Board of Commissioners Meetings

57 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Work Session Meeting on April 18, 2023 A Special Called Work Session of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Henderson, Kentucky, was held on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at approximately 3:30 p.m., prevailing time, (immediately following the 3:00 p.m. Special Called Meeting) in the third-floor Assembly Room of the Municipal Center, 222 First Street, Henderson, Kentucky. There were present Mayor Bradley S. Staton, presiding: PRESENT: Commissioner Austin P. Vowels Commissioner Rodney Thomas Commissioner Robert N. Pruitt Commissioner Nicholas E. Whitt CITY STAFF MEMBERS included: William L. “Buzzy” Newman, Jr., City Manager; Dawn Kelsey, City Attorney; Maree Collins, City Clerk; Heath Cox, Assistant City Manager; Holli Blanford, Public Information Officer; Robert Gunter, Finance Director; Dawn Winn, Assistant Finance Director; Connie Galloway, Human Resources Director; Brian Williams, Public Works Director; Trace Stevens, Parks, Recreation & Cemeteries Director; Dylan Ward, Project Manager; Mark Simmons, Recreation Program Manager; Travis Owens, Assistant IT Director; Wesley Gower, IT Programmer/Analyst; and James Elliott, Police Officer. ALSO PRESENT: Dwight Williams; News 14; and News 25 ________________________ THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEM WAS DISCUSSED: Discussion and Review of Sports Complex Operational Plan  Dylan Ward, Project Manager, reviewed the following proposed plan for the operation of the new sports complex and the governing mechanism: Purpose:  Overview of the proposed operations plan for the new sports complex. o Proposed structure, budget, and operating plan in its current form.  This proposed Plan represents years of planning by city staff, community partners, elected officials, and others in the community.  Recognize Brian Bishop, Trace Stevens, Preston Herndon, Leo Peckenpaugh, former Mayor Steve Austin, Buzzy Newman, Mark Simmons and others who have spent many hours helping to cast this vision for the new sports complex.  Visited both Elizabethtown and Greenville to tour facilities and discuss operations, and we’ve talked to numerous other communities about how they manage their sports facilities.  It has been known from the beginning that we would need a new operations plan for this sports complex and possibly move other facilities under this management plan in the future. Framework:  It is proposed that the new sports complex become a new city division, just like the municipal pool in Atkinson Park.  Three primary parties involved in this proposed operating plan: the City, the Sports Advisory Board, and the recreational sport leagues/other users.  First, the city would hire two additional permanent city employees to manage and maintain the new sports complex. o One position (Sports Complex Manager) would be primarily responsible for administration, and the other (Park Facilities Maintenance Worker) would be primarily responsible for maintenance, although many of the responsibilities  58 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Work Session Meeting on April 18, 2023 would be shared. The latter could also help with the abundance of ongoing maintenance issues in other park facilities as time allows.  A Sports Advisory Board would be created to help support and promote the new sports complex, as well as other existing sport facilities in the City. o It would serve as an advisory body to the Board of Commissioners, similar to that of the Parks Board. o It would be made up of a mix of board appointed members, as well as appointees from each major sports league in Henderson. o An ordinance that further outlines how this board will operate, would be adopted at a future date.  The third party involved in the operations at the new sports complex would be the recreational leagues and any other potential user who will use the facility for recreational purposes. Division of Responsibilities:  The city would be responsible for the facility budget, employees, operations, maintenance, concessions, user/rental agreements, and overall scheduling.  The recreational sports leagues (or any other user) would then specifically be responsible for operating their league and/or event, managing their own league budget, and scheduling within the time slots allotted to them by city staff.  The Sports Advisory Board would serve as the bridge or liaison between the city and the users of the facility. It would also give an organized voice and negotiating power to the local sports organizations o It would encourage a sense of cooperation between the two parties and promote growth in local sports through private-public partnerships. o More specifically the Sports Advisory Board would be responsible for supporting both the city and the local sports leagues by engaging in fundraising, hosting/attracting tournaments, making budget recommendations, recommending a rental fee schedule, creating/maintaining a website for the new sports complex, collecting public input, engaging in long-term planning, and many other crucial responsibilities. Pros of this Plan:  One of the biggest pros of this proposal is that the city maintains control over scheduling. For example, this means that they can give PCMA priority access to the baseball fields when they need them and give youth football priority access to the multipurpose fields when they need them. o The city now becomes the gatekeeper for scheduling at the new sports complex, which would promote additional play and maximize its use. o Therefore, when the fields are not reserved for recreational league play, they may be rented and/or reserved by other parties based on a reservation policy established by the City in consultation with the Sports Advisory Board. o This is especially true if we elect to go with artificial turf as previously discussed, because wear and tear or rainouts is no longer an issue.  This plan sets the city up for success in terms of maintenance. With what will likely become a $15+M project in phase one, it is important to have people employed full-time who will ensure the proper upkeep and maintenance of this facility throughout the duration of its lifetime.  The Sports Advisory Board can be created fairly quickly via ordinance and would not require 501c3 status. o However, donations would still be made out to the city, and would therefore, be tax- deductible. We followed a similar model with Henderson Flash’s fundraising efforts for the improvements at the Park Field facility. o The Sports Advisory Board could also petition the city on behalf of the recreational sports leagues for capital requests at city-owned facilities and/or  59 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Work Session Meeting on April 18, 2023 operating assistance for their leagues. They could work together to present unique proposals to any hurdles met in the operation of their leagues.  