Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-02-2016 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 9 TOURISM BOARD May 2, 2016 Town Barn 6:30 p.m. MINUTES Present: Chair Erik Myers, Sean Garrett, Kathleen Ferguson, Vice Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Carolyn Twesten, Kim Tesoro, Steven Burke Absent: Libbie Hough, Kate Carroll Staff: Shannan Campbell (Town of Hillsborough), Margaret Hauth (Town of Hillsborough), Sarah DeGennaro (Alliance for Historic Hillsborough) I. Call Meeting to Order Chair Myers called the meeting to order at 6:42 p.m. II. Agenda Adoption Member Burke added discussion regarding attendance for members as Item b under “Old Business.” Motion: Member Ferguson moved to adopt the agenda. Second: Member Burke seconded. Vote: Unanimous III. Consideration of revised minutes of February 1, 2016 Regular Meeting Consideration of revised minutes of February 23, 2016 Work Session Meeting Consideration of draft minutes of March 7, 2016 Regular Meeting Motion: Member Burke moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Second: Member Tesoro seconded. Vote: Unanimous IV. General Public Comment There was none. V. Monthly Reports a. Alliance Director’s Report Ms. DeGennaro reported 512 visitors as of April 20th. There are now at least three additional tours each month April through October and guided tours twice a month on weekdays as well as two Saturdays a month. Michael is working on a new program for middle school and high school students. The Alliance is working on collaborating with the Arts Council on the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) model of teaching. Ran print ads and Facebook ads. Page 2 of 9 Member Ferguson asked if there was any tracking for the print ads. Member Ferguson suggested trying to determine a way to see if anyone is seeing the print ads. There was a brief discussion about doing this in the future for print and/or Facebook ads. Member Burke said a good half of the grant applications under the Partnership section said they had talked with/interacted with/gained verification from the Alliance. He’s curious whether there have been that many purposeful conversations. Ms. DeGennaro said she can think of two or three conversations she’d had. b. Visitor’s Center/Alliance 3rd Quarter Financial Report There were no questions or concerns. c. Visitor’s Center Communications Report The gift shop is doing really well, Ms. DeGennaro told the board. d. Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitor’s Bureau Update There was brief discussion of how this would be given going forward. Ms. DeGennaro will include it in her director’s report. Also, Orange County has been chosen to host the North American Travel Journalists Association and the Tourism Development Authority has put in $2,500 in addition to the Tourism Board’s $2,500. Ms. DeGennaro added that there was discussion of moving the Orange County Arts Council budget out of the Visitor’s Bureau budget, but the Orange County manager would like for it to stay together. There has been discussion of the impact of HB2. VI. New Business Items a. Occaneechi Village Replica Project Ms. DeGennaro reviewed that the former replica was an important tourism site from the late 1990s until 2005 when it was dismantled. The county is interested in restoring it. The Alliance and a couple of other community members are involved in the restoration project. She wrote a formal letter of support for this board to submit to the Orange County Board of Members. Motion: Member Ferguson moved to endorse expressing support for the project to the County. There was clarification that there was no monetary support from the Tourism Board for this project at this time but that the Tourism Board thought the project was important. Second: Member McKee seconded. Vote: Unanimous. b. Review and Score Grant Applications Ms. Campbell asked for everyone to take a few minutes to read through and sign the conflict of interest paperwork. Member Tesoro said she sits on the board of the Orange Community Players and she is on the staff for the Chamber of Commerce. There was acknowledgement that she will need to recuse herself from those applications, particularly the Chamber of Commerce due to her employment with them. Member Tesoro shared concerns of the Chamber of Commerce board that her recusal adversely affects the score of the projects. Page 3 of 9 Ms. Campbell indicated that the scoring sheets are anonymous and said anyone with a conflict of interest should just mark the scoring sheet for that project with N/A. Board members asked some general budget information questions and concluded that they could pull some money from the special projects category to cover grants or RFPs if needed. Board members discussed the grant application from the Historic Speedway Group/Occoneechee Speedway for the 10th Annual Racers Reunion and determined that it was an incomplete application because the total requested was more than the maximum allowed of $10,000 dollars, the application was for more than one project- one of which was an ineligible maintenance expense (cutting down trees and road maintenance). Another comment indicated that the budget numbers do not add up. Member McKee suggested that Ms. Campbell direct this group to the Tourism Development Authority for funding because this event puts ‘heads in beds’. Motion: Member McKee