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Arena panel breaks the ice Oversight committee holds first meeting Staff Writer While Minnesota Hockey Camp skaters pushed through drills on the ice below, members of the newly formed arena oversight committee held their first meeting in an upstairs conference room Monday at the Brainerd Area Civic Center.
The meeting lasted less than an hour but covered everything from an introduction to committee members to who cleans the trophies in the civic center entry way.
In between, committee members briefly discussed arena finances and improvements to save money, improve the look of the facility and accessibility.
"I think everybody knows how we got to this point, so I think the main purpose of committee if first and foremost to improve communication between all of us," said Brainerd City Council and arena oversight committee member Mark O'Day.
"There's been a lot of complaints on the facility and how it's run," O'Day continued. "What better group than the users of facility to help make it a better running operation."
The seven-member oversight committee is made up of representatives from the city council, Vacationland Figure Skating Club, dry floor events, Minnesota Hockey Camps, the Brainerd School District and the Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association.
The committee made no recommendations to the city council Monday. It toured both ice arenas to determine what improvements could be made. One immediate suggestion was making sure arena staffers kept the facility clean, from the bathrooms to the glass surrounding the ice rinks.
Brainerd Lakes Chamber Chief Executive Officer Lisa Paxton, the committee member representing dry floor events, said she hoped the committee's goal would be to identify issues at the arena as well as look at opportunities.
"It would help me understand the big picture before jumping into details," Paxton said.
The committee set its next meeting at 4:30 p.m. on July 29 at the civic center. Agenda items for that meeting could include appointing a committee chairperson and looking at city council and committee member Bob Olson's recommendations for reducing arena staff hours in order to save $72,000.
The Brainerd Area Civic Center has been discussed by the Brainerd City Council for the past several months after the city received three proposals for managing the ice arenas from BAHA, Olson and the Brainerd Parks and Recreation Board.
As a response, the council appointed the seven-member oversight committee and assigned it to oversee scheduling of arena employees, serve as a grievance hearing board, make recommendations to the council on future operation of the arenas, and give guidance to City Administrator Dan Vogt and Parks and Recreation Director Wayne Mooney on employee tasks to be accomplished.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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