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HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-08-2019 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 4 Approved Minutes Tourism Board 5:45 p.m. April 8, 2019 Town Hall Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St. Present: Chair Mary Catherine McKee, Barry Hupp, Billy Maupin, Tommy Stann, Jeff Strickler and Kim Tesoro Absent: Mark Bateman and Matt Hughes Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell and Public Information Specialist Cheryl Sadgrove Guests: Sarah DeGennaro 1. Call to order Chair Mary Catherine McKee called the meeting to order at 5:53 p.m. Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell confirmed the presence of a quorum. 2. Agenda changes and approval The agenda stood as presented. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from regular meetings on January 14 and March 4, 2019 Motion: Member Billy Maupin moved approval of both sets of minutes. McKee seconded. Vote: Unanimous 4. Action items A. Reappointment of Tommy Stann to a restaurant/pub seat Campbell explained that she had miscommunicated with Stann and that he wished to be reappointed to the board. Motion: Member Barry Hupp moved to recommend Stann be reappointed to this board. Maupin seconded. Vote: Unanimous 5. Discussion items A. Special projects/partnership funding: Nash Dash 2019 updated budget with income Campbell said the organizers of the Nash Dash Soapbox Derby hope to make enough profit to pay for their event next year and become self-sustaining. The organizers are asking the Board of Commissioners for approval to close some streets at a meeting later this evening. Campbell said she had not yet given the organizers the funds approved by the Tourism Board because she was waiting for the Board of Commissioners to approve the street closure and special event permits first. Campbell shared that the police chief had recently expressed concern because someone was badly injured in a similar event somewhere else. The organizers have secured event Page 2 of 4 insurance. B. Visitors Center FY19 mid-year budget adjustments Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro briefly reviewed the adjustments. She noted that guided tours are making more money than expected but that heritage education is bringing in less money than expected. C. Visitors Center FY19 second quarter report DeGennaro reported that revenue was on target. She said the guided walking tour brochures sell well, as do postcards. She noted that a significant amount of money was spent restocking the gift shop. There are plans to install additional lighting to spotlight the merchandise because it is dark in the gift shop. There are also plans to add another table to better display merchandise. D. FY20 Visitors Center draft budget DeGennaro reviewed the draft budget document. She noted that the contract between the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and the Tourism Board will be amended so that the Visitors Center receives a fixed amount instead of a percentage of the food and beverage tax revenue. This will not take effect for the FY20 budget. Campbell and DeGennaro said careful data tracking has been done to calculate the amount of time that Alliance employees work on Visitor Center duties which are separate from other Alliance duties to determine how many FTE’s each would need to operate and how funding the salaries should work when the contract renewal comes up. Member Kim Tesoro arrived at 6:30 p.m. E. Orange County Historical Museum development plan and financial analysis Campbell reviewed that at a previous Tourism Board meeting she had asked Stephanie Pryor, executive director of the museum, about the museum’s strategic plan because the Tourism Board gave the museum additional funding in FY19 to develop and implement a development plan to fundraise for their organization and become more sustainable long term. The strategic plan was included in the Tourism Board agenda packets. Campbell noted there is no timeline for implementation. Member Billy Maupin wondered if the museum has not been conducting a monthly audit because No. 9 of the plan indicates audits have not been done. McKee wondered what the museum’s board thinks of the plan because the plan has not been adopted by that board. She also wondered how the museum would recruit more active members, as the plan calls for more active members. There was a suggestion that Pryor, who was not present, could speak at a future Tourism Board meeting about the possibility of the museum merging with another organization. It was then suggested that DeGennaro update the board on merger talks. DeGennaro said the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough was approached in the fall about the possibility of a merger Page 3 of 4 with the museum. Cathleen Turner and Virginia Smith from the Alliance met with Ernie Dollar, chair of the museum board, to talk about this. DeGennaro said that the conversation in the fall ended with Dollar saying he would discuss other options with Orange County. She said there have been no further talks. DeGennaro said we have a lot of good, important organizations needing the same things. We need to be more creative and think about how we can support each other, maybe in a different model. There was brief discussion about the possibility of local nonprofit organizations pooling together to provide health insurance for their employees. Tesoro said it is difficult to make future decisions about funding the museum without seeing how the additional dollars given in FY19 were spent and whether or not any fundraising has been done per the plan. Campbell suggested she could start by organizing a small meeting with the museum, perhaps with one Tourism Board member and one Alliance board member also to discuss what the desire is to merge. She also said she can reach out to the museum to ask how the extra $10,000 given in FY19 was spent. McKee said the Tourism Board allocated the $10,000 for a fully implemented development plan and this plan is not yet approved by the museum’s board. Campbell suggested the museum be asked to give a full report to the Tourism Board in addition to the smaller meeting she would organize. F. FY20 grant applications — Discussion of eligibility of Orange Community Players Campbell explained that she wanted to check with the board whether this group is eligible to ask for another grant because the play changes every summer but is still a play and there are limits on how many times the Tourism Board will fund a repetitive event. The board decided that because Orange Community Players did not ask for money last year, this request would be the fourth in 10 years, so it qualifies for review. There was brief discussion that the intention of these grants is to get an event started and the event should eventually not need tourism funds. The board requested to discuss this item again after budget season. Motion: Maupin moved to accept the application. Hupp seconded. Vote: Unanimous G. FY20 contract renewal partner updates Campbell said the Burwell School Historic Site staff had made a clerical errors on its update and she hoped to be able to share the update in the next couple of weeks. She indicated that the cut & pasting had significantly altered the formatting and there were questions lost/unanswered. Regarding the Hillsborough Arts Council’s Last Fridays event, Tesoro said some merchants and restauranteurs have reported that the louder, more popular bands are attracting people to stay on the courthouse lawn instead of visiting the shops and restaurants. Tesoro also noted that these more popular bands cost more, so she is wondering whether the Arts Council would do anything differently. Campbell said the council had spoken with merchants and restauranteurs about redirecting the speakers and having the bands encourage people to get up and walk around. Page 4 of 4 There was brief discussion about the Burwell School idea to host a band on the Burwell School lawn occasionally on summer evenings. There was some thought that too many venues are trying to offer music in Hillsborough. 6. Monthly reports and comments A. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director and Programs Report (February) DeGennaro said that she is seeking people interested in serving on an African American history review board. This is to move forward with planning an African American history walking tour. She noted the Alliance is partnering with Music Maker Relief Foundation for a day of remembrance in May. She briefly reviewed other upcoming events. B. Visitors Center Communications Report (February) Campbell reported Facebook followings were up for February. She noted Hillsborough receives a lot of repins on Pinterest. She briefly shared highlights of the written report. C. Tourism Board Staff Report (February) and Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Updates Campbell briefly shared highlights from her report including recent ideas for Ad campaigns from the Visitors Bureau marketing agency. D. Tourism Board Member Comments and Updates The next meeting will take place at 6:15 p.m. May 6, and there was a check-in that everyone can sign into Submittable to see the grant applications. 7. Adjournment Motion: McKee adjourned the meeting at 7:35 p.m. Vote: Unanimous