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HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-03-2017 Minutes Tourism Board Regular Meeting Tourism Board Town Barn Monday, April 3, 2017 6:15 p.m. Minutes Present: Chairperson Mary Catherine McKee, Vice Chairperson Erik Myers, Mark Bateman, Kate Carroll, Kathleen Ferguson, Libbie Hough, Matt Hughes, and Kim Tesoro Absent: Tommy Stann Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell Guests: Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Sarah DeGennaro I. Call meeting to order Chairperson McKee called the meeting to order at 6:19 p.m. II. Agenda adoption The agenda stood as presented. Motion: Member Hough moved to approve. Second: Vice Chairperson Myers seconded. Vote: Unanimous III. Consideration of Minutes March 6, 2017 Motion: Member Hough moved to approve the minutes. Second: Vice Chairperson Myers seconded. Vote: Unanimous IV. General public comment There was none. V. Monthly Reports a. Alliance Director’s Report Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro reported that February was a great month, with the Visitors Center counting 820 visitors. The Revolutionary War-themed Living History Day contributed to that. The Alliance has been collaborating with Trading Path Association founder Tom Magnuson on organizing Colonial Roads walking tours, splitting the profits with him. There were two Revolutionary War walking tours. The Alliance also hosted a talk by Dr. Peter Wood on John Brown and the Harper’s Ferry raid. Dr. Wood donated his honorarium to rebuilding the Occoneechi village replica. Ms. DeGennaro reviewed other highlights of the report. b. Visitors Center Communications Report Page | 2 Ms. Campbell said Stickwork sculptor Patrick Dougherty was featured on a PBS show ‘Craft in America’ which was great coverage for Hillsborough. A Hillsborough-area couple was featured on the show “Hunted,” which is also good publicity for Hillsborough. The Visitors Center gained 40 Facebook followers. There was a ‘Love is in the Air’ theme to attract date nights in Hillsborough around Valentine’s Day. Phone calls and requests for brochures and pamphlets are starting to be tracked so that data can be collected and analyzed. c. Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Report Ms. Campbell reported that Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Laurie Paolicelli wrote a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. As a weakness, the number of walk-ins at the Orange County Visitors Bureau is dropping, which is a nationwide trend because people have smart phones and have information in their hands. Ms. Campbell said Ms. Paolicelli had said that it is challenging to market three towns with three distinct messages and that the brand of Chapel Hill is not always shared or supported. Ms. Campbell said she followed up with Ms. Paolicelli about that with her professional feedback on how the partnership may be able to work better. There has been some ongoing conversation about engaging Hillsborough more before printing or marketing our tourism program. She shared that Hillsborough should be engaged on the front end so that the brand is consistent. Ms. Campbell reported that Chapel Hill and Carrboro both have a handful of hotels opening in the next year and there is concern that the influx of new rooms into the market may have an impact on rates due to an oversupply. VI. New Business Items a. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough’s Fiscal Year 2018 Draft Visitors Center Contract Budget Ms. DeGennaro said the projection for income is conservative and there is a new line item for special events. She also shared that there will be new items for sale at the Visitors Center gift shop. Expenses have risen slightly. She reviewed them. A new video needs to be developed for the Visitors Center. She is working on it with Ernie Dollar, a local historian. Ms. Campbell and Ms. DeGennaro are meeting with Orange County representatives to begin discussions about the renegotiation for the lease of the Alexander Dickson House. VII. Old Business Items a. Tourism Plan Goals Discussion Page | 3 Ms. Campbell reviewed the goal of the Tourism Board is to achieve its mission/vision and to administer and spend the tax revenue in a fiscally responsible way. She is asking the board to create strategies for achieving the goal of expanding tourism. The board discussed strategies. One would be to financially support Sunday and early week events. The board discussed encouraging businesses to open on Sunday. There was acknowledgment of the marketing component and that people would like to see Hillsborough marketed in a multifaceted way. Regarding agro-tourism, the board discussed better coordinating with local restaurants on getting the message out on how they are using local producers. There was a suggestion of brand cohesion or design concept on this. There was a suggestion of coordinating with the Piedmont Farm Tour. The board discussed the strategy of having a bright and vibrant downtown, including adding lighting like Brightleaf Square in Durham and improving the town Christmas tree. Ms. Campbell suggested annually recognizing someone in town who works in a local restaurant or retail store as a ‘Hillsborough Ambassador’. Member Hough suggested perhaps collaborating with other organizations on this. Vice Chairperson Myers said that would be a great project for the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners. The board agreed that they were not interested in pursuing such a program at this time. Regarding leadership and board development, Ms. Campbell said that it