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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-09-18-9:00AM-WORKSHOPFILED BRAZOSCOUNTY BRYAN, TEXAS NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ZUB SEP I la All: l q ri,CUunlY CLERK E: AL JS =<<h1 811Yr't1.TEXAS `ftII9`rY - BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT WORKSHOP SESSION THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF BRAZOS COUNTY WILL MEET IN A WORKSHOP SESSION ON MONDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2006 AT 9:00 A.M. IN THE COMMISSIONERS COURTROOM OF THE BRAZOS COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 300 E. 26TH STREET, SUITE 115, BRYAN, TEXAS. 1. Call to Order 2. Discussion regarding a proposed schedule of fees to be charged for use of the Brazos County Exposition Center. 3. Adjourn The Brazos County Courthouse is wheelchair accessible. Handicap parking spaces are available. Any request for sign interpretive services must be made two business days before the meeting. To make arrangements, call (979) 361-4102. Office of the County Judge • 300 East 26" . Suite 14 b • Pryan, Texas 77803 . Fax: (979) 361-4503 COMMISSIONERS' COURT WORKSHOP SESSION September 18, 2006 The Commissioners' Court of Brazos County, Texas met in a Workshop Session in the Commissioners' Courtroom in the Courthouse in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Monday September 18, 2006, with the following members of the Court present: Randy Sims, County Judge, Presiding; Lloyd Wassermann, Commissioner of Precinct 1; Duane Peters, Commissioner of Precinct 2; Kenny Mallard, Commissioner of Precinct 3; Carey Cauley, Commissioner of Precinct 4; Karen McQueen, County Clerk. Attached is a list of the citizens and officials in attendance. Attached is a transcript of the meeting. Vol 3.6 Page 119 BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT Fee Schedule for Exposition Center September 18th, 2006 Tape begins mid-sentence. Sims: ...to our meeting today, I will open the workshop session of the Commissioner's Court of Brazos County. It was posted that we would be in the Commissioner's Courtroom the 18th September, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. and it is 9:00 a.m. right now. 1 will call this meeting to order and the second item on the agenda is discussion regarding a proposed schedule of fees to be charged for use of Brazos County Exposition Center. All right, Tom, do you want to start? Quarles: Yes sir. Ladies and gentlemen, you have a fee schedule that we have prepared that we brought up late last week and you probably have not had an opportunity to take a look at it. If we can, if we go to the inside to the table of contents, I'll walk through that real quick and then I'll walk through the fee schedule. If you have questions as I go through, we can stop and discuss anything that you want to discuss or we can wait until the end; whatever you see fit. On the table of contents, page one is `Proposed Fees for Exhibit Hall', we have pages two and three `Exhibit Hall Policies", page four is `Catering Fees and Security Requirements', page five is `Proposed Fees for Covered Arena and Stall Barn', six and seven is `Covered Arena and Stall Barn Policies', page eight through ten and page eleven through fourteen are some reference material that we put in there to give you an idea of what some other comparable facilities charge in terms of fees and polices and procedures. Vol What we did in putting ours together is we have looked; we researched and tried to find as many different comparable facilities around this area as we possibly could. We put the information from two of them in the back of the book for you to look at. We looked at more than that. The ones that we primarily looked at were Montgomery County in Conroe, which you saw in the back of your book. We also looked at Bell County which has a real nice '&b Page 10 0 3 complex in Belton. And we took a look at Heart of Texas Fair Complex in Waco. They're a little bit different, they've got outside type buildings and a large air-conditioned coliseum; they don't have as much exhibit space as we have. And then we attempted... we looked at the Reliant Center in Houston. It was a whole lot different from us but they are able to break their facilities down by portable walls and they can have a large number of events both downstairs and upstairs going on at the same time. So we took a look at that to a certain extent. We attempted to look at some others. We asked Lora Chapman to call Brenham because I wanted to get Washington County's fee schedule and they told us they'd send it to us but we never were able to get it. I think I understand why, maybe they were just too busy to give it to us but that is probably one that we are going to be in competition with quite a bit. It's not that they really have a facility that is really comparable to what we have in lots of case but there are quite a few local type events that are going down there because they don't have anywhere to go here. Hopefully, we'll be able to contract with some of them and get them up here whenever we get our facility completed. Going through, on page one, `Exhibit Hall Rental Fees', we have the ability to break our facilities down where in the exhibit hall we can conceivable have five different events going on at the same time. We've got two rooms that have 2,952 square feet in them and by the way, this is going to be adjusted a little bit; there has been some minor adjustments on the square footage that I didn't get until late Friday. We have a room that is being built for AV that's going to take a little bit of space out of the largest room and then the portable walls weren't deducted from the square footage so some of this is going to be adjusted slightly. Sims: How thick are those portable walls? Quarles: I don't have that in front of me but I've got the information. Peters: Probably six inches. Quarles: What? Peters: Six inches. Quarles: Yeah maybe, or a little bit more maybe. Peters: Those panels. Vol 8~ Page 16 [ 4 Quarles: Yeah, but it does adjust it down just a little bit. Because what we want to put in here is usable square footage. We've got two of them that are 2,952 square feet and we're proposing a rate of $375.00. We have two that are 5,765 square feet and the proposed rate is $425.00. The large one in the center is our largest one at approximately 11,500 and the rate is $1,200.00 and then the entire building would be approximately 29,000 square feet and our proposed rate is $2,500. We've done our research and when you start looking at rates and facilities at other places, it's really difficult to compare what we're going to have with what they've got because in every case, number one, their building is different. For example, in Conroe they have an exhibit hall but they have kind of an assembly hall as part of the exhibit hall and they have a lot of rooms that can be broken down into a lot more different areas that what we have. The other thing that I think we have to keep in mind is that our investment in our building here and also our investment in our equipment... everything that we are going to have is going to be brand new. That's not to say that people in other areas, other counties, other facilities, other venues don't have good facilities but we've invested more money in our facilities on a square footage basis. And we've also are buying brand new equipment and all of that has skyrocketed. So our investment is going to be greater than what they had to invest. Mallard: Are there any amenities that we might have that are maybe more than what others can offer such as internet and things like that. Quarles: No, I think in most cases, well in some, Commissioner, I'd say the answer to that is yes. There are some of these that we've looked at and there are some that we haven't looked at and so in researching all this, we're doing comparisons with some we've seen and we're doing comparisons with some that we haven't seen. Conroe, some of the more modern facilities are going to have most of the same amenities that we're going to have. Belton is going to be very comparable to us. They are going to have pretty much the same amenities. Heart of Texas Fair, now that they have done all of the remodeling and so forth, are going to be real comparable in terms of the different types of equipment and facilities that they can offer people also. It's just that ours are going to be new, our equipment is going to be new, our building is going to be new and that's worth something. Also, I think we're in a great location. We offer a lot of motels and hotels here; a lot of restaurants. Just a lot of things in terms of the location, geographically, that some of the others don't offer. Yes, Conroe has all that and some of the others that we compared to have all that, but they've also got a lot more traffic Vol Q(p_ Page ) 02- 5 and congestion and those kinds of things. Not