06-14-12 PARC Committee - Laserfiche WebLink

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Valerie suggested the possibility of closing Century Center for 6 months to "stop the bleeding." Council appointee to the Board of Managers Dennis Andres Jr. said the Council was certainly right to be concerned; but urged keeping everything in perspective. He reminded everyone that the Center's budget was drafted to operate at a loss. The supplement comes from Hotel -Motel Taxes. Dennis did caution that the subsidy was 40% of the budget in 2006 and was now 50 %. In addition the economic impact of Century Center estimated to be $36.9 million in 2006 had fallen to $15 million in 2011. He agreed a strategic plan was needed; but should only be extended 90 days to 3 -31 -12 to coincide with the end of Centerplate's contract. Kathryn Roos echoed Neal's call for a six month extension. Henry Davis wondered about the validity of the statistics and questioned the time requested to develop a strategic plan suggesting that 18 months from the beginning of this administration was too long. Aaron Perri, Director of DTSB, said the contract with Global Spectrum and Centerplate needed to be thoroughly reviewed with enough time taken to do so. Henry said he'd been urging a review of Century Center operations for some time. He said we are responsible to the tax payers to safeguard their assets and maximize their (ROI) return on investment. John Mazurkiewicz wondered what options the City had with the extension issue. Finding out a 90 day notice was required if changes were made, he said the effective date of the current contract was October 1. Therefore, a 90 day extension would be long enough. Tim Scott, Dennis Andres Jr., and Henry Davis, Jr., all agreed, a 90 day extension was more than adequate to formulate a plan. Mark Neal and Kathryn Roos reiterated the importance of a comprehensive strategic plan of which Century Center is but one facet. The upcoming Economic Summit was another. Henry Davis asked what he could report to his constituents. Where was Council involvement and where do we go from here? Valerie Schey asked if a report detailing the sources of all revenue supporting the Century Center, the Hall of Fame, DTSB, Coveleski, the Morris and the Palais could be provided. In response, Mark Neal agreed to consolidate that data. Dennis Andres, Jr., asked for specific direction from the Council on the scheduled vote for next week. Valerie, Henry, and Tim all expressed opposition; but no formal vote was taken.