00:00:09,270	All right. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is 2 p.m. Central Time. And I’m going to go ahead and call the meeting of the Bismarck Event Center Authority Board to order. If you would please call the roll. Member. Gardner here. Grossman here. Tomanek here. Wilson here. Mayor Schmitz, can you hear us? Mayor Schmitz.

00:00:46,100	Anyone hear me? Now we can. I cannot hear anyone in the room. Set the right way. Mayor Schmitz, can you hear anything now? No. Let me send them a message. Quick. I could see him on the monitor. For anybody at home or online wondering.

00:02:20,800	We are having a little bit of audio trouble as we wait for our technician from Dakota Media Access to address the issues. Mayor Schmitz is here. He said to go ahead and get started. Okay. And then Chair Wachter Here. All right. At this time, we’ll open the floor for public comment. If there’s anybody here that wishes to address any item on the agenda, please feel free to step forward.

00:02:51,600	Please sign in and if you could please state your name, please. I’ll sign this in just a second. Um. How about that? Is that better? There we go. Uh, my name is Christopher Schwab, and I’m here representing Dance Worx Studio. Mister chair, uh, members of the board.

00:03:12,030	Thank you for your time today. Um, I just want to speak briefly to agenda item number seven for you. Uh, the Belle Mehus Auditorium operations model, specifically, the new pricing structure at the Belle and the impact that will it will have on local organizations that have supported and used this facility for years.

00:03:40,200	Dance Worx has a nearly ten year history of performing at the Belle. And today our studio has more than 200 dancers, uh, from ages five up to 18-19. These performances give them an opportunity to showcase their talents for their family, friends and the community in a in a true performing arts venue, the Belle has an incredible history in

00:04:04,970	Bismarck. As we all know, and there’s just something special about performing at the Belle. We have seniors in their last performance. They’re in tears because they know it’s their last ever performance at the Belle. We understand that costs have to increase, but all we’re asking is that they actually be tied to the costs.

00:04:30,430	Um, recently we just received our future contract and it went from $600 per event day to $800 with a 5% increase every year, not to mention other charges for cleaning, utilities, uh, everything else that were added to that, um, just over our last two events at the Belle in November and June are signed

00:04:54,400	agreements with the current operators. The rate at 600 were. And we brought in nearly 2000 attendees for all the event days, um, going from 600 to 800 is a 33% increase. Plus you got that 5% increase with the extra fees. We’re looking at nearly an increase of 60%.

00:05:18,930	Um, I heard I watched the minute or a few meetings back. You had mentioned that you want to structure increases for the event center so that they’re not a big hit all at once. This is going kind of the opposite way of of the model that that the board has, has wished to do.

00:05:38,730	Um, another thing that’s particularly concerning, and it’s not as much tied to fees, but in our June event, we were initially billed $1,200 for cleaning. We challenge that charge, uh, because of the lack of the cleaning and condition of the facility. And it was ultimately waived, which we appreciated.

00:06:05,400	Um, but quite frankly, our staff and families, we leave the Belle cleaner than we arrive. Um, I put out the floor, the dance floor every time, and I can’t tell you the amount of feathers and, um, just debris that’s left on that stage. And it’s concerning when you’re paying a $300 a day cleaning fee. And that racks up.

00:06:26,870	Um, I can tell you, our last event just barely broke even. And that’s hard when you’re paying those fees and you’re doing the work yourself. Um. Let’s skip over this. Another issue that we have is if you’re substantially increasing the price, the condition should be commensurate with that. So we’re paying more and getting the same amount of service.

00:06:56,670	So that’s just hard. As a business owner. Dance studios, the symphony, theater organizations are not just customers renting a room. We’re organizations putting performers on the stage. Families in the seats and activity in that building for dance works, it’s not a matter of protecting some large profit margin.

00:07:23,800	Again, we’re just barely breaking even on those performances. The question is actually maybe whether we can afford to do public performances at all if costs continue to rise, like in in such a large margin. That’s why I think we need to be careful about how success at the Belle is measured.

00:07:45,730	At some point, these are no longer revenue increases. They become barriers to using the building. And if these rates drive dance works, symphony, theater groups, other organizations away, the city has not made the bill more successful. It’s made a historic community facility less accessible to the very community it was intended to serve.

00:08:11,530	I’m asking the board to establish a separate and reasonable rate structure for local arts and community organizations. Reconsider new fees that require that the future increases, be tied to actual operating costs, and not an automatic 5%. Every year.

00:08:39,970	And just as importantly, if organizations are being asked to pay more, the operator needs to be held accountable for the maintenance, cleanliness, responsiveness, and the level of service that should come with those increases. Dance works wants to continue performing at the Belle after nearly ten years. We would like our next generation of dancers to have the same opportunities to perform at that historic stage that the dancers before have had.

00:09:00,170	Question to this board needs to answer is simple. Is the goal to keep the Belle financially sustainable and accessible, accessible to the community, or to maximize what is charging to the very organizations that keep it alive? Those are not the same thing. I’d be happy to speak with you individually at any time. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

00:09:23,900	Thank you, Mr. Schwab. Appreciate it. Do we have any questions for Mr. Schwab? I have one. Are your performances all sold out or are there seats available at them? A lot of times there’s still seats available. Um, that’s why the Belle is a perfect venue for us.

00:10:03,630	Um, not only the like I mentioned, the historic significance, the just the environment as a whole, but there’s, you know, we we get parents, we get grandparents, we get, um, just people of the community. They see, um, we did any last November. Who doesn’t love the show? Annie, if you’re, you know, my age older, right.

00:10:28,630	But, um, you know, there’s there’s people saying, oh, I love Danny. That performance was great. We did Greatest Showman, um, which was wonderful. So it’s it’s those things that also bring other people to watch as well, other than the grandparents, parents, etc..

00:10:46,200	And then I just have a follow up, um, with some value added value be if the event center helped you market so your seats would be full. Absolutely. Um, yeah, I know they’ve printed posters in the past for us. Um, I right now we it’s hard to even know who to talk to over there. Um, that’s one of the biggest things.

00:11:04,470	Um, we had an issue one day where the sound was not working and went to the person that was at the facility, and they said, the iPad is dead. And I’m like, what do you mean, the iPad is dead? Well, that controls everything.

00:11:19,970	Then I had to make a phone call. I called the the people that we had contacts with no answer. I called the I was so frustrated. I went to the website. I started with the top. I went to the first person on the list. I had to go halfway down the list. I finally got someone.

00:11:38,570	That guy was super responsive and got either himself or someone else over there right away. But it took all that work just to find someone to see who to talk to. And that’s so frustrating when you’re paying for a facility. And and I mean, we’re no one’s professional is here.

00:11:57,870	We’re just trying to keep the show running and and sometimes, for lack of a better term, it’s like herding cats, right? You’ve got 200 kids and and and just keeping them in line is is tough some days. But, um, you know, the volunteers and everyone else does an amazing job.

00:12:17,470	And, uh, you know, another thing to add on that is, you know, we add about 50 volunteers to every performance. So we make sure that there is no damage to that facility. Um, you know, everyone has seen the lipstick on the wall. Our kids know not to do that. Um, you know, just for an example.

00:12:39,570	Um, but then there’s some areas, um, when to use a restroom and the sink didn’t work. There was no sign on the, on the sink saying out of order, but it didn’t work. When another time for something else and it still didn’t work. Um, and all I get is they’re waiting for parts. I’m sorry, but I’m. I’m in a construction and repair business.

00:12:58,730	You’re not waiting months for parts for a sink. Just get a new faucet. Um, you know, it’s those kind of things that just frustrating when you’re paying for rental of a facility. Jason, just. Can I.

00:13:21,700	Could ask, when was the time frame that this was occurring? Because it couldn’t have been in the last month or so, because we haven’t had you in there? I don’t believe. Uh, November to June, Mr. Mayor. So that was okay. So last fall, winter. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Jason, follow up on that. I think we’re the mayor’s going is Oakview group has only been managing since June of this year.

00:13:45,630	So certainly understand your your concerns, your frustrations. Um, I know going forward that there’s going to be a different approach to, to all of this. And so hopefully your next experience is different and better. But we do appreciate hearing your experiences because those are important for us to understand as well. And I will say, you know, Gary is an asset.

00:14:02,600	We all know that over there. Um, and he does what he can with what he has to work with. Um, the staff that I interact with is good, but, you know, I don’t want to put a blame on the staff specifically. Um, but it just feels like their hands are tied when it comes to some stuff.

00:14:20,270	So. But that’s just my observation. And I guess I would offer. That’s part of the reason we are here today is to help improve all of these situations for the guest, for the user, for the organization, for everybody involved. And that’s great to hear that. That’s why I’m here to let you know. Good. Thank you.

00:14:38,570	All right. Thank you. Jen, did you have a question, Mr. Schwab? I was just going to ask. You had shared that your previous rate was 600 a day, and now you’ve been proposed 800 a day for an upcoming event prior to the 600 a day.

