Welcome to our meeting.

The date is September 23, 2025.

The time is 6 p.m.

This is an open meeting of the Grand Island City Council.

The City of Grand Island abides by the Open Meetings Act in conducting business.

A copy of the Open Meetings Act is displayed in the back of this room as required by state law.

Please rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The clerk will now perform roll call.

Council President Sheeran.

Present.

Councilmember Selk.

Present.

Councilmember Conley.

Present.

Councilmember Nickerson.

Present.

Councilmember Brown.

Present.

Councilmember Hazie.

Present.

Councilmember Mendoza.

Present.

Councilmember O'Neill.

Present.

Councilmember Pollock.

Present.

Councilmember Lanfair will be absent.

And Mayor Steele.

Present.

Also present are Jill Grenier, the City Clerk.

Patrick Brown, the assistant city administrator and chief financial officer.

Carrie Fisk, the city attorney, and Keith Kurtz, the public works director.

A sign-up sheet was available in the lobby for individuals wishing to provide input on any of any of tonight's agenda items.

If you did not sign up to speak on an agenda item, please come forward, state your name, and the agenda topic on which you will be speaking.

Agenda item 5A.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, uh Council.

So tonight we have Tonya Brown with the Gro Grand Island here to go through the study that they had Victus advisors do for the Good Life District.

Thank you, Mr.

Brown.

Hello everyone.

Thank you for having me.

Let me just start with in the packet, the memo agenda memo that you had.

First of all, uh it was it was a really great depiction of kind of where we have been with this whole Good Life District process.

So when it talks about December 2023, Woodsonia Real Estate presented the city council with an economic impact study on the feasibility of an indoor and outdoor sports complex.

Since that date, the City of Grand Island took steps to obtain voter approval of a Good Life District economic development program.

Grow Grand Island certainly engaged at that time as an advocate of the vote.

And uh just wanted that was missing from here, so I just wanted to add that.

Uh in the mix.

And so remote presentations are just not possible.

And we wanted to go ahead and present some information tonight, so I am going to pinch hit.

I will also tell you that the information I'm sharing tonight is very fresh.

So it's only been in Gro Grand Island's possession for a very short period of time.

And I also will tell you I'm going to do a high-level overview of the information.

I am not going to dig into a lot of the data and the numbers, and especially probably the what you you might be most interested in is the proforma and the financial data.

I will not be able to do that tonight.

And once we have a final report in its entirety, we will be able to share that level of detail.

So tonight is going to be a high level overview.

That also means that when it comes to your questions about the study, is very likely that I'm not going to be able to answer them.

But Walter Franco is watching with us right now.

He will be listening to what I say.

He will be listening to what you say.

He will be making note of any questions that you have.

So I just wanted to set the expectation because that shifted on us.

And you know, we're gonna we're gonna walk through and do the best we can to get you some good information from that study tonight.

So, you know, before I dive into some of Victa's slides, um, I do want to give just a little bit more background, and this is going to go to when Grow Grand Island presented in July, and Mitch, you were asking some questions about the study, and I just wanted to hit on a few of those points before we dove into some information.

So uh Gro Grand Island did engage with Victus in July.

They began their work in the latter part of July, so it was a pretty rapid uh process to basically lay out what we wanted done, uh, go into the the contract process and to begin the study.

So they were able to begin at the tail end of July.

Uh we had asked them to review the good life district components and supporting materials, so that would be materials that you're all very familiar with as well.

Wanted them to understand the project scope.

Uh, then we also most importantly wanted them to provide some validation of the market analysis.

There were prior studies done, those were done in 2023, and we wanted some validation of that information.

A lot has changed over the course of a couple of years, and uh so having them validate that was good, and then finally the performa and financial analysis and economic and fiscal modeling.

All of that is going to be available in that final report.

So you will get to see that hopefully very soon.

I do also want to say that all stakeholders uh shared materials, studies, reports, they did that cooperatively, they did that timely, and that allowed Victus to move forward.

So, in that uh feasibility and validation analysis, there were three reports that were looked at.

Uh, two of them you're probably very familiar with or have heard of before, and that would be Canyon Research Southwest.

That was the retail sales impact analysis of 2023.

