“I don’t know where this ends”: Alachua County Commission approves over $650k for World Masters event after lengthy discussion

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the July 9 Alachua County Commission meeting, the board voted, after a lengthy discussion, to allocate $645k to capital improvements at West End for the World Masters Athletic (WMA) Championships event and also approved $6,864 to send two County employees to this year’s event in Sweden.

Budgets for the event and the County’s contributions

County Manager Michele Lieberman said a representative from the Local Organizing Committee for the WMA event had provided budgets for the overall event, for the $350k already allocated by the County Commission, and for $645k that had not yet been allocated but had been previously set aside by the Commission for the event (a million dollars from the Tourist Development Tax was set aside by the Commission about a year ago for the event; the remaining $5k was previously allocated for the administrative fee to the Sports Commission).

Lieberman said the $645k would have to be used for the items in the list and that everything in the budget outside the $645k would be paid by the company that operates the Event Center. She added that if the trip to Sweden is approved (also out of tourism development funds), she and Jessica Hurov will be attending this year’s competition, along with members of the Local Organizing Committee, to staff a table and market the 2025 Gainesville games; Lieberman said she would take the first week of the games, and Hurov would take the second week.

Who will be responsible for the loss?

Commissioner Ken Cornell asked who would be responsible for the loss that is currently shown on the event budget, and Svein Dyrkolbotn of Viking Companies said they were “very disappointed” by the Governor’s veto of $2.5 million that the legislature had allocated to the event. Dyrkolbotn said, “Once we… didn’t get the state dollars, being committed to my partnership with the County,… this would be our contribution through the Operations Agreement we have with you all for the Event Center; we believe it will pay dividends long-term because most of the loss that you see there – if you look at the capital improvements that are occurring near the Event Center and Celebration Pointe itself, it’s an investment, but we want multiple events in the future.”

Cornell again asked why Dyrkolbotn would take on an event that is projected to lose $600k, and Dyrkolbotn repeated that he considered the capital improvements as an investment toward future events.

Is a throwing area needed?

Cornell also questioned the throwing area that will be built for javelin, hammer, and discus events at West End because he believed the community prefers pickleball courts, a pool, and a driving range, and he was concerned that the throwing area would be in the way of some of those potential future improvements: “I don’t see the benefit of those events.”

Dyrkolbotn responded that those are requirements to host the WMA event, “so I do think that if we went back and tried to drop those events, that probably would be an issue with WMA.”

Lieberman emphasized that the Tourist Development Tax funds have to be spent to draw tourists to the site, so the park improvements preferred by Cornell will come from other funds in the future.

Economic impact estimated at $18 million

Dylkolbotn said the economic impact of the event to the community is estimated at $18 million, and his company hopes to attract other major track and field events to the area if this event is successful: “So in a sense, if we turn down the WMA today and decide not to invite them into our community, I think that’s going to have a little bit – well, likely have a pretty negative effect on the potential to bring in future events in here. It works against the goal that we set when we developed this Event Center.”

Cornell: “[The state] pulled the commitment, and we’re making up the difference. And I’m not in favor of that.”

Cornell responded, “Yeah, and I hear you loud and clear, Svein, I don’t view us as being responsible for that. I view the state of Florida pulling their $2.5 million commitment as being responsible for that, because what I’m seeing is they pulled the commitment, and we’re making up the difference. And I’m not in favor of that. I was in favor of the million dollars when the Governor and the legislature were going to give us two and a half million… I feel like if we actually show the community that we’re going to spend $650,000 for javelin, hammer, and discus in an area where they’re going to want the exact opposite of that, that we’re not really serving the public… I’m not willing to support it at this point. In fact, I don’t want to support it. I want to put that million dollars back into the tourist development reserves.”

Alford: “This is why we built the Event Center – to have events. This is a big event. This is the event that puts it on the map.”

Chair Mary Alford disagreed, saying it would have been great if the state had given the money, but she hadn’t counted on it: “This is why we built the Event Center – to have events. This is a big event. This is the event that puts it on the map. This is the event that goes on… ESPN, that other people look at and go, ‘Let’s go to Gainesville.'”

Hurov said the proposed cross country track at West End will enable the County to host cross country meets and 5k fundraising events. She said she believed it would be a “win for all involved. I do have confidence that when we look at the totality of track opportunities, we have fall cross country, we have winter indoor [track], and then we have spring outdoor track.”

