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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority Minutes 06.23.26LANSING ENTERTAINMENT & PUBLIC FACILITIES AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES June 23rd, 2026 At 8:02am, Chairperson Maureen McNulty-Saxton called 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: Dustin Howard, Maureen McNulty-Saxton, Patrick Spyke, Paul Collins, Kenric Hall, Danielle Lenz, Tracie Kent COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Charles Mickens, Lolo Robison, Deyanira Nevarez (EO), Crystal Thomas (EO), Rawley Van Fossen (EO) OTHERS PRESENT: Tony Watson, Emily Shaull, Kirby Doidge, Mindy Biladeau, Ryan Tess, Kristy Doak, Julie Pingston Choose Lansing, Jack Alexander, Gregory S. Venker Chairperson McNulty-Saxton called the LEPFA Board meeting to start at 8:02am. III. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Lenz MOTIONED CARRIED Commissioner Mickens arrived at 8:07am. IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS: 1. Julie Pingston - Choose Lansing a. Update on the ballot proposal for the increase to the hotel/motel tax i. It is on the August 4th ballot. ii. The absentee ballots will be going out later this week, since it’s likely that 75-80% of voters will vote absentee. iii. Choose Lansing has a public education campaign about the proposal. 1. A postcard mailer will be sent to 52,000-53,000 voters, arriving at the same time as the ballot. a. The mailer states the following facts: i. The excise tax will go up by 3% for city visitors, at no cost to the voter. ii. The money will be used to renovate and improve facilities all over the city. 2. City of Lansing sent out another postcard mailer 10 days ago, which showed facts about this and the Lansing Shuffle’s ballot proposals. 3. Choose Lansing created a microsite off their own website, Lansing.org/vote, which has all ballot proposal information. a. The postcard mailer has a QR code which is linked to the microsite. 4. Lansing State Journal will publish a synopsis on all the ballot proposals. a. For Ingham County, there's also four military renewals. b. All the other ballot proposals will cost the voter, except for this one. i. Julie hopes that people won’t get voter fatigue and will read through all the ballots. 5. Choose Lansing has put out a poll for voters to gauge their feelings about the ballot. 6. Choose Lansing is developing social media ads for the campaign. a. It will be separate from normal Choose Lansing ads. 7. WILX reached out to Choose Lansing yesterday. 8. Choose Lansing is working with a PR firm to help strategize and stay ahead of the messaging in the next few weeks. 9. East Lansing Insider spoke to Mark Revner, the county commissioner, about LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 2 the proposal. iv. The county commissioners have not yet decided which facilities will receive the funding or how the funding will be used. 1. The funding must go towards improving entertainment venues, convention and meeting facilities, fairgrounds, or sports complexes, as per the Public Act. a. Some commissioners are intent on the fairgrounds getting funding. 2. Choose Lansing is trying to communicate this to voters without misrepresenting the county in any way. 3. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton to Julie Pingston: Is there a deadline for the Ingham County Commissioners to make decisions on the funding streams? a. The money probably won't come in until January or late fall at the earliest. i. After the election in August, there are thresholds that they must notify each hotel about. ii. After they get the notice out, the hotels then must adjust their processes to make collection and then remit. iii. Anything done with the tax always has a month delay. v. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton to Julie Pingston: Is the 52,000-53,000 the number of registered Ingham County voters? 1. Yes. Choose Lansing will also determine if they need to do another mailer and reach out to people who have not voted yet after this campaign. 2. Usually, in a county vote, there's two cores, urban and rural. a. She believes that this ballot will be supported by all because it could improve the fairgrounds. i. The fair foundation is campaigning for the ballot proposal as well. b. Question from Commissioner Spyke to Julie Pingston: Are the hotels supporting this tax increase? i. Yes, the Choose Lansing board took a vote on it, and the hotels are on top of the board. ii. Certain hoteliers are against it because it adds 3% more to their guests’ bills. 1. Julie believes, however, that they understand the need for Lansing facilities to improve. V. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 1. May 26 Board Meeting Motion to approve the previous minutes as presented MOTION: Commissioner Collins SECOND: Commissioner Hall MOTIONED CARRIED VI. REPORTS 1. Chairperson – Maureen McNulty-Saxton a) Chairperson McNulty-Saxton welcomed Patrick Spyke, the newest board commissioner, and thanked him for joining. b) She complimented the Lansing Center facility staff on the new carpeting in the hallway. c) Commissioner Lenz thanked staff for updating the wayfinding signs. 