I believe that would have been part of the application process for the Good Life District.

Uh, the other one was support the sports facilities companies.

That was a financial feasibility study.

Uh, that one was very geared towards the activity and the revenue projections.

And then there's a new report or new study that got put into the mix that's actually dated 2025.

This was a study that Woodsonia facilitated, and they used a pinnacle indoor sports to conduct that uh study.

It is a multi-purpose sports complex market feasibility and validation report.

So while we were looking to validate studies, they were looking to validate studies as well.

Uh at the time we entered into our agreement, we were not aware of that particular study, but once we were made aware of it, uh it was it was willingly shared to Victus so that they could look that over as well.

Um when you hear the word pinnacle, that probably causes a little bit of confusion in your mind.

So I wanted to just let you know that Pinnacle Indoor Sports, they are an industry leader in the development of sports arenas, athletic facilities, recreational centers.

Pinnacle Indoor Sports, Norm Norm Gill, if you've heard that name before, he was a consultant for Woodsonia.

He was also a consultant for the Pinnacle Bank Sports Complex project that was planned down by Bosselman's.

So definitely a lot of expertise has been looking this project over in depth.

So maybe we can jump into some key takeaways.

What Victus had done, obviously, in order to get out of the gate on this.

Well, they had to look at our local market data.

Who is our community?

What's it made up of?

And with all of that data, they were able to then kind of point out some key takeaways and a conclusion, and that's what this slide is all about.

Market demand, there is a strong interest in a new Grand Island facility, especially for youth basketball and volleyball.

Tourism and economic impact, attracting the out-of-town visitors will be critical.

Success is dependent on well-run tournaments, adequate lodging, quality concessions, facilities that draw regional and national teams could generate significant economic impact through hotel studies and local spending.

Adequate parking, proper court layouts, sufficient space between courts are key requirements.

Strong local partnerships or public ownership are preferred to support sustainability and operational efficiency.

So the conclusion that Victus is providing here, this is the wrong slide.

No wonder it wasn't making any sense.

No, it's okay.

Okay.

Sorry, this is all new content to me as well.

Interviewees expressed strong but varied interest in a new indoor sports facility in Grand Island, highlighting the potential for youth and tournament programming while emphasizing high quality courts, ample parking, efficient operations, and strong local partnerships.

Some organizations indicated only possible use due to location or market limitations.

This is this slide here actually speaks to what was in the Pinnacle Indoor Sports Study of 2025.

They interviewed 13 potential user groups.

And those interviewees from basketball, volleyball, wrestling, table tennis, they were all interested in hosting events at the new sports facility.

Victus commentary, Victus agrees with feedback suggesting the need for additional indoor court space.

Victus also affirms that there's interest from various event organizers to host tournaments as an indoor sports center for Grand Island.

That said, the proposed facility could still face significant competition from Kearney and other facilities in Lincoln and beyond.

Ultimately, a successful facility in Grand Island would need to establish long-term relationships with event organizers and cater to a wide variety of sports to maximize programming.

I'm going to go backwards.

Yeah, this is not at the beginning.

Here it is not right.

So I apologize, wherever that thing started, that's it was like three slides in.

So I don't know what happened there.

But we are going to we're going to continue on.

Okay, market profile, because this is what's really interesting.

So forget what you just saw.

I'll get to that again in a minute.

Start here, market profile.

The city of Grand Island and the MSA stand out with younger median age.

The average spending power for entertainment and recreation is less than the national average, however.

They talk about our population for our community as well as our MSA, but let's look at the conclusion.

Based on the demographic and market characteristics of the city of Grand Island and the MSA, a potential indoor sports center would draw from a relatively young population base with modest discretionary spending power.

While long-term and projected population growth rates are below national trends, the current drive market drive time market is substantial.

The concentration of nearby residents suggests that weekday usage of a new sports and recreation facility would likely be supported by strong local demand, particularly for accessible programs, leagues, and community-based recreation that align with the area's spending capacity.

This came out, this slide this came out in the Pinnacle Indoor Sports study.

Similar statistics, obviously, regarding the Grand Island market, but the Hispanic Latino population, the study noted that Grand Island had a higher population base percentage-wise than United States.