Prizzia said the decision was already made to build a Sports Event Center when she was elected, and “I was like, Okay, I’m gonna ride with y’all… And now we have an over $30 million investment for sports tourism in Alachua County that is focused on track. So we’re in it for a penny, and we’re in it for a pound, in my opinion.”

Prizzia: “What the Governor did doesn’t surprise me either, because that’s what he does. He likes to have big, fancy things that he can stroke his pen on and cross off and look like a hero at the end of the budget. “

Prizzia continued, “What the Governor did doesn’t surprise me either, because that’s what he does. He likes to have big, fancy things that he can stroke his pen on and cross off and look like a hero at the end of the budget. So it doesn’t surprise me a lick. Does it piss me off? Yes. Is it frustrating for the people of Florida and for sports tourism and for all the other reasons that it’s a bad decision? Yes; still leaves us in a lurch.”

Offsetting “the impacts of this event from an environmental and a climate standpoint”

She said the County Commission talks about climate change, and they have the opportunity to think about “how are we offsetting the impacts of this event from an environmental and a climate standpoint? That needs to happen… But I do think that this is, overall, potentially a positive for our community. I am concerned about our ability to carry it off without all the money we had. The negative budget makes me nervous, and I don’t want to have conversations every two or three months about, well, now we have a shortfall here, we need more money, and now we have a shortfall here, we need more money… So if we do move forward, I want to walk away today with some assurances that this million dollars we’re spending is going to be the million dollars that’s going to make the difference to this project happening and that your willingness to take that loss on some of those other infrastructure pieces makes sense because it’s an asset to the Sports Events Center and Celebration Pointe and to future events attractions, and not that at the eleventh hour, it’s going to be ‘We need a bailout again,’ that’s for sure.”

Prizzia concluded, “When it comes to the World Masters, I’m not ready to pull the plug now, because y’all already made me sign a $30 million check for sports. And so, you know, I feel like we’re kind of there, and I don’t really see how we’re just going to, like, go halfway and not finish the job.”

Wheeler: The event is “a means to an end” that resulted in the purchase of West End property

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler said she saw the event as “a means to an end: We were really trying to get the West End Park and were not able to get the momentum we needed to get that done, and Svein helped us get that done as a part of a plan… I think we have to honor [the commitment to the Masters event] this year.”

Alford said that while Lieberman and Hurov are in Sweden, they could promote local companies that provide carbon offsets for travel, which she said is required in many European countries.

Hurov said County staff members would be meeting with the Sports Center the next day to discuss a sustainability plan for the event and for the future. Alford said she was specifically talking about “local groups that do these carbon offsets put that money right back into our community.” She also pointed out that the County saved several million on the West End property because it was initially priced at $6 million, “so I feel like we’ve got a little bit of investment money to think about there.” She said she would like to get regular updates on the project and its budget from the County Manager.

After more questions from Cornell about the budget, Lieberman explained that the Operating Agreement for the Event Center requires “Viking or Svein, or whatever that entity is, to backstop all losses in the operations of the Event Center.”

Cornell: “I don’t know where this ends, and until I can see audited financials of an entity that’s guaranteeing this event that we’re putting a million dollars in, I don’t want to put the County’s money into it.”

Lieberman said the County is doing an audit of the company that operates the Event Center, and Cornell said he didn’t want to move forward until he has seen it “because, from my perspective, the County’s on the hook for a million, and it’s going to be maybe more if they don’t get the $200,000 grant. It’s $1,200,000, maybe more. And so I don’t know where this ends, and until I can see audited financials of an entity that’s guaranteeing this event that we’re putting a million dollars in, I don’t want to put the County’s money into it.”

He said he would make a substitute motion, “if y’all make a motion,” to “reallocate this million dollars to park improvements of West End that qualify under Tourist Development Tax, like cross country and other events to improve the park.”

Prizzia pointed out that they had previously approved $350,000, “so it’s not a million, it’s $645k that we’re talking about right now… I’m all in for investing the million, actually, if that million is backstopped by the private entities and the community organizations that are invested in making this World Masters a success and in making our Sports Event Center a success, because I do think that this event and the investments that would be made to expand our capabilities for track and field would be a wise investment, given our already large $30 million investment in track and field type activities.”