is important to get the members of this board to conferences to gain and share ideas. Chairperson McKee agreed and suggested a way to organize the last three strategies regarding this topic into one. This discussion will continue next month as “Old Business.” b. Renewing Contracts for FY18: i. FY 17 Hillsborough Arts Council FY17 $11,460/ FY18 Request $12,935 Ms. Campbell reviewed the Hillsborough Arts Council is requesting more money to pay more for bigger draw bands, to update branding and to update its website for more coverage of Last Fridays. When asked, Ms. Campbell said the Tourism Board’s projected income for FY18 is $316,000, which is up from the projected $312,000 last year. Ms. Campbell said income has been strong so far this year, but construction is starting downtown. If construction does not finish by the Page | 4 fall, that will hurt the total amount. The actual income for FY16 was $323,660. The board is on track to spend all of the $312,000 for this year. There was concern of how much the Hillsborough Arts Council plans to pay for bands. The Chamber of Commerce hired someone to book bands for the Sunday events that saved the chamber money, Member Tesoro said. Board members had other ideas on lowering that cost that included booking only local bands and using a local booking agent. ii. FY17 Burwell School Historic Site FY17 $20,727/ FY18 Request $25,615 There was a question about whether it would be possible to perform the Elizabeth Keckly play more times to generate income. Chairperson McKee said she believes the Keckly exhibit would be better suited in a grant since it’s more of a special project than the visitor services provided by the Burwell School. There was discussion that if that portion were moved into a grant, it would not be guaranteed approval. Vice Chairperson Myers said he would like to see data collected that shows whether the Tourism Board sees an increase in tax revenue when it increases funding for specific events (grants). These contracts are prioritized, and grants may be less funded. After this discussion, the board moved on to Item c because Vice Chairperson Myers needed to leave by 8 p.m. and the board would lose its quorum when he left. iii. FY17 Orange County Historical Museum FY17 $9,995/FY18 Request $12,500 There were no comments on the increases being proposed by the museum for FY18. c. Alexander Dickson House Water Bill and Budget Amendment Update Ms. Campbell reviewed discussions since the last meeting. The town has forgiven nearly $3,000 of water bills at the Alexander Dickson House, which serves as the Hillsborough Visitors Center and is owned by Orange County. The negotiation is for the Tourism Board and Orange County each to pay $3,976.54. Vice Chairperson Myers said when the lease for the building is renegotiated, more language should be included to address this type of situation. Ms. Campbell said she has not yet heard that the county has agreed to pay their proposed share. There was discussion of a payment plan. Page | 5 Motion: Member Hough moved approval of the Tourism Board paying half the bill. Second: Vice Chairperson Myers seconded. Vote: Unanimous Chairperson Myers excused himself from the meeting at 8 p.m. No board decisions were made after his departure because quorum was not met. d. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Board Meeting on March 28: Discussion Recap Ms. Campbell reported she met with the Alliance’s board. The discussion included pros and cons of three recommendations made during the last Tourism Board meeting. One recommendation was to move to a flat rate contract with the Alliance versus the current 60 percent allocation from the food and beverage tax revenue. A second recommendation was to move to two contracts: one supporting the work of the Alliance as a 501(c)(3) conducting heritage tourism programs and tours and a second contract supporting Visitors Center operations. The discussion with the Alliance board explained that neither the Tourism Board nor the Alliance knows exactly how much it costs to run the Visitors Center because the budgets and expenses are all together. The third item discussed was the revenue overage situation every year. In FY16, there was an extra $20,000 in revenues. The question is whether the funds go into the Tourism Board budget or the Visitors Center’s budget via the Alliance. Ms. Campbell said the Alliance’s board wants to amend the existing contract to address the budget overages, work through accounting best practices and start working on the larger changes with the goal of being ready for the 2020 contract renewal. Chairperson McKee said the discussion needs to include supporting efforts for historic preservation as well. It was acknowledged that if the Tourism Board does not give the Alliance enough time, it is setting the organization up for possible failure, as they may not have enough time to fundraise for operations costs. Chairperson McKee said she hopes that by 2019 the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough is able to work under two different budgets so that the two entities are ready to have two contracts in 2020. Chairperson McKee said she thinks budget overages should go into the fund balance. Member Tesoro agreed. VIII. Staff/Board Comments and Discussion Items i. Grant Documents Early Bird Review Stats Page | 6 Ms. Campbell said she has received one early bird grant application and the Historic Speedway Group has asked for assistance with the grant process. She said that she is happy to assist or answer questions from any grant applicants. IX. Adjourn Chairperson McKee adjourned the meeting at 8:13 p.m.