that we don't have some of those kinds of things here too, but I don't think we have it to the extent that they do. We'll get into some of these fees in just a minute. I think there's really not much difference when you make comparisons on the fees and the equipment and the amenities because almost everybody is the same, across the board, on that kind of stuff. Where you really see the difference is on the renting of the space. Again, they are all over the board so it's really hard to get a handle on that. Like I said, some of them we have seen and some of them we haven't seen. So when you research all that, you're putting all those factors kind of in the hopper; your thinking process. You're trying to come up with a fee schedule that we feel like is reasonable but yet is a schedule that we think that the County and the Facility deserves. Because of the investment that is being made in the facility and the equipment. We tried, I think across the board, and it may be hard to look at when you look at all the reference material here because they have a greater variety of different types of rooms compared to what we have. We have five different spaces that we can sell in the Exhibit Hall. Conroe has any number of combinations just because they've kind of gone with an assembly hall, exhibit hall all together. So it really made it difficult in trying to come up with the fee schedule. But I think in most cases what I've tried to do is to propose just a little bit lower rate in most cases than what they did. I did that because... Sims: How is Conroe broken up? Is it with collapsible doors? Quarles: Yes. They have portable walls, yes sir. Sims: Ok. Quarles: They can just break it into so many parts where they can sell the smaller groups and they can have ...I don't know, I'd have to look at this but they could have a lot more different types of functions and events going on at one time than what we can. Ours are going to be a little larger type events. Our facility is not necessarily made for having a lot of break out rooms where you're having small meetings and small conferences and so forth. Sims: Uh-huh. (positive) Quarles: Because the smallest room we got is 2,952 square feet so it's a pretty good size room. It doesn't mean that they wouldn't do that ...use half of it and use the other half for a little lunch that they set up or something like that but it's still a pretty good size room. The good part about that is that we got the Brazos Center. So somebody that can't afford to go out there or it's a lot smaller event Vol 9( Page 19)3 6 and that's too big for them, we still have the Brazos Center and hopefully... our vision is to market both facilities when we're marketing. And that facility is going to be great for a lot of people and for some, the Brazos Center may fit them a little bit better, both in their budget and the type room that are needing. Going back to the rental rate per day that we're proposing is $2,500 for the entire building. Amenities and equipment rental for the exhibit; again in trying to compare what we're proposing here with almost everybody else, there is very little difference between facilities on this type of stuff. Most of all this we kept pretty much the same as what you'll find anywhere else. All the way from chairs and tables to stages, dance floors, and telephone lines. The only thing that we don't have in this that Conroe charges... Conroe also charges for every 110 receptacle. And for every 208 3-phase, they've got a bigger charge. And for every 220 outlet they've got a charge. This means that what they do is they rent the space and they rent all the equipment that goes in...every table and chair ...which we're doing too. But they are also charging for every electrical outlet when they have somebody come in there. That would more or less be for trade shows and things like that. So they are going to be getting a little more money, simply because... their entire building which was about 56,000 square feet and ours is comparable. We're a little bit less than that but their whole building is $3,000.00. Sims: That's who? Quarles: That's Conroe. Montgomery County. Our entire building is $2,500.00. I might mention this too; if we see after we get going and start talking... and we're already talking to potential clients...but if we see that we need to, or we get the feeling from working with people that we feel like we need to make some little adjustments as we get into that, we can always bring that back to you and... Sims: We can make adjustments up and we can make adjustments down. Quarles: Exactly. And that's what we're going to have to do. We're really shooting in the dark here so what we've done is try to do our homework and try to do our research and we've come up with what we think is equitable and is a good fee schedule but we may find that we may need to go up or down a little bit. That's kind of an on-going thing in the process of all this. Sims: Certainly, I would think that we would hopefully be a little under comparable. Quarles: Right. Vol 6-O Page Ie4 7 Sims: Because, we're the new guy on the block. You made a good point that everything we have is going to be new out there but we still have to draw them in. Let them find out what they're getting, number one... Quarles: Right. Sims: ...number two; I think most people know the location as Bryan/College Station, Brazos County. Quarles: Right. Sims: But let them know, `Hey come in,' and if they have a good experience that first time they come in then we'll have a client from now on. Quarles: Right. I agree and there is really no substitution for them having a good experience when they come in because number one; yes, they are going to want to come back and secondly, having had... Sims: Word spreads, doesn't it. Quarles: Oh yeah, having a happy customer, they're going to go out and tell everyone else and I guarantee you that the business we're dealing in here, word spreads in a heart beat, just like wildfire. So we want to...and that's one of the reason why I want to be real, real careful that we don't sell this building before it's ready to be sold. Sims: Right. Quarles: Right now, I don't want to get too far off on that, but right now, we're looking at June Is`, June 13th is kind of what you read there and I've talked to three different groups. Right now, we've talked to a group or two about the exhibit hall but potentially we've got three different types of events for the outside buildings that would start about the middle of July. They are going to go one right after another. It's going to be bang, bang, bang. The first one would be a horse show and it would be a pretty good size horse show and then the second one would be the Lion's Club Rodeo one week later. And then one week later after that I've talked to A&M Saddle & Sirloin Club about having their jackpot heifer, steer, and pig show there; which is going to be a pretty big event. So we're going to have three different events right in a row from day one that we open. They are going to be one week right after another so it's going to be a challenge. Once the facility is built and we take control of it, then we've got to get all of our equipment in there and there's going to be a lot of it; yall know that. And we've got to get it all put away, set up, or whatever needs to be done. Vol 8(o Page I (a~ And if we've got staff that has to be finalized and we've got to get some training done. So there's going to be-just like there is on any new business or facility, there is going to be some bugs that we're going to have to work out. Of course, the staff is going learn through the first few events and just like anything else, I'm sure we're going to be better after we've been operating for a little while than we probably are right at the beginning even though I fully expect for us to do a good job in the beginning. Most of us that are going to be out there managing that, we're going to have to live out there pretty much. To make sure that we've got everything organized, we've got everything done that we can possibly get done. We have to be ready and tend to all the details that need to be taken care of. And in this business, details and organization is the key to the whole thing. Sims: I was talking to a lady yesterday that is in the horse business... well her primary business is she is a mortgage specialist at State Bank, the new bank that's here. She was talking about that she had talked to Nora because she is a horse person. Matter of fact, she was going to ride yesterday when she came by the house. She's really excited about that facility out there and what Nora had talked to her about and so, as you say, word spreads. Quarles: Right. Sims: She said, "We're ready." Quarles: Yeah. Sims: "We can bring some State horse shows in here that will really benefit the economy of Brazos County. Quarles: Right. Sims: The hotel space, restaurants, gasoline, you name it. Quarles: Sure, restaurants, gas, all of it. Grocery stores. I think we're going to have some RV hook ups out there. Plus people coming into town, a lot of them are going to bring their little coolers, especially for the events that we have in the covered arena and the stall barn. They are going to bring their little coolers and do their picnic deals. I think it's going to have a tremendous economic impact on the Brazos Valley, particularly in Brazos County. It will and again going back to that ...we need to do a really good job with it and they need to have a good experience when they're out there. I made this comment in visiting with some of yall but people, locally, are one thing; we need to really do a good job for those local people. The people that we're going, our potential clients Vol F& Page 113 & 9 statewide, have lots of choices out there. They can go anywhere they want to go. Money is certainly a criteria ...of what they are going to have to spend. Location is certainly a criteria, but I'm going to tell you the big factors that really separate certain venues from other is number one; cleanliness and the other is customer service. So those are the two areas, particularly in this kind of business. Cleanliness and customer service are real, real important and those tend to be the things that when it's all said and done it really ...if the money is all close to the same and the location doesn't make a lot of difference and they have choices in the area, the region, in the State, those two things are the things that are real tie-breakers. Those are the things that we've got to do a good job of and those are staff related things. So that's the main thing we're going to have to do and hopefully putting together a staff and training and working with the staff is to really drive home the fact that we've really got to do a good job on customer service. Make people feel like that we are really glad that they are there and that we appreciate them being there. And we've got to really work hard to make sure that they have a good experience. Sims: I think one of the big issues that we have started to address some ten years ago, to be honest with you, and it impacts a lot of things we do here in Brazos County is transportation issues. Quarles: Uh-huh. (positive) Sims: Number one; as they continue to work on widening these highways in and out, certainly we don't have an interstate but at least we've got four-lane ...a lot of it is divided, some of it is not, it's still four-lane. As we get to where we can hit 45 and hit 35 on four-lanes, it sure makes it a lot easier. Think about this, our geographical location means a lot. Quarles: Sure. Sims: Think about somebody that lives in Nacogdoches and they're group wants to have a horse show in Abilene. That's a long way out there. Quarles: It is. Of course, fuel is going down some now but it won't stay down and as fuel gets higher and higher and peoples time becomes... time is another thing that is becoming so precious to people. Their time is valuable and then the cost of them going, staying in hotels, rates have gone up and fuel has gone up, and everything it takes to make a trip has gone up. I think us being here in Central Texas and number one; being in Bryan/College Station and also Texas A&M here, we're a magnet. I mean as far as geographic location goes, we've got that advantage and over time I think it's really going to pay off and make a big difference. Vol s( Page IF7 10 Mallard: I think you're right on track as far as the dollars of renting the facility; you know you have to be competitive. But I think what they really come for is the experience. Especially people that bring them here, they want to know that they're not going to have to be sitting in your office trying to get this and trying to get that and try to have that. Quarles: Exactly. Mallard: So is there a way... I know you mentioned temporary help that there are services out there that you can hire and they come in there and they have their own management and they kind of know what to do. I mean perhaps, do we need to look at...not necessarily that but to make sure we can bring in temporary people for these big events? Like I said, if they do nothing but keep everything clean and pristine while the event is going on... Quarles: Right. Probably our expenses, to begin with, in terms of temporary labor are probably going to be a little higher. Once we get through the first few events so we can see...because what we want to do to begin with like we talked about ...we want to err on the side of maybe having a few more people than what we think we're going to need out there because we don't know. So if we err a little bit, I think it's important that we err on the side of maybe having a little more help to begin with than what we think we might need. What we may find is, we may be really glad when it's all said and done that we had that much help out there. What I'm hoping that we'll find is that I find myself out there where it is even bigger than I thought it was going to be and we don't have enough. That's all in the planning and I hope what I have in the budget... again, we've started a new business and we didn't have anything to compare it to, at all. What we've had to do is just, really, do a lot of brainstorming and talk to a lot of different people and we just had to come up with a budget for what we felt like that we would need. Yall supported that and I really appreciate it. I just hope that I had enough in there to do the job. Vol I guess if we find that... and I think we will because, to begin with, I'm talking about having three major shows right off the bat. But a lot of these events, a lot of these trade shows book three, four, five years in advance. So, there are going to be some that we're not going to have an opportunity to get for a while. That doesn't mean that we are not going to make contact. We're going to make sure that we do a good job of marketing and they know we're here and what we've got we're going to lock them. And we're going to try to get a lot of those. My point is that, naturally, we're going to be busier the second year that what I think we are the first year. And, hopefully, we've got enough to do what we need to do in terms of personnel to take care of the events we have at least for k page A I1 the first six month that we're going to be open. Then we go into another budget year and if we see that we really need more than what we've got down there then I can come to you and we can discuss that. Sims: I wonder, were you talking about outsourcing some of this? Quarles: Yes. Mallard: Possibly for a larger event if it's somebody, I mean if you just need a lot of bodies to do one certain thing... Quarles: Experienced people. Mallard: ...experienced people, then you could do that. Quarles: Yeah, and I talked about that when I interviewed with yall that's always a possibility. There are two different way; you can outsource cleaning, you can outsource food and beverage, and you can outsource even personnel. And there are some temporary labor companies, locally, they don't necessarily specialize in cleaning, they just furnish labor for anything that you need them... Sims: You direct them. Quarles: Yeah. Mallard: But they may not be trained to do that on a regular basis... Quarles: No, they aren't. Mallard: ...they're just putting bodies out there. Quarles: There's always the possibility, I mean there is a possibility that, I mean I know the people in that business and most of those companies are located in the large metropolitan areas. Whether or not I can get them, I can make that contact because I've got the phone numbers and names ...most of them I know. I can make that contact. If it looks to me like we've got some maybe really big events and we may have two of them going on at the same time out there, it may be necessary. So I can them. If I do it won't be a last minute call... Sims: Early on. Quarles: ...yeah, a couple of months in advance when I see what we've booked and talk with them and talk to them about the possibility of doing that and what kind of Vol I SG Page log 12 cost would be involved in it. They are going to have to shuttle the people up here. And there are some cleaning companies here locally. I am not as familiar with them but it won't take that long to find out who they are and to talk to them. But they are not going to be familiar with cleaning an event which is a whole different deal than cleaning an office building. Mallard: Right. That's janitorial as opposed to... Quarles: Exactly. Exactly. Outsourcing events ...there are companies there... there's a big one that we used in Houston that's called CSC, Contemporary Services Corporation. They are the ones that furnish t-shirt, security, ticket sellers, ticket takers, ushers, and those kinds of things. But most of the events that we would have that would be ticketed type events usually ...in a facility like ours, most of the