00:14:55,170	Is the that been always your rate? Had there been any changes over the past few years? So I can just say we took over the dance studio in January.

00:15:13,670	Um, my wife has been working there for about a year before that, almost, um, as far as we know, it’s been roughly around 600 a year or, I’m sorry, a performance day. And that hasn’t changed. Now I get, you know, maybe it didn’t change before that and it should have. But to take a big jump is tough.

00:15:31,070	So and I remember, you know, like I said, I watched back a previous couple of meetings. I think it was the June meeting and this board said, yeah, we understand our rates need to get up there, but let’s not do big jobs. Um, let’s, let’s level it up slowly.

00:15:50,530	And, you know, as a when, when we’re doing public performances and not professional and our tickets are inexpensive to do bigger jumps like that and add extra fees. Um, I saw utility fees that were going to be on there, I believe. You know, that gets harder for us to to swallow those. So I understand that maybe it should have been raised years ago.

00:16:10,270	Um, and I’m not saying you’re saying that, but, um, but yeah, that’s where it can get a little tricky for us. Yeah, it’s just. A curiosity question more than anything. Right. Thank you. But I see both sides. So thank you. Thank you. I was just going to mention if you wanted to stick around for the actual discussion, that’s great.

00:16:28,030	But if you don’t have time for it, I’ll send out an email. To the or um, organization. Similarly to what I did last week at the end. Thank you.. All right. It’s still public comment period. Is there anybody else that would like to step up to the podium? If you.

00:16:48,530	Could, if you could please say your name and if you could sign in as well, please. Okay. Tammy Rector and I’m the executive director with Central Dakota Children’s Choir, and I don’t have anything prepared. I honestly was prepared to just listen. But, um. Sorry. That’s okay. Uh, so I’ll just try to fill in maybe a couple of things.

00:17:14,330	Um, that, um, Chris didn’t, didn’t maybe touch on, uh, one of the reasons that I didn’t come prepared to talk about anything was because I don’t have a contract for. We have two big events, um, that we do every year traditionally. I mean, we’re in our 29th season. We serve 300 kids.

00:17:37,800	We’re at 296 children in third through 12th grade, uh, right now. And when we add our first and second grade music classes in the spring semester, um, we should be close to 350 or 375, which is great. That’s a bounce back. Finally, from the pandemic, when we went down to, you know, a lot, lot fewer kids than that. So so we’re we’re excited.

00:17:57,970	Um, so we’re getting growth and our numbers are coming back up. But, um, yeah, I don’t have a I don’t have a contract. And I’ve asked and because I’ve been hearing rumors, you know, that that, um, things are going to go up and that there’s going to be, additional fees, um, a cleaning fee.

00:18:18,400	We’ve never had a cleaning fee. So some of these things I just don’t know. Um, right now, in the past, uh, we were able to schedule, I think I scheduled 15 years out as far as my dates, because it’s hard to get two nights at the Belle and avoid band camp, which takes or band parade in the spring, which takes out, you

00:18:37,670	know, about 50% or 75% of your kids. So there are certain things that you can’t schedule over on top of. Um, also, if we were to try and find someplace else, uh, we don’t completely sell out. Every time we have sold out a few times.

00:18:54,130	Um, but we do run roughly 6 to 700, uh, attendees a night, so there’s not really any other place in town that’s going to hold that much. Um, I know a lot of the high schools have built new auditoriums, and that’s wonderful.

00:19:15,530	We take advantage of, uh, performing in those when we can, but it is difficult to schedule at the schools because obviously, their first priority is their students and the things that they have going on for their activities. So, for instance, we have a concert at Bismarck High in the spring, and we can’t ask for that date more than three months out.

00:19:43,270	Well, when you’re dealing with 250, um, 300 families, it’s obviously nice to be able to get that on their calendar sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you’re just not going to have a choir that shows up. So, um, and I just I don’t want to get into hearsay, but, um, I have talked to two members.

00:19:59,800	I did not talk to Doctor Porter, but, um, the Bismarck Civic Chorus has traditionally been in the Belle for their spring concert, and they’ve traditionally asked one of our choirs to to be part of that performance. And it’s always been the fourth Saturday in April. And this year they couldn’t get that date.

00:20:20,770	That date’s not available. So I’m waiting to hear, um, if my dates will be available or not. So I think that’s all I had to add. Do you have any questions for Tammy? All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. This is public comment period.

00:21:00,500	Is there anyone else that would wish to address the board? All right. Hearing none, we’re going to move to the approval of the meeting minutes. We have two sets of meeting minutes that we need to approve. The June 15th, 2026, the July 27th, 2026. Are there any corrections? Hearing none.

00:21:29,500	Can I get a motion to approve? Move to approve both sets of minutes. And is there a second.? Second? Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. Call the roll. Member. Grossman. Yes. Tomanek. Yep. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Wilson. Yes. Gardner. Yes. Chair. Wachter. Yes. All right. Moving on to the general managers report. Brad. Okay. Good afternoon.

00:22:29,300	And thank you. Uh, I guess I’d call you Vice Chairman Wachter. Is that how it’s going to be today? Sounds good. All right. And I’ll commission. Uh, we’ve been busy. Very busy. Uh, mostly the month of June was was, event wise, uh, some really good event events in the month of June.

00:22:50,700	So we’re going to go over the financials first for the month of June. Um. And so if you want to pull out your, your page there that has this cover page has the report. Okay. And we’ll just scroll through this real quick.

00:23:13,000	Like obviously if you have any questions about it, you know, we can certainly meet offline on it. Um, but the first page is your consolidated income statement. So if you look, we’ve had direct event revenue in the month of June of 173,008, 45. And that was, uh, ahead of budget by about 37,000 a year to date.

00:23:37,700	On that end, we’re at 423 as compared to 150 for budget. So, our events in May and June were very, very good with petroleum, with bull riding. We had some big conferences as well. So we were very good.

00:24:01,130	Um, if you scroll down there to your event, gross profit before revenue sharing, you’re at 154 budgeted for 136 year to date, 390 versus a two $273,000 budget for 117. Uh 322 uh, ahead of schedule. So very good on the event side, uh, contracted revenue is up as well. That sponsorships and other events. So we’re ahead of budget there on a year to date basis. Also by about $12,000.

00:24:27,130	So event wise and revenue wise, like I said, uh, May and June were very good. So if you look down below to our indirect expenses, um, we were actually holding tight there as well. That’s the fourth line from the bottom. Um, below, um, our projected indirect. So that’s good. Holding budget tight that way.

00:24:47,200	And so if you look at our net operating income, we had a loss of $62,000, almost 63,000 for the month of June, with a budgeted loss of 153. So that puts us in position to be 90,000 ahead of budget for June and then year to date. As you can see, we’re in really good shape.

00:25:08,030	Um, we’re at 75,000 and we should be at 306. So we’re 271, 231,000 ahead of budget at the end of June. If you look below there, you’ve got other income and expenses. All right. Those are transitions costs that go below the line that, uh, I know Jason has said that will probably pay.

00:25:27,970	The city will probably pay those out directly. Um, so that does total up so that, you know, year to date, we’re still holding really good close to $200,000 ahead of budget. Any questions with that? Any questions for Brad? Only comment I would have is it’s presentation. It’s not a question.

00:25:57,600	But under the other income and expenses, to the extent it’s an expense, those numbers should probably be in a bracket. It makes our numbers flow through the statement more appropriately. Otherwise, you got to figure out whether that is an addition or subtraction to get to the net income number. Gotcha. Yeah I see that too. Very good point. Agreed. I’ll make sure we change that.

00:26:22,600	Uh, and then you can see on the on the second page on the balance sheet. All right. Everything tied out. Well, um, fairly high when it comes to accounts receivable. I think that’s what happens when you first take over.

00:26:40,270	Um, we had some really large events in May, and so that put a large receivable amount on, on our books that that right now is down to like $23,000 on our balance sheet. So doing really good that way. Um, the accounts payable to we’re at 215 again. That was just a matter of getting up and running and getting everything paid.

00:27:01,070	So, um, you know, other than those two things, uh, we’re doing really, really pretty good on it. The other, uh, in the liability section, that 832,000, that’s your holding account for for your ticketing sales. Um, that’s almost all that is ticketing dollars. Because, remember, that’s not our money that belongs to the shows.

00:27:20,570	Uh, but we we have to put it on our balance sheet to show that we are at least holding it. Okay. Any questions on the balance sheet? Questions. All right. Go ahead Brad. So really the rest of this is just work up. You know, um, goes into the the consolidated gross profit statement.

00:27:45,430	We’re not going to go through that at all. Ties out. But essentially, you know, it gives you a more line by line item than your consolidated does or excuse me, your your, uh, your, uh, consolidated income statement does. All right.

