Assembly to vote Wednesday on McDonald Center contract after audit's 11 findings

The Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a contract that would keep Fire Lake Arena Management Inc. running Eagle River's Harry J. McDonald Center for up to 10 more years, 10 months after a city audit listed 11 findings on how the nonprofit followed its contract.

Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration recommends approval. The contract is capped at $250,000 over five years, with five optional one-year renewals at up to $50,000 each, according to the Assembly memorandum. FLAMI, as the company is known, submitted the only responsive proposal when the city sought an operator in April. Jeff Urbanus, who manages Eagle River/Chugiak Parks and Recreation, recommended FLAMI in June, writing that the award was "in the best interest of the Municipality and the community of Chugiak/Eagle River."

The city-owned center has an Olympic-size ice rink, a turf field and a walking track. FLAMI has managed it since 1984. Under its contract, it owes the city the center's net profit and 4% of its gross revenue, which go into a capital reserve fund that held about $520,000 as of October 2025, according to the 2025 audit.

Auditors found FLAMI had not submitted audited financial statements for 2021 through 2024. In 2024, it paid $8,600 in year-end bonuses to full-time staff while reporting it was about $90,000 over its wage budget and had lost about $67,700. A 2023 audit found the center's contract had lapsed from January 2021 until May 2023.

Parks and Recreation managers agreed with all 11 findings. They wrote that FLAMI had adopted a more transparent financial reconciliation process, which helped uncover alleged misappropriation by a former employee. In May, parks staff told the city's audit committee that FLAMI was "up-to-date with all requirements" and had finished the missing audits, though a compliance chart from the same day still listed them as in progress.

In September, the Assembly voted 12-0 to approve new management contracts for the city's Ben Boeke, Dempsey Anderson and Sullivan arenas.