01/26/2009 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 • 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 • 44 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT DRAFT CITY OF LINO LAKES WORK SESSION MINUTES January 5, 2009 : January 5, 2009 . 5:30 p.m. . 7:50 p.m. : Councilmember Gallup, O'Donnell, Reinert, and Mayor Bergeson : Council Member Stoltz Staff members present: City Administrator, Gordon Heitke; Community Development Director, Mike Grochala; Chief of Police, Dave Pecchia; City Engineer, Jim Studenski; Economic Development Coordinator, Mary Alice Divine; City Planner, Jeff Smyser; and City Clerk, Julie Bartell 1. Participation in newly forming Convention & Visitor's Bureau — Economic Development Coordinator Divine introduced Mr. Paul Erickson, Executive Director of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, Barb Boyd, Director of Sales of the Hampton Inn and Suites in Lino Lakes and John Connelly, Director of Development of the National Sports Center. As an update on the city's participation in the National Sports Center facility, Mr. Erickson noted that a written report is provided to the city each year. The facility has been a great success and additional investment is occurring all the time and that increases interest and utilization of the facility. Youth sports has proven to be quite recession resistant. The council is invited to tour the facility. Ms. Divine noted that the hotel operators in Lino Lakes have expressed an interest in convention and tourism participation but the existing organization representing the northern suburbs, Visit Minneapolis North, hasn't been accessible to the Lino Lakes hotels. The concept of some area communities joining to create a new convention and tourism organization is being considered. Mr. Erickson provided a packet of information to the council that included reasons that joining a new center -north convention visitor bureau would be beneficial to the city. The new bureau would be more geared to the National Sports Center facility. They are asking that the city offer its support on the general concept so that planning can proceed, based on the finding that doing so would be in the best interest of the city's hotels. The city has statutory authority to impose a 3% lodging tax to administrate a bureau. Ms. Boyd, speaking on behalf of the Hampton Inn and the Country Inn and Suites, stated that the hotels are in support of the proposal to form a new bureau. 1