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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-22-2022 LEPFALANSING ENTERTAINMENT & PUBLIC FACILITIES AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS November 22, 2022 MINUTES At 8:02 a.m. Chairman Larry Leatherwood called the meeting of LEPFA Board of Commissioners to order in the Governor’s Room located at the Lansing Center; 333 East Michigan Avenue; Lansing, Michigan 48933. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Paul Collins, Kenric Hall, Larry Leatherwood, Brian McGrain, Charles Mickens, Maureen McNulty-Saxton, and James Stajos. COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Price Dobernick, Desiree Kirkland (Ex-Officio), Danielle Lenz, and James Stajos. OTHERS PRESENT: Mindy Biladeau, Heidi Brown, Scott Keith, Kasey McFadden, and Paul Ntoko - Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority, Joe Abood- City Attorney, Sherrie Boak- City Council, Julie Pingston- Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Jack Alexander-Public. III. Chairman’s Comments: Chairman Leatherwood started the meeting by expressing his delight that the board reached quorum for this month’s meeting. As in recent months it has been a challenge to get to quorum so Chairman Leatherwood thanks the board for their attendance. *Joe Abood entered the meeting at 8:06 a.m. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT: A. Jack Alexander emphasized that he looking to see if Scott Keith was able to get a hold of Andy Kilpatrick to set the permit in motion for the irrigation system on Larch St. He is looking to see if this has been set in motion or why it hasn’t. V. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGENDA: None. VI. APPROVAL OF October 25, 2022, MINUTES: Motion was made to accept the meeting minutes for the October 25, 2022, meeting as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Stajos SECOND: Commissioner Hall. MOTIONED CARRIED VII. REPORTS: A. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Chairman Leatherwood took this time to honor and thank Commissioner James Stajos for his exceptional work as the LEPFA Board Chair for last year (2021-2022). B. FINANCE COMMITTEE: Chair of the Finance Committee, Commissioner Maureen McNulty-Saxton reported that the Finance Committee did not meet this month and reported that the finance team at LEPFA is working to complete the audit for the 2022 calendar year. She added that the monthly financials are being worked on by the finance team, along with our consultants and auditors to get the financial reports completed. Chairman Leatherwood commended the finance committee and finance team for their work. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting November 22, 2022 2 | Page C. PERSONNEL COMMITTEE: Chair of the Personnel Committee Commissioner Kenric Hall reported that the personnel committee met, and they discussed the following items. Commissioner Hall reported that they received an update on the ratification of the IATSE (stagehands) CBA. He added that all collective bargain agreements have been completed and ratified at this time. Additionally, there is information for LEPFA’s healthcare benefit renewals that has been reviewed. Also, the committee discussed information by adding a paid holiday to the employee holiday calendar, which is Juneteenth. The committee recommended and made a motion to the board for the addition of Juneteenth to the employee holiday calendar for full time employees, as well as regular part time employees. Motion was made to accept the addition of Juneteenth to be added to the employee holiday calendar as presented. MOTION: Personnel Committee Chair Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Saxton. MOTIONED CARRIED D. STRATEGIC COMMITTEE: Chair of the Strategic Committee Commissioner Danielle Lenz reported that the strategic committee did meet, and they discussed the following items. Commissioner Lenz shared that the committee reviewed the documents that were provided by Dorothy Maxwell who assisted in the Board Strategic Planning Session back in August. The committee motioned to approve of accepting the mission statement, vision statement, goals statement and values statement. She added that the strategic planning committee makes a recommendation for a motion to approve the statements that were provided. Motion was made to approve the mission statement, vision statement, goals statement and values statements as recommended in the LEPFA Strategic Plan 2022-27: Initial Phase provided by Dorothy Maxwell. MOTION: Strategic Committee Chair Commissioner Lenz SECOND: Commissioner Hall. MOTIONED CARRIED E. PRESIDENT & CEO REPORT: 1. CVB Appointee Board Member Update: Scott shared that the CVB has put forward Eric Sudol as a board replacement for the LEPFA Board of Commissioners through to the Mayor. 2. Ovation Authority Update: Scott addressed the Ovation authority discussion and stated that the LEPFA executive committee had a virtual meeting where Dominic Cochran, who is with the Lansing Public Media Center, and presented an update on the Ovation project. Scott mentioned that in the future Dominic Cochran will be invited to a board meeting to give that presentation and answer any questions. 