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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-2-21 MEETING MINUTES HERO TRAINING CENTER 2/21/2023 FACILITY OPERATIONS COMMITTEE 10125 85TH STREET SOUTH COTTAGE GROVE, MINNESOTA 55016 REGULAR MEETING – 2:00 P.M. (In-person or TEAMS) MEETING MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Called to order by Committee chair Pete Koerner at 14:02 hours 2. ROLL CALL Committee members present: Clint Gridley (Woodbury), Pete Koerner (Cottage Grove), Jason Posel (Woodbury), Jennifer Levitt (Cottage Grove), Angela Gorall (Woodbury) and Brenda Malinowski (Cottage Grove) Others present: Dan Anselment (HERO Manager), Greg Rinzel (Cottage Grove) and Bri Zeterlu (HERO Admin Training Coordinator) 3. PRESENTATIONS Levitt requested an amendment to the consent agenda to include a discussion concerning Federal or State Legislation funds towards the HERO Center. Motion to approve amendment to consent agenda, Motion by Malinowski, 2nd by Gorall. Motion carried 6-0. Anselment advised that the HERO center had three internal applicants apply for the Facility Operations Specialist position and that Joe Montey from Public Works was selected for the position with a start date of Monday February 27th. Gridley inquired about the financial working for this new position such as pay scale and billing. Anselment confirmed that this is a full-time position (As approved by the board for 2023 FY) and that the person will be employed through Cottage Grove like the other positions at HERO. The position was placed into the non-represented pay plan through the Cottage Grove pay scale which was suggested by Paypoint HR who is used by the City to make sure the pay is comparable to the market for that position. 4. CONSENT AGENDA A. HERO FOC Meeting Minutes – November 15, 2022 Staff Recommendation: Approve the Meeting Minutes from November 15, 2022, regular meeting Motion to approve FOC meeting minutes for November 15, 2022, Motion by Levitt, 2nd by Gorall. Motion carried 6-0. B. HERO Financial Statements Recommendation: Receive Information Gorall inquired if there was any fund balance money left over from the previous year. Malinowski stated that the funds were back to zero and previous funds were used to cover the loss for 2022. Gridley inquired if there was any carry over and Malinowski stated no. C. 2022 HERO Center Annual Report Recommendation: Approve the 2022 HERO Annual Report Gridley asked Anselment if he would like to present the 2022 annual report to both the Cottage Grove and Woodbury city councils. Anselment advised that he would present the report if that is what the cities would like. Levitt advised that the Cottage Gove city council would prefer the annual report be sent to them for review without a presentation because they have been very busy reviewing numerous documents recently. Gridley stated that he would place the report in the “Friday Report” for the Woodbury Council to review as well instead of having Anselment present at a council meeting. D. 2022 Year-End Financial Report Recommendation: Approve and accept the 2022 year-end financial report E. 2023 Proposed FOC meeting interval change Recommendation: Approve the proposed change to the 3rd Tuesday at the end of each quarter. 5. APPROVE DISBURSEMENTS A. Approve payments from 11/11/2022 to 2/16/2023 in the amount of $71,158.49 Levitt suggested that HERO should have an Xcel energy representative come and provide energy savings options. Anselment stated that a HVAC controls group had come out to HERO to work on the HVAC system and did not solve the issue yet charged HERO $3,000.00. Anselment will be following up on this with the company. Anselment also advised that he would like for a company to come out and determine how much energy the range HVAC is consuming. Anselment informed the committee that the current energy bill for HERO is $15,000.00 per month for gas and electricity. Rinzel stated that a representative of Angie Craig’s office came to Cottage Grove recently and was asked if there were any grants or means to save energy/go green for the HERO center? Gridley asked if the HERO Center’s roof can support solar panels? If so, there may be options for leasing or bonds. Motion to approve payments in the amount of $71,158.49, Motion by Levitt, 2nd by Gorall. Motion carried 6-0. 6. REGULAR AGENDA A. 2023 Strategic Planning Session Discussion Recommendation: Discuss and establish the process for the HERO Center Strategic Planning. Anselment stated that he had been working with Gridley recently on meeting with Chad Weinstein to meet and discuss a strategic plan process and costs. Gorall then asked what the $11,000.00 in “Professional Services” account was specifically for. Anselment advised that he would have to look at the account and let her know but that those funds were already allocated for other expenses for 2023. B. Proposed Fee Schedule Rate Increase Recommendation: Discuss current fee schedule, percentage of usage and discuss possible mid- year (7/1/23) rate increase on select training spaces. Anselment advised that he wants to price the facility in a manner to remain competitive but also make sure that we are covering our expenses to operate such an expensive facility. If priced too high, the HERO center risks the chance of losing customers to competitors or pricing agencies out of using the HERO center and reverting back to training in classrooms in their City hall basements. Anselment stated that specific areas such as the gun ranges and the indoor reality-based training (RBT) area should be raised slightly to help offset our rising costs to operate and maintain these facility spaces: Increase 12-lane range