I think we all knew that.

Victus does agree that the large Hispanic Latino population in Grand Island presents an opportunity for diverse programming at the proposed facility to maximize usage and revenue.

A key part to the Victus study were stakeholder interviews.

So they did 13 stakeholder interviews.

So they took our local market information, obviously, and then now they interviewed a numerous amount of stakeholders.

So stakeholder feedback.

Major infrastructure costs and limited contractor capacity present challenges.

Stakeholders question the pace and scale of the planned housing in the Good Life District.

Governance and partnerships.

Public ownership or strong partnerships are preferred for long-term success.

Collaboration and phase planning will be critical in moving forward.

So stakeholders express cautious interest in a new indoor sports facility in Grand Island.

Many see potential for the project, but raise concerns about infrastructure challenges, competition from nearby facilities, and the need for strong tourism and lodging options to support success.

So that's uh okay.

That's the stakeholder interviews.

So, in addition to stakeholders, they also spoke with eight user groups.

These would be potential organizations that would book.

They spoke with eight of them.

You may or may not know any of these names, but I'll give you some of them.

AEF Academy, Elkhorn Athletic Association, Envy Volleyball Club, Hoffman's Hoop Academy, Nebraska Elite Volleyball, Nebraska Volleyball Academy, Supreme Basketball, and the Volleyball Academy.

They did reach out to about 30 local and regional sports groups via telephone and email.

And here are some of that feedback, market demand.

There's a strong interest for youth basketball, volleyball, emphasize the need for high quality courts, seating, and amenities to stand out from the nearby venues.

Demand varies by organization.

Attracting out-of-town visitors critical, adequate parking.

This are these are takeaways from the Pinnacle Indoor Sports Report.

This provided interview information on 13 potential user groups.

So Victus were able to reach out to eight of them.

And then Pinnacle added a pool of 13 to it.

I believe there is some crossover, but not a lot.

So it really increased the pool of interviees.

Tournament demand, the interviewees from basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and table tennis were interested in hosting events at the facility.

Outdoor sports interviewees also expressed interest in hosting events at the expanded veterans sports complex.

Victus agrees with the feedback, suggesting the need for additional indoor court space.

Victus also affirms that there's interest from various event organizations to host tournaments.

That said, the proposed facility could still face significant competition and the Carney Sports Plex and other facilities in Lincoln and beyond to host tournaments from the same groups.

Ultimately, this is this is key.

Ultimately, a successful facility in Grand Island would need to establish a long-term relationship with event organizers and cater to a wide variety of sports to maximize the programming.

So now I'll shift over to some information regarding tourism trends.

This is just a little map and it's showing MSAs, the first grouping one and two, those are MSAs within a two to three hour drive of Grand Island.

The rest of the list is MSAs within a five to six hour drive of Grand Island.

So each of those locations it's giving its potential population, the population providing a potential audience for the sports complex.

So just an interesting side note to point out as you're looking at this particular map.

So sports tourism venue trends, quality and quantity of courts or fields.

Very important.

Victus has found that tournament organizers stress a preference for a modern venue with at least eight basketball volleyball courts, eight multi-use fields, or eight ball diamonds to host larger events.

So these events tend to attract dozens or more teams, which can equate to hundreds of room nights per event and thus spar a larger economic impact.

Another essential trend here, location to nearby hospitality amenities.

Gotta have things nearby, access to them, especially hotels, restaurants, retail.

Technology, modern sports facilities, feature technology to be used by the event organizers, participants, and families.

And then flexible programming opportunities, cheer dance competitions, pickleball, esports, other emerging sports, they need larger indoor space for events.

Flexibility to modify those floor top floor types, subdivide, help to fill the year-round activity for a sports venue.

So these are just some local takeaways based on what we already have.

So of the profiled venues that they looked at, this would be like your field house and Pinnacle Expo Center, Heartland Event Center.

None of the profile venues function as a dedicated indoor sports complex.

The field house is the only facility with courts, while the Heartland Event Center and the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center primarily serve as an event or multi-purpose spaces.

Ownership and operation, all facilities are publicly owned with operations split between the city of Grand Island and third-party managers.

This highlights a lack of private investment or management dedicated solely to indoor sports programming.

