Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-20-2021 Minutes TDA Regular Meeting 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov www.visithillsboroughnc.com | @HillsboroughNC Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 1 of 7 Minutes Hillsborough Tourism Development Authority Regular Meeting 1:00 p.m. May 20, 2021 In-person meeting, outside of Town Hall 101 E. Orange Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278 Present: Chair Matt Hughes, Dani Black and Kim Tesoro Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell 1. Call to order Chair and Commissioner Matt Hughes called the meeting to order at 1:40 p.m. Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell confirmed the presence of a quorum. 2. Agenda changes and approval Hughes noted the agenda stood as presented. 3. Minutes review and approval April 14, 2021 Vote: 3-0. Ayes: Black, Hughes and Tesoro. Nays: None. 4. Action items A. Audit Prep Contract (Isley) Campbell reminded the board that this board and the Tourism had some questions for the auditing firm and the Town regarding who does what work for the audit, why there are two auditing firms involved, and why the costs are so high relative to the revenues and expenditures for both boards. She referenced an email that went out to all members of the Tourism Board, TDA, and included the auditors and Town Manager that explained that the Town’s Finance department does some initial work to close the books for the fiscal year, then Isley will come in and check through everything, make any necessary adjustments, pull together documentation, and then Cherry Bekert comes in to perform the audit. The reasons the costs have gone up over the last few years is due to a change in local government financial laws and procedures that requires that one firm do the preparation work and another do the audit as well as those firms getting into the books and finding out how many billable hours are actually needed to do both pieces of the audit. She explained that this cost should be leveling out now for FY22 but that the Town manager is aware of the concerns of the boards’ regarding the costs of their audits particularly as compared with their revenues and expenses. Legally, the boards’ are required to have an audit. Motion: Black moved to approve the audit preparation contract. Tesoro seconded. Campbell called the roll for voting. Vote: 3-0. Ayes: Black, Hughes and Tesoro. Nays: None. B. FY22 Budget Presentation, TDA Goals and Strategic Planning Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 2 of 7 Campbell indicated that she had sent out the enabling legislation for the TDA after prior questions about what the board can and cannot allocate funds to. She said a majority of the money is required to be spent on marketing/tourism but this is broad and not specifically defined, however the board and staff would have to feel very confident about any spending decisions, so for example, funding construction of a new school is very clearly not a tourism or tourism marketing expense that the TDA could allocate funds to. Past projects that the TDA has allocated funds for include: mural at Volume, Sundays in Hillsborough concert series (with the Chamber), Sponsorship of Riverpark Concert marketing, and mural at News of Orange. Black asked why the FY21 estimates for revenue were so high. Campbell explained that the FY21 estimates column are not good estimates because the budget office over- estimates year end revenues to make the budget work. She said the final numbers will come with the audit in the Fall. Board members asked questions on what types of things were assigned under which line items for the budget. There was a suggestion from the Board that the budget be reorganized to reflect expenditures in a more concise way. They are currently just listed in alphabetical order by line item account name but they could be broken down into operations, administration, marketing, programming etc. and then also showing each expenditure as a percentage of the budget. Additional discussion on the cost of the audit as a disproportionate percentage of the TDA’s total budget took place. The board agreed that with such a limited budget spending so much on operations and auditing did not leave much funds left over for spending on marketing and tourism, which is the main purpose of having a TDA. Tesoro motioned at 2:02pm to take a 5-minute break and relocate on the lawn due to some loud pest control work happening on the Town Hall building. The meeting resumed at 2:08pm. The Board discussed the possibilities of combining the work of the TDA and Tourism Board to realize cost savings. Staff expressed that it may not be possible due to special enabling legislation for both of them to be able to collect their respective tax revenues. Tesoro asked for any knowledge staff had on opportunities for future development where hotel/motel growth could happen so that occupancy revenues could grow. Campbell explained that the Town could support at least one more if not two full-service hotels given the population and proximity to the interstates. The locations would likely be at I-85 near Hampton Pointe, I-85 at the former Daniel Boone Village site, or at I-40/Waterstone. There also could be the opportunity for another boutique hotel and/or bed and breakfast facility in downtown or west hillsborough. Tesoro indicated that if this board sees potential for hotel/motel growth in the future that could make this board more profitable and more able to support tourism then we should start to plan strategically for doing more marketing and projects but if the revenues continue to remain stagnant then it may not make sense for this board to continue on. The board discussed upcoming events in the Fall. Tesoro shared that the Chamber may not continue doing Sundays in Hillsborough because it’s purpose was to try to get more folks into downtown and west hillsborough on Sundays but some businesses don’t want to open up and others reported that it didn’t do much for their business when they did open. Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 3 of 7 Black indicated that it was a good event and probably did generate some additional business but it will probably take a few years to catch on. She said that Last Fridays was the same way. Tesoro said that the Chamber doesn’t have any staff at the moment and she’s not sure they’ll be able to transact Sunday concerts. She said that what the Arts Council is doing with Last Fridays and having pieces of that around town is phenomenal because it forces people to move around vs. camp on the courthouse lawn. Tesoro said if the TDA is going to spend $10K she’d rather it go towards some kind of focused marketing campaign for shopping/staying in Hillsborough. Hughes said that the TDA needs to focus on what brings people to town. He said that he didn’t really consider the murals a tourism draw, but it clearly is for some people. Black agreed that murals are a draw. Hughes said that if the TDA needs to hire a consultant for a marketing plan we could. Tesoro asked if Hughes meant a consultant for marketing or to identify what all draws people into town. Hughes aid both if needed. Black indicated that she noticed that the rack card only promotes hotels. She said that we should be marketing the AirBnB’s in town as well since they remit the tax but also because there are some really beautiful and unique places to stay in town. She gave examples of 2-3 that have good photography. Tesoro and Hughes agreed and thought that it would be good to have a rack card that featured AirBnBs. Campbell indicated that it may be hard to get in touch with some of those owners and have them agree to be featured because AirBnB and VRBO and the like are still ‘underground’ and while Hillsborough allows them, many municipalities do not see their value the way we do. It’s also hard to get correct addresses for these properties because they don’t give you the address until you book it. Hughes suggested a possible internship project whereby an intern in an area hospitality program could help us identify and do outreach to short term rental owners as well as maybe go to a handful of events throughout the year and survey eventgoers as to their demographics and where they live/are coming to Hillsborough to visit from and why. Black indicated that she thought that Durham Tech in addition to local universities might have a hospitality program we could tap into. Tesoro agreed that gathering more visitor data would be helpful. Tesoro added that it would be helpful to work with lodging management to create packages and a story of why to come to Hillsborough. Packages might entice people to spend the night and generate more heads in beds. The TDA should look more towards what are the draws and how can we package them to entice people to stay. Campbell indicated that some of the marketing and advertising that the TDA runs tell that story. For example, the radio ad TDA sponsors in the High Country invites you to stay in Hillsborough and enjoy fine dining, unique shops, hike the Riverwalk, take in a live concert, etc. She said that it could be expanded on. Black said that Hillsborough’s central location could be leveraged as well. She and Tesoro discussed a campaign encouraging family reunions in Hillsborough and available accommodations that could suit a large group and activities to create a nice weekend together. Tesoro said that giving funds for supporting events is good but more marketing efforts would also be helpful. Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 4 of 7 Campbell showed a TDA run ad in the Carolina Heritage Guide which is aimed a folks interested in history that depicted a historic site, trails/greenway, shopping and dining. Tesoro noted that the lodging piece was missing but that she generally does like the ads that tell a story and has seen many of them, but the TDA ads need the lodging piece emphasized more heavily. Black asked if we market town for retreats or conferences. Campbell said yes somewhat but because our event centers and lodging options can’t really accommodate anything over about 250+ people it’s not done widely. She said that she had put in a bid a few years ago for the Mountains to Sea trail conference and the organizers didn’t think any of our spaces were ideal for ballroom and breakout conference space. There was also some concerns because we don’t have nearby camping and only had 2 commercial hotels at the time. Their biggest conference came in around 300 people. She said it may be worth looking into smaller conferences and retreats in the future. Tesoro said that speaking to more event/conference space bring us to a long term goal that various organizations in town have been chasing which is to establish some kind of performance space, preferably with some classrooms or breakout rooms. She said that Orange Community Players wants that, the elected officials want it, she was on a committee at one point that was looking at forming a non-profit to try to move it forward, the OC arts commission has talked about it and a location has been explored at various places throughout the years as well. Board members discussed various venue locations, challenges, and opportunities with having a large rentable flexible space available for conferences and events. Tesoro said it might be helpful to discuss with Katie Murray what OC arts commission is doing since they are the most recent organization to explore the idea. Tesoro motioned to take another 5 minute break at 2:52pm. Meeting re-started at 2:58pm. Tesoro and Black said that it may be worth marketing for leadership trainings, retreats, large meetings with the concept that you could stretch the event across multiple venues. Hughes said that the museum has discussed using it’s space for rental events, ie. a location for Chamber business hours one night, hosting a ‘night at the museum’ event, etc. Campbell said that down the line there will be a flexible room at the train station similar to the annex. Campbell went back through the projects and marketing TDA discussed to this point which included getting tourism information into short-term rentals, creating a short-term rentals rack card, marketing Hillsborough as a centrally located place where you can have a family reunion, retreat, or small conference, working with lodging partners to encourage and create packages including places to stay and things to do, and potentially get an intern to gather some visitor data and demographics at events in the fall and spring. And a long term goal for continued exploration of the feasibility of a large flexible performance space. Hughes asked how much, if any, marketing the TDA does to Danville or Southern Virginia. Campbell said that usually at least once a year they place an ad in a Danville paper or magazine with a travel theme for that month. Hughes said that the OC artists guild is looking for ads and marketing in their upcoming brochure for the artist’s studio tour that may be a good marketing opportunity for the TDA to promote staying in Hillsborough. Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 5 of 7 Tesoro said that the TDA needs to think about marketing Hillsborough for lodging during the upcoming county-wide arts festival next summer through OCAC. She said that she’d like to see a targeted marketing campaign letting folks know that we’re a venue for weddings, family reunions, and meetings themed around our lodging options. Black said that if there were a print ad run it could look like a menu with like courses, but instead it’s places to stay and things to do menu options. Tesoro motioned to move $10,000.00 from ‘Special Projects and Partnerships’ under Sundays in Hillsborough to ‘Advertising’ under Targeted Marketing Campaign. Hughes suggested a social media campaign asking ‘what is your favorite place to get X?’ to crowd source information or suggestions for things to market. Tesoro asked what would it look like to use that $40,000 Special Projects and Partnership mobile stage funds that were allocated and not spent on maybe programming the HAC stage trailer to go around town to different locations on the weekends and/or fund some ticketed live performances that then could generate revenue that could then be put toward establishing a permanent performance space. The initial ask was to purchase a nice mobile stage to try and support the arts and live performances and that is still needed. Hughes let the board know that live outdoor music has become a discussion item recently due to the noise it generates, but that he supports live outdoor music within the noise ordinance limits because it’s pleasant. Campbell indicated that the HAC would have to be on-board with doing that/managing on-going programming of their trailer for that purpose. Black said that she would in general like to see more activities aimed at young people. It would be nice to see like a Friday night teen dance or something in the pavilion at Gold Park. Hughes remembered that Stephanie Trueblood had been asking about finding funding to build a skatepark. Tesoro asked on using the $40,000 in Special Projects and Partnership money if that could go towards site plans and/or building plans for a performance space. Campbell said yes, once a location is determined since it’s for a tourism purpose that money could probably be justifiable put towards the development of a performance center space. Black asked about federal funds that may be coming for tourism. Campbell said that ARPA money hasn’t been allocated yet but it’s worth a discussion when we know more. The board discussed various locations where a performance space could be go which included structures that town/county may move out of, the train station location, the Eno Mill, other possibilities. Black said a performance venue would definitely have a positive impact on tourism because when people go to shows in Raleigh they don’t want to drive home and then end up staying at hotels in Raleigh. The board discussed various grant and loan opportunities becoming available for hospitality and small businesses. Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 6 of 7 Campbell suggested that a next step be to invite Katie Murray to a meeting to discuss what she’s already worked on exploring at the Mill and then maybe have a large stakeholder meeting. Black said that we need to identify what everyone wants/needs and what we need to accomplish it. She said that it would be worth hiring a visual facilitator for a stakeholder meeting so we can figure out what exactly we want. She indicated that she’s worked with visual facilitators before and it’s been extremely helpful. Campbell said that if this is a long term project then maybe this is something that TDA dedicates a certain amount of funds to every year to keep the project moving because it’s going to need feasibility analysis, location siting, site plan and construction drawing development, and construction before you’re ready to open something and then during all that you’ll need to establish who’s going to own it, who’s going to manage it, and so on. Tesoro said yes it’s good to have a budget and some income to lay a foundation to make something happen. Everyone is always excited about this as an idea but it needs to be carried through to completion and you need funding to do that. The board discussed reaching out to HAC to see if they’re interested in doing some mobile/trailer stage programming in the future as an on-going program and reaching out to the Chamber on how to partner to market Hillsborough as a business meeting destination. Black indicated that the TDA needs to work on their mission and vision statements and start thinking about the ‘why’. The ‘what’ is the list of things to do to move things forward. Hughes expressed interest in learning why the Town originally pursued establishing a TDA. Campbell said she would look into this. Tesoro said that to her a majority of what the board does is marketing and potentially this longer range plan of perusing a performance facility. She agreed that the TDA would benefit from establishing a mission and vision. 5. Monthly reports A. Staff report and occupancy tax revenues reports Campbell said she did not have any updates as the board met a few weeks ago. B. Board comments No comments. 6. Adjournment Motion: Hughes moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:02 p.m. Tesoro seconded. Vote: 3-0. Ayes: Black, Hughes and Tesoro. Nays: None. Respectfully submitted, Shannan Campbell Economic Development Planner Tourism Development Authority Minutes | 7 of 7 Staff support to the Hillsborough Tourism Development Authority Approved: September 22, 2021