00:28:04,530	And then you got also your event profit by by the individual events as you scroll back there, uh, you can see that for the month of June, um, we had, you know, the Missouri River Festival did very well for us, made us $22,000. Um, the bull riding did very well for us, made us about $41,000. Um, and that would be on the second page there. Those net amounts.

00:28:27,000	So, yeah, I mean, as you can see, all the events were in, in the, in the black. So I mean, we like that everything was profitable for the month. So a really good month. All right then that last section there is uh, our rolling forecast. And again we go really conservative with this.

00:29:01,700	That would be the, uh, like the third to last page here. Yeah. And that’s where we’re trending right now, giving the information that we have on our books. So right now we’re looking at about a loss of just a little over $1 million. We’re budgeted at 1.1.

00:29:33,330	So I’d say we’re training $100,000 plus, uh, ahead of budget, at least rolling forecast wise, with the knowledge that July is very slow. So we’re going to cut into that that budget, uh, surplus in a hurry back on track here in August. Um, and then we get super busy starting in September. Okay. So that’s the financials. Any questions about it? No questions. Okay.

00:30:04,100	All right. Moving on. 2026 projects updates. All right. Dressing rooms and locker rooms. Um, I had asked, uh, our city manager if we could do a walk through at some point, too. So I think we’re going to schedule that. But I’m happy.

00:30:27,670	Happy to report that the dressing rooms remodel is complete. They were used last Wednesday night for three of a dead man. Um, and I’m also happy to report that they posted it on their social media on how happy and how impressed they were with the dressing rooms and the Bismarck Event Center. So there you go, folks. Yeah, that’s that was a great thing.

00:30:47,900	If I may. That’s contrary to a report from an event last November where the locker room showed up as kind of a black eye on the event center. And apparently in the performing world, these things certainly matter as you go from building to building.

00:31:06,070	So the work that Brad and his team have done since taking over is being reflected already. And so I think that’s I believe that’s your intent on why it was mentioned. Because it yeah, it’s an improvement over the before. And now the current. So I think that’s that’s good to hear.

00:31:23,670	Those types of reports that we are some of the improvements are being noticed by the talent that’s coming through the building. So thank you for that. Um, also at the Belle, the upper dressing rooms have also been remodeled as well. There’s brand new furniture up there. There’s new tables, there’s new chairs.

00:31:39,570	I don’t know if you’ve been in it yet. Mike. Yeah. You will be shocked when you walk in there. So, uh, we’re trying to to make the amenities up there just as nice as what we have over in the arena as well. Uh, North lobby offices.

00:31:57,870	So we did hit a little hiccup with that. Um, with our growing staff, we need more office space. So we went to remodel that area, and, uh, with 1969 being the target year of when that was was built, you can only imagine what we ran into. It’s called asbestos. So we had to get the remediation company and to take out the asbestos.

00:32:21,370	Um, that was done a week ago. Friday. And so we will now be in there remodeling those north lobby areas for offices and for putting them back into, uh, liquor and concession areas as well.

00:32:41,670	We will be using two of those windows this next week or on Wednesday for red clay strays, uh, to serve food and liquor out of. So that area is being remodeled, revamped and brought back into use. So super excited about that. Uh, the arena bleachers we went through and pressure washed them completely. Um, they were very dirty.

00:33:04,200	So we we spent the last five weeks going through and cleaning, deep cleaning the arena bleachers, along with repainting all of the railings. So everything in there is, is is looking very nice, is ready to go for our fall season. Um, if you again, when you do your walkthrough, I think you’ll be very impressed at how well, uh, that cleanup came, came through.

00:33:24,030	And then the last thing is, we did have some work done on the parking lots. Uh, that was done by Steve and his crew from the city. Um, that was all done in lot D. Um, made some nice improvements there.

00:33:40,100	Um, we are going to fix all the fencing around our parking lots. Part of it’s falling down. It’s not very good. Jen knows that quite well. Um, that will be fixed in the next couple of weeks. So making sure that it’s tight, that all those railings, all that fence is put up correctly. So nice and neat and sturdy. So that’s the 2026 projects. Any questions? Any questions for Brad.

00:34:05,930	And I will tell you all of that work has been done in-house. We have not contracted out any of it. So our people did the carpentry, they did the painting, they did the trim work. They did all the installation.

00:34:25,770	Installation, what we put into our dressing rooms were cabinets, were sinks, were uh, uh, benches. We replaced all the showerheads. We got them all working if you’d ever been in them before. It was like, I don’t ever want to walk, uh, shower in there. So, uh, all that’s been replaced. Brand new doors. Sliding doors with the Western flavor to them.

00:34:42,430	Uh, and then brand new furniture throughout as well. Um, and a lot of that, that, uh, equipment has been purchased on either trade out or sponsorship deals. And then on with the 50,000 that the city has kindly given us to, to remodel that area. Sounds great. Okay.

00:35:07,000	Moving forward with our 2027 projects, uh, the lighting project, uh, exhibit halls will commence in December of 2026. So that project has been bid. Bid that has been let that has been accepted. And we will start.

00:35:24,600	They will start in in DNC replacing not all the fixtures, uh, making sure that we have brand new LEDs in there. Uh, and then a new control system as well. So that’s going to be about a 8 to 9 month project. Um, the HVAC project has also been bid and let it actually came in under budget, which was fantastic.

00:35:46,930	Um, so that project um, will commence this fall and, uh, they will start with air conditioning. Get get it done through the fall and winter time periods. And then this spring they will, will, will go into the, into the heating. And, uh, that part of it as well. So the arena has done first. That is original technology in their 1969.

00:36:07,730	So we’re really looking forward to the controllability of it, the cost savings of it, and just being able to operate it in a much better fashion.

00:36:25,430	I mean, right now we’re either on or off and I have to wear my coat in during this, during these time periods, because we have to have the air on and it’s, it’s too cold. And then when we in the winter it’s probably too hot. So, you know, there we go.

00:36:51,100	Greg, can I ask, did we or Jason, did we do an added an addendum related to the bill House situation? You identified for me? Jason? Uh, Mayor Smith’s authority, board members at this time, I’m still talking through that process with Jeff Ubl with Ubl design group, of course, the architect for the event center. Um, following this meeting today, I’m actually scheduled to see Jeff. So hopefully we can finalize that very quickly here. So do you want to mention what that situation is? Jason. Sure. The board should be made aware of it.

00:37:13,900	Yes. Uh, authority board members, uh, the HVAC system at the Belle has, um, I guess, been overlooked for far too long, and we’ve got some kind of end of life components there that need to be addressed. And the hope is that we can do an addendum to the HVAC project that’s going on in the arena.

00:37:34,270	And, uh, amend the scope of work to also include the work that needs to be done at the Belle, because we’re getting to the point where we could be without AC over there pretty quickly.

00:37:52,400	And so our internal HVAC technicians within the public work Service Operations department have identified this, um, quite frankly, prior to this, I don’t know that anybody had really taken a close look at it. So unfortunately, this is another one of those, uh oh shucks kind of projects. But if we have the talent and the resources to handle it now, it would be best.

00:38:10,030	So we’re not adding on a second project with all the other particulars that come with it. So. Yeah. So we did scrape by with home free, um, those units, all three of the air conditioning units were down.

00:38:25,630	We were able to bring in, um, Central Air, and they were able to get two of those units up and running, but there was still one that does not function for us. It it covers it now, especially with the temperatures starting to go down. But on that day it was 105 out.

00:38:40,570	So it was it was a little interesting, but they did get it up and running. So we were good by Showtime. Also on our 2027 projects list is our wayfinding project. Um, that is in the bid process. We’re still waiting to finalize that as soon as we do, um, they can start, you know, work on that immediately.

00:38:59,070	So hopefully that one will be done here real soon. I know Jeff wanted to get these others, uh, taken care of before moving to that one. All right. Moving on, if you will.

00:39:20,600	Look at your next page there on that first handout or it says projects list outside major Capital, you’ll see it right here would be the. Third page from last. One more Jen. This one. Thanks. All right. So these are these are projects done with the capital that was approved, um through the city last year in 2025. And part of that, those dollars have been spent. Part of those dollars have not.

00:39:55,730	And I think, Eric, you kind of have. You had told us about 500,000 was still available roughly in that account. So we’ve identified some of the highest needed projects. Uh, portable sound was number one. Um, that is for, um, having a sound system for the exhibit halls.

00:40:19,070	Um, you know, allows us to do mid-level to smaller level type of events. So that came in at 108,000. We also have a bid for the Belle as well to replace the the line arrays in there and put a brand new sound system in there as well. We’re waiting on that number to come back from High Point. That’ll go through state bid.

00:40:38,970	Um, we talked about the dressing rooms. That’s the 50,000 that we have completed now. Um, we’re also looking at some concession equipment. Um, mostly warming racks for grab and go customer service so that person can grab their pizza, grab their hot dog, grab their hamburger, go up to the tilt,

00:40:58,170	check out in the way they go so they don’t have to wait for us to make anything for them. Uh, the exhibit hall, a carpet that was approved last year. We just finally got that bid and got approved for that.

