HomeMy Public PortalAbout09-05-2019 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 3
Minutes
Tourism Board
6:30 p.m. Sept. 5, 2019
Town Hall Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St.
Present: Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Mark Bateman, Barry Hupp, Billy Maupin, Tommy Stann, Jeff
Strickler and Kim Tesoro
Absent: Matt Hughes (Board of Commissioners representative)
Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell and Public Information Specialist Cheryl
Sadgrove
Guests: Bartow Culp, Sarah DeGennaro and Brooks Graebner
1. Call 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.
2. Agenda changes and approval
Campbell said Item 6A would include the Visitor Center’s fourth quarter report.
Motion: Member Kim Tesoro moved to approve the agenda with changes. Member Barry Hupp seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
3. Minutes review and approval
Minutes from regular meeting on Aug. 5, 2019
Motion: Hupp moved approval of the minutes. Tesoro seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
4. Action items
A. Update: Burwell School Financial Report
Brooks Graebner addressed the board. He said he has served for three years on the Historic Hillsborough
Commission, which operates the Burwell School. He will become the chair in October. He said the Burwell School
has returned to full operations with some changes. He said the commission can fulfill its partnership contract with
the Tourism Board and even has an increased capacity to fulfill the contract because the commission members
are taking an active role in serving as docents, greeters, brochure writers and event planners.
Graebner said the commission held two successful public events this summer. He said reserve funds had been lost
due to suspected embezzlement and fraud. He reviewed that the commission has hired an accounting firm to
create a financial report and that the report would be submitted to the Hillsborough Police Department. He noted
that the commission closed old accounts after discovering the fraud. The commission now uses online banking,
and separate people write checks and sign checks for greater oversight. He said a bookkeeping firm would be
hired for financial oversight.
Graebner said the commission is operating Burwell School without a paid director. Kate Faherty, a previous
Page 2 of 3
director, is helping to maintain the website and Facebook page and has also been training docents and greeters.
Graebner said the commission is in the process of moving from an advisory board to a working board and taking a
greater responsibility for overseeing the site.
He said the plan is to hire a site manager but not a director. The commission wishes to establish protocols to
screen, hire, supervise and evaluate employees before hiring the site manager.
Graebner answered questions. He said the embezzlement is believed to involve one person. The difference
between a director and a site manager is that the site manager will not be responsible for monied tours or
greeting people and instead will be an office manager. The site manager will answer emails, book tours, enter
data, get the mail and update the calendar. The public face of the Burwell School will be the commission rather
than the director.
The programming will be run by the commission. All programs and events for the next 24 months are in the
planning stages.
Campbell said the proposed budget is $139 greater than the previously approved budget so funds would have to
be transferred from the Miscellaneous line item to cover that.
Motion: Member Billy Maupin moved to approve the updated contract and scope of work for FY20. McKee
seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Motion: Member Jeff Strickler moved for approval of a budget amendment to move $139 from the
miscellaneous budget line item to the contract line item. Hupp seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
B. Secondary audit contract
Campbell said Hillsborough’s financial services director is hiring a second firm to split the auditing work. The
overall cost is not increasing.
Motion: McKee moved to approve the secondary audit contract. Strickler seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
5. Discussion items
A. Requiring annual audits for contract partners
The board discussed options for requiring audits or more financial oversight of contact partners. It was noted that
the Historic Hillsborough Commission is paying for a monthly review of the Burwell School’s finances. Members
said that was sufficient rather than requiring an annual audit.
Sarah DeGennaro, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, said there is a bookkeeping service
and a payroll service for the Visitors Center but no annual audit.
The board said it would be comfortable leaving it up to each organization whether there is monthly review or an
annual audit. Several board members agreed that third-party bookkeeping counts as an outside review.
Hupp said he would think an accounting firm would want an audit up front.
There was agreement that the board wants each organization to submit a letter from a third-party accounting
Page 3 of 3
firm stating that the finances have been reviewed. This would be a requirement to receive a contract for Fiscal
Year 2021.
Motion: Hupp moved to require a letter from a third-party accounting firm to receive a contract for FY21.
Maupin seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
The board requested that their staff notify contract partners of this change.
B. Policy for sponsored event cancellations
The board discussed making it clear that event organizers should not expect reimbursement from the Tourism
Board for money spent after Tourism Board approval but before approval of a Town Special Event Permit. The
Board also indicated that event organizers need to ensure that they have proper event insurance and
recommended that sponsored events have a rain date or some kind of makeup date so that events could still
proceed if there was a weather event. The expectation from the Tourism Board is that if the event does not
happen then their sponsorship funds will be returned in full.
6. Monthly reports and comments
A. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director and Programs Report; Visitors Center Communications Report;
Tourism Board Staff Report and Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau updates
Sarah DeGennaro gave an update on the reconstruction of the Occoneechee Village Site and indicated that they
are aiming for completion around the beginning on November. She indicated that there was not a
communications report this month due to a staff member taking a leave of absence.
Campbell said that she was still working with contract partner board chairs and vice chairs to find a meeting date
that would work for a majority of people. She already sent out one doodle poll, but would be sending another
shortly to find something workable to discuss how the organizations might better pool resources and/or merge.
B. Tourism Board member comments and updates
Tesoro announced that there would be a ‘Meet the Candidates’ forum on 9/26 at Hot Tin Roof for anyone
interested in meeting Town Board candidates, current and those running.
7. Adjournment
Motion: McKee adjourned the meeting at 7:31 p.m.
Vote: Unanimous