HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-04-2018 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 3
Draft Minutes
Tourism Board
6:15 p.m. June 4, 2018
Town Barn, 101 E. Orange St.
Present: Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Vice Chair Matt Hughes, Tommy Stann, and Kim
Tesoro, Libbie Hough
Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell
Guests: Sarah DeGennaro, Alliance for Historic Hillsborough
Item 1: Call meeting to order
Chair Mary Catherine McKee called the meeting to order at 6:25 p.m. Economic Development
Planner Shannan Campbell confirmed the presence of a quorum.
Item 2: Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda
Motion: McKee moved to approve the agenda as is. Member Matt Hughes seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 3: Consideration of minutes from May 7, 2018, meeting
Motion: Member Libbie Hough moved approval of the minutes as presented. Member
Kim Tesoro seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 4: General public comment
There were no comments.
Item 5: New business items
a. At-Large Seat Interviews:
o Billy Maupin
Mr. Billy Maupin spoke a bit about himself and explained that his profession is with _________
as ___________ and that he enjoys being in Hillsborough. He said that he’s interested in
Tourism because he has a background in music and arts programming and he thinks that is
something that Hillsborough does very well. He says that he enjoys running on Riverwalk,
events at Mystery Brewing Co. and spending time at attractions in town. He said that he enjoys
the music events and would like to see
o Jae Furman
Mr. Jae Furman told the board that he was very interested in Hillsborough Tourism and said
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that he does tours and leads hikes on Riverwalk and at Eno River State Park for the Eno River
Association. He said that he really thinks that downtown needs better connectivity with all the
other commercial and residential parts of town. He read the Strategic Tourism Plan and thinks
there is also opportunities to collect and use more data about area tourism trends.
o Lindsley Bowen
Ms. Bowen explained that she owns a shop downtown and that she read the Strategic Tourism
Plan and was disappointed to see that there wasn’t more of a focus on local shops and
Hillsborough shopping. She said that she would like the Tourism program to acknowledge the
importance of the unique shops of Hillsborough in tourism and explained that it is part of the
reason many people come to visit. She said that she thought that both Mr. Maupin and Mr.
Furman would be great choices and she would like to recuse herself from consideration with
the consideration from the Tourism Board of her comments regarding more of an emphasis on
unique shops.
o Barney Caton
Mr. Caton was unable to attend and interview, however his application was available for the
board to review.
b. Contract Quarterly Reports- 3rd Quarter
o Visitors Center (Alliance)
Ms. DeGennaro indicated that revenues and expenditures were on target for the third quarter.
She explained that the detailed monthly information on the Visitors Center operations and
communications is in the monthly reports section.
c. Visitors Center FY19 Scope of Work/Budget/Highlights
Ms. DeGennaro indicated that the Visitors Center budget is $204,880.00 for FY19 which is
$201,000 Food and Beverage Tax and projected revenues from tours, special events, and the
gift shop. She explained that the scope of work remains unchanged from the revisions made in
November 2017 and that budget includes increases in the marketing line item, special events
line item, credit card processing fees, and a slight increase in salaries. There were reductions
made in health insurance costs due to plan changes to realize cost savings where possible. She
asked for any questions.
Ms. Campbell also said that Ms. DeGennaro had let her know that due to overage payments of
food and beverage revenues from 2014 to 2017 that the Visitors Center had accumulated a
small fund balance and that the Tourism Board would need to determine if they wanted those
funds back or if the Alliance should use these funds for projects at the Visitors Center or both.
She explained that herself and Ms. DeGennaro were going to work together to gather mor e
information on this and would report back.
d. Fiscal Year 2019 contract renewals and new contract RFP discussions
No updates or discussions.
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Item 6: Old business items
a. Adopt Tourism Board Fiscal Year 2019 budget
- Public Hearing
McKee opened the public hearing and asked for any public comment at 7:06pm. There were
none. McKee closed the public hearing at 7:07pm.
Motion: Hough moved to approve the FY19 budget as presented . Tesoro seconded.
Vote: Unanimous.
Item 7: Staff and board comments, discussion items and monthly reports
a. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director and Programs Report
The Alliance gave 8 tours to 62 participants. They also gave a school group tour to more than 60
elementary school students.
b. Visitors Center Communications Report
The Visitors Center had 621 visitors from 20 different states and 3 countries. Facebook
followers are up by 5, Instagram by 47, and Twitter by 21 persons.
c. Tourism Board Staff and Food and Beverage Tax Revenues Report and updates from Chapel
Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau.
F&B tax revenues were up 12.4% in March and overall up 6.25%. Special events held in town
attracting visitors were Art in the Heart of Hillsborough, Ladies Night Out, and the 1 st Nash Dash
Soapbox Derby.
Item 8: Adjourn
Motion: McKee moved to adjourn at 7:24 p.m. Hughes seconded.
Vote: Unanimous