This plan also offers significant flexibility: o Maintenance: the city may perform all of the maintenance in-house, contract it all out, or the most likely approach being some combination of the two. o Concessions: there are several different ways to handle the concessions. However, whatever route taken, the goal should be to generate additional revenue to help offset some of the operating costs.  At the municipal pool, we hire all of the cashiers as seasonal workers and purchase all of the food products. Then any revenue generated goes back into the city coffers. • However, at the new sports complex, the number of cashiers needed will be much higher as we will start off with two concession stands, with the potential to add two or three more in the future. • Knowing that we already struggle to find seasonal cashiers at the pool, we are recommending a different approach at the new sports complex.  The proposal is that later this fall, before the new complex opens up in the spring, that the city issue a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) for concession operations at the new sports complex. • Part of the proposal would include a component where the operator either leases or pays the city a percentage of all profit. • We could review the proposals in the fall and go from there.  Once again, this plan allows for flexibility, so we may try something at first that may not work the best, and then we can always try a different approach, especially as it relates to concessions.  It should be noted that at the existing facility, PCMA runs the concession stand and gets to keep all revenue generated. They have indicated, as well as other local recreational leagues, that concession revenue helps offset maintenance costs. Since the city will be taking on all maintenance costs at the new facility, it is hoped that PCMA will still be able to manage their league costs. • If it is determined that they cannot support their league without any concession revenue after demonstrating this with a profit and loss sheet, the city and the Sports Advisory Board would work with them to come up with some sort of plan to help offset that lost revenue. Budget Overview:  A new division would be created in the budget for the new sports complex, Division 455. o It may even end up as its own fund in order to better track the expenses and various sources of revenues.  The proposed budget: o Is setup based on the structure that is similar to other City Divisions. o The budget will include both a revenue side, and an expense side.  The budget does not include any projected revenues in order to be conservative, but as you will soon see, there are multiple ways the sports complex can generate revenue. o The budget does not include any expenses, nor revenue for concessions.  In theory, concessions should more than pay for itself, and so whatever route we take with concessions, should have a net positive impact on the overall sports complex operating budget. o There will also be both an annual operating budget, as well as a front-loaded capital budget in order to get the sports complex up and running in its first year. o The city’s budget will only include those items related to the facility itself. All revenue and expenses related to running the actual leagues themselves will still be  60 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Work Session Meeting on April 18, 2023 managed by the leagues. The city will not e responsible for any of the recreational leagues’ budgets.  City expenses would include field maintenance, mowing, repairs, seeding, striping, lighting, etc.  League expenses would include uniforms, umpire fees, baseballs, etc. 1st Year Capital Budget:  Capital budget: o The proposed capital budget for the first year is $143,200. o This includes:  A Utility Vehicle  B Mower  C Ice Maker  D Kitchen Appliances  E Wi-Fi & Security Cameras  F Lightning Protection  G Speaker System  H Safety Netting  I Artificial Turf Field Broom  Total Estimated Cost $143,200.00. o Note that artificial turf company will provide some maintenance equipment.  Note that mowing equipment wills till be needed even with the artificial turf and the mowing contract.  Note that the appliances expense could potentially be removed depending on the RFP. Annual Operating Budget:  The projected annal operating budget for the first year is $331,690. o Of this, approximately $204,000 is for personnel costs. o Includes some contract mowing and artificial turf maintenance agreement. Potential Revenue Sources:  Even though there is no revenue projections itemized in the current budget, there are potential revenue streams for the city at the new sports complex. These could include: o Concessions o Food truck parking o Naming rights o Field banners o Field rentals  The proposed plan includes that all users of the new sports complex would enter into a new user agreement with the City for use of the fields.  Types of users: • Non-profit organizations like PCMA who are providing a service to our community. • For-profit organizations that would use the fields to host tournaments and make a profit. • Everyone else in the middle, that might not be an official non-profit, but not trying to make a profit either.  Our suggestion would be to keep the facility free for all non-profit organizations, but to establish some sort of rental fee/reservation policy for anyone explicitly using the complex to turn a profit. For everyone else in the middle, city staff and/or the Sports Advisory Board could propose a policy and/or fee schedule to the Board of Commissioners for approval at a later date. DISCSSION WAS HELD relating to: possible revenue sources from live streaming events that would allow family and friends to watch kids play for a fee; the possibility of  61 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Work Session Meeting on April 18, 2023 coordinating with Henderson Municipal Power and light to install high speed internet at the facility; the possibility of providing public Wi-Fi at the facility; to be mindful of neighbors for both lighting and sound systems; that historically the leagues have been responsible for field/facility maintenance and this Plan should eliminate the territorial behavior that came about due to those lease/facility use agreements. The proposal seems to be headed in the right direction and happy to see progress. ________________________ NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ MEETING ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Vowels, seconded by Commissioner Thomas, to adjourn the meeting. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Thomas --- Aye: Commissioner Whitt ----- Aye: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Mayor Staton ----- Aye: WITHOUT OBJECTION, Mayor Staton declared the Meeting adjourned at approximately 4:25 p.m. ___________________________ ATTEST: Bradley S. Staton, Mayor May 09, 2023 ______________________ Maree Collins, CKMC City Clerk