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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority Minutes 01.27.26LANSING ENTERTAINMENT & PUBLIC FACILITIES AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES January 27, 2026 At 8:00am, Chairwoman Maureen McNulty-Saxton called the LEPFA Board of Commissioners to order in Banquet Rooms 103-104 located at the Lansing Center; 333 East Michigan Avenue; Lansing, Michigan 48933. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Kenric Hall, Dustin Howard, Lolo Robison, Charles Mickins, Tracie Kent, Maureen Saxton, Rawley Van Fossen (EO), Crystal Thomas (EO) COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Paul Collins, Danielle Lenz, Deyanira Nevarez OTHERS PRESENT: Kirby Doidge, Ryan Tess, Tony Watson, Emily Shaull, Kristy Doak, Mindy Biladeau, Paul Ntoko, Madyson Rush, Sherrie Boak City of Lansing, Cliff Hammond Foster Swift, Jack Alexander, Tyler Baker, Quinn Thomas-Hagerman Chair Saxton called the LEPFA Board meeting to start at 8:00 A.M.. llI. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda. MOTION: Commissioner Robison SECOND: Commissioner Mickens MOTIONED CARRIED IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None V. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 1. November 18 Board Meeting 2. December 17 Board Meeting Motion to approve the previous minutes as presented MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Howard MOTIONED CARRIED VI. PRESENTATION OF LEPFA AUDIT 1. Tyler Baker - Maner Costerisan A) Approval of FY25 Audit Tyler Baker reviews highlights of the 6/30/25 FY25 Audit Report. Total assets increased from just under 10 to 12.1 million. Overall current and other assets, cash and cash equivalents (receivables), decreased from 7.7 to 5.4 million. Most of that is a decrease in cash, as well as a decrease in receivables and due from other governmental units, related to timing of grant in 2024 versus timing of grant reimbursement in 2025. Capital assets increase from 2.2 to 6.7 million, majority of which is investments in the current year of approximately 4.8 of capital additions, net of current year depreciation as well. Current liabilities decreased from 4 to 1.9 million. This is due to unearned revenue in 2024 related to grants that weren't expended yet or recognized as revenue that were recognized in the current year of approximately 1.6 million. Also, related AP for construction in 2024, less in 2025 over approximately 540,000. Overall net position increased due to the investment in capital assets, increasing total from 5.6 million to just over 10 million, but the use for future needs, which is that unrestricted number, remained consistent, decreasing slightly from 3.6 to 3.45 million from 2024 to 2025. Operating revenues increased from 7.4 to just under 7.6 million, approximately a 2.2% increase. Operating expenses decrease from 9.7 to 9.1 million, approximately 6%. Partially due to a decrease from 2024 to 2025 of professional services, some on the repair and maintenance for items that wouldn't be capitalized and remain on the income statement, as well as some supplies and security. Non-operating revenues increased from 5 to 5.9 million, including the City of Lansing subsidy. Increase LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting January 27, 2026 P a g e | 2 was due to state grants received. Net position overall increased approximately 4.3 million from 5.6 to 10 million. Most due to the investment in capital assets. Unrestricted remained consistent to be used for future expenses. Cash movement that historically hasn’t been there, due to new grants, a lot of investment in capital assets, and how the data shows up on the income statement. Such as, the grant being recognized in 2025 or over time with depreciation expense. Net decrease in cash of 2.106 million decreasing from 5.4 to 3.3. Last year, it increased by approximately 2 million. Overall, over that two-year period, cash increased approximately $703,000. The independent auditor's report on internal control over financial reporting. Disclosed in the letter are any findings that needs to be communicated to the board. One finding for the current year, which is material journal entries proposed by the auditors. Accounts need to be adjusted or reclassified, mainly grant- related. The report goes into more detail about how that all touched capital assets versus revenue versus the split out between what was the city contributions versus the grant. The required letter from the auditors to the board went through significant estimates, such as useful lives of fixed assets, industry standards of those lives, but inherently that's an estimate on how long a capital asset will last, as well as items such as uncollectible, receivable. There were no disagreements with management or any difficulties encountered during the audit. The report goes into more detail and was distributed to all commissioners. Motion to approve the FY25 Audit as presented. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Robison MOTIONED CARRIED VI. REPORTS A) Chairperson – Maureen McNulty-Saxton Thanked everyone for the gifts sent, including Legends Global for the beautiful flowers, on the passing of Mr. Leatherwood. Stated that he will be missed and that his family greatly appreciated the board food that was sent. B) ASM Report- General Manager / Regional VP a) Staffing Well-staffed now but still looking to fill the Sous Chef and Event Coordinator positions. b) Legends Global Venue Assessment Copies were available of the assessment. Tony Watson went over the highlights. The assessment was done in September and took a while to finish and finalize. Some of the minor items have been corrected since. i. Jackson Field: Significant issues with the roof; possibly need to replace it. The water intrusion raises mold issues, so it must be addressed quickly. Concrete deterioration in the seating bowl; evidence of some erosion. The team has seen sand coming out from underneath the seats. There's collapsing seats that can’t be used because of the concrete deterioration. ii. Groesbeck Golf Course: Potentially a new roof and new gutters. The workshop needs assistance. iii. Lansing Center: An audit was done in 2019, which is detailed, but the estimates will be different these days. Will investigate it and get different numbers for some of the items. Need inspections done on the roof. HVAC system, cooling towers, and air handler units are getting close to their end of their life cycles. 2nd Floor near the administration office is being painted. Will be selecting new carpet for area and should probably be completed before next board meeting. There was a leak in the Governor’s Room last night, so that is why the room changed. There are outdated areas of Lansing Center, and there is discussion about bringing in new business with updated aesthetics of the building. In the process of getting estimates to use the contribution from Legends Global. It would go towards updating the ballroom and certain Food & Beverage items. Will be getting a full list on that once the quotes all come in. Comment from Commissioner Mickens: There will be an internal meeting with the city team, public service, and so forth to assist in the review and to also provide some commentary, hopefully from the city side so that the professional public service team could deal with this for all those facilities. Tony and he will have more from the city’s perspective to add to this assessment to share with the rest of the commissioners. The administration and the city council will get a copy of this as well. Emily is currently revising all the board member handbooks. We are also updating the sheets and the roster for the website. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting January 27, 2026 P a g e | 3 C) Finance Committee – Paul Collins Paul is not speaking on the topic. Kenric passes it onto Kirby Doidge to go over the reports on behalf of the financial committee. a) November Financials The Lansing Center had $654,000 in total revenue. Year-to-date, $212,000 over in revenue. Under the anticipated expenses by $115,000 and year-to-date under by $181,000. After adding in non-operating revenue, the Lansing Center was over the anticipated budget by 288,000, but it is much needed. Up in revenue by about $900,000 compared to the prior year and down about $100,000 in expenses. Groesbeck brought in $23,000, which is $19,000 over the anticipated budget. Had quite a bit of November golf and ended close to Thanksgiving. Expenses came in under budget by $17,000 and year to date under $24,000. Equipment, maintenance, facilities, and supplies will increase because they buy during end of year with rebates and discounts. Jackson Field utilities expenses are on track. Had some supplies and materials expense increase, which is normal with the necessary repairs, like the HVAC. Under the anticipated budget by $10,000, but still over by $85,000. Maintenance and the UAW have moved over to payroll, which will help with the retro pay. Over budget by $84,000, which is largely due to the elevator, which was $95,000. Many projects still need to be done over at Jackson Field, which is ongoing. b) December Financials The Nuway settlement for the damage to the stained-glass window is still to be added to these financials for The Lansing Center. Rough estimate then is $45,000 in total revenue, which is over the anticipated rental, which will increase. Food and Beverage was under for December, as December is one of our slower months. Overall, over the anticipated budget by $73,000 for December. Equipment rental was under by $50,000 for the month, but still over by $82,000 year to date. The signage and promotion, the set of naming rights that ASM legends proposed in their statement, is still not fulfilled. It is under budget by $282,000, which year to date brings it under the anticipated revenue by $98,000. For the month, we were under revenue by $344,000 for the month of December. Question from Commissioner Hall: I understand the reason we’re behind in the signs and promotions. Is there a plan in place that will catch up with that number or will that continue to deteriorate over the next six months? Everything's in there for that $300,000. Working on some items that will increase that, but those are ongoing. It is not expected to get that $300,000 by the end of the year, but some of it. It will be presented for the board’s approval once we get there. Salaries are increased and over by the budget by $34,000; a lot of that is due to the retro pay of the UAW staff. Still are under the anticipated budget by $26,000. Utilities were low for December. We did have a credit due back to us, which is great, as that is under $91,000. Will be eating into that with the January polar vortex. Food and Beverage was under by $23,000 and still under by $58,000 year to date. Total expenses for the month of December were $567,000, which is under the anticipated budget by $41,000. In year to date, it is still under by $181,000 in expenses. After adding in the non-operating revenue, we were under the anticipated budget for the month of December by $317,000, but only under our utility date by $25,000. Once we add in the $45,000 in revenue, we are ahead by $20,000 year to date. January also will be