2. Legends Global Report – General Manager / Regional VP a) Tony Watson i. The Lansing Center is still hiring for a couple key positions. 1. The Director of Food and Beverage position has been narrowed down to about 5 candidates. a. Interviews start tomorrow. b. The hiring committee involves Tony Watson, Ryan Tess, Commissioner Kent, and Kirby Doidge. c. Within the next couple of weeks, they hope to find a candidate to officially hire and present before the board. 2. The Sous Chef position is still open. a. There was a confirmed tasting last Thursday with a sous chef. i. The candidate left 25 minutes before the tasting and after cooking and prepping for a couple hours. ii. Tony called him yesterday to clarify what happened. 3. The HR/Payroll Coordinator position has been changed to HR Manager. a. This was done to find better candidates. i. There are now 3 potential candidates. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 3 b. Corporate HR completed the first round of interviews. i. Tony is waiting to hear how the second set of interviews will go and who will be doing them. c. They hope to fill the position within the next couple weeks. ii. The Lansing Center building updates are still in progress. 1. New carpet has been installed on the second floor. 2. Staff have an updated quote for digital signage in the meeting spaces. 3. Staff are in the process of ordering new ballroom and administrative office carpet. iii. Most of the Groesbeck Golf Course upgrades are completed. 1. They are waiting on the new fryer to be installed. 2. There will be a tasting today for the final new menu items. a. Once a decision has been made, marketing will be notified, and they will try to get the menu boards out as soon as possible. b. The plan is to go live with the new menu on July 1st. 3. They hope that the food and beverage upgrades will double their per cap. a. Currently, it is $4.80, and they hope to raise it to $10. iv. Staff are working to wrap up the fiscal year. v. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton to Tony Watson: Isn’t there also an open position in finance? 1. Yes, it is pending and has been budgeted for. a. They haven’t prioritized filling it right away, but now that Kirby has been promoted to Assistant General Manager, they will try to fill it soon. 3. Finance Committee – Paul Collins & Kirby Doidge a) Paul Collins i. The finance committee didn't meet this month. 1. The executive committee discussed the financials instead. b) Kirby Doidge i. May Financials 1. Lansing Center a. Revenue i. Overall, they are over by $108,000. 1. Food and Beverage was up by $44,000. 2. Equipment rentals was up by $63,000. 3. Labor services was up by $28,000. ii. Year-to-date, they are up by $483,000. 1. They are still waiting on the sponsorship. 2. Signage and promotion did not get signed. b. Expenses i. Salaries was a little lower, mainly due to having a few open positions. ii. Professional services was down. 1. They still have budgeted $150,000 in incentives to potentially pay out at the end of the year. iii. They are still waiting for Chase Creative quotes to be processed. 1. Question from Commissioner Hall to Kirby Doidge: How much will the Chase Creative invoices cost once they’re posted? a. Kirby said it would be close to $80,000. iv. Overall, they are under by $324,000. 1. Year-to-date, they are under by $422,000. c. Last Year Comparison i. The center is up $1.1 million in revenue and $170,000 in expenses. 1. They had $250,000 budgeted for expenses. d. Comment from Commissioner Collins to Kirby Doidge: Commissioners and staff were hoping for a strong May. It seems like May was very strong. e. Question from Commissioner Hall to Kirby Doidge: How is June looking? i. It will be a little bit under, but not as bad as expected. ii. Flowthrough for the end of the year will be possible. 2. Groesbeck Golf Course a. Revenue LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 4 i. There is $32,000 missing in revenue. 1. There were some credit card terminal issues where it kept batching out. 2. Staff had to piece together 5-6 cash receipts a day to make the total deposit. The missing amount was discovered after he ran the financials. ii. They are $62,000 positive in year-to-date. 1. The course is also up in rounds compared to last year. b. Expenses i. Wages are down, since some positions are no longer allocated in their expenses. ii. Certain expenses will be coming out in June’s financials. 1. These include maintenance of equipment, facilities, and the flooring upgrade. 2. It’ll show up as $24,000, which is actually $50,000, utilized on the capital improvements. c. Last Year Comparison i. They are up by $100,000 in revenue, and expenses are steady. d. Comment from Commissioner Howard to Kirby Doidge: He has heard nothing but great things about Groesbeck. Some of his friends are calling it their new favorite golf course. He encouraged everyone to keep doing what they’re doing to help with improvements. 3. Jackson Field a. Expenses i. Salaries and wages are well under budget. 1. It’s a cash flow where they’re spending the transition, which are the LEPFA expenses that contractually they are not obligated to pay. 2. It is at $153,000. ii. The additional HVAC expenses would be $133,000, but they are not in May financials. 