00:41:14,270	So new carpet will be put in exhibit hall. A and very much needed there. Some small quote items, uh, tablets for our operations staff. Computers were always in need of that. Um, this last one here or. Yeah, I think there’s a couple more yet, but this one at the very bottom of the page is for open gate security magnetometers.

00:41:37,770	Um, I don’t know if anybody went to the show last Wednesday night, but instead of going through the magnetometers that you walk through and you have something over your head and you have something beside your beside you open gates or essentially a pedestal, a pair of pedestals that you walk between.

00:41:54,870	Um, we can set those settings anywhere from 5 to 22. The international standard is seven. So that’s where we put it at. And that way, people who have keys, who have phones, who have, you know, small metal items do not go off.

00:42:15,130	And, um, we loaded our lobby the other night, um, with, with the crowd that was standing out to get inside, which is probably about 500 people in four minutes, which is a great improvement over having our old magnetometers that go off about every single time somebody walks through them and don’t have the adjustment levels open. Gates are the way of the world.

00:42:32,130	They’re the newest thing being used in the industry. Um, so we do have a request in to get two pair of those. They are they are very expensive, but the load in time, the ability to get people through and get them to our concession stands and get them to our merch stands really helps a lot.

00:42:52,400	So something that we are trying to move forward with, um, if you turn your page there. Yeah, go ahead. Sir. Do you have a rough dollar amount on those. Yeah, there are 42,000, Mr. Mayor. A piece. Uh, total. That’d be for two sets there.

00:43:13,730	21,000 apiece for a set. So they come in sets, they come in pairs. So we would want two pairs. Okay. Thank you. That doesn’t bother me too much. Uh, we need Wi-Fi in our promoter’s office. Um, we do have a new promoter’s office. That’s our old security office right next to entry gate A5.

00:43:34,530	Um, that we’re making nice for our promoters. Again, it’s about that artist and promoter experience. Uh, the last two are actually quite concerning. Uh, we need to do a short power upgrade, because right now we don’t have distros.

00:43:51,830	Um, in our short power that cut that that amperage down. We have a 200 amp feed. We’ll most buses and RVs are 50 amp feeds. So you plug a 200 into a 50. That’s not a really safe thing to be doing. We could be blowing up their buses. So it’s about $3,000 to get that step down and have several feeds available.

00:44:14,770	And then, um, we do not have cam locks for our arena disconnects. Um, and, uh, so we have to hardwire into our, our power boxes every time we have a big show. So ideally we just put cam locks in where the show brings their, their power cords. We have our cam locks and they plug them in just like that.

00:44:36,130	Instead of having to hardwire them into our into our disconnects. So that is about 337,100. A thousand of that was already encumbered in 2025 with the exhibit hall carpet. So we’re looking at about 237,000 for that. And Brad, you said that there’s $500,000 left in the account. There is. Okay. Yep.

00:45:06,070	Which which would mean that, you know, 237 not the 337 because they’ve already accounted for that. Okay. All right. Uh, emergency action plan. Uh, two weeks ago, we had emergency action training. I’m going back to the main report here. Um, we had 120 of our part time staff participate, along with all of our full time staff.

00:45:33,130	That was the first training exercise we’ve done. Um, we are now moving forward in other areas of training. Uh, next on the gamut is AED first First aid and CPR training, along with customer service training. All right.

00:45:55,530	We also have some specialty areas that we have to do in our operations department, such as forklift operation, lifting, pushing, pulling, bloodborne pathogens, and then getting all of our MSDS sheets up to date and ready to go as well. So we’re getting all those put into place. Um, hopefully by the end of this month we have another training in place and we’re moving forward with with training, uh, event updates.

00:46:15,270	Uh, we’re working on some tribute bands, some comedians, some writers, uh, exhibit hall, uh, we have a January collaboration with Funatix that is going to be called Kidz Fest. Um, that will be held the last part of January. Also working on a marketing campaign for weddings, meetings and holiday parties.

00:46:36,470	Then in the arena, we’re working on spring and fall 2027 concerts and family spring events. So that would be like monster Trucks, Hot Wheels, um, Jurassic Quest, some of those different types of activities. So trying to diversify that as much as possible. Uh, quick staffing updates. Uh, we did extend an offer for an AGM director of operations.

00:47:07,000	So that individual is currently the director of operations for Avg in Loveland, Colorado. And so we are waiting to hear back on that. So super excited about that. Um, our Director of Sales position is open. Sarah Bellis. Uh, did resign. So Friday is her last day.

00:47:30,230	So if you know of anyone who would fit into our director of sales, uh, we would love to see them apply. That position will be very, very crucial in our relationship with the CVB and making sure that we are a collaborative partner and working on that in relationship at all times, really to drive those proposals and to drive that activity from both entities.

00:47:49,800	Uh, on that manager, we have a new event manager coming from Mankato, Minnesota. Uh, he’s worked in the minor league baseball world for the last four years. So I think he’s excited to get out of being in the stadiums and being in arena.

00:48:08,030	He’ll start the 1st of September, and then we also are hiring a housekeeping manager, and it’s been a high priority of ours to clean up our buildings. And, um, so we will have a full time housekeeping manager who will be overseeing all three facilities, um, you know, to really dig in to get those facilities cleaned up, to have a regular cleaning and

00:48:26,200	custodial, uh, program in place, and to make sure that, you know, we’re elevating that experience for all of our customers. So very, very important for us to make sure that we’re doing that. Uh, there the last page there is your organizational chart update just pretty much mirrors what we’ve talked about.

00:48:48,630	Um, with with understanding that the AGM now will kind of oversee the day to day operations a lot more, allowing the GM to be freed up to to bring in more shows and, you know, work on those, those, uh, community type of, of needs, uh, public relations so that, you know, we can really zone in on, on being external instead

00:49:09,470	of internal. So that’s very important. Um, this, I would say puts us at, at full staffing once we get those four positions filled, um, the HVAC technician position is still a work in progress. So really trying to get that filled as well to, um, that’s when that one’s been a real challenge.

00:49:31,730	To say the least. Okay, a couple of final things or just one final thing, I guess is, uh, Wednesday night, we do have red clay sprays. Uh, we’re probably going to be anywhere from that 4500 to 5000 in attendance. Mark. So not too bad.

00:49:54,830	We were really hoping to be more than that. But, uh, given where we’re at with compared to the other venues, um, around this part of the country, we’re okay. We’ve we’ve done okay. We are going to implement a small bag policy for that show, see how it goes, where we’re going to allow a clutch to come in. And no bags larger than that.

00:50:15,500	Right. In this day and age, uh, allowing large bags into facility is very scary. Um, and that’s just something that we want to get away from. Uh, our note. No. Before you go. Blast has been out since Friday.

00:50:34,000	So if you go on to our social media sites, if you go on to emails, if you’re getting emails for the show, all of it states that we will have a small bag policy for Wednesday night. And I can guarantee you artists really like that as well too.

00:50:48,600	I mean, the more more safety and secure that they can feel, the better off our show is going to be. So that’s all I have for my report. Do you have any any needs or questions? We have any questions for Brad.. All the security talk has gotten me thinking about the Belle. Any thoughts on. Yeah. If that’s necessary, I guess I haven’t even thought of it. I’ll be honest with you. Yes.

00:51:11,030	We don’t have any security. We don’t have magnetometers, we don’t have bag policy. We don’t have. We would. Yes, we are planning to implement that. Yes. I mean, again, our crowds want to know that it’s safe when they walk in. So. Yes.

00:51:27,130	Um, we’ve already talked about that beefing up the security. But yeah, we will be we will have magnetometers in uh, for people coming through. Okay. Thanks. Yeah. Good question. Thank you. Jason. Brad, would those devices that you were talking about earlier, a pair of them for 42,000. Are those portable? Yes. They would then be transported to the Belle for. Those if it’s available. Yes.

00:51:47,500	And we still have our old magnetometers as backup. That was my other question. If given the Belle is a smaller venue, smaller crowds, some of the older technology that we already have could be there without too much of a delay. Right? Okay, absolutely. Yeah. Jen, did you have something? Sam. Okay.

00:52:05,970	Yeah. We don’t plan to sell the old ones. Um, because if we have three events going on in each of our building on the same day, which we want to do as much as possible, um, then we’ll we’ll need those old magnetometers as well.

00:52:24,830	And maybe that’ll be the point where where we can find more money someday and get all open gates. But this would be a really great start for us. All right. Sounds good. Anything else for Brad on this topic? I guess maybe a question for the group or for Brad.

00:52:46,600	Are you looking for direction or any sort of approval from this authority on these potential expenses, or is this more of just a report because you’re within the allocations for 2026? Um, you know, I would love the approval of the board. Okay.

00:53:06,970	Is that something we want to talk about that I don’t know that we’ve had this much of an ask coming forward, but I guess from my position, Brad and I have had these conversations. He and I meet every week. And and this is all information that he has shared up to this point. I personally have no concerns with everything that’s listed here. I, I expect these types of conversations to continue to go forward.