Obviously, who's contracted with handles their primary piece, but this is specifically pointing to indoor sports programming.

So key observations, a limited number of courts and the absence of a purpose-built sports complex restricts Grand Island's ability to host larger regional tournaments or accommodate sustained multi-court programming.

So existing venues are primarily designed for community use and special events rather than attracting that out-of-town tourism.

Grand Island in the conclusion here, Grand Island currently lacks a dedicated sports complex with existing facilities offering limited court capacity.

The GAP represents a significant opportunity for a purpose-built sports venue that can consolidate program, host larger tournaments, and attract regional users who currently travel elsewhere.

They did also break things down a little bit by some comparables with 2.5 hours away, so two and a half hours away, and then if you remember that map, that graphic I showed, and also five hours away.

So they looked at those facilities, all profile facilities have at least six basketball courts, convertible to volleyball courts.

All are privately owned, and only one is privately operated.

Here's the rental rates for those that are two and a half hours away.

You can see that.

But they do have a commentary here.

While an outdoor sports complex, which is the diamond and rectangular fields, can be a sports tourism driver.

It would not be maximized year-round like an indoor would.

Victus does validate the SFC and Pinnacle findings.

There is demand for an indoor sports center with multiple basketball courts, convertible to volleyball courts.

Victus identified demand for at least four and potentially up to eight basketball courts, which should be convertible.

These column-free hardwood surfaces could also be used by wrestling cheer.

Not sure what FTSL is, but and pickleball.

So I don't didn't have this, this slide was not in the deck, but it's very interesting.

I wanted to share it with you.

Sports tourism site selection factors.

The number one factor for a site selector is venue characteristics and quality and cost.

So if you're looking at your competitive edge, that's it.

And it's number one by a large margin.

Also, destination accessibility, how easy is it to get to, offerings and amenities.

Hotel rates also play a role, as do your other destination demographics.

So just as I just wanted to do a quick recap.

First of all, kind of final takeaways.

Going to these tournaments and events with her kids.

They can speak to that directly.

But there, this report did say it validates that there is regional indoor tournament demand.

For a successful indoor sports center, it is recommended that the city of Grand Island engage with a third-party operator experienced in hosting regional and national tournaments to be successful.

An expanded veterans complex also presents an opportunity to tap into the outdoor tournament market, even though we know that's a limited period of time and weather driven sometimes, but uh definitely opportunity there.

And then when you get the final report and you're able to look through some of the economic and fiscal impact data, you'll also see that both venues combined do provide a significant impact for Grand Island, a positive impact.

So I did my best to kind of cover Victus uh slides and stuff, but I do want to give you just a little it's a handful of bottom lines from Grow Grand Island's perspective, if you'll let me.

Um when we engaged in that advocacy campaign back in July of 24.

Um we definitely believed in the project.

We were we felt privileged to have the state wanting to invest in our community, and we were eager to get behind it, and that's why it was easy for us to do that campaign and go out to the community and look people in the eye and tell them this is gonna be great.

And and that's what we did in July.

We feel the same way today, so our feelings have not changed.

Um we feel this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and um we know we need to get it right, that's important.

Um, but we also need some forward momentum and maybe just a sense that things are moving in in a direction.

Uh we engaged in this study because we felt it would help move the ball forward that if we could take and and validate that what y'all have looked at for a couple of years is still valid.

Um, if we can provide additional financial and uh fiscal impact uh information that's going to help you feel good about how you go forward from there.

Um but here's another thing we also believe uh the the Nebraska legislature has already been attacking this this legislation for a couple of years, and last year's uh changes or amendments, uh and I understand why they did it.

I get it, I totally get it.

Uh last year's uh amendments did have an impact on on our project with the limits that they put.

Um but we believe that the Nebraska legislature is going to continue to do that with the because there's five projects sitting out there, and we believe that we need to find our way forward with our project sooner rather than later.

If we go into another legislative session, like we did last uh legislative session, you feel like you almost are stuck.

You can't you have to wait and see what happens, you know what I mean?

And and if there's something we can do to avoid being in that position as we go into this next session, I think it would be a fantastic thing for Grand Island.

Um, so now what?

What are where do we go from here?

