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City of Mounds View Staff Report August 29, 2018 Page 4 adequate. If each event has a different vendor, it will require greater supervision at an additional cost to the City. VI. Positive experience at the Center One of the goals of the Center has been to provide a positive experience for users, which should result in future referrals. To date, it appears that most users have had very positive experiences resulting in repeat business with businesses, and also positive word of mouth advertising. Several examples include: the annual Bridges Golf Leagues banquet – comments from golf course staff indicated that it was the best service and best overall experience of any similar event that they have had; also received several comments from other cities relating to the quality of the facility after joint city training seminars. VII. Food Caterer There are at least three options to consider, only a house caterer, a house caterer with the option to use outside caterer(s), or no house caterer. Based upon discussions with other facilities, it appeared to be the most advantageous to have a house caterer. Since the food at the Center affects individuals perception of their overall experience at the Center and their comments to others about the Center, the better able the City is to monitor the quality of the food, the better it should be for the City. From a management standpoint, the fewer caterers that are dealt with the easier and cheaper it is to manage. If there is damage to the facility, it is also easier to determine the responsible party and get the problem rectified in a timely manner. It should also be easier to monitor the fees charged by the caterer to insure that the City receives the appropriate fees from the caterer. To maximize revenues at the facility, there are opportunities for joint marketing with a caterer, however, to do this, most caterers will want to benefit from such marketing efforts. Since there can be fairly long periods between when an event is scheduled and when it happens (one year is not uncommon), most caterers will want a longer term contract to market themselves at a facilty. If a house caterer is used, it is in the best long term interest of the City for both to be successful, and to enter into a longer term partnership. As such, it is recommended that the City consider a term of at least three or five years, with renewal options, and options to terminate the agreement for cause. It should also be workable to allow other caterers. It is recommended that such caterers would need to submit an application, with applicable licenses and fees. The application would then be reviewed, and if everything appeared in order, they would be allowed to provide catering at the Center. Depending upon the event(s), day of the week, time of year and the frequency of catering, fees would still need to be paid to the City for the opportunity to provide such catering. The bringing in of prepared food raises numerous issues from liability issues, to damage, to