00:53:23,400	And as long as we’re within the allocated budget, I trust that we are getting expert advice from the people we’ve hired to manage and operate these facilities. So, um, but I’d be open. for other comments.

00:53:44,330	Mayor, did you have something you want to say? My comment would be as long as on all the operational ones, as long as we’re at the budget. I don’t have any issue with that. In fact, I’m more I don’t have any issues with bottom line or total expense. Budget allocations between various line items are not so concerning to me on the equipment.

00:53:59,930	I do think it’s appropriate we just because that’s a $500,000 group that we at least at this level, approve those. I don’t think they need to go beyond this because the City Commission’s already approved that that expenditure for capital improvements. But it’s probably wise just for protection of that. This authority board approves those SIPs.

00:54:22,630	If I can add to that, I can also offer that I’ve been part of several conversations between OPG staff and our finance department staff, particularly Joshua Fearn, our procurement officer. And so all of these purchases are following standard city procurement policies.

00:54:44,230	And when available, using source well, which is a state contract where some of these items are previously available or on bid and so on. So again, from my perspective, I, I have no concerns with any of this, and I just wanted to share that for your awareness as well. Okay.

00:55:03,770	Well, what are the wishes of the Authority board regarding these expenses? I would move to approve the CIP. Uh, items that brought us identified previously in his report, uh, to be to be purchased and secured through our CIP allotment for 2026. Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? I’ll second that. Okay. We have a motion and a second.

00:55:27,330	Do we have any further discussion? Hearing none. Call the roll. Members. Tomanek. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Olson. Yes. Gardner. Yes. Grossman. Yes. Chair. Wachter. Yes. All right. Anything else? Brad, on this? That’s all for my report. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right, next item on the agenda is the facility tours discussion. Chair. Water authority, board members.

00:56:03,100	Mayor Schmitz, I had asked for this item to be on the agenda, just generally to be able to have the discussion. But I think given what we’ve heard from Brad and knowing this is our role and responsibility is to help guide these buildings, I think it would be helpful for us to get out as we’re able,

00:56:20,130	not necessarily all at once, but have them show us these buildings back a house front, a house, the inventory, the work that their staff has been doing. And I guess I just thought if we could, if everyone’s okay with this, our office would put out some sort of a poll to try and find availability. I would imagine.

00:56:39,400	Brad, we’d be looking at maybe 60 to 90, maybe 120 minutes, depending on the building. If we broke them down and did each one the Belle, the exhibit hall and the arena separately.

00:56:57,400	Um, and certainly no rush, but, um, knowing that we’re all busy and and summer’s nearly behind us, I thought it might be a good time to get out and explore a little bit. Um, if we’re able to do this and we do have a quorum of our authority board members, we would notice it as a working meeting. Not that there would be minutes or discussions or decisions made, but it’s facility tours, and that’s purely all it would be.

00:57:12,670	And so if everyone thinks that’s a good idea, um, I’d be happy to, um, ask Whitney to kick that off. And likely what you would see would be an email with a series of dates, times for availability, and then we would find the one that works best for everybody and schedule those and handle them accordingly.

00:57:32,230	Thoughts? I think it’s a fantastic idea. I agree. Totally on board. All right. Let’s go ahead and do that okay. Thank you. That’s all I had for that one. And, uh, we’ll I’ll work with Whitney and we’ll get something out before the end of the week. Okay. Great. Moving on to item number six, key performance indicator. Discussion.

00:57:56,230	Maybe I’ll jump in on this one too, if I may. Chair Wachter, the last item on your printed packet that was at your workstation when we sat down. This was the collection of all the individual scored KPIs as we reported them to Whitney.

00:58:16,530	Um, we essentially aggregated and created averages and the weighted percentages are there for your review, scoring up to 100. Um, I think this is pretty close to what we had all talked about a couple of months ago.

00:58:30,930	Of course, as I think we’ve all agreed the KPIs Would be fluid and we would likely revisit these scenarios in the future, or even these five particular KPIs that are here. But just for what it’s worth, for the audience, for those that are listening online or at home, the event mix optimization is the highest weighted percentage at 25, followed both by 20% for the financial performance of gross revenue and separately, net income, and then also estimated

00:58:54,400	income impact. Estimated economic impact, and then with a weighted percentage of 15%, would be the customer service survey results. And so for those five and five individual items totaling 100%, those are the KPIs that we agreed to.

00:59:14,700	And the general round numbers of what those weighted percentages look like. So I don’t think we need any action on this. We just wanted to bring it forward for your awareness, because we had talked about this at a couple of different meetings. But if you have any questions or concerns, we’d be happy to try and address those for you too.

00:59:26,400	All right. Do we have any discussion on this? That’s great. That was all. Do we have a formal adoption of them? I would make a motion to adopt the key performance indicators. Weighted percentages as drafted in the attached agenda. All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second? I would second.

00:59:52,030	We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion. Hearing none. Call the roll please. Members. Wilson. Yes. Gardner. Yes. Grossman. Yes. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Tomanek. Yes. And chair. Wachter. Yes. All right. Motion carries. Moving on to item number seven on the agenda. The mail, the Belle Mehus Auditorium operations model.

01:00:23,600	Mr. chairman, I’ll go ahead and kick this one off, if you don’t mind. I was the one that asked for this to be put on the agenda. Um, just a couple quick things before we get going.

01:00:36,600	Um, when the commission voted to set up this authority board, one of the positions they said had to be a representative of the local arts organizations, which is how I ended up, um, here, which is great.

01:00:54,130	Um, so when I talk about the impact of the operating the Belle, it’s going to sound perhaps self-serving at times, but really, I’m just trying to fulfill the role that I was given. Um, as a representative of organizations, um, primarily using the Belle, you know, through the whole process. We’ve been through a lot together in terms of the RFP and selection and interviewing and contract negotiation. And we’ve had a couple of key, um, themes.

01:01:12,130	I’d say throughout that. And the first, of course, is we want to drive economic impact, right. We’re here to try and improve economic activity in the area. Um, through the use of those facilities.

01:01:29,930	We’ve always said we want to increase revenues from the facilities in terms of number of events, quality of events, sponsorships, etc.. And then we’ve also always said the Belle is different, right? The Belle is our local gathering hole, so to speak. It’s a place for arts organizations to connect with the community. Um, it’s a gathering place for folks who love the arts primarily.

01:01:51,670	And granted, there are other, um, events there too, which I’ll I’ll talk about, but I wanted to keep that in mind. We don’t want to deny those organizations, um, their place in the community. So I’m wearing both my hats today as an authority board member and also as executive director of the symphony. Um, kind of the anchor, um, client of the Belle.

01:02:10,100	And so I know it might look funny if somebody is watching this from the outside. I almost considered, like, going up to the podium and trying to change hats, but it seems silly in the end because again, this is my role on the authority board is to represent those organizations.

01:02:24,030	So I’m going to remain seated if that’s okay with everybody. Um, want to make a few comments? Uh, take any questions. Um, I do have a recommendation that I would ask the board to consider. Um, this all started again. Like the first gentleman spoke during public comment.

01:02:41,830	I did receive my annual lease for the Belle for our upcoming concert season, which runs September through April. I had the same 33% increase in rent. Um, the addition of a cleaning fee for the first time. I didn’t get the utility for change fee, luckily. Um, the other one that’s, uh.

01:02:58,530	I use the city’s ticketing system for our events, and so my facility fee per ticket was also proposed to double 100% increase. So grand total for the season. It was. I was looking at over $15,000 on a $350,000 budget. So it’s significant for us. Um, I met with Brad and he did agree that the facility fees won’t increase this year.

01:03:19,430	We’ll keep that as it has been. Um, and talk about that again for next year. Um, there’s some debate on how that’s paid and who pays a bit. The way it’s set up right now is that comes out of my pocket, not the person who’s buying the ticket. Um, so it’s still over $5,000.

01:03:40,630	And if somebody doesn’t think $5,000 is a lot of money, they could just write me a check. And we don’t have to talk about this anymore. But I’m going to guess that’s not the case.

01:03:53,330	Um, and so Brad will tell you, and I’m sure he’s right, but Brad will tell you that’s what it costs to operate the Belle. Right? So he’s trying to cover his costs. He’s not trying to just randomly increase revenue from groups who, you know, are going to have a hard time paying for it. That’s what it costs to run the Belle.

01:04:05,400	So the question is, where does that come from? And so I mean, we can use some of the increase in revenues from the other facilities as part of the event center, or the city has to continue to subsidize it, or you put it on the backs of the local organizations who

01:04:20,200	are using the Belle. And if you try the third option, it’s going to be problematic for many, if not most of those. Um, organizations. And granted, if you’re selling 800 seats, you might think you don’t have any other options.