1. Year-to-date, they have spent $162,000 on HVAC units, which is approximately 20% of their City of Lansing allocation. iii. Question from Commissioner Collins to Kirby Doidge: Are these capital expenses above the threshold of the maintenance expenses in the Legends Global contract? Does Legends Global/LEPFA not have any other funding source for capital expenses? 1. Yes, and they are not transferring the salary and wages because they can’t pay back the Lansing Center. This is sitting in the Lansing Center's allocation. a. It’s being accurately represented in the financials, but the strategy itself has changed from previous years. iv. Question from Commissioner Hall to Kirby Doidge: Are wages not being put there because there’s no way of absorbing them? 1. The wages are sitting as a payable and receivable indefinitely. a. It's easier to adjust the allocation instead. v. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton to Kirby Doidge: What does indefinitely mean? There must be a way to recognize it. 1. It is impossible to get the cash to pay back. The subsidy is not enough to support the capital improvements and the operational expenses. Over half was already used on the capital improvements. vi. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton to Kirby Doidge: Should the board talk to the city about this? 1. Yes, commissioners and staff are all in agreement. vii. Comment from Commissioner Hall: The financials from Legends Global need to accurately reflect the facts. He is LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 5 concerned that it will look like a problem that the city can’t solve. 1. Kirby affirmed that the financials are accurately represented. They are no longer taking portions of salaries over to different properties. viii. Question from Commissioner Collins to Kirby Doidge: If the salary and wages were accurately allocated, would the Lansing Center's numbers would even be bigger this year? Was there originally a plan to pay for these capital expenses with the grant? 1. Yes, and there was a plan for some of these expenses. About $120,000 was supposed to be for grant allocation, but there is an additional $160,000-170,000 that was not necessarily budgeted for. ix. Question from Commissioner Lenz to Kirby Doidge: Is there a way to get talking points for when the board approaches the city? 1. Kirby and Tony said that they would be happy to get those to the commissioners. x. Comment from Commissioner Hall: The board should accept these financials on the condition that they speak with the city of Lansing regarding Jackson Field capital expenses concerns. 1. That way, this is accepted before the end of the fiscal year, but they can make sure the financials are submitted correctly. xi. Question from Commissioner Mickens to Commissioner Hall: Should the board accept rather than approve? 1. Commissioner Hall believes that the board should be accepting rather than approving financials monthly anyways because the audit company will approve them at the end of the year. Motion to accept the May financial reports as presented with the condition of a discussion with the city of Lansing about Jackson Field capital expenses funding concerns MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Chairperson McNulty-Saxton MOTIONED CARRIED 4. Personnel Committee – Dustin Howard a) The personnel committee did meet, and Tony already updated the board on what was discussed. 5. Strategic Planning Committee- Charles Mickens a) The strategic planning committee did not meet. 6. Director /Staff Report a) Kristy Doak, Director of Sales & Service i. The May sales budget was ahead of pace by about $24,000. 1. This increase was due to a few factors. a. Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals returned as a Lansing Center client and will stay on until 2030. b. Midwest Reps Association moved from June to their new home in May. c. Michigan State Housing Development Authority had a successful event, the Building Michigan Communities Conference. i. They agreed to a two-year contract for 2028-2029. 1. This is their first contract with Legends Global. d. Sales had a few smaller events in May as well. e. Other larger events also secured future contracts. i. Michigan Thespians Association will be having an event in December, a month when sales are typically needed. 1. They agreed to an additional three-year contract for 2027-2029. ii. The Environmental Emergency Management Conference, a State of Michigan event, is looking at a two-year contract in 2027-2028. 2. Sales had more high-level site visits. a. The Michigan Democratic Party visited and agreed to host their annual convention in August at the Lansing Center. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 6 b. The Marine Corps birthday ball is also looking at the Lansing Center. c. The Michigan High School Football Coaches had left in January for Battle Creek for a two-year contract, but they recently requested a proposal from the Lansing Center. i. They had previously left after difficulties with the Radisson to Doubletree transition. 3. Sales and Services are transitioning to two new platforms, Momentus Elite and EventDraw. 