moved to determine that this application is incomplete and give it a score of 1. Second: Member Burke seconded. Vote: Unanimous. Board members discussed that the Optimist Club’s Hog Day application came in with no IRS 990 and no board approval letter, thus it was missing parts of the overall grant application packet and was incomplete. Motion: Member Burke moved to determine that this application is incomplete and give it a score of 1. Second: Member Myers seconded. Vote: Unanimous. The board discussed the Arts Council’s Handmade Parade and Solstice Walk application. Board members discussed that the application was missing the 990, the letter of support from the organization’s board, and that each event/project is supposed to come in separately and this grant application was for two events. Another comment expressed confusion over the inclusion of the two events in the same application, but only budget items and funds requested for the Handmade Parade. There were some discussions regarding concerns that many applicants forgot to include a copy of their IRS 990 and/or a board support letter for both of their applications, Parade and Art Walk. The board discussed the Historic Hillsborough Commission’s grant application for the Burwell School. It was noted that the grant fund request was for shutter replacement and painting of the school which is listed as an ineligible expense per the ‘Tourism Grant Project Requirements’. Ms. Campbell said the first guideline implicitly states that ‘facility maintenance’ is not a covered grant project. Painting and shutters would fall under facility maintenance. The board discussed whether or not to score these applications. An audience member spoke out and indicated that the Arts Council did not know or understand that they were required to have these documents as part of their grant application packet. Page 4 of 9 The board decided to circle back around to these applications. Member Ferguson said that the goal was to provide funding and she was curious how many applicants missed the boat by not reading through the new guidelines and requirements. Member McKee suggested that next year the informational email should state that applications received a week prior to the deadline will be reviewed for completeness. Member Ferguson suggested an online submittal include checkboxes. Ms. Campbell said electronics submittals were sent via email and not through the Website, but that the board could look at any cost or labor to have that done for next year. The board reviewed the Eno Publishers Keckley book project application. Member Burke said he was on the board two years ago. It was decided he does not need to recuse himself. Chair Myers said they are his tenant (he sublets space to them) and that does need to recuse himself. The board decided this application can be scored. Member Burke said it’s not clear whether the first book will publish 7,000 or that will be totaling all three books. Ms. Campbell advised placing the question on the scoring sheet as a comment to the applicant. Board members agreed it was a complete application. Board members asked whether this applicant has spoken with Ms. DeGenarro. She answered no. Board members noted that this application indicates it is going to work with the Alliance and to include this comment on the scoring sheet. Scoring sheets for the Eno Publisher’s Keckley Book project were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then reviewed the Eno River Farmers Market application for the Market Rebranding project. The Board noted that there is was no IRS 990 as part of the application packet. The Board also noted that the letter in the grant packet was from a board member, but not necessarily a letter of support on behalf of the board. The board decided that the letter was acceptable but the missing IRS 990 was not since it was a clear requirement for application. Member Tesoro noted that the 20 percent match all comes from in-kind donations and doesn’t note where it’s coming from. Board members pointed out that the application didn’t require detailing the source. Ms. Campbell said the board should not penalize them but that she could add a source column for next year’s application. Member Ferguson said it’s sufficient to her to know how much the in-kind is and not necessarily where it’s coming from. Member Burke said that adding specifics helps. He would like to see clearer notation on what $3,000 of signage will do and where it will go, for example. Page 5 of 9 Motion: Member McKee moved to determine that this application is incomplete and give it a score of 1. Second: Member Burke seconded. Vote: Unanimous. The board then reviewed the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church application for the ‘Get the Scoop’ music and ice cream event (at Last Fridays). Member Tesoro asked regarding the sustainability, where will they get the musician funding in two years. She said that there was no plan for sustainability in the application. Member McKee said in years past, we did not want to fund the ice cream because it was in direct competition with ice cream that was for sale, so the musician part was funded instead. Member Ferguson said she has concerns that there was just not enough information given. Member McKee said that she did not think they’re going to advertise 30 miles outside of Town. Member Tesoro said the big thing is