01:04:39,600	And if you think that I would urge you to go get a tour of the auditorium at the new Mandan High School, which seats 800 brand new balcony, big stage, um, gorgeous facility, um, is that, you know, viable for some? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’ll tell you, some of the smaller organizations that maybe have 2 or 300 people come to their event at the Belle, for all the reasons we’ve talked about.

01:05:01,200	People love the Belle. It’s fantastic facility. Those folks have options. They have a lot of options. They don’t have to use the Belle. Um, I’ll give you another example on that. So my youth orchestra concerts, I usually do those at the Belle. There’s two per season. Um, one in December and one in April.

01:05:17,200	Um, generally has historically cost me about $1,000 in fees to the city. Now, to OB to put on those concerts, which is a lot, because those concerts are free and open to the public. I’m not making any money on those.

01:05:35,930	I did get proposed lease agreements for those concerts, and there was a $1,000 increase between the two. And so that basically guarantees I’m going to move those concerts. I’m not going to I can’t have that kind of increase for a concert where I’m not charging tickets. And so if I’m willing to do that, I know there’s other organizations that are willing to do that.

01:05:54,730	To the extent we keep dumping these costs on the organizations, the Belle is going to sit empty, which doesn’t do any of us any good. And again, we’ve always said the the Belle is fundamentally different. Um. So, I mean, I could keep going, I guess, but I think you get my point. Um.

01:06:20,700	Any questions before I make a recommendation? Do we have any questions for Mike or any discussion on anything he said? Yeah, that’s probably better. Jason. Yeah, I guess I, I’ve thought a lot about this. And I know as a group we’ve, we’ve talked about the Belle.

01:06:40,530	Everything that Mike has said is true, that the Belle is a it’s a historic local venue. It’s a wonderful place for the locals to get on stage. And I think about, you know, little kids and the excitement and the energy that comes along with the performance and then the pride and the joy of the families that come along with all of these experiences.

01:06:56,670	And just thinking that if we, the city, have a place to foster that type of an experience in Bismarck, that is tremendous, that is phenomenal. But I also understand the Belle is not free. It is expensive. It is an old building, as we just got done talking about. There are projects that need to be addressed.

01:07:13,770	So I think one thing that would help me understand this a little bit would be some more information on, you know, the average daily or monthly expenses to operate the Belle. May. Who’s on a, you know, just a regular season.

01:07:32,430	Um, but then I think it’s it’s helpful for us to understand what it means to have a local facility. And I don’t doubt that the auditorium in Mandan would be great. I do know it is the Bismarck Mandan Symphony Orchestra, but I still think they belong in the same house.

01:07:48,070	I’ve told people for years, no matter what goes on in the building, it’s worth the price of admission because the facility is worth that experience. It’s worth just being there. It’s spectacular. I say all of that. As the city’s administrator, recognizing that we’ve got money to make here and we’ve got a responsibility to be good stewards of the resources that we have.

01:08:06,470	So I am really torn in this idea that the Belle is for the locals, but it should also be for the nationals, it should be for the touring acts, the comedians and the the different musical groups that can sell 800 plus tickets. Because again, it’s a great place to see a show. So I don’t know that I have an answer.

01:08:21,530	I was maybe just filibustering to give you all time to think about your own comments and thoughts that you’re coming forward with, but but I, I appreciate this conversation. I’m glad we’re able to have it openly.

01:08:37,930	I think with the information that OPG will bring forward, the information that we have from our finance team and the history that we have operating the building, just knowing what the utility costs are and some of that, I think all of that will help us make an informed decision. I don’t know that we’re ready to do that today.

01:08:52,330	It’s going to take a little bit more time to scratch up some of this information, but I’m seeing that we do have representatives from the local groups that are here. I want to keep them here. I want to keep I would love to see more shows, more activities, more events. Um, you know, rates, access to dates. You know, these things are going to change.

01:09:09,930	I think I heard that they probably haven’t changed in in some years. For years. Brad’s flashing up on his hand. So we have a responsibility to adjust. But I think over adjusting creates some disruptions for other groups that have to build budgets and plan their activities throughout the years as well.

01:09:30,270	So, um, again, I’m supportive of this conversation, but there’s also a big spot in my heart for the Belle and and for the locals and for a way to make all of this work together. Um, and I think even having more national acts come through, it might make some of those fourth Saturdays in April more challenging in the future.

01:09:46,200	But we can all figure this out together. And in the end, Bismarck is better. The Belle is better, or is happy, and we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing here. So for the record, it’s not just little kids that get excited about performing at the Belle. Our musicians do.

01:09:59,730	That’s great. Um, one point I did forget to make is the other issue that we need to consider is most of the folks using the Belle more than once. If they’re using it regularly, our schedules are already set and our budgets are already set. And so I can’t adjust ticket costs now.

01:10:15,530	I’ve already sold, I don’t know how many hundreds of tickets per event. I can’t change ticket prices now to help with that. Sorry, you were going to say something. 350. Okay, thanks.

01:10:32,730	I agree, I’d like a little bit more information and time to, but I would like when Brad brings back his stuff to maybe have some ideas on how he could help market these to help increase their attendance, which should in return help with some of the costs. And that. Yeah, Brad didn’t cover it. Is it? It is in your report at the back of the the one that has, uh, the front page is MSO expense comparison.

01:10:50,870	Um, there was a packet in there and so to, to Brad’s credit and his team’s credit, we have spent the last couple of Friday mornings together working on a marketing plan to increase, um, sales for the, um, for the for the symphony, which is amazingly appreciated.

01:11:07,670	And I, I should have recognized that when I made my comments. I forgot to do that. Um, I do expect that they’ll bear fruit. There’s lots of really good ideas there. There’s ones that we’ve tried and there’s a lot of stuff we haven’t tried that I thought were fantastic ideas.

01:11:22,130	It’s primarily going to impact next season, not the season that starts in a month. I mean, I hope it’s helping impacts this season, but it’ll be a bigger impact for the following one. I think. Right. I’ll go ahead. Mayor. No, you go ahead, Chad. I’ll wait.

01:11:41,030	Brad, is there anything you would like to would like to add to this? Yeah, thank. Thank you. Um, yeah. So we have sat down, um, and I know there’s a concern about it, um, you know, and we want to come up with solutions.

01:11:59,230	Um, if you will, look at the packet that we put together here, and, um, this is just a symphony and we can do it for any of the, of the Belle user groups. Um, but essentially. All right, it costs $1,000 a day to open and close the doors of the Belle, and that’s probably being really conservative, because we did this on a straight line basis with the information we had from the city.

01:12:16,200	And this was done like a year ago. So, you know, as we move forward and we gain more history, we’ll have a better idea on what those actual costs are. All right. So $1,000 a day, um, what we proposed was just that rental increase to 800 on an event show day only rehearsal time is still $50 an hour.

01:12:38,330	All right, so we don’t we don’t recoup very nearly as much on a non show day as we do. You know, on a show day. But essentially the way we came up with this was one all right.

01:12:54,870	To try to just get closer to not losing as much money on on the, on the Belle but also to recoup hard expenses that have not been charged before. So things like cleaning, conversion, you know, set up, tear down all of that was not being charged. And so essentially that was money coming out of the event center budget as well.

01:13:16,070	So as you look at, if you really look at it, we raised the rent by $200 and nothing else. It was contractually in there that you should pay the, the, the clean, the conversion, but it wasn’t being charged and it wasn’t being collected. Now, I don’t blame that on on our users that that goes to to internal.

01:13:34,430	And so yeah, I, you know, there’s, there’s some understanding that needs to be taken care of there. But if you really look at this, this work up here. All right, you look at the revenue generation. All right. We have rent. We have um, event staff. Um, you know, and event staff is just a pass through.

01:13:50,470	It’s a hard expense. We charge a charge back what it costs us. There’s there’s no very little ROI on that. Okay. Um, as far as as the expenses, you know, they’re going to continue to go up.

01:14:13,170	But if you look at the event, profit on, on, on an event day for the symphony right now and our current, you know, position, we’re losing $500 that day for that event because it costs us $1,000 a day to open the doors. And we’re only making 500. So that’s a loss of $500. So all we were trying to do is recoup and get to zero. That was all.

01:14:35,800	Now if you add the rehearsal days in there, all right, you know that those are days that were, you know, allowing for rehearsals. We charge $50 an hour and any, any, any hard expenses that we have, you know, then it’s even more that we’re losing. We’re down to, you know, the fact that we’re losing, you know, $750 right now.

01:14:55,530	And with the proposed rate, $600 a day on rehearsal days. So if you put those numbers together, the the event profit days, the rehearsal days with the symphony, right now, we’re we’re losing about $18,500 for the season. With the proposed rates, we would lose about 10,000.

01:15:18,870	So when Mike called, it was like, okay, let’s come up with solutions here. Let’s let’s be partners and we’ll do this with everybody. What can we do so that that we’re not losing money. So the first thing that we came up with is we got to drive ticket sales.

