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HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-03-2020 Minutes Tourism Board Regular Meeting Hillsborough Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 919-296-9477 | shannan.campbell@hillsboroughnc.gov www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov www.visithillsboroughnc.com | @HillsboroughNC Tourism Board Minutes | 1 of 6 Minutes Tourism Board (Remote) 5:30 p.m. Aug. 3, 2020 Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Matt Hughes, Mark Bateman, Barney Caton, Tommy Stann, Kim Tesoro, and Cathleen Turner Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell Guests: Sherry Appel (OCHM), Brooks Graebner (Burwell School), Torey Mishoe (Arts Council), and Sarah Parris (Alliance) 1. Call to order Chair Matt Hughes called the meeting to order at 5:36 p.m. and noted there was a quorum. 2. Agenda changes and approval Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell added an item to consider that Member Kim Tesoro be reappointed to serve another term. Motion: Member Mark Bateman moved to approve the agenda as amended. Member Barney Caton seconded. Vote: 6-0 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from the June 22, 2020, special meeting. Member Cathleen Turner noted that the meeting date needed to be corrected on the minutes. Motion: Bateman moved to approve the minutes as amended. Member Tommy Stann seconded. Vote: 6-0 4. Presentations A. Contract partners quarterly reports (fourth quarter) 1. Hillsborough Arts Council Torey Mishoe, executive director of the Hillsborough Arts Council, said the council is working on a virtual art walk and is promoting what the artists are doing individually. Some artists are offering virtual events, and others have opened their studios to the public. She said it was noted that some people ventured downtown for the last Friday evening in July, curious to see what was open. She hopes to have information on which galleries are physically open for the last Friday in September. Mishoe reviewed that the council did not hold Last Fridays from April to June. About $6,700 of revenue was lost for the council by canceling those events. She said that a streaming of a band worked fairly well for July and was used as a fundraiser. She said the intention for the July streaming event was to connect the community. Tourism Board Minutes | 2 of 6 Mishoe added that the council was planning to develop some online handmade parade workshops. Bateman expressed frustration with the council paying full price for a band to play virtually. He said bands are willing to play for a quarter of what they usually would charge in a virtual setting. Hughes asked if they were paid the original amount. Mishoe said bands aren’t paid until they play, so only one band has been paid. Mishoe said Bateman is right that artists and musicians are desperate for money right now, but part of the council’s mission is to support artists. The council does not feel comfortable paying a quarter of the usual price when they are struggling to book gigs. Bateman said the council already overpays bands and he feels the council should repay money to the Tourism Board for the fourth quarter of FY20. Mishoe said the remaining balance of Tourism Board money given to the Hillsborough Arts Council is about $3,000. She reminded the Tourism Board that the council lost about $6,700 due to canceling Last Fridays events so they are in the red on the program overall. 2. Orange County Historical Museum Sherry Appel, chair of the board for the museum, addressed the board. She shared that an information rack is placed outside the building each day for visitors who may be interested in what is available. She noted that currently the museum cannot be open under the executive order. Appel said the museum has hired a museum/program coordinator and a site manager. She shared upcoming exhibit ideas and the FY20 budget and actual expenditures. She said the museum has spent the money it received from the Tourism Board for general operations as outlined in the budget. 3. Burwell School Historic Site Brooks Graebner, chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, which operates and maintains the Burwell School Historic Site, addressed the board. He reviewed videos made during the pandemic, social media efforts, and a YouTube channel. The videos are expected to be used to enhance in-person visitations once they can resume. Hughes invited Graebner to talk about the FY21 budget. Graebner said the site now has a $9,000 grant through CARES money. He said some budget categories have changed to improve transparency with partners and for the commission, at the suggestion of the hired auditing firm. No changes are anticipated in the way the site spends money. Hughes asked for the process through which the site will spend CARES money and how the site qualifies for it. Graebner said the commission saw a general posting in May from the North Carolina Humanities Council that some CARES money was being directed to museums to provide salary and operational support. 