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HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-01-2017 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingTOURISM BOARD 6:15 p.m. May 1, 2017 Town Barn, 101 E. Orange St. Minutes Present: Chairperson Mary Catherine McKee, Vice Chairperson Erik Myers, Mark Bateman, Kathleen Ferguson, Libbie Hough, Matt Hughes, Tommy Stann, Kim Tesoro Absent: Kate Carroll Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell Guests: Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro, Hillsborough Arts Council Treasurer Gail Cooley, Burwell School Historic Site Executive Director Kate Faherty I. Call meeting to order Chairperson McKee called the meeting to order at 6:19 p.m. II. Agenda adoption Motion: Member Hough moved to adopt the agenda. Second: Vice Chairperson Myers seconded. Vote: Unanimous III. Consideration of minutes April 3, 2017 The minutes were not available for approval. Ms. Campbell explained that next month the board would have two sets of minutes to review. Motion: Vice Chairperson Myers moved to table the minutes approval until the June meeting. Second: Member Hough seconded. Vote: Unanimous IV. General public comment There were none. V. Monthly reports a. Alliance director’s report Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro said the March number of visitors was lower than the previous year. The Alliance is now counting phone calls received each month, which is part of the report. The walking tours are now $6 a person instead of $5 a person, which does not seem to affect the popularity of the tours. Tickets can be purchased online and at the Visitors Center. For the heritage education programs, two volunteers led 40 students from Eno River Academy on a walking tour. Page | 2 The Alliance worked with the Hillsborough Cemetery Committee on a Hillsborough cemeteries exhibit at the Visitors Center. Ms. DeGennaro has been working on the North American Travel Journalists Association conference with Ms. Campbell and Mayor Tom Stevens, which will take place May 16 and 17. She attended the State of the Town Address, and she and Ms. Campbell continue to work on the water bill situation for the building that houses the Alliance and Visitors Center. b. Visitors Center communications report Ms. Campbell reported there has been media coverage of the Occoneechi Village replica rebuild. The Visitors Center has more followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. After the flooding, everything is reopened except the dog park at Gold Park. The play took place at the Stickwork sculpture during Last Fridays. Ms. DeGennaro added there would be a replica rebuild workday on the following Saturday. Ms. Campbell reported there was a Twitter party for an hour the previous week for the North American Travel Journalists Association. Businesses interested in participating could join in. She shared the hashtag. c. Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau report Ms. Campbell reported the Visitors Bureau is working on its live trails map and app. The bureau has hired a contractor to consider expanding indoor recreation possibilities in the county. An A.C. Marriott is opening in September. Vice Chairperson Myers said he spoke at the Visitors Bureau meeting, challenging the bureau to better support the beer scene in Orange County. d. Food and beverage tax revenues report Ms. Campbell explained that a Food & Beverage tax report in new, but that she will be tracking the revenues monthly and providing this information to the board. She reported the revenues are higher than they were last year at this time by about 8%. She said that hopefully the revenues will continue to remain strong. Also, Ms. Campbell will be attending a Mountains-to-Sea Trail conference in Elkin, N.C. The Tourism Development Authority is covering her expenses. VI. New business items a. Quarterly reports from contracted organizations Ms. DeGennaro said in the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough report, donations to the Alliance should say $86.22 and not $1,086.22. Also, in expenses under “Friends of the Historic Hillsborough Alliance,” that expense is Alliance-specific and should not have been included in the quarterly report. Ms. DeGennaro said Page | 3 payroll taxes did not get amended. The Alliance is spending more than expected on health insurance. Ms. Campbell said Orange County, the Town of Hillsborough, and the Alliance are discussing the Alexander Dickson House’s high water bill. Member Tesoro said she had spoken with someone on the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee who asked to see a summary of what took place because that committee is seeing similar issues. Ms. Campbell said the town is going to craft more specific language for the water and sewer policy, but that there may be more room for sewer charge forgiveness since the used water went into the ground and not the sewer system. Hillsborough Arts Council Treasurer Gail Cooley reported the Council is fairly on target with its budget. The biggest surprises are with administration, which the Tourism Board does not pay