Well, we will have a final report very, very soon, and um we did this study knowing that we wanted to share it with whoever's whatever stakeholders are interested in thumbing through it and looking at it.

Um, but we do need some really strong leadership right now, and um really think it has to come from the city and from the city council, and if if we're going to make this happen, uh that's what we need, and we we need it sooner sooner rather than later.

But I would so I would challenge you as a city council.

I would challenge the mayor, I would challenge uh the city administration.

Um, you know, what does that look like in the coming months?

What is our game plan between now and the end of the year, and what are the things that we can do that help move us uh to that?

Um, because your alternative is basically uh stalling and punting, and I don't think that's a very good one.

So I guess I would I would leave you with that challenge, and I would also say, you know, what more can Grow Grand Island do to help?

Because we want to help.

So like I said, I am happy to listen to your comments and take your questions.

Again, I am likely not going to be able to address any specific uh questions about the study, but like I said, Walter is online with us, and and he will be happy to respond to those uh completely, and we'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

So with that, I'm going to let you uh take the floor.

I I think we'll have some questions, but we have two more people who would like to speak.

Jay Vavacek, did you want to speak?

Yes.

Maybe well, thank you.

I was uh Jay Vavichek.

I was coming because I understood that Victus was going to be here and get down in specifics, so I'm kind of uh stepping back, and this is kind of like a just an overview of maybe some thoughts.

So I guess my opinions aren't much different than maybe a consultant's, but but I would just say that in today's world of convention and and sports facilities, I mean uh just look at what whoever or whatever this facility might be positioned to take on, but Carney has a tremendous facility, and and that's gonna be a tough facility to compete with.

And I just know firsthand from my grandkids that go ahead and each and every Sunday go to Lincoln.

There's top-notch facilities there of multi-courts, basketball and vol basketball and volleyball already.

And when you look at this report, it says they need to be strong partnerships and marketing and so forth, etc.

Well, when you get down to a facility of a hundred thousand square feet of eight different different basketball courts, I mean you're talking 25 million dollars to build, plus the uh ground as well.

And then you get down to how are you gonna make that work?

Uh and so I'm I'm somewhat guarded in saying this is maybe a lofty uh thing to achieve for, but when you look at the investments that we've already made that you've already earmarked for uh rider park improvements, uh the skate park that was just uh uh announced the other day, the investment we have in the the uh water park going forward.

I mean, we're making a lot of investments uh for youth.

So I just point out this, and I think I read it in the report, so if I'm incorrect, but I think it said that there was strong interest for aquatics for indoor swimming and so forth.

Well, and indeed we've talked about that for years and years, and that's a around the clock 12-month facility that could not only appeal to youth but appeal to an aging population.

And I sometimes wonder at this stage of my life if we're not devoting enough thoughts to how we support seniors and their activities and be vibrant, and so when I think about this going forward of an aquatic facility, doggone it, let's let's go ahead and have a maybe a mayor task force or something and get that ball going and figure out how to make that work, and maybe it's uh it would be a component on the uh Watsonia project because as I understand the Good Life District has to have some ability to draw out of state visitors, and and indeed an aquatic facility would be helpful, but that's not gonna be a slam dunk either, but I think it would be helpful for the the community here.

Kearney has a tremendous YMCA aquatic facility, Fremont as well.

Lincoln just has uh the same thing, but what we have now is probably less than shiny and probably something less than even use for full capacity here.

And of course, next door is the Grand Generation Center.

And when I said on that board, I mean it was difficult, and I think not even impossible, but we couldn't even get the city to go ahead and move snow removal on that lot.

So when you go down this whole road, uh let me just talk Ivory Tower.

What when I once again look at all the different needs that we could maybe project in our community.

And when you look at exhibition space, we do need more exhibition space on the Von Park campus.

And there's ground that the city has or could maybe accommodate this very facility, and maybe it's contrary to what you envision up north, but if you have an exhibition facility there of multi-purpose courts, basketball, volleyball, then it can be subleased to the state fair to use for its opportunity for 60 or 90 days.

And it could also complement all the different facilities is already on that site.

So when you go to all those different things, then you ultimately say, How are you gonna pay for this?