answering the question about working with the businesses and how to become sustainable in two years. Scoring sheets for the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church’s ‘Get the Scoop’ at Last Fridays event were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then reviewed the Hillsborough Running Club’s ‘Hillsborough Half Marathon’ event application. Member Ferguson suggested next year the board can provide an example of sufficient information. This application included a lot of information. Ms. Campbell said next year the board will provide examples of what a “5” scored grant application looks like. Board members commented that the Run Club had great documentation, supporting documents, and explanations and answers to the grant application questions that were beyond expectation. Chair Myers made a suggestion for next year to have a field to have the total number of grant funding present on the front page of the application. Scoring sheets for the Hillsborough Running Club’s ‘Hillsborough Half Marathon’ event were filled out by Board members and turned in. Member Tesoro noted that she needed to slip out at 8:32 p.m. but she is recusing herself from the next two applications because they are from the Chamber. She advised that if she was not back yet that the Board could also score the Community Players grant application since she was recused from scoring that application also. Ms. Campbell confirmed that Member Tesoro could leave and the board would maintain a quorum. Page 6 of 9 The board then reviewed the application from the Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce for the ‘Sundays in Hillsborough’ project. Members said they read its purpose as drawing people in and therefore encouraging businesses to stay open later. There was some agreement that the details were more implicit than explicit. Member McKee expressed concern regarding the amount of money put toward a trial event. Member Ferguson said that she did not mind that it’s an experiment but that she was disappointed that she wasn’t seeing the detail that she would expect in a well answered grant application. There was question about the proposed 16-18 hours a day that the event would occur. Chair Myers said at Mystery Brewing that he is not allowed to serve alcohol for more than 10 hours on a Sunday. Scoring sheets for the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church’s ‘Get the Scoop’ at Last Fridays event were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then reviewed the Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce grant application for the Business Building Marketing Campaign. Member Ferguson said this was a thin application. Chair Myers said he wasn’t sure what they were trying to do. Ms. Campbell said that it looked like some kind of brochure or rack card with ‘Top 10 Things to Do in Hillsborough’ and a campaign to try to capture business travelers. Member McKee said that she would have liked to have an idea of what some of these ‘Top 10’ things are. For three of the questions in the application the answers were not even one complete sentence. Scoring sheets for the Chamber of Commerce’s Building Business Marketing Campaign were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then reviewed the Orange Community Players application for their production of Lil Abner. Member Ferguson said she thought this was a good example for what meets criteria. Scoring sheets for the Orange Community Players production of Lil Abner were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then reviewed the Historical Foundation of Hillsborough/Orange County Museum’s application for Hillsborough Day/Colonial Day. Ms. Campbell clarified that it appeared to be a multi-day event with the same theme. There’s Hillsborough Day one day and a Colonial Fair Day a week later. Member Burke noted there was no Home for the Holidays event in 2015 to build on. Page 7 of 9 Member Tesoro said there had been no discussion with the Chamber and the Chamber is so busy in December that it wouldn’t be likely to be a partner. Member Ferguson pointed out the applicants are likely indicating an intention to partner with others rather than indicating that they’ve already contacted partners. Scoring sheets for the Historical Foundation of Hillsborough/Orange County Museum’s application for Hillsborough Day/Colonial Day were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then reviewed the WHUP grant application for remote broadcasting and recording equipment. Member Ferguson noted this was a good example of a complete application that was well thought out and answered all the questions well. Scoring sheets for WHUP’s remote broadcasting and recording equipment project were filled out by Board members and turned in. The board then returned to the remaining applications for Hillsborough Arts Council Handmade Parade and Solstice Walk, and Art Walk as well as Burwell School’s Exterior Facility Maintenance Project. Member Ferguson said that almost half of the grant application packets were not scored because they were not complete application packets, were asking for ineligible projects, or were asking for more money than the maximum the board had set earlier in the year, which indicates that we’re on a learning curve for the new process. A lot is working right but because it’s so high, I think there’s a way to be flexible. There’s