time the event promoter is going to provide their own ticket sellers and ticket takers. So it's probably not something we going to have to deal with. But if I have somebody come and request that and it makes a difference on whether we sell it or not then we would have to make sure that make the contact and that we've got somebody lined up so that we can do that. And there would be some training involved and you do want to use a company that specializes... Sims: And they would know that there would be an additional expense if we had to hire somebody. Quarles: Exactly, you'd pass that along to them. They'd have to pay that. And probably there'd be a mark-up on that too. It just depends on who it is and what kind of an event it was and so forth. But usually when you go out, administratively, and you have to arrange for the outsource and to get another company in...usually there would be some kind of mark-up on that to cover the administrative expense. Mallard: Mother always said you only had one chance to make a first impression. Quarles: That's exactly right. It better be good, then. Real quick, page two, these are policies and I don't know if we want to sit here and try to read these to yall and most of it is pretty standard. Alcohol policy; we don't right now if we're gonna have a complex concessionaire out there. I would love to have one. We're a secondary market, though. I've been talking to them, I talked to them and I went to IAAM in San Antonio, all of them that had booth there and that was pretty much everybody that was in the business. I've got two that I've been talking to on a more serious basis. One of them is Game Time Food and Beverage. They have several facilities in Texas, they're headquartered in Chicago but they have some airports, they have some event venues kind of like ours down in the valley, they have several different locations in Texas. With us Vol 94 - Page 1 '10 13 just in here talking, I don't think I'm going to be able to swing a deal with them. Anybody that comes in here is, number one; they're in the same boat. They have nothing to go by. Mallard: Need a track record to know. Quarles: No track record. They have nothing to go by. They're wanting to know, "Well, how many events?" Well first of all is, "How many events did you have last year?" "We didn't have any." "How many events do you project that you're going to have this year?" Well, I can sit there and tell them something but, no, I don't want to be dishonest with them. I think the worst thing you can do in any relationship like this is to tell them something that's not likely to be. Because, whatever, if you're going to have a business relationship with anybody like that, it needs to be good for you and good for them too. I mean, they've got to make money; however, they are not going to be here long if we're going to be back to square one again. I just don't want to get into that kind of deal. So I can talk to them about what I'm expecting and about the demographics here and they're smart enough, they're going to pull all the demographics in. Talk to them about Bryan/College Station, Brazos Valley, and talk to them about Texas A&M and what we think the future is going to be and it's going to continue to grow and it's going to be better. What I tell them is; "You need to get in on the ground floor of this and get here and it may not be all that profitable to begin. But down the road I think it will pay you dividends for you." And I really believe that. That one company has gotten to the point where if we were willing to do a management fee type situation with them ...and that's where they come in and set everything up and they set everything up and help hire the people, they train them, they serve kind of a regional manager but the people really work for us and the accounting is done through us. We can make some money, more money doing that if we did it that way but I don't think ...we have enough to do as it is starting this facility that I really don't want to go down that road unless it's just absolutely necessary. Because not only is it a lot more work when we have plenty to keep us busy ...right now I'm trying to open this facility and do all the things that need to be done to make it successful but it also puts a burden back on your staff here at the courthouse too because that's more accounting that has to be done and more purchasing and on and on and on. The other company that I think is a pretty good possibility is Swanson and they do Bell County. They've actually been bought by a company called Treat America and I've got some on-going conversations with them. I've met here with them and I think that that is still viable. I called him the other because I Vol 8& Page 01 14 hadn't heard from him in a while just to kind of find out what their thinking was and they said they were still evaluating it. Again, we're getting into a lot of stuff here, but what I would even suggest is that if we could get them here ...now anybody that comes in here has to make a pretty good investment because we don't have a commercial kitchen here and we don't really have room to carve out for a commercial kitchen ...in these concession stands, they are going to have to put in vent hoods, grills, deep-fat fryers and things in some of them. Plus they are going to have to do some lay- out stuff with them because none of that has been done on concession stands. So they are going to have to make a pretty good investment both in equipment, time, and personnel. Until we are at saturation point and we're selling as much as we can, they have a pretty good investment, sometimes they are going to have full-time people that they are paying and they may not have something going on all the time. So there's a lot of expense to that. But I think that they are viable. I think that we are going to have to look at it as long as they are willing to come in here for a while, we certainly would have to give them a fairly long term contract for them to come in here ...into an area where they really don't know for sure what they are going to have. And then they are going to make a pretty good investment. We'd have to give them a pretty good long-term contract and we are probably going to have to be willing to not take much profit ourselves to begin with. That doesn't mean that it can't be graduated up to where two or three years down the road we can get this percentage. And we can increase that percentage because it needs to be a revenue source for it. But I think we're probably expecting too much and we may not even get them at all if we try and get too much to begin with. Sims: I think what we need to do too is we need to do some good PR work with the Texas Restaurant Association local chapter here. There are some people here, Danny Morrison for one that does a lot of large ...what is it "Catering By Design." Mallard: Epicures. Sims: Epicures, excuse me. And these guys are geared up to begin with because they do large events. Quarles: Right Sims: I think we need to give them an opportunity to tell us what they can do out there and see if...not necessarily to keep it local ...but just see what needs to be done. They could give us some input as to what a concessionaire that would Vol DU Page N2 15 come down here on a regular basis or have a contract for three, four, five years would need to do catering. Of course, the type of food you have is also important. Quarles: Right. Sims: Because there's some things that you can do that will not require a lot expenditure and investment in equipment in a kitchen. With the exception of a stove, vent hood, and this type of thing. Maybe some fryers but they'll bring everything else in pre-prepared... salads and all this good stuff. I can set that up with these people that would be interested and we'll go visit one night with the restaurant association here in Brazos County. Quarles: Keep in mind that on this concessionaire, I'm talking mostly about concession stand staff. Where we have somebody that we can depend on regardless of what the event is, they are going to be out there operating those concession stands. That's what I'm talking about on that. The catering is a whole different ball game. We're probably not going to have ...even if we're able to get a permanent concessionaire out there for the concession stands; we're probably not going to be able to provide a caterer. They may be able to do some if they bring a big bar-b-que pit in or mobile kitchen or something like that, that they can put in the back. They may be able to do that but you can see in all of this that we are planning on anybody that wants to be able to bring in an outside caterer. Sims: Right. Quarles: Yall know them better than I do, it could be the one you're talking about, Buppy's or C&Js or anybody. Mallard: I'm trying to think that the Brazos Center had; I don't know, the NRA banquet may be one of the larger ones but we're talking over 600 people and they're