Well, you know, it's in a redevelopment area.

There could be tax increment financing if it's privately owned.

It could go ahead and also look at a clawback tax for state sales taxes that are made within I think 600 yards of that facility.

And then you get down to how you're gonna go ahead and run it, and there's lots of different partners there.

So when I think about the needs of what's proposed here, um I'm just I was just trying to surprise that Victus wasn't here to get down into the report itself, and we've got a lot of different studies over the years where it's shown this is possible, these are the pitfalls and so forth.

But indeed, uh it would be nice, um, but it would be something that would really be a task to take on.

So I hope that maybe some folks will step forward answering that.

Um, and with that, uh, just appreciate the opportunity to be here and say hello and and hear the input from Tanya as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Steele.

Gerald Poles, would you like to speak?

Gerald Pools, excuse me.

Thank you.

I I have to agree with most of the uh former mayor uh Babacek had to say I would like to point out in this study the conclusion on page uh 16.

Victus cautions, however, that there is significant competition.

And that is that is have we done a study on on the backlog, is there a of teams that want to rent out other facilities?

Are are they you know, is there really that a bigger demand for an extra facility?

So and and the other thing is that uh they interviewed what 13 stakeholder groups, and almost all of them that were involved with the city of Grand Island or in some capacity or another.

And you just really don't hear too much dissent from people that are involved in in these types of issues.

Uh me, I'm probably one of the few that will dissent.

But I really think if you're gonna talk to about stakeholders that you need to be talking to the uh man on the street uh survey uh somehow, those are the people, the stakeholders are the ones that are gonna pay for it, not the the what's that story the mice wanted to put a bell around the cat's neck.

Oh, great idea.

Well, who's gonna pay for it?

And that's that's a big issue with again with so many of the expenses that the city finds.

Uh who's gonna pay for it, and it's the stakeholders.

So thank you.

Mr.

Sheard.

Thank you.

Um couple comments and questions.

Uh first, I guess to address something that Jay asked about using Fonner Park.

Uh everything in this is directed towards the good life district, and the legislature said we can't expand to Fonner Park.

So while Funner Park is a great location, that's just not germane right now.

We can't, it's out of our hands to be able to do that if I'm correct.

That the expansion idea is gone.

So using the money from the good life, we are restricted to this area.

Uh so one of the things, Tanya, you said was that back in July of last year, which is hard to believe, over a year ago since we went to the community and said, hey, support this.

Uh one of the things that was included in that was the aquatic center.

You know a lot of the marketing materials, a lot of the conversations.

There was an aquatic center.

Did it did Victus that you know of?

I know I was interviewed for this, and I don't know how much we talked about it, but did they do a feasibility on using the aquatic center as a draw for competitions in the region?

Um it wasn't uh specifically part of uh what they were looking at, they were looking at the sports complex and it in and of itself.

Um when the final report comes out, you'll see some references, I'm sure, to it.

But um it's my understanding that between Woodsonia and the city, there is common uh a common path or a way to make that happen.

And I can't speak to that, but it's my understanding that Woodsonia has offered up a way to make that happen, and the city has looked at that way to make that happen.

And when it gets we haven't seen their plan yet, so I guess I don't know.

But I know that that was to be dangerous, Jack.

And so all I'll say is that the Aquatic Center certainly in the discussion as far as I know.

Well, it's certainly in the discussion, I think, from conversations we've had here at council about it being very important and almost uh non-negotiable, I would say.

Um speaking to some of what Jay talked about, I do think with some of the concerns that are raised in this it would give us that advantage that maybe um it is year-round and it would be something I I kind of wish they would have looked at that as part of the study to see could we but could we be a regional draw for competitions and in the aquatics?

Um, when we talked, they said that they would make suggestions.

They wouldn't just say this plan that we've seen, sorry, um I'll try to speak louder.

Uh that this plan that they've seen isn't the end all be all, but they're looking at what is actually good for Grand Island.

And they said, you know, that that might mean it should be a pickable facility, and it would be nothing but pickleball because that's what would give us an advantage.

I didn't see anything in here that said what would work.

They just kind of addressed here some of what has been talked about.

Uh do you know in that final study is it gonna showcase suggestions for what would be successful in Grand Island?