01:15:38,670	And if you look to the third page here, we have echoes of humanity marketing plan. And we propose this without any additional cost to the symphony to go through, you know, this complete marketing plan to drive ticket sales, whether we’re reaching out to the high schools and the middle schools to get their symphonies involved, what we want to do is

01:15:58,400	target the 20, 30 and 40 year olds. That’s our market. That is is not using the symphony, and it will be different for our dance groups, and it’ll be different for our choir groups. But we will sit down and we will identify those groups that we need to go after and sell more tickets.

01:16:17,630	So a whole marketing plan here put in place. And when it comes out in the wash, we need to sell. If you look at the very bottom there on that second page, we need to sell 15 more tickets per event to cover the increase in costs.

01:16:39,700	And we are more than willing to do that with all of our other groups as well. How can we help drive their ticket sales? How can we get more people in the door for them? I think it’s I think it’s really great to hear that you’re looking at this from from the point of, um, of, you

01:16:55,600	know, playing a role in the marketing of this. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we want to be collaborative partners, and that’s, you know, how we explained it to Mike. All right. We don’t love raising rates, but we know we have costs to cover. So how can we come raise those rates.

01:17:12,600	But also help ourselves in in both a collaborative effort that is a win win for both of us. I know we’ll sell at least 15 more tickets for Mike’s event. I hope, like we said, we want to make his event a premium ticket.

01:17:33,770	So we’re sold out at 800 tickets and people want to get in the door and pay that 35 of that $40 for each ticket. But we got to go out to the schools. We got to go out to our communities. We got to go out and push it externally.

01:17:48,970	We didn’t even have graphics up on our website for our for our ticket sales until what, like Friday, Mike or Monday? That’s bad on on both our parts. That’s shame on us. We should have had graphics up there front and center. We announce we need to be pumping that out there. We talked about getting on the morning shows.

01:18:05,600	We talked about getting on the radio. PSA alright, any of our non-profit groups can get public service announcements. We can go out there and really get these events out on an external level. Mhm. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Did you have any comments? I do first I want to echo what Jason has said.

01:18:32,170	And and Mike the the not for profits in our community that are using the facility. We need to make sure they can continue to use the facility.

01:18:48,200	And so I have a real hard time watching, even though it’s one line item and it’s dollars and cents, not a big dollar amount per day, but it is a 30% or a 33% increase in rent. And then we added additional cleaning cough, which they weren’t paying before. Maybe they should have been. But as has been eloquently stated, that’s really not on the users. That’s on us.

01:19:11,030	My my thought, if we’re going to talk about partnering on this and this would be putting them a bit more onus on Avg and Brad’s team, but if we think we if we could establish what their historical ticket sales are on average, and then all the increase over that average on the ticket sales we get for the additional tickets

01:19:37,730	until we’ve achieved the additional revenue, we’re trying to get on the rent and cleaning. And then after that we have some split arrangement. So it is a true partnership and we are adjusting the actual pure, pure rent this year. And then next year we can look to step into the rent increase. And the other costs increase.

01:19:59,130	So it becomes a more of a true partnership moving forward, whereby we’re sharing in the we’re both sharing in the risk. The new ticket sales, we’re going to get all of it until we get our cost covered. And then thereafter we have some form of revenue sharing.

01:20:19,070	So all the organizations can make a little more money. And the event center can start covering some of its other costs. Because this per event day cost, how many days is it dark? We’re we’re absorbing that as a city right now. On top of this. All right.

01:20:39,200	Well that would be my that’d be my thought I it’s out there and maybe it’s too much to think of today, but. And Mike, I know you had a proposal as well. Mike. Did you have something else you wanted to. Yeah. So just so people don’t think I’m completely derelict in my duties, most of the stuff that Brad’s talking about, we’re already doing that. We have a solid marketing plan.

01:20:56,800	They came up with some ideas I hadn’t considered before, and so I appreciate that. I think attributing any additional average ticket sales to purely event marketing that the Avg does is risky. That’s not going to be the case. We won’t know what drives some of the additional ticket sales.

01:21:19,200	And so going down that road makes me a little bit, um, uncomfortable. Um, and Brad covered the cost again, I completely agree. I’m sure he understands what it takes to open the Belle. My point. I’ll go back to it again. When we started. The Belle is different.

01:21:37,930	If we’re asking Brad to break even or make money on the Belle on the backs of local arts organizations, I think that’s a big mistake on the board’s part. I’m talking specifically now about local organizations who use the Belle more than twice a year or something, two or more times.

01:21:55,100	I’m not talking about the comedians coming through town or the bands tribute bands coming through town. Get whatever you can get from those folks. Absolutely. But given the fact that most are anyway, so my what I was going to recommend and I’m not making a motion for the record because I don’t, I don’t I think people are going to want to think

01:22:12,430	about this and get some more information before they come down on where they stand. My recommendation is, um, for local organizations using the Belle two or more times per year.

01:22:30,800	We don’t do any increases in rates or fees or anything compared to last year for some set period of time six months, eight months, whatever it is to let us get through our seasons and then let OPG come to this board again at the end of that period and say, here’s what we propose for rates, fees, etc.

01:22:46,470	for the next however many years you want to go out two years, three years, whatever it is, so that we have time to plan. So I assume that we have sent out, um, I mean, we’ve got renewals based on higher rates right now, which is what’s prompted this discussion. We can always adjust those rates, obviously. Yeah.

01:23:16,130	I’m wondering if we should, uh, if we should defer that until our next meeting. That way we have a little more time to, um, to study this matter. And formulate some type of a plan that’s going to work for everybody. Thoughts? Um, I just had one follow up question.

01:23:38,070	I’m looking at the, um, rental rates that are given to us here in our packets for the event center in the Belle. And I do see that there’s a national rate for the Belle and a community member rate for the Belle. The national daily rental rate would also include cleaning fees, utility expenses and things of that nature. Correct? Yeah. It’s actually that building package is $7,500 a day. Okay.

01:23:57,770	So that includes all of the event staff. It’s a building package rate that includes the rent and all of the rents. Well, I would choose. anyone I would like to. I don’t know how to say this.

01:24:13,470	A I want us to think outside the box as we move forward to help the not for profits. And this is not the year to have a big increase. In fact, I would be of the position to fall in line with, uh, with member Gardener’s thoughts as no increases for 2026 seven, because these organizations have already set their budget

01:24:37,170	for sure through December of 26. And if we look at increases, we step into it knowing we’ve got to get we have to get a little bit more revenue so we can get to closer coverage of the hard cost of breakeven on the day of the event, whether it takes two years.

01:24:58,130	I don’t know what the number is, and I would certainly like to also think outside the box. Is there some way that this this organization, Avg and the City of Bismarck can help these local organizations sell more tickets through some form of split at some point in time? And I know where you’re coming from. Mike.

01:25:18,670	It’s risky to you because how much are you going to raise through additional ticket sales as well? But if we stop and think of if we have the push of other people helping sell tickets, that’s benefiting you too.

01:25:37,130	And if it can benefit the event center or the Belle May, who’s at the same time, then I think we all win while keeping the rent lower. Brent. Yeah. Thank you. Um, so going back to to Jen’s question, uh, yeah, we do have a building package rate for our national touring acts of $7,500 a day. So then that obviously is a lot higher than what we charge our local nonprofits and local groups.

01:26:01,930	Um, the fact that I would like to bring up, though, is that, you know, there are KPIs to meet, and not that these dollar amounts are that significant, but it does play a little bit into that factor as well. All right. We’ve been told to to try to run this as a business.

01:26:19,930	We are being mindful of of all the clients and everyone that’s here. And we’re trying to do our very best with that. But understand that, you know, if if rates have to be frozen, that does affect our bottom line as well to.

01:26:37,470	Um, this is Jen again, and I wanted to just follow up the reason I asked about the national versus the local rates was I can see it here, but I didn’t know if anyone else listening or in the room knew that there were different rates. Um, and secondly, every day I deal with local tenants and national tenants, and it is a very gray world, not black and white.

01:26:58,270	So what type of gray negotiation do you guys plan to and or put into once the initial proposal is sent to the local groups for renewals? I think the biggest thing is to try to drive ticket sales. So get more people in the building. Um, you know, there hasn’t been any food and beverage really served in the bill previously.

01:27:21,200	There was this understanding that food wasn’t allowed in the bill, which is not the truth at all. So, I mean, we’re going to try to to drive that type of revenue as well. I mean, that’s that’s our only other options. Okay.

01:27:38,870	A lot of our, you know, our, our civic groups or our smaller nonprofit groups, you know, they don’t have ticketing needs. They do it all internally. Um, we’re going to honor that. Right. But if it’s a, you know, something that’s that’s larger. All right. There needs to be a better solution. And we’re working with Mike on some of his his ideas as well.

01:27:57,000	I mean, instead of him encompassing all those fees really that should be passed on to our to our patrons. That is the way of the world. That’s industry standard now. So and people are used to that. So I think, you know, passing on the fees, concessions and making sure that we have beverages, this is going to be a key to helping drive more revenue.

