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Chair Carey said that he and Commissioner Foushee met with staff and Mr. Stock last <br />week and reviewed his company's credentials and they asked for additional information, which <br />was included in the abstract. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked for Chair Carey and Commissioner Foushee to share <br />their thoughts with the Board. <br />Chair Carey said that the company has a lot of experience and they can capitalize on <br />this. He said that the contract amount is for the management and the Board of County <br />Commissioners will have an opportunity to set the budget and the fees later on. He thinks they <br />should proceed with the contract and time is of the essence. <br />Commissioner Foushee agreed with Chair Carey and said that she was impressed by <br />the expertise of this group and the ability of the staff to work with the ice rinks. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked Mr. Stock about operating pools and Mr. Stock said that <br />they do not have experience with pools, but he has consulted with his friend, Scott Hammond, <br />who has lots of experience with pools. The side that what worries him more with a pool is to <br />make sure there is ultimate safety. From the programming side, he feels that they will be fine <br />with this. <br />Commissioner Gordan agreed that they need to move forward expeditiously. She said <br />that there are blanks in the contract, such as on page 16. She pointed out "the contract <br />administrator" and said that she believes this means the County. She would like a balance <br />between letting the business people manage the day-to-day operations and also letting the <br />County Commissioners handle things that need to be handled. The contract administrator could <br />be the County Manager and then there would still be things that the County Commissioners <br />approve. She is concerned about the programming and how the County Commissioners would <br />be involved in this. Also, on page 18, the operating revenue benchmark needs to be filled in. <br />Also, on page 27, the annual budget information is still needed. <br />Commissioner Gordon would like to know what the Board of Commissioners can do if <br />there is a problem with programming or fees. Her suggestion is to have the staff to fill in the <br />blanks and bring it back on a consent agenda as soon as possible. <br />Rod Visser said that their vision is the County Manager as contract administrator and the <br />staff can came to the Board of County Commissioners as often as the Board would like. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she does not want anything to do with the day-to-day <br />operations, unless there is something going against the County principles. <br />Geof Gledhill said that this contract takes the Board of County Commissioners out of the <br />day-to-day operations and the County Manager is the direct contact person between RFP and <br />Orange County in the day-to-day operations. The Board of County Commissioners will <br />constantly monitor the budgeting process for this enterprise. The general fund contributions to <br />the Sportsplex will decrease. He agreed that the blanks were critical, but the budget is not in <br />place yet. <br />John Link said that they have had this discussion and will come back with a facsimile of <br />a budget. This should be a seamless process. <br />Chair Carey agreed that there should be a seamless operation. He said that they would <br />learn a lot with this first contract that will hopefully generate some economies. He suggested <br />adapting this contract and asking staff to bring back all of the details, especially the budget, as <br />soon as possible. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he shares Commissioner Cordon's concerns and he <br />suggested that they provide preliminary approval of the agreement, which will give an <br />opportunity to look at it again. <br />Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 11 and asked if RFP pays a living wage <br />or if it would be willing to pay a living wage. Rod Visser said that they did talk about this and the <br />fact that Orange County has this policy in place. There are some exceptions such as temporary <br />