- The Breakdown
Gaming Commission Meeting 1/20/11
The Bad River Gaming Commission Meeting held on Thursday January 20, 2011, was slated for 9 agenda
items; 4 items in regular session & 5 items in executive.
Meeting called to order. Roll call taken, all 6 board members present. Treasurer Burns is absent.
Agenda discussed. Item number 4 (leases) will not be heard this evening & will be tabled. Item will be
presented at the regular meeting on 2/2/11.
Regular Session:
(1.) Monthly Report: Brian Mayotte - Mr. Mayotte introduced himself before the Community & Council.
Offered a brief overview of the month’s drawings & events. There are currently 220 active casino & resort
employees, of that 162 are Tribal Members. These figures are from 1/12/10 -1/12/11; 47 new-hires; 81
terminations; 181 full-time employees; 20 part-time employees; & 19 limited-term employees. The average
casino wage is $9.32.
For the month of December; Jackpots - $2,480,176; average win per machine for Oct & Nov - $58.31;
average daily win per machine for Dec- $68.41; total machines online - 446.
Some casino activities to mention; King of the Hill - Dec 9; Bonus Poker Tournament - Dec 16; Hot Seat
Drawings $25 - Dec 31; Poker Party - Dec 31; Cash Fast Drawings - Jan 1
Some upcoming casino activities to mention; Superior Wheel; Spin it to win it; Men & Ladies Night
Super Bowl Party, Bad River Gaming Olympics - 11am- registration, 12pm- doors open, live remote- right after
kickoff, hosted by Joe Bates, wildcard positions for walk-ins, 1pm- games begin, 5pm- winner announced,
drawings throughout the night.
Valentine’s Day events; Feb 12- Roadhouse drawings; Roadhouse Buffet; line dancing 7-8:30pm with DJ
Bass (Convention Cent); Tim Mcgraw Tribute Band 9-10:30pm; line dancing 11pm-midnight. Feb 14; cash
drawings, Sweet Tart 9-11pm; Match & Win; Feb 24- Cabin Fever; Every Sat. Cupid Cash Drawings.
Food Specials to mention; prime rib buffet;
The gross revenue for December is $1,023,141. The net profit is $231,866. We are currently down 20% from
last year ($150,623).
Headcount for December was 19,886. The headcount for Dec of last year was 22,370.
Mr. Mayotte stated management has been working on some internal controls, will be presenting those to
Council later on tonight. Mr. Mayotte mentioned meeting with (NIGC) state gaming auditors on Dec. 9, stated
this was a follow-up from the Nov.2 meeting. This follow-up concerned some non-compliance issues
(equipment & procedural) which were noted during the compliance audit back in August of this past year. The
issues in question concerned a compromised scale, table regs & security issues regarding the safe-guarding
of drop keys.
The financial audit is complete. However, we are still awaiting the auditor’s finalized report to be submitted. Mr.
Mayotte is also waiting for some capital improvement items. These items include several slot machines which
were approved by Council last month. Mr. Mayotte has spoken with Mr. Kraft and has been advised the slots
are due around the first week of March.
Management held 8 interviews for the Marketing Manager position, will be speaking more in depth with
Council later tonight in these regards.
For the month of December there were 229 participants in our recent food drive, which netted 687 products.
In November there were 323 participants with 969 products. All the proceeds went to the local food shelf.
Management has recently purchased three digital sign boards which will be placed in the lodge, store & guest
services. The digital sign boards have the ability to play looped commercials and daily & weekly
advertisements. These signs will hopefully be up next week sometime.
Currently management is reviewing radio station (Heartland Broadcasting Communication) use. Mr. Mayotte
has talked with Chairman Wiggins concerning the website. Chairman Wiggins has mentioned “we need to get
going on that.” Management is also working on new brochures. The new Bad River Gear is going well.
Management is looking to expand on that while keeping summer apparel in mind for the future.
The Bad River Lodge occupancy rate compared to last year is down 10%. Working on snowmobile rates. The
hotel deep cleaning project is underway and will continue for several months. Management still needs to work
out specifics regarding the lodge renovation, however the lodge manager is out on medical right now, so
there will be a wait on discussing the bid packages.
Rooms sold for the month of December 549. Vacancy for December is 1,117. The gross revenue for the
lodge in December was $25,597 compared to $30,000+ from the same time last year.
Mr. Mayotte offered to answer any questions from the audience.
Councilor Greene stated she had some concerns regarding the marketing projects and the way the reports
are presented. Councilor Greene is stating concern because these reports show no progress of the work
being performed. The reports state the projects but not what has been achieved, whether management is
60% done, 70% done, etc.
It was brought to Council’s attention there were non-Tribal Members in attendance. It was discussed this wasn’
t a big issue because the individual in question was a manager and this was a gaming meeting. There was
business tribally that was being discussed but it wasn’t that huge. Also there is a comfort level with her being
part of management.
Tribal Member wanted to know when the financials were going to be completed and presented, as
management is already more than 6 months behind in financial reports.
Mr. Mayotte offered the Membership a glance at some ideas he had on paper.
Chairman Wiggins stated it will be his goal to have the financials scheduled for the regular council meeting
2/2/11. Further stated management is having some critical administrative problems.
Tribal Member would like to know how management keeps track of the slot machines. How many are online,
being serviced, etc. Member stated maybe some form of color diagram could be available. Member would also
like to know how management arrives at these numeric figures when some machines are being blocked off &
covered with tarps.