Cornell responded, “When the Governor pulled the two and a half million, everything changed for me. It’s not [Dyrkolbotn’s] fault, you know? That’s what happened. And so since that happened, if an entity is going to guarantee [a financial loss] in an event that the County is investing a million dollars in at the very least, we should look at all the financial statements of that entity and say they can achieve that, at the very least.”

Lieberman clarified that under the Operating Agreement for the Event Center, “that entity is backstopping every single event, not just this one – every single event that is going through there. And we’ve not asked for that information for every single event.”

Cornell said, “We haven’t given them a million dollars for every single event,” and Lieberman responded, “Understood, but we provided $30 million for the center itself.”

Crosby: “The County has put no additional funds into the Sports Event Center for the operation of the Sports Event Center.”

Deputy County Manager Tommy Crosby said the County is actually not auditing the entity that runs the Event Center: “We’re doing an ‘agreed-upon procedures’ – making sure the revenues are complete, that we’re getting any hotel rebates, we’re getting any parking, we’re getting all the stuff that’s supposed to be included in our revenue stream, and then seeing what that net position is… The County has put no additional funds into the Sports Event Center for the operation of the Sports Event Center.”

Alford said that since it was 5:00, they needed to break so the video could be reset for their evening meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 5:00.

First motion

Cornell made a motion to “reallocate the $970,000 of unspent monies – because we’ve spent $30k previously allocated to the World Masters – back to the Tourist Development Tax reserves and use those for future park improvements to West End or other tourist activities.” The motion did not receive a second.

Second motion

Prizzia made a motion to table the issue “so that we have a more robust conversation.” Cornell seconded the motion.

Lieberman said that if they tabled it to their next meeting, which is in mid-August, “most of these improvements will not occur, and I don’t know that, from a project standpoint, they would timely be able to occur, because there are some timelines. And we will cancel any travel plans as well.”

Alford decided that they would take up the issue as the eighth agenda item in their evening meeting. Tamara Robbins pointed out from the audience that there was a motion on the floor to table the item, and they didn’t take public comment on it. Alford said there was no second to the motion, but Cornell can clearly be heard seconding it on the video.

Evening session

When the Commissioners returned from a brief break, Alford said she had “just been informed that we have a motion and we can dispense with” the World Masters item “very quickly if we move forward.”

Third motion

Prizzia made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation to allocate $645k with the addition of a budget amendment to transfer the Tourist Development funds into an expenditure account and “with the assurance that none of the improvements to the West End park will impact the ability for the park facilities to be what the residents say they want during the community meeting on August 13.” Wheeler seconded the motion.

Cornell had not returned from the break, and during public comment on the motion, Tamara Robbins asked whether he knew the item was being considered. He arrived a moment later, and the motion was repeated for him; he asked Alford to split the motion.

Robbins said she did not support the motion and hadn’t supported the Sports Event Center; she questioned who would make up any financial loss caused by the World Masters and said it was ridiculous to build a throwing area for javelin and discus at a public park.

Cornell: “I really think we’ve got to kind of start to hone in on the operations of the Event Center, the entity that’s running it. Is it profitable?”

Cornell said the vote felt rushed because the board should get an audit of the entity operating the sports event center in August and he wanted to know more about who would get the contracts for the improvements that would be funded by the $645k: “I think these are things that we should be looking at, just not writing a blank check about. And I think we have time to do that… I really think we’ve got to kind of start to hone in on the operations of the Event Center, the entity that’s running it. Is it profitable?”

Prizzia said they had already made a “commitment to sports tourism as a key component of economic development in this community,” the money was coming from the Tourist Development Tax, and that’s “exactly what [the tax] is for… We’re in it for a penny, we’re in it for a pound, and we need to continue to live up to that commitment and to those partnerships… to be a premier destination for track and field events. And now we’re almost there.”

Votes

The vote to approve $645k from Tourism Reserves for capital improvements at West End was 3-1 with Cornell in dissent and Commissioner Chuck Chestnut absent.

The vote to approve the travel to Sweden for Lieberman and Hurov and ask Lieberman to send the board monthly financial reports for the event was 4-0 with Chestnut absent.

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