Um I've seen a rough draft of that report briefly.

Um so I can't tell you 100%, but I know Walter is listening, and he will definitely get back with you.

Walter, we're we're counting on you, buddy.

Walter.

Um what was that?

That was me.

Icause I I think that would be important to know.

I know with competition in Kearney that wasn't necessarily clear when the Good Life District first came to be, and potential competition in Grand Island with another complex.

Uh it does worry me that we don't have, you know, that we have something that is gonna be popular enough and a destination enough.

And I guess I you know, I think Jerry pointed out there is some things in the study that give pause that give me a little worry that don't paint the full picture.

And I I hope that we get to see a full picture that says this is the right idea.

Um, especially as you said, when we see some of the financial data.

Yeah, and I do know there's gonna be some pro forma data in that final report that will be based on what would be um projected or perceived activities going on there.

So that's all I have, and I know we have more people that want to talk.

Mr.

Hawsey.

Thank you, Mayor, and and thank you, Tanya, for presenting uh tonight under the circumstances.

So I do appreciate that.

Um the good life district is a 30-year plan.

And so there's a 30-year clock running on the the good life district.

This is now the third financial slash feasibility study that we've done.

Uh we went to the voters 14 months ago, uh, and and overwhelmingly the voters approved moving forward.

I think there's going to be a lot of things that need to be answered moving forward.

For example, who is going to manage it?

You know, I think we do need outside management to come in and somebody who specializes in managing indoor and outdoor facilities.

Uh I think it's a skill all among its own, kind of like when we brought in venue works to do the Heartland Event Center.

That's going to be needed.

So I think there's a lot of things the council is going to have to address over the next coming term.

Um, but I think for all the time that has passed, it's time we have an application from Woodsonia that we haven't seen or voted on at this point.

Uh we do need to move forward.

And I think some of these decisions aren't stop, drop, you know, it's a matter we need to look at all these things as they come through.

We want to see Victus's uh financial information as well.

Um we've already seen other financial information, but the clock has rolled two more years, and so you can keep studying it for the next two years, and you'll have to do another study again.

You know, the bond council required a newer study.

And so it's it's a matter of at some point in this process in this 30 years, we're gonna be dealing with this all the time.

Future councils are gonna have to deal with it.

We need to get it in front of us, move forward because it's gonna take a while to build.

You know, and we need to include all those things we want to include.

But we don't have one decision point.

We've got a hundred decision points in front of us moving forward.

So I just think it's time for us to move forward.

I want to see the plan uh from Woodsonia.

I want to see their financial Victor's uh financial report.

I want to see it all.

But I don't want to stop for any of it.

Uh we've already stopped for a long time.

We mentioned the political risk.

Well, because we stopped before the last legislative session, we stopped and waited, and and yeah, we got a little bit of a shave.

Um but we still got a great project.

We got a lot of momentum in Grand Island.

I don't want to stop the momentum based on when the next study is gonna get done because by the time this one gets done, it's already outdated.

You know, things change.

I think it's time to you know continue to move this program forward, continue to start moving dirt.

We need to start doing things.

Maybe we don't do everything, but I think it like Mayor Baverchak had said, I I think this aquatic thing is is kind of cooked into the process already.

Um I don't think it's gonna be any big draw.

I I think it's gonna be uh a challenge.

One of the parks director Todd has to deal with, you know, moving forward.

It's not going to attract people from multiple states, you know.

Um, but it's gonna be a wonderful facility for a community that really needs it, you know.

And so I think it would be a big boost for a lot of reasons.

Um, and we do need to look at the finances.

We do need to make sure that's sustainable and affordable.

Um but we're not gonna make all those decisions before we've even moved you know a spoonful of dirt, you know.

And so I I'm I'm grateful for the process, but I think at this time we need to move forward and move with some sense of urgency.

Um construction costs aren't getting any cheaper.

You know, I just want to continue to move forward.

Uh we may say no to something down the road, but I tonight I appreciate the presentation, and I'm looking forward to continuing this process, Mr.

Still.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, Tanya, I'd like to thank you for your good work that your organization's done.

I too am a supporter of the aquatic center part of it.

