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July 28, 2003 Page 216 ownership and operation of the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro with the proposed Concord convention center to be owned by the City with Mr. Hammons to pay one-half the cost, operate the facility and keep the revenues it produces; (3) No reference in documents that Mr. Hammons will "eat" any losses as reported by the local media; (4) Responsibility for making the debt payment if there is not enough motel/hotel tax generated to cover the cost; (5) Need to know contents of Business Agreement before committing to the project; (6) Lease payment by Mr. Hammons (i.e., fixed amount or based on net or gross revenue); (7) Space for the CVB; and (8) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) prohibits the disclosure of any "material aspect of the terms and conditions" of the MOU and Business Agreement during negotiation of the Business Agreement. There was discussion regarding the proposed convention center and the adjacent Embassy Suites hotel to be built by John Q. Hammons. Issues addressed included the following: (1) Economic impact (i.e., new jobs, additional visitors to county, etc.); (2) Joint marketing of the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center and the convention center; (3) Payment of the occupancy tax by visitors to Cabarrus County; (4) Projected occupancy rate of the Embassy Suites and projected revenue from that hotel; (5) Funding of the convention center; and (6) Financial liability issues if the occupancy tax does not cover the City's share of the convention center debt. Also, during the discussion, Mr. Hiatt responded to a number of the issues raised by Commissioner Privette. Chairman Freeman made the following motion that was seconded by Commissioner Privette: I move that the County Manager and the County Attorney work with the Concord City Manager and Concord city Attorney to draft an interlocal agreement that includes the following elements: 1) Seek changes to the legislation enabling the Tourism Authority to specify the manner in which the proceeds from the occupancy tax are spent, namely that a portion will go toward convention center debt, toward the Arena and Events Center operation costs and toward the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) operation costs. 2) Seek changes to the Tourism Authority legislation modifying the manner of appointment a§ described by Commissioner Carruth. 3) The Authority would have oversight of the Arena and Events Center and the CVB. The Authority would also serve as a landlord for the convention center as described in Item 4 of the City's position paper. The draft agreement should be brought before this Board for its consideration at its next meeting. Commissioner Carpenter made a substitute motion that was seconded by Commissioner Carruth to bring the issue back to the Board on August 4 rather than waiting three weeks and to discuss any concerns regarding the proposed interlocal agreement at this time. She also proposed that the Board vote on the increase in the occupancy tax at this time with the extra one percent to go to the Arena if an agreement cannot be reached with Concord. The motion was withdrawn after discussion. The Board voted to approve the motion (set forth above) by Chairman Freeman and seconded by Commissioner Privette with Chairman Freeman, Vice Chairman Suggs and Commissioners Privette and Carruth voting for and Commissioner Carpenter voting against. Commissioner Carpenter asked for a meeting prior to August 18. After discussion, a joint meeting was scheduled on August 11th. A draft of the interlocal agreement is to be prepared by the County Manager and City Manager by August 4, reviewed by legal counsel and forwarded to the Board and Council members prior to the August 11tn meeting. UPO~ MOTION of Commissioner Carruth, seconded by Commissioner Carpenter and unanimously carried, the Board agreed to meet with the Concord City Council on August 11, 2003, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed convention center. The Concord City Council left the meeting at 8:15 p.m. chairman Freeman recessed the Board meeting for a short period of time.