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HomeMy Public PortalAbout10-01-2019 Tourism Board Minutes Regular MeetingPage 1 of 3 Approved Minutes Tourism Board 6:15 p.m. Oct. 1, 2018 Board Meeting Room, Town Hall Annex, 105 E. Corbin St. Present: Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Mark Bateman, Vice Chair Matt Hughes, Billy Maupin, Tommy Stann, and Kim Tesoro Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell Guests: Sarah DeGennaro 1. Call meeting to order Chair Mary Catherine McKee called the meeting to order at 6:18 p.m. Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell confirmed the presence of a quorum with six members present. 2. Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda Member Matt Hughes requested adding an item 4E regarding tourism representation on a chamber initiative. Campbell asked the board to add an item 4F to interview Barry Hupp of Whit’s Custard to fill a vacancy on the board and to table the item listed under Old Business. Motion: Hughes moved to approve the agenda as amended. Board Member Mark Bateman seconded. Vote: Unanimous 3. Consideration of minutes from Aug. 6, 2018, meeting Motion: Hughes moved approval of the minutes as presented. Bateman seconded. Vote: Unanimous 4. New business A. Contract quarterly report: Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2018 — Hillsborough Visitors Center Contract Sarah DeGennaro, shared some highlights from the quarterly report. She noted the income from guided tours had increased. She noted that a couple of events she had previously budgeted under heritage education were now under special events, which reduced the heritage education budget. She reported that the gift shop generated a profit of about $1,500 and that she had been hoping for $4,000. She said that new merchandise was ordered to sell. McKee suggested selling merchandise online with pickup in store only to increase sales without taking on shipping expenses. B. Reappointment of Kim Tesoro (Chamber of Commerce seat) Board Member Kim Tesoro said she was willing to serve again. Page 2 of 3 Motion: Hughes moved to recommend that the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners reappoint Tesoro. Bateman seconded. Vote: Unanimous C. Reappointment of Mark Batemen (restaurant/pub seat) Bateman said he would serve again. Motion: Board Member Billy Maupin moved to recommend that the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners reappoint Bateman. Hughes seconded. Vote: Unanimous D. Alliance FY18 Invoice and Payment Campbell reported that she requested reimbursement of Food & Beverage Tax revenues from the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough on behalf of the Hillsborough Tourism Board in the amount of $34,252.13 per the contract and budget for FY2018 between the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and the Hillsborough Tourism Board for the operation of the Visitors Center. The contract outlining the Visitors Services/Visitors Center expenses for FY2018 were $189,600.00 and the payments for FY2018 totaled $223,852.14 (60% of F&B revenues). The requested reimbursement is the difference in the budget to fulfill the contract and the remitted funds. Campbell said the overage money was added to the Tourism Board’s fund balance. E. Chamber of Commerce local affairs committee tourism seat Tesoro said the plan is to create a committee of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce with representation from the Hillsborough Planning Department, Planning Board, Historic District Commission and Tourism Board to discuss local issues and business. Hughes said he had talked with Tesoro about forming this committee. There was discussion about levels of authority of the various boards. Motion: Bateman nominated Maupin to serve. Hughes seconded. Vote: Unanimous F. Interview with Barry Hupp of Whit’s Custard Hupp introduced himself and said he would be happy to serve on this board if the board thought he was a good fit. He discussed his previous town and how it was similar to Hillsborough. He spoke a bit about his family and their business in town and his interest in tourism. Motion: Maupin moved to recommend that the Board of Commissioners appoint Hupp to fill a vacancy on this board. Member Tommy Stann seconded. Vote: Unanimous 5. Old business A. Strategic Tourism Plan — Implementation updates. This item was tabled. 6. Discussion items and monthly reports A. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director and Programs Report DeGennaro reported that about 800 people had attended the Picnic in the Park event in July. Work is Page 3 of 3 continuing on rebuilding the model of the Occaneechi Village in River Park. A pub crawl was hosted July 21. DeGennaro has selected a painter to paint the interior of the Alexander Dickson House the week after Christmas, so the Visitors Center will be closed then. Annie Newton joined the Visitors Center staff in July as the programs coordinator. There is interest in adding interstate highway signage for historic sites. B. Visitors Center Communications Report DeGennaro reported that the Visitors Center is offering guided walking tours every Saturday. Total net sales for July was over $1,000. Staff is working on future guided walking tours. One would be an African- American history tour. Campbell reported that there were promotions on Facebook for some of the summer events. The Visitors Center had 470 visitors in July. C. Tourism Board Staff Report and Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Updates Campbell reported that grant funds were disbursed for the first quarter and that contracts were finalized. She met with the new development director for the Orange County Historical Museum to discuss opportunities for fundraising and moving the museum forward. Campbell reported that the staff of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau met in Hillsborough in July and that she and DeGennaro spoke with them about avoiding using outdated photos of Hillsborough as well as colors and fonts that are not consistent with the Hillsborough tourism brand. She said that she and Visitors Center staff had put together a branding guide for the CH/OCVB and also advertisers to make sure that Hillsborough is branded consistently across the board. She mentioned that the Visitors Bureau is paying for an outside firm to help shape its current logo and branding for a ‘refresh’ of the Visit Chapel Hill/Orange County brand. Campbell went through the staff report and final Food and Beverage Tax numbers for fiscal year 2018 which were up about 7.5% or $25,894.67. There was a suggestion to report the number of restaurants in operation in a tax year to see if there is a correlation between an increase in revenue and an increase in number of restaurants. The Board also wanted to see some more granular data on restaurant increases and restaurant expansions from year to year. 7. Adjournment Motion: Hughes moved to adjourn at 7:34 p.m. Stann seconded. Vote: Unanimous