Loading...
02-09-2011 ICE MINMEETING OF THE ELK RIVER ICE ARENA COMMISSION HELD AT CITY OF ELK RIVER WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH 201 I Members Present: Chair Martin, Vice Chair Johnson, Commissioners Foss, Malzahn, Gumphrey Members Absent: Barth Staff Present: Arena Manager Rich Czech, Arena Assistant Laura Estby Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Ice Arena Commission was called to order at 6:11 p.m. by Chair Martin. Consider 2/9/2011 Ice Arena Commission Aeenda MOTIONED BY VICE CHAIR JOHNSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER FOSS TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 9TH, 2011 ICE ARENA COMMISSION AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Consider 1/12/11 Ice Arena Commission Minutes MOTIONED BY COMMISSIONER MALZAHN AND SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR JOHNSON TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 12TH, 2011 ICE ARENA COMMISSION MINUTES. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 4. Open Mike NONE 5. Preparation to move forward with Arena Addition to City Council Arena Manager Czech passes out an admission surcharge figures report as well as a CIP projects report from 1999 to the present. Commissioner Gumphrey notes that Councilman Westgaard is also present. Arena Manager Czech states that the Vadnais Heights arena was built/remodeled using an EPA, and then was leased back to the city. He notes that with an EDA the lowest bid does not always have to be the one that is accepted, and that if the council approves moving forward with the architect, we could then pursue working with the EDA. He believes that City Administrator Lori Johnson is familiar with using this financial venue. Commissioner Gumphrey inquires about the annual payback vs what we are paying now with the debt service. Arena Manager Czech notes that it would be approximately $300,000 as opposed to the current debt service of $200,000 which will be paid off in January of 2013. In reference to his admission surcharge report, Czech notes that by the end of the 2010-2011 season, we should have approximately $10,000 in the admissions surcharge fund. Since we will have some games from the 2011-2012 season this year, he averages that we will bring in another $1843 which would put us right about $12,0000 by the end of the year. Chair Martin notes that the fee for 292 Group to draw up schematics, etc was $10,000 plus expenses. Arena Manager Czech notes that if the project moves forward under the 292 Group, we will get $5,000 back. He also states that if the additional expenses go above and beyond the $12,000 in the admissions surcharge fund, that it could be covered by the arena's operations budget or perhaps the city's contingency fund. Commissioner Gumphrey inquires if Commissioner Malzahn or Foss have met with Youth Hockey. Commissioner Malzahn notes that Youth hockey is in full support of the project, and they will assist however and wherever needed. He apologizes on their behalf that they were unable to attend the previous meeting due to a scheduling error. Commissioner Gumphrey suggests having a good presence at the next City Council meeting as he suspects there will be opposition to the project. Chair Martin inquires about the possibility of leaving parts of the barn intact, instead of tearing it all down. Arena Manager Czech notes that the floor and boards should be able to stay if anew refrigeration system is not included in the remodel. Structurally, he states, they should be good for 20+years, however the Montreal Protocol 2 discontinues the production of Freon by 2020 which will mean it will become increasingly more expensive to run the systems that we have after that. New arenas are typically going with ammonia systems, which would cost about $2million and would require that the current barn floor be removed. He notes that the Olympic (sand floor) would not be as big of a deal, and that there would be an energy savings with ammonia and we would only need 1 plant to run both rinks. Czech also notes that we need feedback from Youth Hockey and The Figure Skating Club as to what a remodeled arena could do for them. Kristina Hefty, Elk River Skating Academy Coach, states that with a larger lobby/expansion, they could host competitions and test sessions, and would use even more ice in the summer. DeAnn Givens, Elk River Skating Academy Coach/ERFSC adds that the current facility could not accommodate a competition. Brad Hansen, Elk River Figure Skating Club President notes that competitions are usually weekend events beginning on Friday mornings thru Sunday evening with people constantly coming and going on both sheets. Money would come in from concessions, and in addition, typically vendors are brought in by the club. Hansen equates it to a hockey tournament as far as the number of people it can potentially bring in. However it requires a room far the judges, and a large area for people to congregate. Commissioner Malzahn notes that once the word gets out that an arena is a nice place to play, hockey players and figure skaters alike will want to come, which helps bring revenue into the community. Commissioner Gumphrey inquires about what we are going to present to the council about the "need" to get a new barn. Arena Manager Czech states the age of the building is a factor, as well as the ceiling, the dehumidifier (not big enough and blows into bleachers), ADA disability issues, Code Issues with stairs, and a new furnace is needed. Because of the number of issues, it will continue to cost the city money over the next several years, a remodel could take care of all of the issues at once. City Councilmember Matt Westgaard also notes that regardless of whether the renovation addition moves forward or not, having completed plans is not a waste of money, as they can be shelved for a future date. He suggests putting the district's grant writer to work- noting that we can't talk about fundraising, etc until we know how much money is needed. Commissioner Malzahn inquires about the estimated "useful life" of the barn when it was constructed. Arena Manager Czech confirms the estimated life of the barn when it was built was 30 years, and it is now 40 years old. He also discusses how expensive it was to continue to repair the barn floor before it was replaced in 2004- and that there was a loss of revenue at that point. Kristina Hefty, Elk River Figure Skating Club/Elk River Skating Academy Coach notes that off ice conditioning is also becoming increasingly important in their sport, and that currently there is not sufficient room in the barn, as a warm up space should have 49 sq/ft per athlete- and they are making due in the shooting area which is less than what they need. Vice Chair Johnson also notes that insurance on the arena might be cheaper if there was a remodel. 6. Other Business Arena Manager Czech notes that we have been asked to approve our meeting dates in advance for the entire year- and hands out a sheet noting as follows Arena Commission Meetings for 2011 shall be: 2"a Tuesday in April, 2"a Tuesday in August, 2"a Wednesday of January and 2"a Wednesday of November at 6:OOpm at City Hall. MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER FOSS AND SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR JOHNSON TO APPROVE THE ARENA COMMISSION MEETING DATES FOR 2011. MOTION PASSES 5-0. Adiournment MOTION MADE BY VICE CHAIR JOHNSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MALZAHN TO ADJOURN. MOTION PASSES 5-0 AT 7:17PM. Minutes Prepared b a Est y ~-_-~ Tina Allard, City Cl