01-05-2009 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

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