01:28:15,670	There. And we would do that across the board whether we raise the rates or not. The food and beverage thing is an interesting one for the bill. In particular under the old rules, pre-COVID, if I wanted to sell, say, beverages at intermission at the symphony, um, glass, wine or, you know, cup coffee, whatever,

01:28:34,330	it actually costs me money. It didn’t make me any money. I had to spend more because I had to hire security. We had to pay the vendor who does it, and then the city and the vendor split the profit. I didn’t get a cut.

01:28:46,400	So Brad’s assured me that that model is no longer going to be in place. And so, um, you know, that would be something I and I don’t even want to cut of it.

01:28:56,900	But if, you know, if it long as it doesn’t cost me any money, Brad can come in and sell as much food and beverage as he wants and and keep it for all, for that matter. And maybe that’s maybe that’s the way to make up that extra $400 or $500 per. Yeah, it’s definitely part of the solution. Yeah.

01:29:13,430	So again, it’s to it’s to, uh, like the mayor said, dark days don’t pay our bills. So, you know, on the days that we do have events, we have to, uh, maximize that revenue as much as possible and fill those dates. And, you know, so, yeah, we have a commitment to our arts community.

01:29:31,070	We will we’ll continue to, to have that commitment with the understanding, though, you know, other days we have to drive more, more, more activity. I mean, there’s a lot of days that that we don’t have available on our calendar because of our, our local arts type of events. All right.

01:29:47,530	So our opportunity costs are reduced as well then because of that. I mean I could bring in some really big touring acts. Um, you know, we can put a lot of acts into the bill because of the size of that venue, as opposed to trying to put something in the arena.

01:30:01,070	Uh, we can book the bill every day of the week and twice on Sunday, because it’s got a lot of potential. And the promoters, the artists, they love it. They absolutely do love it. It’s a beautiful building.

01:30:20,530	So we get the production up and running the way it should be, and then, you know, we we’ve got that opportunity to drive a lot more activity in there. And again, I don’t want to say anything, you know, to to discourage any of our current groups. But let’s figure out a way that we can we can do this and do it together. All right. Thank you Brad. Thank you. All right.

01:30:37,800	So we have a request to keep the rates the same. But we have KPIs that we have to we have to meet. So what are the wishes of of the authority board. Mr. chairman, if I can maybe just throw this out there for discussion.

01:31:02,230	I guess some things that would help me make the decision just to list cost to operate calendar of events, rates. And I’m looking at both rental rates and then ticket rates. What are some of these groups charging? If we’re looking at helping the local nonprofits, but their ticket prices are out of reach for some of the the guests? Do we have a balance there? I’m not here to tell the nonprofits

01:31:19,270	what they should be charging, but I think all of this would just help me understand. I’d also be interested in attendance records for the last couple of years if we can get them. And that’s everything from the symphony to the locals to the sell out shows that have entertained many people.

01:31:35,870	And then maybe just a write up of some of that support that Brad had talked about, whether it be marketing, ticket sales packages to help some of these groups. I think these types of things would help me just have a full perspective.

01:31:53,470	And some of it, as the city staffer, we can come up with this dollars and cents. I’m looking at our two finance guys over here, and I hope they’re nodding their heads in an affirmative direction. Um, but maybe this calendar of events stuff.

01:32:08,930	Brad, I don’t know if that’s something that you and your team could possibly come up with, but if there are other things beyond this that would help all of us make decisions. I guess that’s my opening line. I would agree. I think we need more information. And I’m fine. I didn’t necessarily expect the decision today, but I want to plant my recommendation just as food for thought for our next meeting.

01:32:27,200	Timing wise, it’s a little awkward because both Less Dance and the Symphony have performances scheduled prior to our next regularly scheduled authority board meeting. Brad and I have talked about this. We’re not I’m not like, stressed out about that or anything. We’re going to have the events either way.

01:32:44,270	But just as just, you know, timing wise on that. Maybe just one more question is I cut off Jen. Sorry, are any of the local groups for profit or are we understanding that they are all non-profit? I guess that would help me as well if we’ve got some that are for profit versus non-profit,

01:33:00,830	does that factor into our decisions? Where are we looking at just a bigger if you’re in Bismarck, it’s different than if you’re a national touring act. I think if we can get to some of those pieces, that’ll help us with our decisions as we go forward.

01:33:19,570	So not all of the local arts organizations using the Belle are nonprofits. And so that’s why I’ve been specifically saying local organizations as opposed to local nonprofits. I don’t know if the city intended that to be a differentiator or not, but I didn’t see that anywhere. So I’ve just said.

01:33:35,730	I’m not sure if it is a differentiator or not, but it is something that’s different that I think is worth considering. So again, not here as the city to try and tell an organization how to structure their business. Um, but if there are organizations that are making money on some of these performances, that’s an understandable situation as well.

01:33:51,970	So you’re your anchor tenant in the symphony is a 501 C3 nonprofit. Understood. I’m inclined to treat all local organizations differently than the nationals just because, again, this is a community building. Um, I would I understand where OPG is coming from and Brad and the rates.

01:34:19,330	I would love to see us leave the rates in place, at least through December, that we’re there, because I’m guessing most of these people are in calendar year budgets now. The season might be more difficult for somebody like the symphony because their season crosses through.

01:34:36,930	But I think, or at least until we get through to the decision point, um, that’s that’s me getting a getting a 33% increase. Surprise on on rent and then a cleaning fee. That’s pretty significant for most of these people. Okay. And as a business person, I would not be happy. All right.

01:35:03,530	Well, it sounds like we have got more information that we need to make an informed decision. But in the meantime, would we like to take action today to keep these rates from going up until we get that information? And somebody. I would make that motion. I would make that motion okay.

01:35:27,230	So we have a motion to keep the rates the same until the end of the year. Is that what you’re saying, Mr. Mayor? Well, that would give us time to evaluate. And also a little more time for the organizations to realize something’s coming. Okay. So we have a motion to keep the rates the same until 1231, 2026, so we can gather more information. Uh, do we have a second? I’ll second it.

01:35:56,370	All right. Is there any further discussion? Uh, this is Jen. I just had one question. I thought that we were talking about the rates increasing in 2027, and that 2026 was already executed. Did I misinterpret that.? Most of our seasons aren’t coincident with the calendar year? So my fiscal year is June through May.

01:36:24,130	So my season actually started with the 4th of July concert. And the contract that OB sent me. It was for September through April. Okay. September 26th through April 27th. Thank you. Okay.

01:36:46,230	Any further discussion? I guess maybe I’ll just mention for the sake of not trying to stick up for OB, but at the same time just voicing this that I think it’s good that we’re having this discussion. We’ve all kind of had our own philosophies about what the Bellee should be, and to OG’s credit, they’re doing what we’ve asked them to do to address the rates, to address the operations, to address the management.

01:37:02,070	And they have done that. We’re we’re trying to figure out how all that fits together. So appreciate what Brad and his team are doing. I’m glad that we’re having this discussion. I’m sure that we can find some consensus in the middle, some sort of a compromise here.

01:37:21,270	Uh, but again, this is no reflection on the the work of OB in any bad light whatsoever. This is just something that needed to get discussed. And we’ll we’ll figure it out as we go forward. Yeah. Yeah. Brad, we’re not trying to hang out a coffee.

01:37:34,130	We appreciate the, you know, everything that you’re doing and to try to hit these KPIs that we’re trying to put in place and, and um, I think we can do that. We just need a little bit more time to help everybody kind of adjust. Mr.

01:37:49,200	mayor, did you have something? Well, that’s my comment is like, I just like like, let’s just suspend them for now until we can figure out what is appropriate with the additional information. And, you know, maybe, maybe Brad’s team can think outside the box a little bit here to help us as well and, and have some conversations directly with some of these more key local users. Okay.

01:38:10,900	That has been great to work with and I love bringing new ideas. I mean, there’s stuff that I hadn’t thought about and food and beverage will help maybe make the bill a little more profitable. My closing comment will be, it’s easy to say that Belle is different. The Belle is important.

01:38:24,870	And now we have to pay for it. And if we still agree that the Belle is important for local organizations, it’s going to cost us money. Um, and I think I will abstain from voting on the motion. And in fact, correct. The motion was just like for the rest of this year, right? Correct. Okay.

01:38:41,300	All right. Anybody else? All right. Let’s go ahead and call the roll, please. Mayor Schmitz. Yes. Wilson. Yes. Grossman. Yes. Tomanek. Yes. Chair. Wachter. Yes. Motion carries with, um, member Gardner. Abstaining. Number eight, is there any other business before the authority board? Hearing none. Can I get a motion to adjourn? So moved.

01:39:22,900	Is there a second? Second? Do we need a motion to adjourn, or can I just adjourn it? You can Adjourn or chair. As you wish, sir. Meeting is adjourned.