HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-05-2018 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 7
Draft Minutes
Tourism Board
6:15 p.m. Feb. 5, 2017
Town Barn, 101 E. Orange St.
Present: Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Vice Chair Erik Myers, Kim Tesoro, Mark Bateman,
Kathleen Ferguson, Libbie Hough, Matt Hughes and Tommy Stann
Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell
Guests: Executive Director of Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Sarah DeGennaro,
Hillsborough Arts Council Board Chair Neil Stutzer, Burwell School Executive
Director Kate Faherty, Burwell School Site Manager Rhonda Tucker, OC Historical
Museum Executive Director Stephanie Pryor, OC Historical Museum Board
Member Ernest Dollar.
Item 1: Call meeting to order
Chair Mary Catherine McKee called the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m.
Item 2: Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda
Motion: Vice Chair Erik Myers moved to approve the agenda as presented. Board
Member Mark Bateman seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 3: Consideration of minutes from Jan. 9, 2018, meeting
Motion: Myers moved approval of the minutes as presented. Bateman seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 4: General comment
There were no comments.
Item 5: Monthly reports
a. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director’s Report:
Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro reported that:
• 465 visitors were counted at the Visitors Center in December.
• The Visitors Center and Mike’s Art Truck hosted a reception for artist Irene Tison.
• DeGennaro and Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell met with
representatives from the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail regarding
Hillsborough potentially hosting an annual conference in 2019 and 2020.
• DeGennaro continued to attend the Holiday Home Tour meetings.
• On Dec. 8, DeGennaro attended a listening session hosted by the Orange County
Arts Commission to hear about the needs of the arts community.
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Regarding programs, DeGennaro reported that:
• Volunteers gave 60 hours of time in December, which was fewer hours from the
previous December. Volunteers helped with visitors services, Christmas
decorations and the Santa event.
• The Santa event had a great turnout. More than 60 people came and gave a
donation. People had a choice of taking their own photos or asking a
photographer to take the photograph. The event was the same day as the
Holiday Home Tour. There is interest in offering pictures with Santa several
Saturdays in December 2018.
• The holiday blood drive was cancelled on Dec. 21 due to a mechanical failure of
one of the bloodmobiles.
b. Visitors Center Communications Report:
DeGennaro reported that the format of the communications report in the agenda
packet has changed as suggested by the new communications manager, Matt Novik.
“Visit Hillsborough” had 7,924 Facebook followers, which was an increase of 30.
DeGennaro said Novik is doing great work and an awesome job with Facebook.
Committee Member Libbie Hough said Facebook’s algorithms have recently changed, so
if Novik has any pointers to share with the Alliance’s partners, that would be a good
service.
The top posts on Facebook were the Our State Magazine Speedway link and the Volume
ribbon-cutting.
The number of Instagram followers increased to 1,984. Twitter also saw an increase.
There was not a change in Snapchat and Pinterest.
c. Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Report:
There was no meeting in December.
d. Tourism Board Staff and Food and Beverage Tax Revenues Report:
Campbell reported that:
• She had been working with the chamber, with DeGennaro, to promote the
holiday events in town.
• She created a commercial flyer of everything happening in Hillsborough around
New Year’s Eve.
• She and DeGennaro met with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail conference organizers.
• She met with the Chamber and police to talk about the Holiday Parade, what
went well, and identified improvements for next year.
• The October food and beverage tax revenue was up 3 percent. The revenue is up
from Fiscal Year 2017 overall, and Campbell would like to increase the budget
projections for Fiscal Year 2019.
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Item 6: New business items
a. Quarterly reports from contracted organizations
• Hillsborough Arts Council — Last Fridays
Hillsborough Arts Council Chair Neil Stutzer noted there are no Last Fridays
events in the winter, so he has less to report this quarter, but there is planning
for the future season. The council is surveying teens for additional programming
ideas. The council is not sure about children’s programming because it was not
funded through a grant from the Orange County Arts Commission. Three bands
are contracted to provide music in April, May and June for Last Fridays. The
council is gathering statistics on volunteer hours and also putting out a survey for
vendors from last year to see what they can improve for the following season.