Slots Manager stated that these machines were covered to prevent water damage from the leaking roof &
although they’re covered & blocked off, they are still online and calculated into the gaming slots payout
percentages.
Chairman Wiggins stated at a recent discussion with management he brainstormed the possibilities of a color
coded legend with a birds eye view to show the status of our slot machines. Further stated we could use this
as a tool for council to look at and see the percentages and numbers regarding the slots.
Tribal Member suggested maybe these machines being affected could be moved to a more suitable location.
Slots Manager stated there would be too much work involved with doing something like that.
Tribal Member wanted to know if we had our casino roof repairs budgeted for this year.
Chairman Wiggins stated no.
Tribal Member wanted to know if we have bathroom repairs budgeted for this year. Member recited a story
regarding the Gaming Mgr. Telling the Tribal Member to come into the men’s facility to take a look & smell the
awful smell emitting from the toilets.
It was stated that there are some items in line for capital improvements but money is still going to be an issue.
Tribal Member commented on the drafts for the new promotional signage. Member felt instead of using
anonymous people, we could use local Tribal Members in these pictures to add a warmer atmosphere.
Tribal Member reiterated her complaint with employee gambling. Her complaint centered on the cost to the
tribe concerning employee day. Member further stated “it looks like an inside job” when employees hit big.
Stated they work at the casino all day & are able to see which machines are hot & then when their shifts are
done they play those machines.
There was a discussion on low wages & cost effective incentives. Employees work hard & are underpaid & the
hours are long & employees do work holidays.
Side note to mention: Management is looking for local talent to assist in the new billboard efforts. Anyone
interested is to get in touch with Mr. Mayotte.
(2.) Monthly Report: Joe Bates - Mr. Bates introduced himself to the Council & Community. Mr. Bates
stated management had recently purchased a new display case for the complex. The dimensions are; 72 inch
long x 4 inch deep x 48 inch height; with sliding lockable glass doors & a cork back. Management obtain three
quotes for this case & settled on a price of $955.69. The new server has been installed on the back office
computer & mgmt is optimistic that this will remedy the problems of the past regarding processing information.
Mr. Bates stated the scanning clerk has resumed work & together they are working together to ensure proper
pricing in both stores.
Weekly emails are continuing in-house, as is the use of the casino marquee for advertising. Also working on
an in-store digital marketing device. There have also been weekly radio play.
There is a Super Bowl special coming up. The store will be offering a Miller Lite portable football game cooler
& a matching lounge chair for our “armchair quarterbacks”, this also comes with miniature stuffed footballs.
These items are provided by Northwest Beverage of Superior & a 19 inch HDTV provided by Budweiser
distributor of Rhinelander. Moccasin Trail is also providing a case of Miller Lite. Registrants may sign up at
guest services. Must be 21 to enter. Prizes will be given away Fri. Feb 4, in Moccasin Trail lobby.
There is a sign up box in the store. Winning registrants will win a cap with a chance to win a snowmobile.
Recently had our first underground storage tank compliance inspection 2 weeks ago. It was determined we do
not have the overfill spill protection required. We are required to have these overfill spill protection valves in
all qualifying tanks. This contract upgrade will be done with Northwest Petroleum out of Wausau WI. Our
exterior backup alarms did not work also. These exterior alarms notify staff to activate the shut-off switch in
the event of an emergency. These alarms will also need to be repaired. In conjunction with this compliance,
management received notification on training requirements for staff regarding minor spills & overfill mishaps,
& how to do proper monthly inspections amongst other things.
Mr. Bates will share this information with Mechanical Maint. Staff so they may work together to get the proper
trained staff to bring us into compliance. This training will need to be done in Wausau and group rates are
available.
Vice-Chair Lemieux had some concerns regarding water in the gas. Mr. Bates stated that water is monitored
daily. Further stated water presence is a natural occurring event. Mr. Bates suggested that water in the
vehicle’s own gas tank may be the culprit. Mr. Bates assured Council that our water levels are within regs (1/8
inch).
Mr. Bates stated there are built-in internal sensors which regulate & monitor these things.
Member wanted to know if we own these tanks. Mr. Bates stated we do own the tanks.
Council would like to know the cost of the certification. Mr. Bates informed Council it is $75 per person.
Mr. Bates offered a comparison from Oct & Nov of this year to last year. Stated for the grocery store in 2010;
we generated 7% more gross revenue than last year; we were able to cut our operating cost of sales by 3%;
& our operating expense was cut by 13%; which gave us a net profit of 266% more or $29,046.85.
In the convenience store; we had 1% more gross revenue; cut the cost of sales by 4%; cut the operating cost
by 10%; generated 499% or $32,623.44 more net profit than last year.
Total combined net profit of both stores: $61,670.29.
Member wanted to know if store mgmt was doing monthly accounting meetings. Mr. Bates stated indeed they
were.
(3.) American Legion Post 25 Bingo Request - Presenter gave a brief overview of some of the activities
and projects being performed throughout the Community. Stated they are attempting to identify all the
Veterans in the Cemetery; Scholarship fund for Native students; homeless projects; other various fundraisers
for Community enhancements. Chairman thanked the American Legion Post 25 for their efforts.
Resolution read & passed to allow bingo fundraiser on May 1, 2011.
Note : For those who are not
interested in details, the "official"
minutes may be viewed by clicking here
interested in details, the "official"
minutes may be viewed by clicking here