serving steaks and stuff like that and I think they've done pretty well. Sims: I think they have too. Mallard: It was amazing to me, I said, "They're serving steaks and how are you going to get one that's not either raw or too done." Quarles: It's a challenge, that's for sure. Mallard: Yeah, but I think they did a pretty good job. Vol 9.6 Page (q~S 16 Sims: You know there's one thing that we do have a good training session out there at Kyle Field. Ever time we have a ball game out there one of these local Lion's Clubs or whatever; I see a lot of them running those concession stands. Now somebody is going to have be in charge of setting them up and making sure product is there but... Mallard: Well, there is a concessionaire over the whole stadium and then what they have done is they have gone to the non-profits and had their personnel. Evidently it works for them. But you're talking minimal food stuff, or prepared foods. Maybe hot dogs and... Quarles: Right. Mallard: ...the rest of it is just prepackaged. Quarles: Actually A&M, unless I'm mistaken, they do have Aramark in there doing that but A&M has actually taken all of that over and what they've done is... Sims: Bill Burn, the dollar man out there, he's the one that did that. Quarles: Exactly. What they have done is they have gone out and found the Lion's Club and Kiwanis, and Rotary Clubs, and 4-H, and anybody else that needs help with fund raising opportunities and they've made deals with the to come in and operate those concession stands. Make money and yet give them an opportunity to make some money too. Of course, there's a lot of management of...A&M has a person... and I don't know what size staff he's got but he is... Mallard: Whatever he needs. Quarles: ...Stadium Concessionaire Manager, and that's his job. So when you start doing it that way it can be good but there's a lot of work... Sims: The do it at basketball, they do it at baseball; they do it at football, tennis, soccer, everywhere. They got it all. Quarles: That's right. Real quick, going through this you can see that we've hit on lots of different topics; I don't know if whether yall want to go into all this or not but... Sims: I think we should have an opportunity to go through all this and read this. Quarles: Ok. That's fine. Vol vlI/ Page 9 17 Sims: And then we'll set something up unless you want to point something out right now. Quarles: I don't see anything in there that ...unless yall do? Any of you see anything in there that you have any questions...? Mallard: No, I just spent all last week doing incident command post... Sims: You did cop duty, didn't you? Mallard: No, this was actually a Commissioner doing that but they wanted to try to get more one level above police officers and fire but they were talking about that they have an incident command. You should set one up for any kind ...they're talking about concerts and large... and so I know they don't need as big a deal for that but if you have your law enforcement to get somebody in the room with you. And it doesn't have to be a big operation but that way you have all this communication where you coordinate everything and setting it up so I'm sure it ties in. And I'm sure for a large event like you said ...you have to have radios to have people have contact and activity... Quarles: You have to have it all. What we will do is have pre-event meeting for almost every event we have out there. And, of course, the large the event more people will be involved in it to make sure that we have covered all the bases and that we have all the details covered and we're organized and we've got communication set up. Pre-event meeting would be bringing in the staff, number one...lot's of times it includes the person, the event organizer or the promoter that we leased to. Bring them in if we did do that. We're going to be doing a lot of work ahead of time with them. We can bring them in, security or whoever that will have somebody... regardless of the number of security officers out there, if we need to we can bring them in. Maybe at a different time. That's really important; planning. There's no substitution for that. Mallard: Even bringing in the fire department with their ambulance... Quarles: Right. Mallard: they don't have to be on site necessarily but have them in on the meetings as far as knowing what's going on. Quarles: Right. That's right. Most of the things on page two are pretty standard. They're not much difference there. A lot of these things were done at Brazos Center, most of these things are (inaudible) done and every location or every venue that operates pretty much the same way out there. Alcohol policies, having Vol R6 - Page ( 18 animals in the building, bringing automobiles in; that's a Fire Marshall requirement there that we have in here. Cancellation information, catering, we talked about, concessions, decorations, deposits, event accessibility, first aid. If it's a large enough event there may be something that we need to do to require whoever it is to have first aid there. Have somebody qualified. You can always call 911 but if it's a large enough event to have somebody out there is an EMT or whatever, they can handle that. Freight, insurance requirements, move-in and move-out, security... we mentioned that, and signage. Page four is outside catering fee and I want to point that out to you. This is standard in the industry. Some of them actually charge more than what I've got in here. But if someone does want to have a catered event in there and they are going to bring and outside caterer in, events with food and non-alcoholic beverages, the minimum is a dollar per person that the facility gets or 10% whichever is greater. For example, if you have XYZ Company come in and they are going to cater it for $5.00, then we're going to get a dollar. Which means they are always going to pass that on to whomever the event organizer is so... Mallard: Are we doing that now at the...? Quarles: No sir, we are not. We really should be. The problem... Mallard: Should we look at that as well? I mean what's that going to do to the groups? Quarles: She wasn't able to make it because she had to staff me...we talked about that and the thing is number one; you're giving whoever the caterer is an opportunity to make money and it's standard that if they are going to make money, you need to make a little bit too. Plus when you have food and beverage out there, you have a bigger cleaning bill. You have a lot more trash, you have spills and things and so it's going to cost us more personnel and more time to clean up after they have had a catered event out there. So I think that what we are charging here... Conroe does $1.50 or 15% and we're proposing $1.00 or 10%. You'd have to look back at them but I think Bell County is in line with what we are charging here. We're also saying that if somebody want's to bring their own food and beverage in, that we will let them do that and sell a catering charge and we'll charge $ 0.50 per person. The idea that if it's an event with food and alcohol both, it goes up a little bit. Again, because once alcohol is there, it tends to be a little more (inaudible). So we did put in that minimum would be $1.50 per person or 15% whichever is greater. And if we have somebody that they are their own food and alcohol then it would be a dollar per person. I think these are reasonable. Again, starting this out here and Vol 9~ Page M (0 19 particularly since that hasn't been done at the Brazos Center; you may get some feedback on it. Mallard: Are we going to do it at the Brazos Center as well? Quarles: I think we should. Mallard: If we're doing it in one location we probably should do it at the other. Quarles: I agree. And I think we should. Changing anything like that... we're starting out new on this facility so that's one thing but changing it at the Brazos Center is going to be yalls part on discussion. But I think we should do it. I think it needs to be consistent and I think the Brazos Center should get some revenue for that. Number one; the deal that they are getting at the Brazos Center is so good anyway; not only are we not charging for a catering fee but when they rent one of the spaces out there, they are getting a certain number of tables and chairs without paying any money for it. So they've got a really good deal. And I think Sheri told me that the last time that was adjusted was in 2003. So things have gone up significantly since then and so it's time to look at that and she's working on that. I'll think we'll be bringing that to you before too long. Mallard: If we're going to do something, I'd rather do it all at one time. Quarles: All at one time. Sims: You're going to take the heat... Mallard: If you're gonna take the heat; you might as well do it one time. Cauley: Do it and be through. Peters: I think the reason Tom put this together and tried to get it read is he's got people calling him right now saying, "How