4. The response rate on surveys is 88%. a. The average is around 20-30%, and a “great” one is 60%. i. She thanked the sales team for their work in achieving this rate. 5. Overall experience on the client surveys is 50% and on the In the Moment surveys is 38%. a. There are only 25 client and 57 In the Moment surveys so far, so it will improve once more come in. 6. July and August will be slow, but business will ramp back up in September. b) Ryan Tess, Director of Operations i. Lansing Center 1. The upstairs carpet has been installed. 2. They are waiting on product for the elevator façades. 3. They have repurposed leftover carpet to fix bad carpeted areas in the building. 4. Internet sales did well this month. a. Staff are working with customers on the pricing structure. ii. Groesbeck Golf Course 1. The course had a large increase in rounds. a. The course didn’t have to shut down for storms again like it did last year. 2. Carpet will be installed in the clubhouse on Monday. 3. Bathrooms will be upgraded soon. iii. Jackson Field 1. There have been consistent HVAC repairs. a. A recent one was for the visitors' locker room. 2. There are also issues with the center field. a. They are trying to figure out if the drain pipe is plugged or if it has collapsed. i. When they did the sonar, they got very helpful data. 1. If they dig it up, they can get within six inches of where it would have collapsed. b. They may try sand injections to see if it will make it drain better. c. Right now, if there’s more than a half inch of rain, the teams don't play because there will be a puddle out in center field. d. Comment from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton: That sounds like an expensive fix. i. The sand injection would cost around $20,000, and it was a recommendation from the team’s field person. ii. The city tried to help scope the drain tiles, but they didn't have the right equipment. 1. The city will bring in a contractor to see if there was a collapse, and that could cost around $6,000-7,000. c) Mindy Biladeau, Director of Marketing & Special Events i. Groesbeck Golf Course 1. June 16th was the course’s official 100th anniversary. a. Mayor Schorr hosted the marker dedication event, which was a collaboration with Parks and Recreation. b. There was also an unveiling of a 1920s-inspired Tourism poster, drawn by local artist Teresa Rosado. i. She was there to unveil a large, framed copy in the clubhouse and then sign copies for attendees. 2. They are now putting sand in all the bunkers. a. Once that’s done, marketing will share information about the upgrade, since it will increase playability and experience. 3. The next Films and Fairways event will be on July 10th, showing Happy Gilmore. a. It is free and open to the public. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 7 4. They are recruiting golfers for the two-day Golf Championship. a. It will be a 36-hole stroke play, which is two rounds of 18 holes per card and lunch at the turn, with handicap and open division. b. There will be a trophy and cash payouts for both the net and gross champions. c. The deadline to sign up is July 15th. 5. The Groesbeck merch has been revamped for the Pro Shop. a. There are items for purchase like Callaway polos, YETIs, hats, can coolers, tumblers, Centennial t-shirts, and more. 6. Comment from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton: This poster is classic and perfect. It’s a beautiful piece of art. 7. Question from Commissioner Spyke: Can the poster be shared online and on websites? a. It can. Mindy offered to send it directly to the commissioner or that they could share it on their website. She said they made a social media post with the poster over the weekend that can be shared as well. ii. Lansing Center 1. The new wayfinding and restroom signs have been installed throughout the building. a. Meeting room signage hasn’t been completed yet because the installation plan is more conditional. iii. Other Events 1. The Grand Concert Series kicked off on June 18th with the Lansing Concert Band Jazz Big Band. a. Mindy thanked LAFCU for being one of the sponsors this year. b. The next one is on July 9th with Be Kind Rewind Unplugged, a throwback to the 1990s and early 2000s. 2. Fundraising for Silver Bells has begun. a. Both the 5K registration and the vendor applications will go live on July 1st. 3. Comment from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton: She praised Mindy for doing a great job with marketing, especially with Google alerts. The chair was well informed by them of the events. Commissioner Howard left the meeting at 8:47am. VII. COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF COMMENTS A. Commissioner Collins a. Today is Chairperson McNulty-Saxton and Commissioner Lenz’s last board meeting. i. Commissioner Collins thanked them both for their service, especially for the work they have done over the past couple of years. He appreciated it and affirmed that they’ll be missed by everyone. ii. Chairperson McNulty-Saxton thanked them and noted how bittersweet her departure was. She encouraged everyone to reach out and let her know if they need her. iii. Commissioner Lenz echoed the same sentiment as the chair. She loves Lansing and LEPFA and affirmed that her departure is bittersweet as well. iv. Both commissioners affirmed that the future of the LEPFA board and the properties looks bright. VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. Approval of Legends Global/LEPFA Contract KPIs a. Chairperson McNulty-Saxton gave an overview. i. As part of the Legends Global/LEPFA contract, KPIs, key performance indicators, are a requirement. ii. The executive committee met several times about the KPIs. 1. Today, both Tony and Commissioner Hall will present the KPIs to get board feedback and approval. 