a slower month, but so we will dip into that excess revenue as well. Question from Chairperson Saxton: Wanted to bring this up since it’s been a while and since we have new members. What is going on with the name rights? Is there a plan? We are working with different groups trying to sell the place. As far as a plan, we're just trying to chip away. We're trying to figure out what is the best way to move forward. We don't have any specifics on that at the moment. Question from Chairperson Saxton: When you say sell the place, what do you mean? Interested investments in the buildings and naming a room, naming a hall, naming a concourse, the building, etc. We're open to all those suggestions. Kristy's done a great job with pushing the sponsorship component for sales. Comparison to prior year, year-to-date revenue, we were at $2.6 million at this time. And currently, for this fiscal year, we're at 3.3 million. Again, our expenses are up year to date by approximately $130,000, but we do see that large increase in revenue at the Lansing Center. Groesbeck brought in $4,400 for the month of December, which is down on the anticipated budget by $10,000. But there is the sponsorship of the $12,500 as well, an area we were right on the anticipated budget. The simulator is just barely below the anticipated budget, which is great. There are a lot of expensive and more available simulators in the area, but we have our niche, which is being a great value and paid off while generating revenue. Year to date, over our anticipated revenue by $77,000. Salaries were up by $9,000, and the rest of our expenses are down. Part of that is the timing of maintenance and supplies invoices. Operating expenses for the month were $51,000, LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting January 27, 2026 P a g e | 4 which was under the anticipated budget by $292,000. Year to date, we are under by $25,000. Year-to-date anticipated budget, we are over where we anticipated to be by $102,000. As always, that will be reinvested into items for the golf course—equipment, new roofs, projects, etc.—that we believe will generate revenue. Jackson Field’s gutters were replaced as part of the approval back in October. This was part of getting the water intrusion to stop, which if not done, it was going to get into the electrical system, which could be a $100,000 plus dollar ticket item. Originally, it was part of the $1 million grant, but now is just hitting the capital area. Which brings us over our anticipated expenses by $21,000, and year to date, we are over by $106,000. Kirby will be utilizing the appropriation of the salary and benefits, pulling those from the Lansing Center, making sure everyone is moved over and then allocate accurately everyone’s salaries. We are under by $105,000, which a lot of that is due to capital projects in nature that have to be done. Question from Chairperson Saxton: Is there an update on the grant issue? It’s paused, but the city has already reimbursed LEPFA for a majority of the grant; there is at least a couple thousand or so, less than 25, available to spend. While it’s paused, still working with the state in terms of the litigation, risk remains on the city side of it. Motion to approve the November and December financial reports as presented MOTION: Commissioner Kent SECOND: Commissioner Hall MOTIONED CARRIED D) Personnel Committee- Dustin Howard Tony covered some of what was discussed in their last meeting, and most of it is in his report. Union contracts are buttoned up for the most part. UAW is, but IATSE is still in progress. Question from Chairperson Maureen: Is it close to being finalized? Ryan Tess answered by saying that they’re waiting to hear back from them. IATSE’s ratification meeting got delayed, and they had a regime change for their board. Then no one showed up for the January 8th meeting. So they are still waiting on it. E) Strategic Planning Committee- Charles Mickens Received the venue assessment and hope to plan the way forward with some resources that don’t exist right now. Hope to get to them before they must be fixed because the time and priority will increase the cost, rather than if it is done ahead of time. It will take a lot of resources, and he thanked the board for coordinating bringing the city’s resources to help. The Lansing Center is close to 40 years old, and there is routine maintenance to be done everywhere for a building of this age. Looking for opportunities to get more money for it. As a strategic committee, we want to be more proactive and not reacting to incidents as we are now. F) Director /Staff Report a) Kristy Doak, Director of Sales & Service Introduced Madyson Rush, newest sales manager who started end of September. Also, Rachel Hare, newest even coordinator hired in November. Between sales and service, they were able to get in front of over 500 meeting planners and association executives over the two months. Attended a lot of events, such as Society of Government Meeting Professionals, Destination Michigan Showcase, the Choose Lansing Holiday Showcase, MSAE Annual Conference, the MRLA Women in Hospitality Leadership Conference, etc. Then hosted MSU's Industry Day for over 30+ students and professors. As previously mentioned, they are open to all ideas and opportunities. Asked if anyone would give them a sponsorship. Also, working in the services department to increase customer evaluation engagement. Tony Watson added that there will be a new survey platform called Insight that's going live probably within the next 30 days. There’s two parts to the process—one part is an in-the-moment survey. There will be QR codes on signage around