Memo - Depot Coffee House Restructure
City of Hopkins Facilities Division
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Memo
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jay R. Strachota, Facilities Director
Date: 11/24/04
Re: Depot Coffee House Restructure
Background
When the Depot Board was asked for their input on the 2005 Depot Coffee House budget
this year they took the matter seriously and responded by writing a budget in which the
Coffee House operations break even. This was the result of a few significant events that
occurred over the past year.
. Kathleen Taber, the Depot Director, asked to step down from the position of Depot
Director to the position of Depot Coffee House Manager, the position she was hire for
in 1999.
. When the Depot Board decided to create a Depot budget that pushed the coffee
. house operations to at least break-even on operations, the board explored the option
of hiring a manager on a base salary plus incentives, to lower personnel costs and
create incentives to increase sales. This type of contractual agreement created many
challenges and was abandoned in favor of the concept of Royal Cuisine operating
the Depot food service.
. Kathleen Taber had many discussions with Bertrand Weber of Royal Cuisine (the
Hopkins School District food service operations) on the new coffee house at the high
school (Depot Too) and how to blend the Royal Cusine's expertise, buying power,
and commitment to education, with the Depot operations.
From these three events, staff, the Depot Board, and Bertrand Weber developed a
proposed plan and budget to have the Depot Coffee House concessions operated by Royal
Cuisine. The plan involves the Royal Cuisine hiring a Coffee House Supervisor and the
counter staff (current staff are considered inside candidates). These staff members are
cross-trained with the staff at the Depot Too coffee shop at the high school to create a labor
pool effect when needed that minimizes disruptions in operations should key personnel be
absent. Royal Cuisine purchases and provides supplies and personnel and bills the Depot
budget for these expenses. There are costs savings under this scenario but it is recognized
that the only way to bring the coffee house concessions to breakeven and beyond is to
significantly increase sales. This is where the Depot Board and Partners are banking on the
expertise of Royal Cuisine. If people with the most expertise available (Royal Cuisine) in the
. position to make a difference in operations and the coffee house concessions still do not
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breakeven, then it is agreed it is time to access the feasibility of a coffee house as a direct .
funding mechanism of the Depot project.
Key Points of the Reorganization
The Royal Cuisine will:
. Hire and supervise the concessions personnel, including the Depot Coffee House
supervisor and the counter help_ The Royal Cuisine will then bill the Depot for the
appropriate personnel services each month.
. Order and supply all the food concessions supplies and bill" the Depot monthly.
. Be responsible for all maintenance and repair of concessions related equipment,
again billing the Depot budget for any expenditure.
The Depot Board will:
. Continue to be responsible for teen center programming
. Be advisory to the Coffee House business
. Direct and evaluates Teen Coordinator
The City will:
. Be responsible for all buildings and grounds related maintenance.
. Provide supervision and support of Teen Coordinator
. Maintain the budget and lease agreements
Coffee House and Teen Center Customers will: .
. Be positively impacted as Royal Cuisine and the business department of the High
School develop new products and marketing ideas.
Currently the Depot Board and Partners are working diligently to move this reorganization
forward_ This comes at a challenging time_ In the past year six key Depot partner personnel
from the City, School District, and YMCA have been lost to retirement, resignation, leave,
and budget cuts. From this tumover it has become quite apparent that as a part of the
reorganization responsibilities need to be revisited and documented and policies created
that solidify the infrastructure of the Depot organization.
Reorganization Activities/Schedule
The reorganization will begin in December with the posting of the Depot supervisor's
position by the school district. The partners from the school district and city have set up a
meeting with representatives from the Depot board to craft an agreement that spells out the
responsibilities and expectations of all parties. The Teen Coordinator will remain a City
employee and will work for the Depot Board as the position does now. The Partners and
Depot Board will begin to work on policies and updating by-laws, training documents, etc. to
clarify responsibilities and relationships, and to create records for future partners and board
members. The Partners and Board Members have agreed to set up a Partner/Board
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. member retreat this spring to build understanding of the Depot project and foster
communication between the partners and the board.
City Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the City under the reorganization will remain the same as stated in the
Partners Agreement signed in 1997:
City of Hopkins
Primary responsibilities of the City fall under these general 'categories: ensure health,
safety, and welfare of the people working on the project The more specific
responsibilities include: the lease, administrative issues, such as insurance coverage,
maintenance of the physical building, including heating and electrical, exterior
grounds maintenance.
Hopkins Police Department
The police department's primary responsibilities are to: ensure the safety of persons
at The Depot, and act as counsel and resource in regards to security issues.
As far as future Council action, depending on the scope of the new agreement, the Council
may be asked to approve the agreement Council will be regularly updated over the next
. year as to the success of this venture.
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