Minutes Five Flags Civic C 11 15 04
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Five Flags Commission Meeting
November 15, 2004
PRESENT: ROD BAKKE, CYNTHIA FULLER, MARK NAUMAN, MIKE BRANNON
ABSENT: BRYCE PARKS
STAFF PRESENT: PAULA WOLFE, JENNIFER UPTEGRAPH, GIL SPENCE AND
TOM LORENZ OF SMG VIA TELEPHONE CONFERENCE FROM PERSHING
CENTER IN LINCOLN, NE
ALSO PRESENT: TED SCHERR FROM THE THUNDERBIRDS ADMINISTRATION
The Commission meeting convened at 4:31 P.M. in the Managers Office at Five Flags
Center. Chairperson Rod Bakke presided.
Approval of Minutes: Nauman moved to approve the October 18, 2004 Five Flags
Commission Minutes. Seconded by Mike Brannon. Motion passed.
Tom Lorenz explained why Joe Romano could not attend this Commission meeting-
his mother was in the hospital, but he is going to make arrangements to come talk to the
commission soon.
Manager's Report: Manager Wolfe presented the commissioners with an update of
happenings at Five Flags. We had strong usage of the facility with $45,049.98 in
billings, $1,000.00 more than last year. This is the highest billing of the year and this
was due largely to Loras College's Wayne Brady show, several Dubuque Symphony
concerts, and six Thunderbird games. The Lipizzaner Stallions were also on the
calendar for October. We have put our SMG customer service training to good use. All
part-time employees have been terminated and rehired through SMG. Durrant
Architects have been chosen for the renovation project. We've had a busy Marquis for
Five Flags. Sesame Street is coming, Jim McDonough is coming, the Dubuque Dance
Studio will be doing their Christmas show on the 28111 of November, plus we have public
skating and our ice usage during the month.
Looking at the YTD revenue report, Five Flags is pushing hard to catch up to last year,
upon having a real strong first quarter, we are going to push to make the second quarter
catch up as well.
Nauman pointed out the Edwards rally was not on the list. All revenue on the sheet has
been billed out - Manager Wolfe will pull the file and provide the commission with the
actual billing - $3,087.38 - please add to the bottom of the list. Brings total to
$48,137.36. How were concessions handled with the Edwards Rally? The Kerry rally
had more attendance than the Edwards Rally - so therefore the Kerry Rally brought in
more revenue in concessions. Cynthia Fuller pointed out there was nothing on the
sheet about concessions for Lipizzaner Stallions. Manager Wolfe apologized, explained
that with the new accounting system, all information goes from the concessions
manager to the finance director, then to her. She is going to redo the revenue report.
(Note - corrections at this time were inked to all financial records, with corrected copies
sent to all commissioners the next day.)
When this is updated, we will send a new one with the corrected prices.
New Business: Gil Spence from Leisure Services handed out copies of the SMG
Booking Policy. The agreement with SMG requires there be a Booking Policy in effect
at the Five Flags Center 90 days after SMG takes over. Joe Romano and Gil have
come up with a finalized draft. Joe and Gil recommend this booking policy be adopted.
The General policy outline is similar to the City of Dubuque's - the new policy does call
attention to and clarifies residential client privileges - as far as prices and what special
considerations they are being given.
Manager Wolfe included last month's minutes from the resident client meeting with the
packets.
On the second paragraph, bottom of the second page where it reads "traditional events
are protected" would refer to the traditional hockey dates, graduation weekends,
Sesame Street, etc. Mike Brannon noticed the change for the Dubuque Symphony
Orchestra needs to be changed from IV to V Classical.
Mike Brannon moved to approve the new Booking Policy. Seconded by Mark Nauman,
Motion passed.
Old Business:
Effective December 2004 meeting, new officers will take effect.
Chairperson Bakke moved Cynthia Fuller be the new Chairperson, Seconded by Mike
Brannon, Motion passed,
Cynthia Fuller nominated Mark Nauman to be Vice Chairperson. Mike Brannon
seconded. Motion passed.
Chairperson Bakke nominated Bryce Parks as Secretary, Seconded by Mark Nauman.
Motion passed.
The commission needs to have a formal motion for the new concession prices.
Manager Wolfe went over the September 2004 minutes, reminding commissioners of
what was gone over for the prices.
Mark Nauman asked for a complete list of current concession prices.
Manager Wolfe explained why the beer prices were increased, Beer prices have not
been raised for over seven years. There used to be a lower priced beer. This option
was done away with because people still chose the larger beer for the value. We do
have a perception issue at this time that we are moving through.
Cynthia Fuller brought up ideas for smaller soda cups, larger coffee cups, and different
size popcorns.
Manager Wolfe stated she will talk with John Snider - who is the concessions manager
- and see what they can come up with.
Ted Scherr from the Thunderbirds passed out a sheet comparing attendance at the
Thunderbird games. Attendance is definitely down this year and this is an issue he
wanted the commission to be aware of. Manager Wolfe asked if he thought a possible
reason for this could be the increased beer prices. Ted says they are trying everything
they can, their season ticket holders are up from last year, but every game their
attendance is dropping. Many fans have contacted the investors to complain about
concession prices. He is concerned that the concession prices are making it too
expensive to bring the family to the games.