3. VP Of Operations Report: In lieu of the VP of Operations, Tristan Wright’s absence, Scott presented the LEPFA Operations report on her behalf. He LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting November 22, 2022 3 | Page shared that operations hired a Technical Services Coordinator. He also shared that the internet sales increased significantly at a 37% increase year on year. This is because the Lansing Center had a stronger October than last year, but also because operations has restructured our internet pricing to better meet the needs of the customer and be in line with what the expectation is. Additionally at Groesbeck Golf Course, Scott shared from the Operations report that there were irrigation issues this year, the team put in a new pump and pressure system. This will hopefully solve some of the irrigation issues that have come up this year and move us forward. 4. Strategic Plan Updates: Scott identified the next phase of the strategic plan is to address the recommendations that were provided by Dorothy Maxwell. This will be the next topic of discussion in the next Strategic committee meeting. 5. Benefits Renewal: Lastly Scott acknowledged that the LEPFA staff healthcare committee are in the process of employee benefits renewal Chairman Leatherwood took this time for any members who had any questions regarding the authority information that was discussed in the CEO/President Report. Commissioner Mickens asked the question if there is anything the executive committee could share from the meeting with Dominic Cochran at this time. Chairman Leatherwood stated that the executive committee did meet briefly with Dominic Cochran and explained that there are plans to bring him into a board meeting to answer any questions from the board. Commissioner Saxton asked Scott a question regarding the internet sales. Commissioner Saxton then asked a question on the Strategic Plan. She asked when will the board start acting on the strategic plan action items, as it was mentioned that the strategic committee will start working in January. Scott explained that the strategic committee will start addressing the recommendations and then will bring them to the board as finished items or recommendations for the board to review. Commissioner Collins spoke on the increased internet sales, he asked if LEPFA has the appropriate infrastructure to accommodate the growth of internet. Scott confirmed that they do. F. VICE PRESIDENT/STAFF REPORTS: Chairman Leatherwood took this time to give praise and thanks to the Vice Presidents on their outstanding hard work for the authority and board. He wanted to let each of them know that the board is greatly appreciative in all that they do. 1. PAUL NTOKO: LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting November 22, 2022 4 | Page Groesbeck Golf Course: Paul started his report by reporting on the outdoor portion of the season for Groesbeck Golf Course as it has now officially come to an end due to the winter season. Lansing Center: For the Lansing Center, Paul reported that for food and beverage they had a strong October. Paul reported that well over 1,000 pounds of food was sent out yesterday into the community. Commissioner Hall had a question regarding the food movers, he asked what organizations the food goes to. Paul explained that they normally give it to Food Movers and then Food Movers disburses the food to different organizations. Commissioner Hall asked if LEPFA has an annual report to show how much food was contributed throughout the year. Paul explained that they normally will get a report either once a month or every two months that shows their contributions to these organizations from the Food Bank that shows how many meals have been served based on the amount LEPFA provides. Paul reported that they are currently at about 6500 pounds of food for the year. Commissioner Saxton asked if Food and Beverage could see this happen again for the month of November and December. Paul explained the trends that normally happen from the past. Paul noted that Food and Beverage are not ordering as much food as they used to with the type of events they are currently having, Paul explained that there is limited waste. 2. Heidi Brown: Heidi began her report by sharing that they have hired two new team members. They have hired Daron MacKinder as their Technical Services Coordinator and Angela Sees as their new Events Services Manager. As Scott previously mentioned in his report, Heidi added that they are currently working on benefit renewals. Heidi then took this time to highlight the Turkey that LEPFA displays outside of the administration office for contributions to the Greater Lansing Foodbank. Heidi explained the purpose of the Turkey and how it benefits the foodbank. She also took the time to thank the board for their support in adding the Juneteenth holiday. 3. MINDY BILADEAU: Mindy began her report by sharing the success of the October month for the Lansing Center as it was the busiest month of the entire year (2022). She took this time to recognize all the departments in their hard work to make the events this month run smoothly and successfully. Mindy reported on this year’s 38th annual Silver Bells event as it was held on Friday, November 18, followed by the 5K on Saturday, November 19th. Mindy reported that the weather was brutally cold and snowy. 