to $215.00 per hour Increase 4-lane range to $105.00 per hour Increase RBT indoor/Outdoor to $250.00 per hour Anselment advised that the new rate increase would not be in effect until July 1, 2023 and that he recommended the FOC/HERO Center honor the previous rate for any users that have already booked facility space after 7/1/23 but that any new reservations after 7/1/23 be at the new rate. Anselment also advised that HERO would need to honor the contracted rates with the two federal groups as well. The FOC members agreed to this. Anselment advised that the contracts renew at 3% every year. Gridley inquired as to why at 3% when the current inflation rate is 6.5%? Anselment said when the original contracted rates were discussed it was for 5-years for the federal solicitations. Anselment advised that the Tier member contracts were negotiated at 3% from the beginning and renew each year unless cancelled by the HERO Center with appropriate notice in which the new rates could be negotiated. Gridley stated that he would like to see all of HERO’s pricing be in whole round numbers like $85 instead of $83. Anselment advised that he would update the fee schedule and round up to the next “5” or “0” place to make it easier. Gridley then stated that Washington County has a very favorable contract with HERO and no risk, and questioned if their contract rates needed to be re-evaluated. Anselment informed the FOC that Washington County currently under utilizes their current contracted hours and Anselment believes Washington County is at a fair rate given the 3% increase each year that has been captured since 2020. Gorall then asked how to make the Shooting Simulator more profitable? Anselment stated that part of the underuse issue with the Shooting Simulator is that there has been a dynamic change is Police training and departments are focusing on their basic training needs being met instead of overall training or enhancing their training needs. Anselment stated that offering agencies a free training day on the Shooting Simulator could assist in department’s understanding how useful a training tool like this is and then request it in the future to incorporate into their trainings more routinely. Gorall then asked about civilian use of the Shooting Simulator. Anselment advised that due to Rasmussen’s contract, civilians would only be allowed to use the Shooting Simulator on Sundays and we would have to pay staff to operate the machine so it may not be beneficial but that is being evaluated right now as a potential option. Posel inquired if virtual reality will replace the Shooting Simulator in the future. Anselment said yes however, the current technology is not there quite yet. Levitt asked if HERO can show department’s why the Shooting Simulator is practical for their trainings? Anselment stated that there has been discussion about having a meeting with other area trainers to discuss how each group is training their officers and how they utilize the HERO center and to share ideas of what works and what doesn’t. This would be an opportunity for an agency using the simulator to share with other departments how they incorporate that into their trainings. Anselment then asked what the new fee schedule should be for the Shooting Simulator $80.00 or $85.00? It was then decided to do $85.00 per hour. Motion to approve new fee schedule rate increase, Motion by Gorall, 2nd by Posel. Motion carried 6-0. Levitt then proposed the amended agenda consent topic of Federal or State level funds for an expansion of the HERO Center in the future. Kraus Anderson provided a proposal with updated rates for the expansion free of charge. Levitt stated that there is a possibility of receiving the funds through Federal bond or through the stated level with a 0% match. Anselment stated that Lakeville Police Department has submitted a request to create a training facility in their area which would directly affect HERO Center’s customer base. Anselment also advised that Maplewood training center has submitted a funds request to expand their facility and that Scales facility in Jordan was is in the process of updating their facility in the next several years. Levitt stated that the three expansion areas that she foresees making money for the HERO Center are: The laboratory/classroom The RBT outdoor two-story home The RBT outdoor apartment Levitt advised that she does not believe that an additional gun range would be attainable because the fund level request should be from $1 - $3 million and should focus on the above three areas to fall withing that project scope pricing. Levitt then inquired if they should try for Federal funds or State level funds for the project? Gorall asked if funds requested for the HERO expansion project would impact fund requests that have already been submitted by their cities to the State of MN? Levitt stated that she believed that these funds would not affect other fund requests. Levitt advised that the FOC should pursue Federal funds and Gridley agreed that this was the best option. Gridley then inquired if someone from the FOC could reach out to the new Public Safety Commissioner and request an updated report concerning training facilities in Minnesota to prevent additional facilities from being funded and flooding the market. Levitt agreed with this plan. Anselment advised that if too many facilities are built within a certain regional distance to another training center the ability for these centers to fund their operations will be hindered and create budget deficits to the cities funding the training centers. 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by Levitt at 15:19 hours, 2nd by Malinowski. Motion carried 6 to 0.