• Burwell School Historic Site — Visitors Services & Programming
Executive Director Kate Faherty reported:
o It’s been a good year and very busy. She handed out the brochures for
the Elizabeth Keckly bicentennial year.
o The number of visitors are up for this quarter. The number of school
groups is down, and she supposed this was due to either changes in
curriculum or funding for field trips or both. Most school groups are
public school groups, mostly from Orange County. Commissioner
Kathleen Ferguson suggested contacting the NAACP to encourage the
school field trips.
Faherty reviewed:
o The hours the historic site is open, with extended hours for Last Fridays,
children’s programs, live music and partnerships with the Alliance, such
as the teacher’s tea event. There was also a history tea and a musical
holiday tea, and the Burwell School hosted the Hillsborough Garden Club
holiday event. The school also hosted a fundraising event called
Artrageous where people could buy donated art for $99 that was very
successful. Fatherty noted that fundraising efforts were going very well.
o The marketing plan, followers on Facebook and Twitter, and upcoming
events related to the Elizabeth Keckly bicentennial celebration were
shared.
• Orange County Historical Museum — Visitors Services & Programming
Museum Chair Ernie Dollar introduced the new director, Stephanie Pryor. Dollar
said the museum has had a rough couple of months and has changed directors,
but he thinks there is an incredible opportunity to reinvent the museum. Dollar is
interested in making the museum as a bigger player in Orange County by
revamping programming. He thinks there is a way to reintroduce a heritage
museum in a much better way. The museum is expanding its mission and looking
at modernizing heritage tourism, he said. He has been talking to a lot of people
about why they come to Hillsborough. Dollar said he would like to work more
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closely with the Tourism Board. The amount of money the museum has received
from the Tourism Board has gone down, he said. In 2001, the Tourism Board
gave the museum $20,000. Last year, it was down to $10,000. That’s a telling
sign of how the museum interacts with this board, he said. The museum’s board
approved a budget in July that was $24,000 over budget. Dollar thinks if the
museum can get a better building and better programming, it could be a regional
draw. He said that the museum is working on a strategic plan that it hopes to
share soon.
• Alliance for Historic Hillsborough — Visitors Center/Services
Campbell noted the financial report was in the agenda packet and DeGennaro
presents a monthly report. DeGennaro said she did not have any additional
highlights.
b. Preview first draft of Fiscal Year 2018-19 Tourism Board budget
Campbell noted this board will be working on a new contract for the Hillsborough Arts
Council for Fiscal Year 2019 and a new contract with the Alliance the following fiscal
year.
Campbell would like to increase the overall budget projection to $335,000, which is still
$12,000 less than revenues received last fiscal year. She has not heard an answer from
the Town’s Finance Department regarding her request to raise revenue projections yet.
If revenue fell short of projections in the next fiscal year, Campbell said she would dial
back the Tourism Board’s spending in areas so that the board would not over-spend.
Campbell said some of the increase in projected revenue would go to increasing the
contract for the Visitors Center to a little over $200,000. That increase would go toward
increased marketing dollars and possibly having a part-time position to staff the Visitors
Center on weekends. An increase in projected revenue could also go to the grant and
special partnerships line items for next year.
c. Resolution formally adopting town finance policies
Campbell explained the independent auditing firm with which the town contracts would
like the Tourism Board to formally adopt the financial policies of the town. She noted
differences between the way this board has been operating and some of the formal
town policies. She indicated that for the most part the Board operates in line with Town
policies so it’s more of an internal process change.
Motion: Hough moved for approval. Ferguson seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
d. Renewing/initiating contracts for FY19
Campbell said she needed some direction in preparing the new RFP for the Arts Council
contract.
• Her questions regarding the Hillsborough Arts Council included: Should there be
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a new request for proposals for visitor events/programs? What has the Tourism
Board funded historically? What do we ask the Arts Council to do to move the
tourism program forward?
Ferguson said from the Town Board perspective, that Last Fridays and the Art
Walk are major branding for the town and the Board of Commissioners wants to
make sure the events are fully funded and supported.
Campbell noted this contract is a little different from that with the Burwell
School Historic Site and Orange County Historical Museum because the latter
two have a building that needs to be staffed. If this board is unsure of the
direction, she can create a draft proposal that is aligned with the other two
contracts and then seek feedback from the board. The board agreed that they
would like staff to draft the RFP and provide comments on that.