much is it going to cost me to book it next July?" So he needs to be able ...if he's going to get anything done between now and July he has to have something in place to know what to charge for it. So I think that's why he's come before us to make the presentation and it's actually on the agenda tomorrow to pass this thing or fail it, or table it or whatever. As he talks to these people, he has to be able to tell them something or he's not going to be able to book anything. Quarles: I've got some on hold right now for this very reason. We've worked as fast as we could work on all this stuff but I've Texas Senior Pro Rodeo Association is on hold until I get numbers here to quote them officially. Vol S Page_IC3~1 20 Sims: The what? Quarles: Texas Senior Pro Rodeo Association. Sims: You going to have to have wheelchairs for them or anything? Quarles: The other one is Texas A&M Saddle and Sirloin club. I gave them a really close estimate with the confidence that you guys were pretty much going to support what I've got here. But I told them it wasn't official until we got it... Sims: Well, I personally can support this in looking and seeing what we've got here. But let's support it to get this thing going so that he can make contact and at least tell them what it's going to cost them. And then, if necessary, after the first of the year we'll just have to go back and take a look at it. Peters: And by then, he may have a better idea and he will have talked to a number and if everybody turns it down and says, "It's too much." Then we need to adjust it down. Sims: I don't think it's too much. Peters: I don't either. Quarles: I don't either. I would ask yall to let me have a little bit of flexibility because it just might be anything... if I can entice some really good shows and I know we can make some money on if they come in here; if I can waive something a little bit here or there or give them a little break on the second or third day or something on one of these facilities, I would hope that yall would let me have that kind of flexibility. I really need to have that kind of flexibility. Believe me, I'm not going to be giving anything away but if I can have a little flexibility so I can make an adjustment here or there to be able to get some things where it's really worth getting... that's standard too, believe me. Everybody does it that way. Peters: I was going to say, I think that goes on everywhere. Mallard: I just don't know what the rules of government are that allow us to do that. I don't disagree with it at all; I mean is that something... Sims: Let's do it like we've done it at the Brazos Center; matter of fact, I've got a little project, we've got a deal with the Go Texan committee at the moment that wants a variance on the arena out at Tabor Road. And can I just do this so he Vol ~(o Page ~Je 21 doesn't have to go to all five of us, would you come to me before you do it and let's sit down and talk about it. Quarles: Right. Sims: Ok. That's the way we're doing it now. Quarles: Now what I'm talking about is not waiving something, it's just for a little adjustment. Sims: I understand. Quarles: Thing I'm going to be faced with Judge is I'm going to be sitting where I need to make that... Mallard: It's part of the negotiations. Quarles: Yeah, it's part of the negotiations, I need to cut a deal. It's just like on the A&M Saddle and Sirloin Club, I know what they're paying in Brenham and so what I did was I gave then a little bit of a break ...and I can't even remember now what it is...to get it to where it's about ...well I'm actually still three or four hundred dollars more than what they are paying in Brenham but I think I can get them. Again, starting out from scratch here, I need to get these people out there. Sims: Well, you should know ...and I know during negotiations when you get down to that particular day you need to have the latitude to be able to do something. Quarles: Right. Sims: But if you know they are going to come back with that, please get a hold of me first so I will at least know about it. Quarles: Sure, yeah. Sims: Because then the other people that are wanting to do the same thing out there, they're going, "Well wait a minute they did a deal for the Saddle and Sirloin Club..." Quarles: Yeah, I don't want to get into that. Sims: Yeah. Vol K, Page /99 22 Quarles: Believe me, any kind of cut rate discount or waiving of fee or anything, that will be yall's decision `cause as far as I'm concerned I'd rather not go down that road myself because... Sims: If it's cut and dried, it's for anybody. Quarles: You're right, they do talk and once you do it for one...I mean the number of non-profits out there is...there's a lot of them. Sims: We got more in this community than they do in Houston. Mallard: They're all non-profit these days. Quarles: Exactly. Sims: That's true. Quarles: Anyway I'd be happy to answer any other questions if yall...I mean I'm not trying to ran through this but I've already taken up a lot of your time. Sims: Questions? Let me make a comment here and it's back to the same old deal. We have to name this sucker out there. Quarles: Uh-huh. (positive) Sims: By the way. And I like what they have here but I would almost expand it: Brazos County Exposition and Event Center. What does that sound like? Or Events Complex. Give it some thought. We don't have to do it today. I'm throwing this out because our people out there are saying, "Hey when are we going to build a sign out here?" Mallard: What if somebody wants to write us a check? I'm interested in all kinds of names. Quarles: Well, I think that's a possibility... Sims: Yeah, I think it is too. Quarles: ...we're not, we've still got work to do to get there. Sims: Well, we can go and if it's a naming possibility... Kenny Mallard, Brazos County Exposition and Events Center or complex. Vol Page zc~ 23 Mallard: All the big centers in Houston are sponsored by something. You got Minute Maid park and Reliance... Sims: I understand that. Mallard: ...and I just don't ...I don't see any of those wanting to come up here to get a name in there. But I don't know what ...is there any idea of how much money that they throw into that deal to get a naming opportunity. Quarles: I do and, of course, Houston... you can't even compare to them. You're talking about several million dollars. I know about what Waco gets for the Heart of Texas Fair Complex, they're larger than we are. But what I don't know is theirs is in six figures, it's a five year deal. I'm going to say it probably a little better than that now, it's probably a hundred thousand dollars a year for five years. So it's worth a half of a million dollars. Mallard: Is that actually the name of they are using advertising... Quarles: They kept their name and that may make ours ...it may make ours a little more valuable. They let Dodge; Dodge is their naming rights sponsor ...they let them name their pavilion. It's still the Heart of Texas Fair Complex but it's the Dodge pavilion. Mallard: Ok Quarles: In our case what we're talking about doing is naming the whole complex. But they are a lot larger than we are and I don't know if their demographics are the size of Waco; I mean how much larger Waco is than Bryan... Mallard: We may have to be open for a while before that kicks off. Quarles: Yeah. The Judge has got some interest from one company... Sims: Yeah. Quarles: ...I've talked to one or two. The one or two that I've talked to, I don't think are interested in naming rights but they are interested in sponsorships which would be permanent signage. The problem is there are just so many hours and I'm juggling lots of things... all the way from this stuff to work the concessionaires to marketing and the whole staffing and budgets and all that stuff. So there's just a limit on the amount of time that I have... Mallard: Sims, there's people out there. Vol gG Page 20) 24 Quarles: ...but I think it's a good possibility. But I think it's a good possibility. The main thing is; it's hard to compare us with someone else. I don't know scientifically how they came up with their figures in Waco. I don't whether they just kind of pulled that out of a hat and they said this is what we want and they negotiated and that's what they came up with. I've given Judge and Duane both information about ...what the people in Houston told me we really needed to do is to set a benchmark and you really need to find out what it's worth. To be able to do that you need to have a company run all the demographics and take a look at it and do...a company that's in that business so they can tell you what it's worth and what you need to give them in return. Mallard: Do you have some sort of bidding process or offer out there where you can get more people interested in that? Quarles: You just have to make contacts with people and I guess it's kind of a first come, first serve deal, there's not any way you can bid something like that out. I