An agreement between the City of Eureka Springs and the CAPC on management of The Auditorium hasn’t been officially updated since 2018.
That differs from comments made during recent CAPC meetings — and meetings throughout the past few years — where the feeling was that an agreement was updated around 2021 when CAPC offices relocated to The Aud.
That would seem to indicate the CAPC has been paying building utilities and maintenance for years that should have been the city’s responsibility.
“The 2018 contract is the only signed contract that exists,” CAPC director Mike Maloney confirmed by email on Wednesday, Nov. 5. “Until Commission and/or Council meet, everything is static.”
It’s been mentioned in meetings for years that despite the city owning the facility, the CAPC was responsible for utilities and most of the maintenance of the building — something that has been a financial issue with many commissioners past and present.
However, the agreement signed Dec. 31, 2018, by Mayor Butch Berry and Maloney — who at the time was in his first stint as CAPC director — specifically says that the city will “(p)rovide for the maintenance of the facility,” and will “(p)ay the utility bills for the facility.”
The agreement lays out the responsibilities of each party. Duties of the CAPC are listed as:
• “Operate the facility on a daily basis, determining hours of operation and staffing requirements;
• “Report any maintenance needs of The Aud to • “Do all booking and contracts for users, using rates established by the CAPC as a guideline;
• “Exercise care in control of the utility costs of The Aud by management of utility use;
• “Maintain the ticket purchasing system current so on-line ticket purchase for events is possible;
• “Ensure the display windows and marquee information are current;
• “Ensure the inside of the facility is clean and safe;
• “Purchase and keep current any license necessary to provide concessions for events in the facility; • “Purchase and maintain music licensing agreements as necessary; • “Purchase and maintain property insurance on the CAPC equipment within the facility;
• “Negotiate and oversee either a contract with a qualified technical director or maintain a list of acceptable firms in order that users may contract individually for these services.”
The responsibilities of the city in the agreement are:
• “Provide liability and property insurance for the facility;
• “Provide for the maintenance of the facility; • “Accept responsibility for and hold the CAPC harmless for any State or Federally mandated shortages in the facility;
• “Maintain the safety systems mandated for the facility;
• “Pay the utility bills for the facility;
• “Agree to honor by payment any contract of not more than one year in length signed by the CAPC in the normal course of management of The Aud should The City decide to terminate this agreement of close the facility.”
Both parties agree to the following, per the document:
• “The City will supply a total of six parking spaces to be used by The Auditorium staff and/or performers in The Aud. Two parking spaces will be along First Street with other City employee’s parking spaces available for use at all times. Four spaces along The Aud would be used only prior to, during and after a performance. The Mayor’s office will be given a 24 hour notice when these spots would be required and the time needed.”
The agreement closes by stating, “The term of this agreement shall commence on the ‘Effective’ date and shall continue until amended by agreement of both parties to this document.”
The signed document effective date was Jan. 1, 2019.
WHO PAYS WHAT?
The question of which entity should be responsible for maintenance and utilities has been raised many times over the years by CAPC commissioners, and was in the focus again in recent weeks during budget talks for 2026.
Commissioners said at an Oct. 8 workshop that since The Aud is used to host meetings of every city commission, plus other city gatherings, the CAPC shouldn’t be responsible for repairs such as to the HVAC system, or footing the entire bill for fiber optic wifi to help broadcast those meetings on YouTube.
In fact, CAPC finance director Ty Reed told commissioners when looking at The Aud’s costs on the yearly budget, almost $14,000 was the difference in the utility bills after the internet upgrade.
“… Just for transparency for public who may be watching or will tune in, the last 12 months of general operations has been $138,553.30 for the CAPC,” Commissioner Heather Wilson said at the Oct. 8 workshop. “And those are under three categories: maintenance, upgrades and utilities. With all of the public meetings taking place here, it being owned by the city, I think that that would be wise to have a workshop.
“I don’t think the CAPC should pay $31,000 almost for heat and air. I think that’s unreasonable that the CAPC is expected to foot that bill. Again, I think there’s some things that are perfectly reasonable here, but others, just a renovation payment for a city-owned building of $44,000? The city should have footed that.”
Commissioners discussed having a workshop with city representatives and/ or council members on the issues, but Maloney instead said he would meet with Berry to discuss the agreement in place.
At the Oct. 29 regular meeting, chair Steve Holifield said he was going to meet with Maloney and city finance director Michael Akins to discuss what agreement is in place.
“There actually is an agreement, but I’ve not actually seen the agreement as it was amended, I think in 2021, and Michael Akins has got a copy of it,” Maloney said at the Oct. 29 meeting. “I really need to review that and see what had happened during that transition when the CAPC moved from … up on Van Buren to here. There was things that happened. So, we really need to look at that, but I think the best opportunity really is just to go ahead and hone out, you know, where things are. You know, for instance, we have passed off the elevator over to the city, thank goodness. And that’s a work in progress as well, but we still have got quite a bit of work to do.”
Commissioner Robert Schmid asked if the agreement Maloney was referring to was a signed agreement.
“So that agreement would be a signed agreement from like, what you said, 2021?” Schmid said. “Or was it just like a, I thought we were talking about that, that it was only like a proposed agreement, but it was never signed.”
Maloney responded: “No, there’s a real agreement … and our files here physically in our corridors, I’ve never seen it, but it does exist, and Michael with the city has got that copy.”
The Times-Echo emailed the mayor’s office for a copy of the latest agreement concerning The Aud, and the signed copy from 2018 was provided.
When asked about an amended version from around 2021, when the CAPC moved offices to The Aud, the Times-Echo was told that the 2018 agreement was “the latest version” in place.
Maloney, when contacted Wednesday, Nov. 5, confirmed that the agreement that went into effect Jan. 1, 2019, was the latest official document.
