HomeMy WebLinkAboutLEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes January 30, 2024LANSING ENTERTAINMENT & PUBLIC FACILITIES
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BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES
January 30, 2024
At 2:12 p.m. Chairman Kenric Hall called the monthly meeting of the 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: Kenric Hall, Larry Leatherwood, Emily Linden (Ex-Officio), Maureen McNulty-Saxton,
James Stajos, and Rawley Van Fossen (Ex-Officio).
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Paul Collins, Price Dobernick, Desiree Kirkland (Ex-Officio), Danielle Lenz, Charles
Mickens, and Eric Sudol
OTHERS PRESENT: Mindy Biladeau, Kirby Doidge, Scott Keith, Kasey McFadden, Paul Ntoko, and Tristan Wright -
Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority; Joe Abood -Lansing City Attorney’s Office; Julie Pingston, Kristy
Doak- Choose Lansing; Tyler Baker- Maner Costerisan; and Jack Alexander- Public.
III. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda.
Joe Abood exited the meeting at 2:13 p.m.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT: Chairman Hall introduced Julie Pingston and Kristy Doak from Choose Lansing to discuss
industry updates.
Julie Pingston introduced Kristy Doak, Director of Sales for the Lansing Center.
Kristy Doak introduced herself to the Board, gave a brief overview of her role as the Director of Sales for the Lansing
Center, and discussed trends in the industry. Kristy highlighted that for the Lansing Center in terms of sales, she is seeing a trend in short-term business which will continue throughout 2024. Kristy also mentioned with the strong
outlook for sales, they are trending to exceed 2019’s expectations.
Joe Abood entered the meeting at 2:15 p.m.
V. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 28, 2023, MINUTES: Minutes will be approved at the February 27, 2024, meeting due to lack of quorum. There were no changes to the minutes.
VI. REPORTS:
A. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Chairman Hall noted items for today’s meeting include:
1. Update on the LEPFA/Choose Lansing Agreement
2. NOV/DEC 2023 Financial Review
3. 2023 Audit Presentation 4. 2024-2025 Draft Budget Presentation
5. Updates from the Finance, Personnel, and Strategic Committees
Chairman Hall, along with Scott explained that due to lack of quorum, there would be no action items and
deliberation items to discuss at today’s meeting. The board is not able to question nor have a discussion
regarding items due to the limited number of voting Board members. All action items have been moved to the February 27, 2024, meeting. These include the 2023 Audit acceptance, NOV/DEC 2023 Financials acceptance, 2024-2025 Draft Budget acceptance, approval of the Xerox Agreement for Copiers, and the approval of the
agreement with Christman for the balcony renovation at the Lansing Center.
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B. FINANCE COMMITTEE: In Commissioner Danielle Lenz’s absence, Chairman Hall deferred to LEPFA’s VP
of Finance, Kirby Doidge to report the Finance Committee items. Kirby stated that the committee met, and
introduced Tyler Baker, the Senior Manager from Maner Costerisan who presented the 2023 LEPFA Audit:
1. 2023 LEPFA Audit- Tyler reviewed the bounded 2023 LEPFA Audit to the Board along with the Audit
Communications letter. Tyler first thanked Scott Keith, Kirby Doidge, and the finance team for their efforts in getting the audit finalized this year as it was submitted on time to the City by December 2023.
Tyler began by reviewing the two-page “Communication with Governance Letter,” which is the
communication of any findings, differences, disagreements, etc. that would be provided in this report;
there were no items Tyler reported. Overall, from the audit as of June 30, 2023, the LEPFA financials
are in good standing.
Tyler then thanked the LEPFA staff, and the Board for their time and finished the presentation.
Tyler Baker & James Stajos exited the meeting at 2:32 p.m.
2. November 2023 Financials- Kirby highlighted one issue that took place in November for the Lansing
Center which was under utilities. Kirby shared there was an issue with one of the items from BWL as
they received an incorrect bill, once discussed with BWL it was a mistake on their end. This has been rectified and will be shown in the December financials.