think it's just... Mallard: Well, why not? I mean if you're offering them an opportunity and you let everybody know about it...it's a naming opportunity, if you wish to come in with your proposal and we start from there and can negotiate. I just don't know how we can negotiate, I mean... Sims: And I think that Kenny is basically saying ...I won't say that he's basically saying ...I'll say that; you don't want to exclude anybody out here in the community that might want to be a part of a naming rights. The thing about it is that within these naming rights, every letterhead that we have that goes out from that event center out there has their name on it. Quarles: Right. All of the business cards have their name on it... Sims: Yeah. Everything. Mallard: And there may be some minor naming. Maybe you want to name the pavilion, this is so and so's pavilion... Sims: A sub-naming. Quarles: You can always do that. You can sell naming rights for the whole complex and you can sell naming rights for all three of the buildings out there and then you can even go beyond that. You can do permanent signage. Vol 8(a Page ___2 2 25 Sims: What Duane and I are looking for is the council here because they are asking us about signs out there on the whole complex. Mallard: That's what I mean and I just don't know how to go...like I said, because this only happens once when they first get started up so... Quarles: Right Mallard: ...who's in that business, I don't know. And I was trying to get someone to give us advice. In other words, if we give up the whole place... Sims: Right. Mallard: ...to one person then maybe we missed out on letting them name the whole complex or letting them name one of the building and then have each building with a name. You don't want to dilute it. Quarles: Well, you don't give that up. When you sell naming rights for the whole complex, that gives them naming rights for the complex but that doesn't prevent you from selling... letting somebody come in and name a building or something like that. It's just like in Houston, right now, with Reliant Center. Reliant has naming rights to the whole complex out there, but they've gone through and they have sold everything including bars in the stadium to different people. They have sold everything, they've piecemealed it and sold everything they can sell to let somebody put their name or something. If you sell naming rights to the whole complex that does not prevent you from selling the arena. Mallard: That's gotta be...you gotta let them know that... Quarles: It's in the agreement. Mallard: Look at A&M, every building out there has got some benefactors' name on it. Sims: One of the things that kind of scares me a little bit is how long of a contract do the have in Houston? Quarles: I'm not sure what their deal is. I mentioned Waco is five years. Sims: Yeah. Quarles: I think the standard is three to five years. Vol 9~ Page 5_ 26 Sims: But the whole complex is not named like we're talking about doing. Quarles: No. Sims: That's what I'm saying. I guess what I'm saying is that going to be confusing to people? Quarles: Yeah. Sims: Five years from now if somebody else comes in and says, "Hey, we'll give you a million dollars a year for the naming rights.", and we change the name on it. Mallard: From Minute Maid to something else. Sims: Yeah, Enron. Quarles: The thing is though, you know what happened there, Enron (inaudible) so they had to go back out and find somebody to do that. I think, professional, you're going to get into trouble once you've someone if they don't have the right of refusal when it's over with; if you start trying to sell it after five years to the high bidder ...I don't even know if that something... Sims: Well, even if they have first right of refusal; like Enron, they're gone. Quarles: You can go up. Sims: They're gone. Or you want to go up and say, "Hey, I think it's worth more than what you're paying for it the first five years." Quarles: Yeah. Sims: So I don't know, this is a sidebar. Quarles: We have an opportunity to take a look at it somewhere down the road. Sims: Ok. We do need to put something together as far as what we're going to name this. Mallard: Do we know who negotiated that deal or maybe ...who gets the benefactors to name the buildings at A&M? Of course, those are permanent names. Sims: Yeah. Vol ; F6 Page 2 O 27 Quarles: They are. But A&M has such a huge staff out there, they have people that that's all they do, The Foundation, that's all they do is go out and talk to companies and to former students on endowments and selling naming rights to buildings and the whole bit. There is a company; and I shared that with both of them a week or so ago and that's who my old college in Houston told me that we needed to contact. I've talked to him at least three times already. It's going to be called IEG and they are out of Chicago but this is the business that they are in. They offer a consulting business, a marketing business, plus they have an evaluation component and what they will do is they will charge you a fee to do this which then you're not shooting in the dark. I mean, you've got something to go. The good thing about it is that they are so successful and so well know that usually anybody that you're negotiating with; one of the first thing they're going to ask you is, "How did you come up with this figure? Why is it worth that?" And so in most cases this company is so well known you can say, "We used IEG and here's all the information." You can show it to them and usually when they hear that IEG has been the one the valued this, then that's all they want to hear. They know then that they can trust. Mallard: So in that way you don't have to worry about the bid situation `because they have put a number on it. Quarles: Yeah. They put a number on it. Mallard: Ok. Quarles: Then what you've got to go out and do is sell it. Now if you wanted to, you can also hire a company that will do everything. They will value it and they'll go out and they'll find all the people and negotiate, broker the deal and they'll put the whole deal together for you if you want to do that. That's kind of like hiring an attorney. If you go that route... you do a percentage deal so you don't come up with a lot of money up front but you're probably going to be paying 20% of whatever it is to a company like that. IEG just to do the evaluation, I still haven't gotten them to give me a figure. But if they were doing an evaluation of not just naming rights but everything we could sell out there, it's probably going to cost us $60,000.00. That's for everything. Mallard: But that could be paid out of the proceeds. Quarles: That could be. Mallard: I would hope that we could earn more than the $60,000.00. Vol 8e Page 2,C 28 Quarles: Well yes. It's an investment. Hopefully it's an investment that's going to make you more money. Sims: That's just a cost of doing business. Quarles: Yeah. It's the cost of doing business. Mallard: What I don't want to do is be in the process of having two local large business come in here and want the naming rights and that this Commissioner's Court has to vote on it because of who we like better. Quarles: Yeah. Mallard: I don't want to do that. I don't want to make one of them very mad and the other one very happy. I just want them to understand... Quarles: Is that a political statement? Mallard: Yes it was. It was a self-preservation statement. So we need to have some way where it's somewhat scientific and this person was chosen because of these reasons. Quarles: Well, I really think we need to find ...and I've told Judge and Wayne this; I gave them some information to read on this IEG company and I really think that we need to find out what it's really worth and that's the way you go about doing that. What I talked to him about since he was looking at the whole total sponsorship package, valuing the whole thing and giving us...what they would do then is not just break out what the naming rights are worth but all the different types of sponsorships. They put the whole thing together and then we would go out and sell that. But when he told me $60,000.00 or there about, I told him that maybe what we needed to do is take a step back and for him to look at just coming up with a proposal to value naming rights. Sims: Period. Quarles: To start with, period. And then we'd probably be looking at $10,000.00 to $20,000.00. Not that you're going to do that but I'm just saying that is what I have him looking at now. Once we do that and we sell that, then we can always come back next year and if we need your help and yall want to do that, we can pay them to do a whole lot bigger package for us so that we can sell a lot of different things out there. Vol Page 2 O( 29 Sims: That's probably true because I just look around this community and let's face it...John Deere needs to have advertising out there, Producer's Co-Op ...you start naming them and you can