Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 3:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: David Barranco, Sarah Cole, Alex Jensen (3:04 p.m.), Rich Merkouris, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr Council Members Absent: None Council Chair Marshall Selberg called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. 2. Councilor Remarks There was none. 3. Presentations A. Experience Sioux Falls BID Tax Budget by Teri Schmidt, Experience Sioux Falls CEO Presentation: Approximately 10 minutes followed by discussion Schmidt began by explaining that Experience Sioux Falls (ESF) is the destination marketing organization for the city. Their mission is to sell Sioux Falls as a destination for conventions, meetings, events, tourism, bus tour groups, and anything that brings in tourism. She provided a brief history and explanation of the Business Improvement District (BID) Tax. Currently 54 hotels are paying the BID tax. In 2021, the economic impact of visitors, that could be counted to Sioux Falls was $1.9M; and in 2022 it was $2M. It was reported that in April, southeast South Dakota, primarily Sioux Falls, generated more tourism dollars than the Black Hills. Conventions, meetings, and events are slowly coming back to Sioux Falls. Schmidt said the biggest challenge is that the Convention Center is booked all the time and they have no space to sell. She said that they are in a bad spot. Schmidt said that we need to get moving and to do something about space. Trade shows and bus tours are increasing. In regard to the budget, revenue has increased by 2% to $2,070,600. The BID allocation is $1,010,116. Schmidt spoke about what would happen if they were to make more money than they were projecting, this year. Krista Orsack, Director of Marketing for ESF, spoke about their digital strategy, sports publication advertising and total trade publication advertising. She began by speaking about the key elements related to digital strategy: paid media, video content production, website miscellaneous, and strategy. The total Sales Development - Advertising expense budget is $830,684.  Schmidt spoke about the total Sales Development - Bidding expense budget of $179,000 and the total Sales Development - Travel expense budget of $108,200. The overall expense budget is $2,128M, which is $57,400 over budget. Schmidt said this is something that she has never done before. She said that she did it because she believes that they will have more income than the budgeted $2.07M. This will allow them to keep moving forward if that occurs. Schmidt said that she will be watching the budget and if it looks like they will be short, they will pull back on some things. She ended her presentation by showing the Council their Source Box, which won a national award. Discussion following regarding counting visitors, the Source Box, comparison of Sioux Falls hotel rates to other comparable peer cities, airport expansion and air transportation. B. Delbridge Museum by Becky Dewitz, Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium CEO; and Don Kearney, Director of Parks and Recreation Presentation: Approximately 20 minutes followed by discussion Kearney began the presentation by providing background on animal collection and the Delbridge Museum. The collection was purchased by C.J. Delbridge in 1981, for $550,000, from the Henry Brockhouse family. Delbridge then gifted the collection to the City, with conditions including: the City acquire a suitable structure to permanently house and display the collection; and that the City install glass or other suitable material to prevent the touching of the animals. A Special Election was held on June 15, 1982, for the issuance of bonds, for $1.8M, to fund a new home for the collection. The Delbridge Museum of Natural History was opened in 1984. The City was granted full ownership on January 2, 1985. An assessment report, by a taxidermy appraiser, was received in July 2022 regarding the collection. The fair market value was determined to be $430,000; 29.4% of the collection is impacted by federal/international regulations restricting transfer; and the conditions of the mounts were: Excellent (55.49%), Good (29.48%), Fair (5.78%), and Poor (9.25%). Based on the age of the collection, it was suggested that it be tested for chemicals. Of the collection, 79.5% of the mounts tested positive for arsenic on August 1, 2023. Kearney said it was a joint decision of the Zoo and the City to close the museum. Best practice for taxidermy with detectable arsenic is to remove it from exhibit or place in an air-tight glass case. Dewitz reviewed the maintenance practices for the collection. Regular inspection and repairs are performed by a taxidermist, with 15 visits since 2009. Staff also routinely dust the collection. Despite the routine maintenance and care, the mounts are visibly aging with tears/cracks in the hides. She spoke about and showed pictures of the condition of several animals in the collection. Forty-seven mounts were assessed as excellent are testing positive for arsenic; and eight mounts are assessed as poor but show no detectable signs of arsenic. She said only 23 mounts are excellent, arsenic-free, and unrestricted by federal law; of those, 13 are part of the original Brockhouse collection. The uses of the museum building was discussed. Dewitz spoke about employee safety considerations. The Zoo's administration is consulting with their workers' compensation insurer and OSHA. On the advice of OSHA air quality testing was done on September 5th, with results being returned in seven to 