the building that will pull up the survey for the consumer. The completed survey will immediately go to whoever it needs to go to. Immediate issues can be addressed right on site and in the moment, such as a restroom needing cleaning. The second part is a survey platform that will be sent out to the clients, with anywhere between 8 to 12 questions. Got first example yesterday, and it was very clean and very easy to use. Kristy said it was very user-friendly. Tony added that it is very customizable to each event. Chairperson Maureen Saxon added a potential selling point suggestion. She mentioned that her organization was looking for a venue for an annual event in Lansing, and they chose the Lansing Center. The key selling points were the hallway rotunda, being such a nice place to meet and mingle during a cocktail hour, and the food service. Kristy confirmed that our space was a key selling point in this facility. b) Paul Ntoko, Director of Foodservice Groesbeck simulator season is up and running. There are the same leagues and the same number of lessons as we did last year at this period. What they’re hoping to see more is public play on the weekends. Around February, they should start seeing more as people are able to LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting January 27, 2026 P a g e | 5 come and go outside. Working on the fees for the 2026 season. The goal initially was to try to keep from minimal change. However, with the changes to minimum wage and increased costs, that may not be a reality. The team met last December to talk about the season recap, upcoming season, as well as the centennial coming up. The marketing team will need more details on that. The Lansing Center had a solid fall, September through November being very strong. December and January had fewer events, but February and March should give us more hours for staff and more revenue to keep that momentum. Thanked staff and community partners for coming together or contributing in any way to a successful execution of the MLK luncheon last Monday. Chairperson Maureen commented that the event got tremendous media attention as usual, and that she is proud to be associated with the venue for hosting that. c) Ryan Tess, Director of Operations Referenced the heating issue in the building today and that they’ll work through it. November was probably their best month ever for internet sales. Took over $31,000 in different sales. Hopefully continue to see an upward trend. Was able to make some substantial speed changes to our Wi-Fi service. Their level one is now 10 times faster, all due to the upgrade last year. Just waiting for clients’ review of the service now. The upgrade to the service entails a price increase, so will be working to modify the plans to help people keep it in budget. Have a lot of maintenance items to work on in the downtime. As Paul said, the Groesbeck simulator's going well, and the setup seems to be working. Jackson Field had a pipe burst in early December. It was part of the HVAC not running as it should. The HVAC is getting to the end of its life, so there’s substantial bills for it. A lot to do before season opens in beginning of April. Question from Chairperson Saxton: Would it be possible to have a Christmas market on the field from November through January 1st? Probably a better fit for the concourse. The turf of the field is like the golf course is expensive and put to rest during the winter. They did do a sonar on the fields to see if we had any drain tile damage. Some tiles have collapsed, and there is water retention that can flood if the field is used right now. If a team wants to host an event on the grass, it’s their risk. Mentioned the Grand Rapids Christmas Market and how we could work with the team. Tony talked about meeting Zach with DBI and their programming. They are considering doing a Christmas light show this year. They also brought back a haunted house, which we did in years past, but stopped when we couldn’t keep up with house parking. The team overall is looking into doing more programming. Question from Chairperson Saxton: And any revenue and costs stay within their operations budget, right? They spend the money and they receive any? There will be some increases in utility costs, but it gets people out into downtown. Question from Chairperson Saxton: And could help their bottom line in terms of improvements, right? d) Mindy Biladeau, Director of Marketing & Special Events All commissioners and staff present were given a physical copy of the event recap for Silver Bells in the City; an additional version was also in the report packet. 55,000+ in attendance. 21,000 households viewed Silver Bells broadcast on Fox 47. A $1.8 million economic impact to the Lansing region. 70 sponsors that covers all the expenses for the event. An expanded Silver Bells Village, maxed out of vendors, added additional food trucks, full parade with a waiting list. Record-breaking number of lights on the state Christmas tree--11,741. Grand Marshall was Herman Moore. Community Sing with Zach Seabaugh. The Illuminated Band Award winners were the following: Small Band was Lansing Eastern High School, and Large Band was Lansing Waverly High School. Each of those band programs received $500 cash, courtesy of Lansing Board of Water and Lights, and a $500 gift card to Marshall Music, courtesy of Marshall Music. Light the City program was successful, with rooftop lights on 120 downtown buildings to light up the skyline. That's 2 1/2 miles of lights with more than 15,000 lamps. Just turned off on January 15th. Festive façade lighting with more than a dozen buildings on event day downtown. Silver Bells 5K set a new record; we sold out with 1200 participants. That's a 20% increase from the previous year. Huge, successful outdoor print, digital, social television, streaming, radio, and social campaigns. News media coverage resulted in 794 mentions, $314,000 in publicity value, and a total range of $645 million. Website had 150,000 visits, a 35% increase from the previous year. 170,000 unique visitors, a 41% increase, and 203,000 HVUs, a 28% increase. The top outlets was Yahoo News, WLNX, News 10, WLNS 6, and Fox 47. Silver Bell Facebook had 2.2 million views, 20,500+ followers, and 46,000 content interactions. Massive crowd in person and a bright, huge television audience as well. Question from Commissioner Hall: I'm curious about the 5K. What did you do differently? Because that was a big increase. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting January 27, 2026 P a g e | 6 The goal is about 20% every year. But they started a bit earlier with a push and had a tiered increase for registration. Added some digital streaming, so ads with Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, etc., and partnered with some social influencers for the first time. Did extremely well for both events throughout the Midwest. Question from Chairperson Saxton: Who takes your photographs for this? Is there an official photographer? Yeah, they used Dave Trumpy for a long time, but he's retired. So they use McShane Photography and Media Advantage. There are 3 photographers and then 1 dedicated to the drone show. Groesbeck is celebrating its centennial along with the Detroit Red Wings. Just finalized a special anniversary logo for the year. Been digging into the history of the course as well and can’t wait to share that with the board and the public soon. She and Kristy are working on the 2026 sales and marketing plan. It’s due to Legend Corporate by the end of the month and will be shared with the board in February. VIII. COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF COMMENTS A) Commissioner Thomas attended Larry Leatherwood’s memorial service. Brought a program from it to share with the board in case anyone wanted to look at the pictures. Has known Larry for a very long time and the mayor had her read a proclamation on behalf of the city. Tony attended the service as well and said the proclamation was very nice. Maureen couldn't attend the service but made it to the visitation. Noted that there was a nice, steady stream of people in and out. IX. OLD BUSINESS None X. NEW BUSINESS None Motion to go into closed at session at 9:13am. MOTION: Commissioner Mickens SECOND: Commissioner Howard MOTIONED CARRIED Closed Session, Pursuant to MCL 15.268(h) of the Open Meeting Act, LEPFA Board will go into closed session for discussion of the written legal opinion of its counsel, Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith, PC. Motion to end closed session at 9:36am. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Howard MOTIONED CARRIED At 9:37am, Chairperson Maureen McNulty-Saxton called the meeting back into regular session. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Kenric Hall, Dustin Howard, Lolo Robison, Charles Mickins, Tracie Kent, Maureen Saxton, Rawley Van Fossen (EO) Crystal Thomas (EO). COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Paul Collins, Danielle Lenz, Deyanira Nevarez OTHERS PRESENT: Kirby Doidge, Ryan Tess, Tony Watson, Emily Shaull, Kristy Doak, Mindy Biladeau, Paul Ntoko, Madyson Rush, Sherrie Boak City of Lansing, Cliff Hammond Foster Swift, Jack Alexander, Tyler Baker, Quinn Thomas-Hagerman. XI. AGREEMENT APPROVAL A) Discussion of modification and approval of terms of resolution of employment agreement and related documents Chairperson Maureen entertained the motion to adopt the proposed clarified and updated separation agreement of Tristan Wright as follows: “Whereas the LEPFA board entered into an employment agreement with Tristan Wright to serve as its president. The agreement contained language for a severance in the event Ms. Wright was no longer employed by LEPFA. Ms. Wright's employment with LEPFA was separated on June 30th, along with other employees of LEPFA—after the LEPFA board entered into a contract with a management company related to providing certain services, including employees. After discussions with Ms. Wright, the LEPA board has resolved to enter into a clarification of her separation agreement that provides her with four additional months of pay and services. The language of the agreement related to the duties of Ms. Wright and the board and to clarify her pay and benefits to address matters such as the unanticipated ending of COBRA benefits due to LEPFA's insurance carrier no longer providing services and to ease her transition and resolve and finalize any and all matters related to Ms. Wright's employment agreement and the LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting January 27, 2026 P a g e | 7 transition of her employment from LEPFA. Ms. Wright has provided an updated separation agreement and release, wherefore the board, the LEPFA board, agrees to enter into the updated separation agreement as offered by Ms. Wright.” MOTION: Commissioner Howard SECOND: Commissioner Hall; Commissioner Robison recused herself. MOTIONED CARRIED XII. ADJOURNMENT - Date, Time, Location of Next Meeting: At 9:40 AM, meeting was adjourned. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Robison MOTIONED CARRIED NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR: FEBRUARY 24, 2026 8:00 a.m. Location: Governor’s Room- Lansing Center Respectfully submitted, Emily Shaull, Recording Secretary