for. She mentioned that the Last Fridays mini flier with a map on the back is helpful for visitors. She reported that individual vendor fees at Last Fridays are flat, but the price went up for paying for the entire season (get one free vendor spot and priority placement as an incentive). Now the vendors pay the Town itinerant merchant permit fees directly. The council decided not to try to sell beer at Last Fridays this year due to permitting, insurance liability, and costs. The council has tentatively reserved the Whitted Human Services Center for Last Fridays when it rains. Burwell School Historic Site Executive Director Kate Faherty reported the annual fundraiser was very successful and that tickets sold out. Staff are focused on a good summer and the Elizabeth Keckly bicentennial celebration in 2018. There was no one present to speak for the Orange County Historical Museum. Ms. Campbell summarized the written quarterly report. Among other highlights, she noted that the museum had 1,248 visitors this quarter. b. Renewing contracts for Fiscal Year 2018: i. Hillsborough Arts Council FY18 $12,935 ($1,475 increase over FY17) Ms. Campbell summarized that the Arts Council is asking for more money for the bands, which are bringing their own sound equipment, saving some in that line item. It was noted that if the bands do not bring their own sound equipment, that line item increases. She included some information from the Arts Council explaining that they’d like to spend more on bigger bands with more of a regional draw then the local bands that play regularly in the bars in town. She said that the Arts Council thinks this will have more of a tourism vs. only resident draw for Last Fridays. ii. Burwell School Historic Site — FY18 $25,615 ($4,888 increase over FY17) Page | 4 Ms. Campbell reviewed that the increase is for the Keckly bicentennial celebration. The Burwell School’s staff said they are interested in doing the Keckly play again, but the play cannot be ongoing because of the actors’ and directors schedules and all the coordination it takes to do the plays. iii. Orange County Historical Museum — FY18 $12,500 ($2,505 increase over FY17) Vice Chairperson Myers noted that the requested increases from these three organizations is 15 percent more over last year. The total in requested funding for the three is $51,050. The projected income of the Tourism Board is 8 percent more than last year. So, if the Tourism Board fully funds these contracts, then there will be substantially less available for grants for FY18. There was discussion of shifting $5,000 in Special Projects and Partnerships to Grants. That way, after June 30 when FY17 closes, the Tourism Board could choose to place money back in the Special Projects and Partnerships line item. Member Ferguson said she thinks the requests are reasonable and it makes sense to support the mission of the Tourism Board. Motion: Vice Chairperson Myers moved to approve the contracts as requested and presented. Second: Member Ferguson seconded. Vote: 8-1. Member Bateman opposed. c. Review and score grant applications for FY18 The board discussed the Eno River Farmers Market Spring Celebration and wondered what the ticket price would be. There was discussion about information missing from the application that the Tourism Board felt was needed. Vice Chairperson Myers said in the future he would like to see the math calculated for how much food and beverage tax would need to be generated to cover the event and divide that by the number of people the event organizers expect to draw. Member Tesoro expressed concern that the scoring is based on how well the application is filled out rather than on how much of an impact the proposed event would have. She said that she would like to see additional metrics for next year’s grant program, since organizations will get better at providing information and filling out the applications. Page | 5 Member Tesoro noted for the record that she recused herself from the discussion and scoring of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce grant application. Member Hough noted for the record that she recused herself from the discussion and scoring of the Historic Eagle Lodge Foundation because it is partnering with the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough. Regarding this item, Member Ferguson said she believes the proposal for visitor information panels installed at the Eagle Lodge would draw people who do not normally come out to events, leaving a permanent piece that increases visitor engagement on the downtown walking tours. Vice Chairperson Myers said he does not see where the Tourism Board has funded signage through grants and he does not believe the expenditure of these funds would generate tourism. Vice Chairperson Myers and Member Stann recused themselves from the Optimist Club of Orange County’s Hillsborough Hog Day Event since they are both sponsors and have a monetary in stake in its success. Member Hough suggested that next year this group share its budget so that the Tourism Board can see what projects are funded by the profits from the event. Ms. Campbell