something that is missing if it’s this high that the Board needs to address. Ms. Campbell said Ms. Hauth pointed out during scoring that the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church did not have a Board support letter either. So, about 50 percent of the applicants submitted complete grant applications for eligible projects with requests under the $10,000 dollar maximum. Member Burke said this probably reveals, as some of us know, that in past years we’ve been in receipt of incomplete applications and we’ve funded them in whole or in part, anyway. And in many cases, these are not incomplete because we gave unclear criteria, they are incomplete because the organizations did not read the instructions. Member Ferguson agreed that the criteria are clear but indicated that she wanted to be flexible the first year, if possible. Chair Myers said he is sympathetic that there are a lot of people who were counting on this and probably are not going to get funded and it doesn’t feel good, but we need to stick with the criteria to have this be a more formal application process. We need to establish long-term trust and standards for this process. Commissioner Ferguson asked for a 24- hour or 48-hour extension to allow applicants to gather missing documents and resubmit. Chair Myers said that may not be fair to those who did the application correctly and were on time. Page 8 of 9 Ms. Campbell worked to put the scores together into a spreadsheet during the discussion. She presented a spreadsheet of scores to the Board. Member McKee pointed out that if the board funds the top scoring applications that they are already over-budget and will need to pull funds from either the RFP’s or Special Projects/Partnerships funding pots. Motion: Member Ferguson moved that if there is sufficient funding, to create a 24-hour window if the applicants are missing any of the four documents required to produce a complete grant application packet. Discussion: Member Tesoro said we know we don’t have the funding so the motion is moot. Member Ferguson advocated for a review period for next year. Member Burke feels it’s not the responsibility of the grant application recipient to chase applicants down and let them know their applications are incomplete and try to get them to submit what they need. There was agreement to have a first date of submittal about a week in advance so that the applications can be checked for completeness for next year. Member Ferguson withdrew her earlier motion. Member McKee agreed it’s not our responsibility to track down applicants to get all documents, but it’s courteous to offer the opportunity to check it. Ms. Campbell asked the board if they were in agreement that these remaining applications that were missing items, asking for ineligible funds, etc. were to be scored as ‘1’. The Board agreed. Ms. Campbell indicated that top scoring applications would be $42,018 and the budget for FY17 for grants was $37,500. The board discussed dropping the two tied scores for the bottom, then the board is under budget at $31,018. Member Burke said that the Board should fund all that are eligible. Others agreed. Board members decided to reduce funding for new projects in the Special Projects/Partnership line item to fully fund the applications that were eligible in the Grants line item. Ms. Campbell said after July 1, 2016, organizations can ask for the Special Projects/Partnership funding. Motion: Member Burke moved to fund the following applications: Eno Publishers/Keckley Book Project, Hillsborough Running Club/Historic Hillsborough Half Marathon Event, Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce/Sundays in Hillsborough Project, Page 9 of 9 Orange Community Players/Lil Abner Production, Orange County Museum- Historical Foundation/Hillsborough and Colonial Day Events, and WHUP/Remote Broadcasting and Recording Equipment Project in the amount of $42,018 and that in order to gain this sum in the Grants line item to remove the draft proposed $5,000 for the newspaper panels be removed from the Special Projects/Partnerships section of the budget and transferred to the Grants section of the budget. Second: Member McKee seconded. Discussion: Member Ferguson said she would be more comfortable if the money taken from the special projects/partnership fund wasn’t specifically from the newspaper panels. Ms. Hauth shared that staff thinks they’ve found a way around needing them by reorganizing where newspaper boxes are allowed in the right of way. Vote: Unanimous. VII. Old Business Items a. Tourism Logo Review Ms. Campbell indicated that Logos would be ready based on comments at the last meeting for the next meeting. b. Board Member Attendance Ms. Campbell read the attendance policy aloud to the Board members. There was Board agreement that when a member misses three meetings in a row it’s good to at least trigger conversation about whether or not the member has time for this board. There was agreement that Chair Myers will reach out to those members having attendance issues. VIII. Staff/Board Comments and Discussion Items Member Burke commended the board for creating a defensible system for distributing public monies, even as it causes some discontentment and consternation as the organizations learn the process. IX. Adjourn Motion: Chair Myers moved to adjourn at 9:33 p.m. Second: Member Ferguson seconded. Vote: Unanimous.