January 25, 2011
Page 2 of 2
MINUTES
Board of Directors
Regular Scheduled Meeting
January 25, 2011
12:30 PM
Spokane Convention Center
ITEM #1 TO ORDER
Board Chair Mick McDowell convened the 585th meeting of the Spokane Public Facilities District at 12:30 PM.
ITEM #2 ATTENDANCE
In attendance were Board Chair Mick McDowell, Vice-Chair Nate Greene and members Rita Santillanes, and Sandy Wade. Member Larry Soehren was absent and excused. District personnel included Kevin Twohig, Johnna Boxley, Matt Gibson, Stephanie Curran, Dave Gebhardt, Stephanie Huff and Brittany Garwood. Guests included Cheryl Kilday of the CVB, Dave Pier of Brett Sports and Entertainment, Jonathan Brunt of the SpokesmanReview, Rafael Vinoly and Tom Burgess of LMN Architects, Jeff Warner of ALSC, Mark Tilbe of Murase Landscape Architects and Steve Kelly of Davis Langdon. Board member Wade left the meeting at 2:10 PM.
At 1:30 the following CC Addition Stakeholders joined the meeting: Bobby Williams, Teresa Brum, Mark Williams, Traci McGlathery, Karen Thompson, Betsy Hammond, Kay Riplinger, Mike Tucker, Heather Bennett, Rob Lady, Wayne Paupst, Marty Dickinson, Jon Schad, Mike McLeod, Keith Backsen, Steve Corker, Barbara Lockard, Pat Heywood, Dave Kokot, Jody Sander, Scott Middleton, Sue Stoll, Pam Alfaro.
ITEM #3 CONSENT AGENDA
After questions, Ms. Wade moved to approve the consent agenda, Mr. Greene seconded and the motion passed unanimously. This includes the following:
Minutes from January 11, 2011
Invoices for December, voucher # 91757-91951, 4977-4985, 4988-5012, 5014-5071, 5073, 5076-5117, 5119-5138, 5140-5195, 5197-5209, 5212-5216, 5327 in the amount of $5,990,641.42.
WKDT invoice for December in the amount of $1,292.00
ITEM #4 DISTRICT BUSINESS
Cheryl Kilday, President of the CVB reported on the importance of travel and tourism to Spokane and the State. There are currently approximately 144k jobs in the tourism industry in WA State, with $14.2 billion
in direct visitor spending. Ms. Kilday encouraged all to become tourism advocates. She also reported that the state tourism office would no longer be funded by the general fund and the tourism agencies are scrambling to develop a plan for ownership of these tourism assets.
Dave Gebhardt reviewed the upcoming projects at the District. Ms. Curran and Mr. Gibson reviewed the upcoming events in all the facilities. Mr. Twohig reported on his recent trip to Olympia and the progress that is being made on the tax rebate extension legislation. He, Chair McDowell and Vice-Chair Greene will travel tomorrow to Olympia with the joint chambers to lobby more for the extension and for Spokane projects.
ITEM #5 PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments
ITEM #6 DRAFT CC ADDITION CONCEPT PLAN
At 1:10 the Board took a break until the 1:30 presentation by LMN/ALSC of the Draft Convention Center Addition Concept plan. The project is intended to fully build out the CCX while addressing the needs of facility users and meeting planners while reflecting current trends in the convention center industry. It includes additional exhibition hall, meeting rooms and support space. The addition is proposed on the north side of the existing facility in the Shenanigans area and parking lot. As part of the expansion, the SPFD is studying opportunities to make improvements to the adjacent Centennial trail, public open spaces and restoration of the adjacent river bank.
The Convention Wisdom’s proposal for financial impact review of the project was presented; Ms. Santillanes moved to approve; Mr. Greene seconded and the motion passed unanimously. A PO will be issued for the review.
After questions and answers about the draft CC Addition concept, Mr. Greene moved to accept the draft concept plan, Ms. Santillanes seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The Board and staff will begin their review process immediately and get changes to the architects.
ITEM #7 ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the Board adjourned at 2:25
Recorded by Sherry Leatha
Clerk of the Board and Recording Secretary
Approved by the Board of Directors
The SPFD Board’s minutes are intended to be a reasonable summary of the Board’s deliberations and actions. The minutes are not a verbatim record of everything said at the meeting. The minutes include all actions taken by the Board.