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ATTACHMENT 15 Task Force Meeting Minutes 8. could we get state support for the facility — increased taxes? — asa side note it was pointed out that homestead credit and local government aid had been cut by $700,000 in the past few years, this was money that had been in place since the 1960s but started to disappear in the 90s and not likely to return to our local budget. 9. what is the breakdown of use by the "user groups" — speedskating, bandy, hockey and departmental (park and rec.) both financially and in terms of the number of participants and demographics of the participants. 10. it was noted that 3 of the existing speedskating ovals in the U.S. are now domed facilities —would there be an advantage to putting a dome over the OVAL? do we have financial information from the West Allis rink before and after "doming"? It was noted that answers to these questions (and many more that will probably arise) will help in determining long term operations for the facility the short term problem o f not having a working facility confuses many of the questions and issues and that it would be helpful to have more specific information on the costs to correct the problem ofthe broken OVAL chiller. The task force made a recommendation that the City Council approve the request for $28,500 to obtain the engineering assessment requested by Lonnie Brokke so we can address both short term and long term questions pertaining to the Skating Center. The questions brought up at this meeting also helped set the agenda for the next meeting. It was decided that we would focus on 1. finances and 2. how the OVAL is used. Before the next meeting Scott, Jake, Lonnie and Brad would meet with Chris Miller to determine what financial information would b�st serve to help the group understand the issues and present that information. Also, the user groups will give presentations on how they use the OVAL. Our next meeting was set for Thursday, March 1��' at the Skating Center — room to be determined. Before adjourning for the evening Dick Houck, a community member asked to speak and stated that as a long term resident of the city he recalls that when the OVAL was built residents were promised that it would be self— sufficient and we wouldn't need to subsidize its operation, as a senior citizen he is opposed to continued subsidy to the facility. He was reminded that this is a community facility and meeting rooms and other areas of the facility are used by the entire community, which again prompted the question if the residents of the city expect the Skating Center to be revenue neutral or is it appropriate to subsidize some of our city operations? ATTACHMENT 15 Task Force Meeting Minutes