25, 000 people braved the cold weather to join this event as well as the many who joined from their LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting November 22, 2022 5 | Page living rooms while viewing the event on TV. With this, Mindy is confident that the numbers will be strong this year regarding the live broadcast. For the parade, there was only one group that dropped due to the snowy weather. The school had a Snow Day and based on the rules they were not able to participate in any extracurricular functions so they dropped from the parade. Overall, the parade was strong with 70 units, followed by the lighting of the state Christmas tree which was donated from St. Johns, Michigan. Once the tree was lit, there was a performance from Davidson native, and American Idol Top 20 contestant, Jacob Moran. Followed by the 200 drone show with the grand finale fireworks display over the capital. Mindy shared that the feedback for Silvers Bells has been wonderful from all over the state and on social media. Mindy took this time to thank Commissioner Danielle Lenz for her wonderful job with the media as Mindy promoted the event on 25 radio shows and TV from Port Huron, Cadillac, Kalamazoo, etc. Mindy also thanked the City Of Lansing, Public Service, Lansing Police Department, Lansing Fire Department, Michigan State Police, Capital Facilities, State Partners, Volunteers, Committee, and her incredible support team. Mindy reported that for the 12th annual Silver Bells 5K, they reached their goal of 806 participants who signed up and 600 of those participants showed up to embrace the cold weather. Commissioner McGrain commended Mindy and all involved in a spectacular Silver Bells event. Chairman Leatherwood thanked all the Vice Presidents on an outstanding job in their respective responsibilities. He also thanked Mindy for a job well done for the event. VIII. COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF COMMENTS: A. Commissioner Hall: Commissioner Hall shared updates from the CVB. He reported on the following topics. 1. Star Report (Smith Travel and Research Report): Commissioner Hall explained that the Star Report presents occupancy, rates, etc. He was happy to present that for our region and city, for the month of October, they had a 58.8% occupancy. Year to date, that is an occupancy rate of 55.1%. This month’s rate of 58.8% is the highest in the past two years, so we are on a good track for occupancy Commissioner Hall reported. Their daily rate in October for the region was just under $134 which is the highest ADR in the past three to four years. For year to date, they had a strong occupancy of $111.03 which is a 21% increase year over year which is about $20. These two things combined give them (RevPAR) which is a combination of rate and occupancy. Commissioner Hall explained the significance of RevPAR from an economic standpoint and shared that their RevPAR was at about $78.53 for the month of October, which was the highest since 2019. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting November 22, 2022 6 | Page 2. Commissioner Lenz: Commissioner Lenz shared that she had a client event, which was The Michigan Manufacturers Association Annual Awards Ceremony. This event had many attendees from around the state of Michigan. This event was held at the Lansing Center, and she wanted to commend the staff at the Lansing Center as she stated, “This was the easiest event she has done in the past couple of years.” She said that the food had many compliments. 3. Commissioner Saxton: Commissioner Saxton wanted to share about the ITV event which is the Professional Tennis Event and encouraged everyone to attend this wonderful event. She stated that she is connected to this event as she hosted for the second time a professional player and she wanted to present it to the board for anyone who enjoys tennis to come out and attend the event as it is put on by the Greater Lansing Sports Authority. IX. OLD BUSINESS: A. Approval of: 1. August 23, 2022, Board Meeting Minutes Motion was made to accept the meeting minutes for the August 23, 2022, meeting as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Collins SECOND: Commissioner Mickens. MOTIONED CARRIED 2. Board Strategic Planning Session Meeting Minutes (August 29, 2022) Motion was made to accept the meeting minutes for the Board Strategic Planning Sesson on August 29, 2022, meeting as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Stajos. MOTIONED CARRIED 3. September 27, 2022, Board Meeting Minutes Motion was made to accept the meeting minutes for the September 27, 2022, meeting as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Collins SECOND: Commissioner Lenz. MOTIONED CARRIED 4. August 2022 Financials Motion was made to accept the August 2022 Financials as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Mickens. MOTIONED CARRIED 5. Lansing Center Website Re-Design Contract with Ciesa Design: Motion was made to accept the Website Re-Design with Ciesa Design as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Stajos SECOND: Commissioner Lenz. MOTIONED CARRIED X. NEW BUSINESS: None. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting November 22, 2022 7 | Page XI. ADJOURNMENT: Motion was made to adjourn the November 22, 2022, monthly board meeting. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Stajos. MOTIONED CARRIED At 8:50 p.m. the meeting was adjourned. THE NEXT MONTHLY MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR: TUESDAY, January 24, 2023 8:00 a.m. LOCATION: Lansing Center- Governors Rooms Respectfully submitted, Kasey McFadden, Recording Secretary *November 22, 2022, Meeting Minutes were amended at the January 24, 2023, LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting reflecting the removal of Charles Mickens from the ABSENT section.