. Director's Report 1 -I1 -I1 • Events: The Director reviewed the upcoming year with the Advisory Board commenting on what appears to be the potential for a very strong year with the number of events being up and a large number of potential events that are currently holding dates. Currently throughout the industry many concert artists are downsizing to smaller venues, such as the Memorial Auditorium which has seen an increase in the number of events the last couple of years. The Director also announced that Wrestling had just confirmed a return date to the Coliseum for Saturday January 15, 2011. Wrestling has traditionally been a very strong financial performer for the Coliseum. A list of events through April, 2011 was distributed to the Advisory Board for their information. • Ag Center Horse Exercise Arena: The Director presented an update on the potential for a Horse Exercise Arena being constructed adjacent to the J.S. Bridwell Agricultural Center. The Horse Committee for the Wichita County Extension office is still contemplating the size of the facility and may do a feasibility report to determine their best course of action. The feeling among the Committee is to allocate the $85,000 they currently have to building an exercise area, and then gift it to the city. Woody Gossom asked if there would be room for expansion of the stall space if they were to build the exercise arena. The Director felt that there was plenty of space adjacent to the facilities to accommodate future expansion if needed. There was an extensive discussion about the three potential sites for the exercise area reviewing the pros and cons of each site. • Lonestar Conference Bid: The Director updated the Board on our bid to host the Lonestar Conference Basketball Championships. The Director has been informed that Wichita Falls was one of three finalists for this event. MPEC's recent purchase of a basketball floor has greatly enhanced our chances of securing this three year contract. There was a discussion of basketball practice facilities during the tournament as well as other questions on staging the event in Wichita Falls. The plan is to involve community activity to enhance the ability to put people in seats. This would increase if there is local sponsorship of teams from area ISD's. • Catering: The issue of outside catering companies and the proposed plan to raise fees was discussed. The proposed financial plan, for those firms who wish to be on MPEC's approved catering list, would be to raise the fees from 10% to 15% and add a $250 annual yearly fee. Woody Gossom raised the question of what this would do for organizations such as the Mavericks and Kiwanis. Darren suggested grandfathering them in and also broached the subject of needing specific dialogue to explain their allowances of exceptions as opposed to other nonprofit groups. Rick also suggested that in the catering contract the verbiage be changed from "President" to "board" in the last bullet point on the agreement. • 4B Projects: The Director updated the Board on the two items left unfinished on the 4B projects. These items include the fire sprinkler system in the Ag center, and the dehumidification system in the coliseum. Currently the funding will cover the sprinkler system and a major portion of the dehumidification system. Depending on how bids come in, we may have to go back to the 4B Board to seek the remaining funds necessary to complete the project. • Free Speech Areas: The Director explained the issues surrounding development of a free speech zone area and the different options that are currently being examined for each of the facilities. The intent is to control those who wish to leaflet and/or pass out information at events throughout each of the facilities so that these groups do not impede the ingress and egress of event attendees. • Text messaging: The Director turned the meeting over to the Comptroller, Bill Dixon who gave a presentation via projector explaining the newly implemented texting system at the coliseum. Patrons can now text an issue to coliseum staff for any issues they are having during events, such as spills, unruly patrons, etc ........ These texts will go to a specified location, and will then be dispatched out to personnel via headsets; 4 therefore cutting down on the time it takes employees to resolve issues for patrons. • MPEC Board of Directors Meeting: The Director gave an update on the meeting that he has been trying to coordinate to resolve the issue of what to do with the remaining revenue in a Bank Account of the MPEC Corporation. Staff would like to use these funds to purchase scheduling software for all of its venues. The MPEC Board members all have very active calendars and coordinating a date has been difficult. There is now a date of Thursday, October 21 S` scheduled. • 2011 meeting dates: The 2011 Advisory Board Meeting dates have been scheduled. All Wednesdays @ 8:30 a.m.: January 12, April 13, July 13 and October 19. The Director turned the floor over to Lindsay Greer, CVB Director, to give the Convention and Visitors Bureau Report. • Lindsay gave an update on all conference bids that have been won and lost. She explained that there is a need to push for local support of organizations, which would greatly increase our opportunities to put in for bids as well as increase our odds of obtaining a win. • She then gave an update on the economic impact of HHH on the city. According to the survey that was given out, the comments were positive overall and it appears at this time that city spending was also up. • Pride in the Falls: Lindsay gave an update on the progress of developing a more extensive map, and the implementation of the community portal site. The October 1St event was well attended, with five new donors. • Holiday in the Falls: Lindsay then closed with a Holiday in the Falls update. Website scheduled to go live, listing of all advertising placement, rack cards, billboards and a taping of a show with Barry Levy to educate public on events. A press release will be forthcoming. The Director asked if there were any items of concern from the board members. After going roundtable there were no comments with the exception of Larry Sanner, who asked that the City look at being able to implement a bus routes to the MPEC for Friday and Saturday hockey games. The Director called the meeting to a close, announcing the next meeting will be on January 12th, 2011 at 8:30. The meeting was adjourned @ 9:35.