Um the other thing I I would like it to be like a small Bob Devani Coliseum where we can have a lot of basketball tournaments, we can have wrestling meets there, uh, statewide wrestling, uh, gymnastics, and those events that are held throughout the state.

Uh I think it's uh really a good it could be really be a good draw statewide if we'd start bringing some of the events that are held in Lincoln and Omaha to the tri-city area.

Uh I think it'll give us a good competitive advantage.

Thank you.

Mr.

Nickerson.

Just a few things for the study next time we meet.

Uh I'm gonna just echo what everybody else has said.

The aquatics thing was missing in all of this, and and I I think it will bring competition.

It's not gonna be as big as some of the other things, but it is important.

It's important to the community, it's important to this council as of right now.

The pickleball will be an issue.

I know that I saw the word up there a couple of times, but not as big as basketball, volleyball.

I even saw table tennis.

I'm not even sure who's doing that.

I used to play ping pong, but not at the level these people probably do.

Uh the question that that I'd like more information on is we talked about adequate lodging, and I don't know if that means that it talked in the narrative a little bit.

Does that mean at the complex or overall?

Because I'd kind of like to understand that.

I think the bottom line is, Keith, I don't know if you know this magic number, but I can't imagine that we're more than five miles from one point of Grand Island to the farthest point on the other way.

I don't know.

I'm kind of thinking we're like five miles, and it's not that far from our all of our lodging.

It's not that far, especially if you can hit 281 and be right where you need to go pretty quickly.

So I I don't know the lodging part.

The MSA focus is kind of interesting.

I'm not sure why there's so much focus on the MSA.

I'd like to understand that better because teams come from everywhere.

They don't necessarily come from an MSA when you're competing.

And then as we look down the road here in internal conversations on whatever the final product will be as we get there, I don't think it's a bad thing to have some dedicated courts for some of these specific sports and not necessarily all multi-purpose.

I think we just have to understand the space it takes.

Aquatics, definitely important, and then but the other things I'd like to have those elaborated on.

Thanks.

Mr.

Paula, thank you, Mayor.

I don't intend on speaking for the whole council.

I just know that an aquatic center is either a make it or break it.

I the first time we conventioned this and talked about it.

I said, if there's not going to be an aquatic center, you won't have my vote.

It's it's that plain and simple.

We've kicked this can around longer than I've been here, I think, Chuck.

Uh so we need to look at this.

We can have swim meets, all kinds of things with an aquatic center.

And we can also have it incorporated in with the basketball courts, pickleball courts, all of that stuff.

And yes, is it gonna be expensive?

You bet it is.

It's not gonna be cheap.

It just depends on what you want to do.

And if we need to go bigger, we need to find where we're gonna get some income.

And that's plain and simple.

But with no aquatic center, I think you might as well write this off.

Thank you, folks.

Mr.

O'Neill.

Like to kind of second what uh uh Mr.

Pollock is saying as well.

For me, the the aquatic center is critically important.

It was needed decades ago in Grand Island, and I don't want just kind of a partial plan or idea or a thought for it.

We need a complete plan for what that will be and how it'll work.

Um really want to hear more about that.

Um and to me it's non-starter without having a finished and quality aquatic center.

Um the other key thing is really how do you differentiate from other uh facilities in other communities.

Um I've traveled around a lot of these events over the years.

I've seen what a lot of facilities have to offer.

I do think a lot of it is about quality and uh some of the amenities there.

Um there's there is pretty pretty big discrepancies in some of these, and I think that's what people attracts people that want to be at the nicer ones that are more comfortable to be at and have a little more to offer than something that's a little bit more primitive with uh less infrastructure, but it's my two cents, but thank you.

I've heard uh victus talk about how um the experience, like let's say you attract an event for one year and someone the the audience shows up to the event, that whole experience that they have is essential to the sustainability of that event going forward.

So it's not just the facility, it's not just the amenities.

There's like an experience there that has to be felt, and that's key to being successful.

Exactly.

That's what they remember why they want to come back.

So yeah, that's what you're talking about.

Yep, the main thing is don't just get them one year, make them want to come back every year.

So thank you.

Thank you, Mrs.

Brown, for your presentation.

We'll start our regular meeting in about three minutes.