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2023-02-13 STMA Arena Board MinutesST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE ICE ARENA BOARD MINUTES February 13, 2023 6:00 pm Present: Chairman Aaron Cocking and members, Keith Wettschreck, Ryan Gleason, Tim Lewis, Travis Weber and Bob Zagorski. Absent: Kari Dwinnell. Also present: City Administrator Adam Nafstad, Finance Clerk Kristie Moseng, STMA Arena Manager Grant Fitch, Megan Esterberg & Rick O’Brien STMA Youth Hockey Association. The meeting was called to order at 6:01 pm by Chairman Cocking. Adopt Agenda Members Cocking/Wettschreck moved to set the agenda as presented. All voted aye. Approval of Minutes Members Zagorski/Weber moved to approve the minutes of the January 9, 2023 Board Meeting as presented. All voted aye. Finance Reports Nafstad presented the finance reports. The report is for the first month of the year, we haven’t received payment for the January ice invoiced, therefore the report looks like we are short, but in reality, when payment is received, we will be well-in-the-black for revenue. Chairman Cocking asked when we would see preliminary final numbers for 2022 year-end. Nafstad stated that Abdo would be in attendance in April to present the 2022 Financials for the Board. Members Weber/Gleason moved to approve the January List of Claims totaling $52,860.40 and the January Financial Report as presented. All voted aye. Arena Manager’s Report Fitch reported that Live Barn is up & running. There are a handful of items that are being corrected with Live Barn regarding volume, display and placement. Rick O’Brien with STMA Youth Hockey Association stated that the picture & feed are great. Old Business None New Business a) Nafstad reported that historically, and with the recommendation of our agent Todd Zachman, we waive the Tort Liability Coverage limit. Nafstad reported the waiver costs approximately $850/year, but raises the insurance coverage tremendously. Members Gleason/Weber moved to approve the Tort Liability Coverage Waiver. All voted aye. Absent: Dwinnell b) Nafstad supplied an excerpt from the Operation’s Agreement addressing what to do when we have an excess fund balance. The current Agreement states ‘at the end of the fiscal year at 35% of the estimated annual expenditure of the Agency Operation Fund’ We are currently below that threshold. Nafstad stated there is no action needed at this time regarding the Operation’s Agreement, the overview was more for information for the Board. Member Wettschreck asked what defines Capital Fund to be ‘fully funded’. Nafstad replied that we would review this during the Capital Improvement Plan Review, but generally this would be a fully funded CIP. The Board would determine the details of the plan, such capital replacements and improvements and over what term. c) Nafstad reviewed the current Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Nafstad stated that Grant reviews the report and lists his current and foreseen needs in regards to the arena building repairs, maintenance and updates. The CIP is a working document that is periodically reviewed and amended by the Board. STMA February 13, 2023 Minutes Page 2 Cocking mentioned a new House bill (House File: 1716) that was presented within the Legislature today that would ban non-electric re-surfacers. He wanted to mention this to the Board as the pricing within the current CIP may change drastically at the time of the purchase. Nafstad reported that the arena currently has one electric and one propane re- surfacer. The propane re-surfacer is used as a back-up and maintained annually. Mr. Zagorski clarified the projected inflation rate on the CIP is using a 3% increase from 2019. Nafstad reported that the Dedicated Capital is listed on the monthly financial statement. Annually the three entities have each contributed $15,000 to that fund. This can be reviewed and adjusted as needed to assist with CIP funding. Nafstad stated there is no action needed at this time regarding the Arena CIP, the overview was more for information for the Board. d) Nafstad reported that historically we try and have a budget in place by early April for Youth Hockey to get numbers out to membership for the upcoming year. Nafstad reviewed the draft budget. Biggest item is ‘how much ice time are we going to sell for the upcoming year?’ The current draft budget is using approximately the same ice time hours as 2022- 2023 season based off of Grant’s projection. Off season 3/15-9/30. Nafstad noted in 2022-2023 we budgeted for 3 full time employees. This year we are budgeting for 2 full time employees. Gas and electric have been calculated at a 11% increased based off notices received from those providers. Cocking stated that utilities are tough to calculate as they are very much weather dependent. The Board discussed rate adjustments and it was noted that a $5 per hour increase rental revenue by approximately $7,000. Fitch stated rates were raised in 2022-2023 by $5. Fitch supplied a rate comparison for various surrounding arenas for 2022-2023 comparison. Gleason asked about Refuse pricing on the Draft Budget, which has increased significantly since Republic Services has purchased Randy’s Sanitation. Staff stated we are currently switching to Waste Management due to the price increase and will update the budget accordingly. Cocking asked Youth Hockey what a $5 rate increase does to their organization, membership and the families involved. Megan Esterberg stated she would have to go back and see, but the cost of hockey has increased from year to year. Rick O’Brien with Youth Hockey said he would ask the Youth Hockey board what their average internal annual increase was and report back to the Arena Board at a later date. Cocking asked their Board for their thoughts on a $5 rate increase for 2023-2024. Gleason asked for clarification where the $7000/$5 come from within the calculation. Nafstad explained the rate adjustment wouldn’t kick in until September 2023. Member Lewis suggested removing the current Summer Rate (400 plus hrs) as it isn’t being used and just have one Summer Rate (200+) The Board requested the additional $5/hour rate be brought back to the next meeting for approval and the Draft Budget updated to reflect the increase. Nafstad stated that no action needed at this time. Fitch would try and get additional information on scheduling before the next meeting. Youth Hockey Association Rick Obrien & Megan Esterberg were in attendance for STMA Youth Hockey Association. Megan stepped out of the meeting at 6:50 pm before a report was given. Rick O’Brien stated he was stepping in for this meeting. He stated he sells all of the advertising for the arena and wanted to discuss a logo option in the Blue Rink. Member Lewis requested the School District approve the logo first before being displayed. Mr. O’Brien said he would get the artwork from his vendor and submit when available. STMA February 13, 2023 Minutes Page 3 Cocking asked if the Board approves the advertising at the arena. Nafstad stated that there is an advertising agreement with STMA Youth Hockey for one row of ads on the Blue Rink and various locations on the Gold Rink. Nafstad added STMA YHA pays $20,000 annually for advertising. Mr. O’Brian inquired about STMA YHA being able to sell prepared food during the regional tournament for profit. He is asking the Board for approval before having an outside vendor coming into arena. Fitch stated that as long as the vendor is licensed and not a private person and it is not conflicting with items currently sold at the arena, it is ok. Mr. O’Brien is also attempting to fill the approximately 10x20 space in Gold Rink by the new dryland space. This space was not previously available. Nafstad stated this would be an Arena Board approval needed as the existing Advertising Agreement on the Gold Rink has a list of approved locations. Advertising on the West wall hasn’t been identified in the current advertising agreement. Cocking asked the Board members if anyone had any objections, everyone said it was fine. Cocking thanked Rick O’Brien for his time and attending the meeting. Nafstad stated he would amend the agreement to reflect the new advertising area. Adjourn Members Gleason/Wettschreck moved to adjourn at 7:17 pm. All voted aye. Absent: Dwinnell Attest: _________________________________ Kristie Moseng, Finance Clerk