3. December 2023 Financials-
a. Lansing Center- Kirby noted that December financials are the halfway mark for the fiscal year and
with that, operating revenue for the Lansing Center is currently at $409,561.68. As a whole, the Lansing Center is under budget in revenue. Building rental is beating the budget by $14,040.28
with 40% of events taking place for the first half of the year, with the upcoming 60% of the
remaining events for the fiscal year in the second half. Expenses for the Lansing Center for salaries
and wages are down due to the allocation across the properties. Kirby highlighted the utility line to
show the reflection of the BWL issue that came out of the November financials. The under-
expensed line comes out of Foodservice, this is due to being short-staffed and the increase in food items did not meet the increase they expected it to be. Overall, the Lansing Center's excess
revenue over expenses for December is at $162,428.81 over, and for the year to date, Lansing
Center is at $164,404.33.
b. Groesbeck Golf Course- Kirby highlighted that the golf course had a slow start to December, but
looking forward to more play, leagues picking up, and promotions, this could offset simulator play from November. For Salaries and Wages, Groesbeck is under budget. Year to date for excess
revenue of expenses, Groesbeck is at $161,028.65.
C. Jackson Field – Kirby stated that salaries and wages for Jackson Field have expensed the
allocated salaries and benefits. Utilities are coming in under budget with the renovation currently
happening. There should be an increase in the use of utilities compared to the prior year due to the renovation taking place. Kirby highlighted that for maintenance of the facility, the HVAC unit has
had some repairs to HVAC units; this is still under budget. Insurance and Bonding is the only
category that is over-expensed, this is due to working with the insurance provider to make sure
Jackson Field is properly allocated compared to Lansing Center. Excess revenue over expenses is
$8,763.93 for the month and $65,716.58 for the year.
4. 2024-2025 Draft Budget- Scott explained to the Board the process of the LEPFA Budget with
coordination from the City of Administration and City Council. Kirby noted that the City tasked LEPFA
with decreasing the budget by 10%; the 2025 Budget was decreased by 11% total for City operating
contribution. Lansing Center was cut by 12% ($154,000), Groesbeck was cut by 19% ($18,000), and
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Jackson Field was cut by 6% ($38,000) with a total cut of 11% ($211,000). This was done due to
increasing revenues and better allocation of expenses across all three entities.
C. PERSONNEL COMMITTEE: In Commissioner Paul Collin’s absence, Scott reported that the Personnel
Committee met and discussed the following items:
Kristy Doak exited the meeting at 3:06 p.m.
1. Service Culture- Scott began by sharing that the committee had a quick discussion regarding the
Service Culture Draft Report that was provided to Scott by Matthew Anderson. Scott and Matt are looking to schedule a meeting to discuss and make any amendments to the draft report. Scott will update all at the next Board meeting.
2. Organizational Chart- One of the goals this year for the Personnel Committee is to review and amend
the LEPFA Organizational Chart. The committee discussed these changes as they could be part of the
potential agreement with LEPFA/Choose Lansing. They are looking to change titles to a different
department to better reflect how the sales functions between the two entities operate.
3. LEPFA Staff “Personal Time Off”- Lastly, Scott shared that the committee discussed changing some
of the language between the “Personal” and “Sick” time as they are different currently and they are
looking to have them be more of the same in terms of language. They will put together a draft for
personal and sick time for the labor attorney to review and will bring the language back to the board for
approval.
D. STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE: Committee Chair Larry Leatherwood noted the Strategic
Committee met and discussed the following items:
1. Improvements for Lansing Center, Jackson Field, and Groesbeck Golf Course- Commissioner Leatherwood shared that the committee discussed the proposed improvements to the Lansing Center
and Jackson Field. Commissioner Leatherwood then deferred to Tristan Wright to discuss and provide
an update on these various projects.
a. Jackson Field Renovation: Tristan provided the status of where the current project at Jackson
Field is. At Jackson Field, they are going through various projects under the MLB audit that took place a few years ago. The renovation is now in phase two with projects that include an additional batting tunnel, home locker room renovations, expansion of the batter’s eye in the
outfield area, extending the safety netting around the field, and adding anti-slip material in the
dugouts. These projects are progressing and should be completed by the end of March.
b. Lansing Center Renovation: Tristan shared that the riverside balcony, which has been out of service since 2018, is a big priority as the Lansing Center is losing revenue with it being out of
service. They are hoping to get the project started in the Spring of this year along with
landscaping modifications on the river trail.
