04-05-1999 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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5. Establishing a liquor vendor within the City was difficult and included months of negotiations. Only Roberts was interested in providing this service and they had to be convinced that it would be profitable for them. We have come up with a reasonable liquor package that is very similar to other facilities. 6. Again, the City loses revenue by not getting a percentage of the bar services which once again puts added burden on tax payers for the operation of the banquet center. Marketing and reservation services: a. The administrative aspect of multiple contractors is extremely time consuming through issuance of contracts, licensing, insurance requirements, etc. In addition, I would need to hire event monitors to supervise events that did not include Elegant Thymes Catering which has provided some of the supervision in the past. b. Marketing the Banquet Facility needs to be a continual effort and done in an aggressive manner by a person or company that is experienced in that area. Innovative Images and myself have that experience. I have been aggressively marketing the facility for over 3 months with good results. Changing formats at this time would be counterproductive to the marketing plan. c. Even though I do have regular office hours at the Community Center, reservations are taken by Innovative Images seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. This service certainly would not be available from a City employee. In addition, the facility is shown on an as needed basis, allowing for the flexibility in the clients schedule. I hope that the Mayor and City Council take a serious look at the proposed changes in the banquet use policies. We've offered flexibility to youth groups during weekday evenings in order to accommodate their events such as Blue and Gold Banquet, YMCA Swim Team and Girl Scouts Badge Event. We will continue to give our youth groups the opportunity to use the banquet center without the requirement for professional catering. It's the large adult gatherings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday that concern me. I foresee health, maintenance, cleaning and control problems. We all know what the basement of City Hall looked like and I just don't want our beautiful new banquet center to look the same. We are attracting a good number of corporate accounts during the weekday mornings and afternoons. It is important that we continue to offer them Elegant Thymes Catering as their company has brought us most of those clients. They are experienced in corporate accounts and do an excellent job. Both Elegant Thymes and myself are willing to work with non-profit groups, seniors and youth groups to provide them with a facility for their events held during the weekday evenings. Friday, Saturday and Sundays as well as morning and afternoon weekdays should be reserved for catered events therefore providing revenue for the City. Using Elegant Thymes as the House Caterer provides continuity in our services and ensures the health and safety of not only the children in the Children's Home Society programs but for all of our clients as well. Please don't hesitate to give me a call at 612/786-4696 if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration of my comments. 4