2. After approval, at the next meeting, commissioners and staff will reevaluate the KPIs after they see their results. b. There are five KPIs and performance objective percentages that the committee proposes for Legends Global. i. Staff Input and Satisfaction – 20% 1. This is currently at a 50% rating. a. This is the average rating percentage for other Legends Global venues. 2. The average rating percentage for the first transition year is 33%. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 8 ii. Client Customer Satisfaction – 30% 1. This is currently at a 50% rating. 2. The Legends Global standard is around 80%. a. Staff and commissioners agree that they want to match industry standards. b. 70% is the benchmark staff would like to start with for the next fiscal year. iii. Contractual Obligations – 20% iv. Building Asset – 10% v. Economic Impact – 20% c. It is up to the board to change or increase the KPIs and their percentages in the future. i. Prior to this meeting, Commissioner Hall recommended the following changes to the proposed percentages: 1. Client Customer Satisfaction was raised to 30%. 2. Building Asset was reduced to 10%. a. Commissioners agreed that a reason for this change is that this KPI is only partially within Legends Global control. b. The KPI is also partially tied to the city funding to make capital improvements. d. Comment from Commissioner Collins: It will be difficult for the board because they’re starting from scratch. The concept going forward is to have baselines this year and then later talk about appropriate improvement steps. e. Question from Commissioner Spyke: Will there be strategic drivers to these? Is that a function of management? i. Yes, they have the responsibility to meet these KPIs as per the Legends Global/LEPFA contract. They are qualitative incentives. f. Comment from Commissioner Hall: The LEPFA board will submit the KPIs to Legends Global as metrics the board will review the properties on. Staff will then send to the LEPFA board how they will achieve the KPIs. That is the executive committee’s recommendation. g. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton: Is the executive committee responsible for paring this down to getting more specifics? Would it be an executive committee recommendation to the full board to be voted on in August? i. A vote is needed today to approve of the five KPIs chosen, so that the indicators are set before the fiscal year ends. The next few months are about evaluating if those indicators were met; that is what will be discussed at the next board and committee meetings. 1. Question from Chairperson McNulty-Saxton: Will they also need information from Legends Global to evaluate? a. Yes, they will be getting information from both Legends Global and the properties for each KPI. h. Comment from Kirby Doidge: This KPI information will be in June’s financials for the first fiscal year of the contract. i. Commissioners and staff noted that there will be footnotes and some subjectivity when looking back at the 2025-2026 KPIs, since they only went into effect at the end of the year. Motion to approve the draft copy of the Legends Global/LEPFA Contract KPIs with the addition of the percentages as presented MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Collins MOTIONED CARRIED IX. NEW BUSINESS A. Slate of LEPFA Board Officers a. Chairperson McNulty-Saxton thanked the commissioners involved in the nominating committee. b. The nominating committee submitted the following names for the new board officers. i. Kenric Hall for Chairperson ii. Paul M. Collins for Vice Chairperson iii. Tracie Kent for Secretary/Treasurer Motion to approve the new LEPFA board officers as presented MOTION: Commissioner Spyke SECOND: Commissioner Mickens MOTIONED CARRIED c. Chairperson Hall will be putting commissioners into committees soon. i. He will take where others have served before into consideration. ii. If any commissioner has a preference, let him know as soon as possible. 1. The goal is to continue committee meetings in July. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting June 23, 2026 P a g e | 9 d. Comment from Commissioner McNulty-Saxton: There will be a smaller executive committee since there is no immediate past chair. X. ADJOURNMENT - Date, Time, Location of Next Meeting: At 9:06 AM, meeting was adjourned by Chairperson McNulty-Saxton. NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR: AUG 25, 2026 8:00 a.m. Location: Governor’s Room – Lansing Center Respectfully submitted, Emily Shaull, Recording Secretary