HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-02-2018 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 2
Draft Minutes
Tourism Board
6:15 p.m. April 2, 2018
Town Barn, 101 E. Orange St.
Present: Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Libbie Hough, Matt Hughes, Erik Myers, and
Tommy Stann
Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell
Item 1: Call meeting to order
Chair Mary Catherine McKee called the meeting to order at 6:19 p.m. Economic Development
Planner Shannan Campbell confirmed the presence of a quorum.
Item 2: Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda
Campbell noted that the agenda needed to be amended to reflect that the public hearing on
the Tourism Board budget would be held in June and not May.
Motion: Board Member Libbie Hough moved to approve the agenda as amended. Vice
Chair Erik Myers seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 3: Consideration of minutes from March 14, 2018, meeting
Motion: Hough moved approval of the minutes as presented. Myers seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 4: General public comment
There were no comments.
Item 5: New business items
a. Grant reviewer training on Submittable
Board members took the online training and reviewed the Submittable platform.
Item 6: Old business items
a. Fiscal Year 2018-19 contract renewals and new request for proposal for Hillsborough Arts
Council:
• Hillsborough Arts Council — New RFP for Visitor Events/Programs
• Burwell School — Visitors Services
It was noted that there would be discussion about the Burwell School being open some
days over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The Board wanted the site to consider
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staying open for at least Saturday and Sundays during their regular December -January
closure period.
• Orange County Historical Museum — Visitors Services
b. Fiscal Year 2018-19 formal budget discussion, public hearing, and voting will be
in June.
Item 7: Staff and board comments, discussion items and monthly reports
a. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director and Programs Report
Campbell said that Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro was
unable to attend due to illness. Hough said that a new program s coordinator had been hired.
b. Visitors Center Communications Report
Campbell reported that the Historic Hillsborough tours have been taking place every Saturday
and are successful. Living History Day in February drew about 500 visitors to the Alexander
Dickson House and the grounds. Burwell School Historic Site hosted about 300 visitors, and the
Orange County Historical Museum hosted about 165.
c. Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Report
Campbell noted that Hough is serving a term vacated by another at-large member on the
Visitors Bureau. Also, Campbell reported that Jeff Strickler, vice president of UNC Hospitals
Hillsborough Campus, was organizing a workgroup that would include Hillsborough
representation to the Orange County Visitors Bureau to work on our collaborative efforts with
the Visitors Bureau.
d. Tourism Board Staff and Food and Beverage Tax Revenues Report
Campbell reported that she had been discussing advertising with WCHL The
Hill/Chapelboro.com. She indicated that they had approached her wanting to work with the
tourism program to market Hillsborough to Chapel Hill students and residents. She shared the
proposals by WCHL. Tourism Board members voiced concerns about the pricing being more
than they had anticipated and that the packages were very comprehensive. They asked
Campbell to get back with WCHL and see if there were more affordable options where they
could try out advertising with them and see what the return on investments were before
making any big commitments.
Campbell also reported that the food and beverage tax revenues increased in December and a
little in January and are up overall from the previous fiscal year by 6.25 percent.
Item 7: Adjourn
Motion: Board Member Matt Hughes moved to adjourn at 6:50 p.m. Board Member
Tommy Stann seconded.
Vote: Unanimous