• Burwell School Historic Site — Visitors Services
Campbell asked for comments or revisions for Fiscal Year 2019.
Ferguson asked whether the site could be open around Christmas and New
Year’s. Faherty answered it could be but the number of visitors at that time in
the past was too low to warrant staying open. The building is also expensive to
heat in January. Campbell asked if anyone else wants to explore that. Tesoro said
the Chamber would love for the Burwell School to at least be open on weekends
at that time of year.
• Orange County Historical Museum — Visitors Services
Campbell asked for comments or for requested revisions for the upcoming fiscal
year.
Ferguson said she is excited to see the vision of where the museum is going.
Hough suggested that for the next quarterly report, the museum share how the
areas of the museum that the Tourism Board supports fit with the board’s
strategic plan so it can be more supportive.
e. Start request for proposals and contracting process with Alliance for Fiscal Year 2020
contract renewal
Campbell reported she and DeGennaro have talked about separating the Visitors Center
expenses from the Alliance expenses and that’s already underway. She’ll draft a request
for proposals for the Visitors Center operation. She confirmed with the board that they
wanted to support/provide funding for some of the Alliance given tours.
Item 7: Old business items
a. Nominate chair and vice chair
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Motion: McKee offered to continue serving as chair. Myers seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Motion: Board Member Mark Bateman nominated Ferguson to serve as vice chair. Hough
seconded.
Motion: Unanimous
b. Draft grant cycle schedule for Fiscal Year 2019
Campbell reviewed that the board would be using a grant submitting program called
Submittable, discussed at the last meeting. She plans to have the grant cycle open Feb.
12 for five weeks with the possibility for adding a sixth week if needed.
Ferguson asked when there is time in the schedule for a presentation evening. Board
members who attended the last meeting explained they had decided not to have a
presentation night in this grant cycle because there were not clear parameters on what
the presentation would be, if it would be required or optional, how long it would be,
and how grant applicants would make their applications and presentations congruent if
they conflicted or were different in major respects.
Campbell reviewed that the questions on the application would be the same as last year
with the addition of two or three questions added at the last meeting and some which
were requested after the close of the last grant cycle. The board expressed general
approval of the grant and scoring cycle.
Item 7: Staff/board comments and discussion items
Campbell asked if the March 5 meeting could be rescheduled because she will be attending a
conference out of town. There was consensus to move it to March 14.
Campbell reported that a company called AirDNA had been hired by the Chapel Hill/Orange
County Visitors Bureau to report on the impact Airbnb is having on local hotels. The report
found that Airbnb is not taking away from hotel occupancy overall in the market.
Hillsborough’s occupancy tax revenue is down. Campbell and the Tourism Development
Authority will explore why and whether it is just one property or lodging type or multiple.
Ferguson said it would not surprise her if the hurricanes had affected travel. McKee noted
Campbell needs to check whether a hotel was renovating.
Campbell noted there was discussion at previous meetings about how to create greater
accountability with grant funds. The board has discussed doing reimbursements rather than
funding upfront and requiring receipts and invoices. Board members asked if the financial
policy resolution approved earlier in this meeting would require the reimbursement model
rather than upfront funding. Campbell indicated that she did not think so. She said she has
concerns that reimbursements will be too onerous for staff and small volunteer organizations
and she will see what tourism boards in other places are doing. Member Hughes suggested that
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Campbell reach out to Nick Breedlove with Jackson County, NC TDA.
Hough requested an agenda item for next time to come to a consensus on the board’s process
and expectation of entertaining questions from guests outside of public comment. Ferguson
added that she would like to discuss the structure of the agenda and moving the “meat” of the
meeting earlier on the agenda.
Tesoro asked about next steps in the town addressing possible changes in the sale of alcohol
during events. Campbell said staff needs to get back to that. It may be on the agenda of the
Feb. 26 Board of Commissioners meeting but that the Town needed to review the changes to
the policy that the County had adopted.
Item 8: Adjourn
Motion: Hough moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:38 p.m. Myers seconded.
Vote: Unanimous