cover the whole walls out there if you get down to it with revenue. Quarles: I was surprised on Waco. Their permanent signs, their little sponsorships where the people get a permanent sign out there ...it wasn't as much as 1 thought it would be. They start out trying to get $5,000.00 a year. This is yearly, and they couldn't sell them, so they ended up getting $2,500.00 a year. Mallard: Well don't some of these larger... Quarles: It's not bad but I would have expected more than that. I would like, I mean if we... Mallard: If we look at how many days there's going to be people in there... Quarles: Well sure and that's what they look at. Now they are busy up there. The have been in existence for forever. Sims: Yeah. They have the county fair including... Quarles: They've got stuff going on out there all the time. Wassermann: Built in the `50s, I think. Quarles: Uh-huh. (positive). It was. Wassermann: I can remember. Sims: What's that? Quarles: It was built in the 50s. See what they are looking at is the number of impression. It's the number of people... Sims: Who see it. Quarles: ...who see it. Either hear it or see it, are out there, I mean all that stuff goes into that and then they make a business decision whether or not, economically, they want to pay X number of dollars for that. Vol a Page zot1 30 Mallard: Somebody said that events come ...rodeo, monster truck, whatever... they want to have an event out there and then they sell sponsorships and they want to hang that signage out there ...I don't know, is that real prevalent in doing that as well? Is that something... Quarles: They might want to do that and we're just going to have to make a decision if, number one; if we sell permanent signage out there, we can not let them cover up. Sims: Yeah. Mallard: Well, I understand that. Quarles: You can't let them cover it up; you can't let it have any impact on them. You can not let, you can't let them put a banner that's a competitor of somebody that you've sold permanent signage to. It really can get real sticky. Sims: Dicey. Quarles: It really can because that's called ambush marketing is what it's called. Mallard: Well, you're diluting their advertising dollar. Quarles: That's right, and so you have to be really... Mallard: That's what I mean; we needed some sort of regulations on that as well. Quarles: Yeah. The first one that we're going to have out there that's going to want to do that is going to be Lion's Club rodeo because yall have seen, they hang all those banners. Mallard: They sell those advertising out there. Quarles: Yeah. Mallard: Plus they sell all the beer. Quarles: Yeah. Mallard: And that's their only revenue chance. Quarles: And that is one yall are going to have to make some decisions on because if you're going to give them the deal they had before or... Vol F.& Page 0 31 Mallard: But in theory, they should sell more tickets. But I've heard that in Montgomery County, they had their rodeo out there and they built a new stadium and said "But we didn't have any extra people coming out there to the rodeo because we had a new facility to handle more people." Sims: Any increase. Mallard: They said they had 1,500 coming to the old rodeo and they had 1,500 coming to the new rodeo in the new facility. Wassermann: (inaudible) Robertson County. Mallard: I don't know. Sims: Give it some thought about the naming because we're going to have to come up with something here before long because they are kind of hammering us out there; "When are you going to give us a name?" Jim Singleton, "When are you going to give us a name? Mallard: Yeah.. Quarles: Well we have to have a name to be able to do a logo. Sims: Yeah. Quarles: We have to start, we need to put the name on all of our material. We're going to do a brochure and we need to have the name on it. The contract needs to have the name on it. That's one thing we working on right now is the contract documents and Lora is trying to finish that up and then it will go to... Chapman: Bill Ballard. Sims: Ballard, yeah. Quarles: Yeah. Go to him to make sure that we have dotted all of our Is and crossed all of our Ts and have the correct wording down so that we can be ready to sign a contract with (inaudible) we're ready to go. That's got to be done right away. Vol SG_ Page Z ~j~( 32 Mallard: Also, we have to have a naming for all of our new county buildings in the courthouse complex. Sims: I'm not worried about those at the moment; I'm worried about this one. This is mine. This is mine. Mallard: I just thought... everybody bringing up bad news, I thought I'd bring it up too. Sims: And probably what we need to do next thing is we'll set aside a naming rights for you...Kenny Mallard, re-elect Kenny Mallard. Mallard: There ya go. Yeah. Quarles: Judge, yall know Lara but I wanted to introduce her. She, starting October 3m is actually going to be, besides me, is going to be the first employee that will be on staff. Her title is going to be Marketing, Sales and Scheduling Co- coordinator. So she's going to have wearing... Sims: Sell, sell, sell. Quarles: Right. Mallard: Will that fit on a business card? Sims: Good. Good. What else? Anybody going to Addison? You are? Ok. When you going? Mallard: Sometime today. Sims: Ok. I was just wondering. Mallard: You want to go in the morning. I don't know, do I have a hotel room tonight? Lockledge: You have a hotel room tonight. Mallard: Ok. Sims: Ok. Quarles: Carey, by the way, I followed up with the lady; Ann Boney. Cauley: Uh-huh. (positive) Vol K_ Page 2-10 33 Quarles: I followed up with her. On the convention that she's talking about, I don't know ...it's iffy whether or not we have the facility to be able to accommodate her believe it or not because I think we can set that facility up for theater style ...they are talking about four or five thousand people... Cauley: Right. Quarles: ...and I think we can, our parking would be at a max but I think we can set it up theater style for that but they have a lot of break-out rooms. And so, I spent quite a bit of time talking to her on the phone and we went through all the different scenarios and she was going to talk to two or three ministers locally and see what they thought and then get back with me. So. Cauley: Yeah, I talked with her over the weekend and she said she wanted to try to do it. But really I don't see... except for A&M out there... Quarles: Reed Arena. Cauley: ...Reed Arena is probably the only place that I can think of that will accommodate her. Quarles: Uh-huh. (positive) Cauley: Next to Reed Arena. Sims: Rudder Auditorium now is shut down. Mallard: What? Sims: Asbestos. Mallard: Oh really. Sims: Shut down for about nine weeks. Mallard: Really. Quarles: The other thing we have to find out is I've never gotten a date I think... Cauley: It's July, the 20-something of July. She told me, I don't remember the date. Vol $U Page 21 ( 34 Quarles: See that Lion's Club rodeo is about that same time too so I need to talk to her again and see. Because if we had both of those things going at the same time we wouldn't have parking out there. So I've got to get those dates ...I think that would start on a Monday so they might be through. Now something has to be looked at but they may be through by the time Lion's Club rodeo starts. So, we may be able to fit them both in there. Mallard: The rodeo; probably how many people do they put out there? Quarles: They sold out two of the three days. I don't know what the seating... Mallard: That's only like a thousand... Peters: No, we're not a lot bigger than what they are out there. I think, I don't remember exactly what the seating is but we don't seat a lot more than what... Mallard: Tell them they better raise their ticket prices. Quarles: This convention that we're talking about, they're talking about four or five thousand people so it's... Mallard: That would be great. Quarles: Oh yeah. Peters: It sure would. Quarles: If we can just work ...I mean I've got to find out the date, that's the only thing we didn't talk about just because I wanted to give her all the details. So... Sims: All right. Anything else? I will adjourn this workshop of the Commissioner's Court. Thank yall for coming. And let me hear your ideas on naming. Mallard: I thought we were going to... Sims: I'm not talking about the naming rights... End of tape. Vol 36 Page 2 1 2 35 of 35 The foregoing minutes of the Commissioners Court Workshop held September 18th , 2006 , have been examined and approved in open Court this the ✓JI day of 20(x, in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Randy Count L yd Wassermann Commissioner, Precinct No. 1 c Duane Peters Kenny Ma and Commissioner, Commissioner, Precinct No. 2 Precinct No. 3 C r~ ey C uley, Jr. Commiss oner, Precinct 4 Attest: Karen McQueen County Clerk Vol 06 Page 213 BRAZOSCOUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 18 K DAY OF , 20,q AT ~ ; Do AM/VW Name Organization 8r4ZOr dLen-&s Aw VOL 8( Afn 21 y