E. PRESIDENT & CEO’s REPORT: Scott Keith reported the following: 1. New Business Items- Scott began by sharing a brief overview of the new business items which will be
moved to the next Board meeting on February 27, 2024.
a. Xerox Agreement: The first item he discussed was the Xerox agreement which is to secure
new Xerox copiers as the old agreement expired during the pandemic. The operations team
worked on a new deal with Xerox which came out cheaper than the previous one. The Board will review this for approval next meeting.
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b. Christman Agreement: The next item is the Christman agreement for the Riverside Balcony
project at the Lansing Center. This will also include the Grab N Go café project through
Amazon. Scott added that this will bring additional revenue to the Lansing Center, and they will
be utilizing partial space within the coat room to make a home for the new Grab N Go café.
2. IT Infrastructure Update- Scott updated the Board on the IT infrastructure project and stated it is near completion.
3. Daktronics Agreement- In the next board meeting, Scott mentioned that he is hoping to bring to the
Board information for new marquees for the Lansing Center and Jackson Field.
4. Groesbeck Golf Course Master Plan- Scott lastly noted that they are still in the process of reviewing the Master Plan for Groesbeck Golf Course.
F. VICE PRESIDENT/STAFF REPORTS:
1. Mindy Biladeau- Sales & Services:
a. Sales: Mindy reviewed with the Board the sales for November and December as for both months sales exceeded budget. Sales are over $85,000 ahead of budget for the current fiscal
year and ahead of pace from the previous year by $160,000.
b. Silver Bells In The City Recap: Mindy noted that she has the 39th annual Silver Bells In The
City/ Silver Bells 5k recap ready and will be presenting the recap at the February 27th meeting.
c. Lansing Center Website Update: Progress for the Lansing Center website is coming together
for website rebuild as they are almost completed. The goal is to launch the new website within the next thirty days.
2. Paul Ntoko- Foodservice:
a. MLK Day Of Celebration Luncheon- Paul took this time to start his report by thanking all staff
and community partners for another successful MLK luncheon event with over 1,400 attendees for the event. This event kicks off the new year for the Lansing Center and Paul enjoys its impact on the community.
b. New Sous Chef: Paul shared that they were successful in hiring a new Sous Chef for the
Lansing Center as the previous Sous Chef retired after over twenty years of service. The new
Sous Chef started at the beginning of the new year.
3. Tristan Wright- Operations (as well as HR report):
a. HR Report- In Heidi Brown’s absence from the meeting, Tristan provided a brief overview of
the HR report which included the announcement of the new Sous Chef as well as updates for
the Accounting Manager and Payable Accountant interviews. They had three candidates for
the Payable Accountant, and they will be asking two of these candidates to come back for
another interview and extended an offer for the Accounting Manager position. The HR/Payroll
position and an on-call foodservice position are currently posted and will close this week. Heidi
is currently working on the OSHAA summary for 2023 to be posted by February and is
updating the Summary Plan Description for the benefits to be distributed by April 1st.
4. Kirby Doidge- Finance:
a. Finance Team Update- Kirby added to Heidi’s report that for Finance, they held interviews for the Payables Accountant and Accounting Manager positions. There were three candidates for
the Payables Accountant position, they are looking to have two of these candidates come back
for an additional interview to walk through the Lansing Center. The Accounting Manager
candidate who was extended an offer declined the offer, so the team is going to regroup and
repost for this position.
VII. COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF COMMENTS: No report.
VIII. OLD BUSINESS: No report.
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IX. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Xerox Agreement- Due to lack of quorum, the action item has been moved to the February 27, 2024,
meeting.
2. Christman Contractors Agreement- Due to lack of quorum, the action item has been moved to the
February 27, 2024, meeting.
X. AJOURNMENT: At 3:17 p.m. the regular monthly meeting was adjourned. THE NEXT MONTHLY MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2024 8:00 a.m. LOCATION: Governor’s Room- Lansing Center Respectfully submitted,
Kasey McFadden, Recording Secretary