10 business days. Current considerations for the collection were discussed. Among considerations are mitigating the taxidermy  chemical risk; and finding a new taxidermist to restore the animals and assume risks associated with arsenic. It could potentially cost between $3.4M - $4.2M to retain the collection; and $13.68M to build a new building to house the collection. Kearney reviewed South Dakota State Law 6-13-15: Transfer of county or municipal museum collections to certain nonprofit organizations. He then spoke on the recommendation to surplus the collection. He did state that declaring the collection surplus does not mean disposal, transfer, etc. On August 22, 2023, the Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium Board of Directors voted to support the City's disposition of the collection. The Zoo is working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to ensure the protected animals are handled in accordance with the law. He spoke about next steps, which includes a Surplus Resolution being brought before the City Council on the target date of September 19th. Discussion followed regarding: having a conversation with the Siouxland Heritage Museum about the collection; having another bond to support the collection; Delbridge's original agreement with the City; the Council's role in the surplus; a webinar on arsenic and collections; disagreeing with the Zoo's plan for the collection; statistics on visitors to the museum; next steps if the collection is still in the museum in the winter; options made to the Council; no current mitigation; options for citizens if the Council declares the collection surplus; and comments read from a letter of the Zoo board chair. 4. Public Comment Beverly Bosch, youngest daughter of Henry Brockhouse, spoke about working with C.J. Delbridge and the early days of the museum; and saving the museum animals. Darlis Halverson spoke about her brother, Keith Halverson being the Zoo director when the collection was brought over; the formation of the Delbridge Museum; housing and care of the animals and arsenic. Barbara Philips, granddaughter of Henry Brockhouse, spoke about her grandfather and family's legacy, the agreement for care of the animals, and keeping the animals. Jason Haack spoke about the taxidermist for the animals, having the City keep the animals, money being raised, and offering to restore the animals at no cost. Rob Hahn spoke about his memories with the animals collection, arsenic, and how the Zoo and museum compliment each other. Leeann Miller No Heart spoke about seeing the animals as a child and how they were housed with glass; and keeping the animals displayed and housed somewhere. Glenn Philips, son-in-law of Henry Brockhouse, spoke about the early days of receiving the animals and the formation of the museum; and saving the museum. Dave Philips, grandson of Henry Brockhouse, spoke about the animal collection and its educational value; keeping the animals; and taking time to figure things out.  John Weber spoke about keeping the animals; lack of information; and arsenic. Ethan Weber, great-great-grandson of Henry Brockhouse, spoke about the consistency of being able to see the collection of animals in the museum. Kara Weber spoke about her daughter's love of the animal collection, the research that she did with it, and taking time get information. Mina Keppen spoke about the events being history in the making; the community rallying around the animals; keeping multiple attractions; people are offering help and money; and requested the release information. John Sweets complimented the Zoo and their staff for their professionalism; have a vote regarding the future of the animals; offered to have the animals displayed again at West Sioux Hardware; and donors are offering to help with the animals. Shane Sutherland spoke about the historic significance of the animal collection. Jeff Hugunin, member of the Great Plains Zoo Board, spoke on behalf of the Board Chair Jeanelle Lust. She wanted it known that the board's decision was not made lightly; the Zoo's Master Plan for the space; thanked the Council for their time; and complimented Becky Dewitz for her work. Kyle Christman spoke about taking his children to the Zoo and how he would like for his younger children to be able to experience the museum. 5. Executive Session A. Discussing the qualifications, competence, performance, character or fitness of any public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee. The term "employee" does not include any independent contractor pursuant to SDCL 1-25- 2(1) B. Consulting with legal counsel or reviewing communications from legal counsel about proposed or pending litigation or contractual matters pursuant to SDCL 1-25- 2(3) C. Preparing for contract negotiations or negotiating with employees or employee representatives pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2(4) A motion was made by Council Vice-Chair Merkouris and seconded by Council Member Jensen to enter Executive Session at 5:07 p.m. Roll call vote to enter Executive Session. 8 Yes: Barranco, Cole, Jensen, Merkouris, Neitzert, Selberg, Soehl, Starr; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. A motion was made by Council Member Barranco and seconded by Council Member Soehl to exit Executive Session at 5:37 p.m.  Voice vote to exit Executive Session. 8 Yes: Barranco, Cole, Jensen, Merkouris, Neitzert, Selberg, Soehl, Starr; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. 6. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:37 p.m. Denise D. Tucker, MMC, Assistant City Clerk