Manager Wolfe read the attendance sheet to Tom Lorenz. If beer prices dropped,
would the attendance for the games rise?
Cynthia Fuller checked beer prices in surrounding areas; at the Cole Center in Madison,
Wisconsin; a 20 ounce beer is $4.00. At the Ice Center in Chicago, a 16 ounce soda is
$1.25 and a 32 ounce soda is $1.75. In Cedar Rapids, a 20-ounce beer is $4.00; for the
youth hockey organization, they offer a 16-ounce beer for $3.00.
In Lincoln a 16-ounce beer is $3.00 and 24-ounce beer is $4.00.
Rod Bakke explained that this was a 23% increase from last year, but also stated the
beer prices have not been raised at Five Flags for some time, at least 7 years. Over the
course of 7 years, keg prices have raised 48% in the same time period. Five Flags has
a lot invested with the facility, such as heating, cooling. Five Flags is not in competition
with local bars, the community will need to understand.
The 32 ounce soda is too much for a child - concessions need to offer different sizes for
younger children - Manager Wolfe asked Tom Lorenz what his opinion was on an
appropriate smaller ounce size. He suggested 20 ounce cups that we could get from
the Pepsi dealers.
Tom Lorenz suggests staying away from quarter divisions when pricing concessions.
Try to go whole dollar/half dollar amounts. Concessions are the major revenue for any
facility.
You can lower beer prices, but you will start to hear from local bars about competition.
People are not allowed to leave because of the liability for the facility. Tom met with the
Thunderbirds/lnvestors about the new changes as far as new prices f policies.
Attendance has been dropping all across the league, not just in Dubuque.
Need to start thinking about the PR, want to make the patrons happy, currently they are
not - start offering a smaller beer for a lower price. Use different cups to make it "seem"
they are getting more beer.
SMGfFive Flags has raised beer prices, but didn't raise the rental rates for residential
clients, facility fees, no ticketing fees were applied, they aren't being charged for utilities.
It's a trade off that all prices weren't being raised.
In talking with John, Tom stated they are seeing less and less resistance to the
increases. A big difference is events vs. hockey games. When people come for one
event, they don't notice it; if they come every night say for hockey, you can tell the
difference.
Manager Wolfe displayed different cup sizes/designs. Between the two cups,
perceptively one looks smaller than the other even though they are the same size, each
are 16 ounce. A 20-ounce cup could also be available for the $4.00 price, and Five
Flags could offer the 16-ounce cup for $3.50. 16-ounce bottled beer will still be offered
at $4.00 as people will pay for the convenience of having the beer brought to them in
the stands.
Tom Lorenz reminded Ted that the goal for Five Flags is not to get patrons intoxicated-
Ted argued that people cannot afford to bring their families.
Rod compared prices here to movie concessions. It costs more to go to a movie in
town and get concessions at the movie theater than it does coming here to see a
show/hockey game.
Manager Wolfe suggested offering the two different sizes, thus remedying the PR issue.
Mike Brannon suggested seriously considering the two sizes for beer, pop, and coffee.
This hopefully will make people happy. We need to start covering our cost increases
every year or every other year. We need to review the prices every year, even if there
are no increases. Adjustments need to be made when needed.
Before voting on the change in prices/different sizes - Tom Lorenz reminded the
commission that they need to look at the broader side. We do noninvasive searches at
the door; we ask that they not leave the building, no re-admittance. Is there going to be
more problems with the fact that there are no carry-in's and no re-admittance?
Mike Brannon moved that:
Go with 2 beer sizes: 20 ounce at $4.00 and 16 ounce at $3.50.
Give flexibility to Manager Wolfe and John Snider, concessions manager, to come up
with two soda prices, 20 ounce and 32 ounce, as well as two coffee prices.
Raise the hot dog price to $2.50.
Cynthia Fuller seconded, Motion passed.
Rate Cards have been revised this year, new prices added as to the cost of utilities etc.
These are not being charged to the resident clients this year. The new fees added to
the rate cards are the utility / clean up fees.
Mark Nauman moved the utility/clean up fees be accepted, with the exception of
resident users for the current fiscal year. Mike Brannon seconded. Motion passed.
Mike Brannon mentioned the plaque is hanging on the theater, so the commission
should go take a look.
Tom Lorenz brought up the possible basketball contract - Manager Wolfe explained
that they are working on some type of contract - with the All American Professional
-
.
Basketball League - Vincent Wirth Christie out of Wyoming is putting it together. The
facility would not be part owner or anything, their season would start in November
through April, they would have to playoff dates of Hockey Games. 28 - 30 games
would be played. The estimate for their games is triple what Five Flags charges the
Thunderbirds. They would probably play more games during the week, but this will cut
out youth hockey time. Mr. Christie's main concern is if the commission decided to take
a chance, there is no guarantee this will pan out. Rod Bakke suggested we need more
information for the next commission meeting and suggested this be put on the agenda
for the next meeting.
With no further business to discuss, Cynthia Fuller moved to adjourn at 6:25 p.m., Mark
Nauman seconded. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
~~~
Rod Bakke, Chairperson