indicated that much of the profits from the event go to charity. She said that she will get that information for the board. Some members suggested that perhaps Orange Community Players be moved to a contract. It was agreed that discussion would take place later in the FY18 fiscal year. Regarding the ukulele concert proposed by the Orange County Historical Museum and Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County, there were questions of why any amount of money was being requested when there would be ticket sales that would bring in more revenues that it would take to hold the event. Member Ferguson said she did not want grants to be used as a pass-through mechanism for donations. Vice Chairperson Myers said he wondered how this would support local music venues when it is not held at a local music venue. Members noted that the WHUP-FM/Yep Roc Records proposed event lists Hillsborough hotels for its visitor information. There was agreement that this event would definitely support tourism. Page | 6 Regarding the Hillsborough World Exposition proposal, Ms. Campbell noted required documents were missing from the application. After discussing the July meeting date to give Ms. Campbell time to calculate the scores, Ms. Campbell shared the scores for each grant proposal. The board discussed whether to use special project funds to supplement the grant funds so that they could fund the top scorers. Member Bateman expressed concern about not funding the Sundays in Hillsborough and about scoring the applications on how well the application is written rather than on how much good the event would do for tourism in Hillsborough. He indicated that one of the strategies being discussed is to work on Sunday and early week tourism in town and this would support that. Vice Chairperson Myers said part of this is to have a consistent process. Chairperson McKee suggested the board could spend some time this year on revising the scoring system to align with the strategies it’s creating for the Tourism Plan. Board members expressed hope that the applicants who did not receive funds would ask the Tourism Development Authority for funds if their project could produce ‘heads in beds’ hotel stays or encourage weekend length visitation. Motion: Vice Chairperson Myers moved to fund everything scoring 3.6 and more by amending the grants budget to cover that amount, pulling the money from the Special Projects and Partnerships line item. Second: Member Hough seconded. Vote: 7-2 Mark Bateman and Libbie Hough opposed. Chairperson McKee asked to put the grant application scoring on the August agenda. Also, Member Hough suggested clarifying discussion at that time about whether decimals are OK in scoring (ie. scoring something a 3.25 instead of a 3 or 4). The following events were funded:  $1,000 to the Historic Eagle Lodge Foundation for visitor information panels.  $1,474 to the Hillsborough Arts Council for the Art Walk at Last Fridays.  $5,000 to the Hillsborough Arts Council for a River Park concert featuring bands, vendors, and booths in August.  $10,000 to the Optimist Club of Orange County for Hillsborough Hog Day, a two-day event in September featuring a barbecue cookoff, live music, car show, vendors, local artists, and crafts in River Park. Page | 7  $8,100 to Orange Community Players for a production of the musical “Annie” in July.  $10,000 to WHUP-FM radio station and Yep Roc Records for the Yep20 Celebration Music Festival, a three-day festival in October with an event at The Cloth Mill and a music festival at River Park. Some board members expressed concern about giving funding to organizations through the grant process that are already funded with a contract. Some expressed concern about approving the museum and Burwell School Historic Site contracts without pushing those organizations to have Sunday hours. Board members want to see Sunday hours in the contract for FY19. Some board members expressed additional concern about the Hillsborough Arts Council paying what they feel is too much for the bands for the Last Friday’s event. VII. Old business items a. Tourism Plan strategies discussion (continued) The board agreed to give feedback before next month’s meeting. Motion: Chairperson McKee moved to make it homework for next month. Second: Member Ferguson seconded. Vote: Unanimous b. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough contract update i. Next steps and timeline Motion: Chairperson McKee moved to move this until next month. Second: Vice Chairperson Myers seconded. Vote: Unanimous Ms. Campbell indicated that she would send an email reminder on the ‘homework’ for the Tourism Plan and what the contract update item entailed. VIII. Staff/board comments and discussion items The board decided to meet July 10 instead of July 3. Motion: Member Hough moved to meet July 10. Second: Member Tesoro seconded. Vote: Unanimous Ms. Campbell said that she would need to secure another location for the July 10th meeting, since the Town Board would need to use the Town Barn if they decided to meet in July. IX. Adjourn Chairperson McKee adjourned the meeting at 9 p.m.