5. Action items A. Fiscal Year 2020 contract partner unused funds discussion Tourism Board Minutes | 3 of 6 Bateman said he understands everyone is having a hard time. He disagrees with the Hillsborough Arts Council paying full price for bands and wants to discuss this more with them, even if they do not have any unused funds to pay back to the Tourism Board. Turner said performance is performance. She supports the council’s decision to pay the bands full price. She doesn’t understand what Bateman wants the council to do. Bateman said he wants the Arts Council to operate more businesses-like and realize where there can be cost savings. Mishoe said only one band has performed, and it was paid out in FY21. She said she gathered more information while the meeting was taking place. The band was paid 50% of what it would have been paid for a live Last Fridays event. Bateman said he has a longstanding problem with the Arts Council not negotiating for the price of bands but paying whatever is requested. Mishoe said there’s a new team in place this year to hire the bands, and they are trying to create revenue- generating events. Hughes doesn’t think the Tourism Board should ask the partners to return money if they have already spent it in good faith to continue tourism efforts. He would vote no. Tesoro said the discussion should be about determining the proper expenditure of the money during this time. She thinks this discussion should at least cover the last quarter of FY20 and the first quarter of FY21. There was discussion that some of the requirements placed upon the contract partners by the Tourism Board are to have the sites open to the public, which is not possible when the state mandates museums and historic sites to be closed. Stann said what he’s heard tonight is the Tourism Board is not asking for money back; rather, the board is asking partners to make changes as they operate during the pandemic. He said his restaurant is operating at 50% and Bateman’s bar cannot open at all, so the Hillsborough Arts Council should not pay bands full price for virtual concerts with Tourism Board money. He added that he still has 100% of rent and utilities for his restaurant and he cannot pay all of his usual staff. Hughes said he understands what Stann’s saying, but the Tourism Board would not have much to spend the money on if it was returned. Mishoe said asking the bands to play for a quarter on the dollar would not be right. She re-iterated that the band that was paid for the first FY21 Virtual Last Friday was paid less than they would usually pay for a live concert. Motion: Tesoro moved to hold the contract partners harmless on any unused funds in the FY20 contract and to release them from the full obligations in their contract from March- June FY20 because the governor’s executive order for the COVID-19 pandemic restricts what they can do. Stann seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Bateman, Turner, Tesoro, Caton, Stann. Nays: None. Abstention: Hughes, as a Board member for the Orange County Historical Museum. Tourism Board Minutes | 4 of 6 B. Fiscal Year 2021 COVID-19 draft contract adjustment considerations addendum Campbell proposed an addendum instead of having to amend the contracts with each partner several times throughout the pandemic. She said the town attorney has reviewed this and agreed that it was fine legally. The board discussed adding a provision that would cover other acts, such as hurricanes and natural disasters. There was brief side discussion about whether the Burwell School is an appropriate place to host discussions about race. Hughes expressed some concern. Turner and Graebner spoke about the Burwell School team’s effort to broaden interpretation. Graebner said the school did not always do what it could have done and now people are making the effort. Hughes said he did not mean to cast aspersion, but he thinks it’s important to talk about the black community that once lived along the Eno River and that was removed by local government. He wants to attract more diversity at the historic sites. Stann said there is also a lack of political diversity in Hillsborough and that lots of people view Hillsborough as a place that’s ‘not for them’ and the Tourism Board should work on that image more. Appel said the Occaneechi exhibit at the Orange County Historical Museum is about the continuation of the members of the tribe who have continued to live here and contribute. Returning to the addendum discussion, Tesoro said she thinks states of emergencies happen frequently. Despite storms and such that cause states of emergencies to be declared, she said, the partners have a responsibility to the taxpayers to spend the Tourism Board money the way they’ve agreed to spend it. Turner agreed storms are much more temporary and the pandemic deserves an isolated approach. When asked, Campbell said F&B revenue is down about 15 to 20% during the pandemic months. Campbell thinks virtual events are good because it keeps Hillsborough in people’s minds and helps people know that Hillsborough is doing things. Also, virtual events might be reaching a new audience. Tesoro wanted to know how much the Hillsborough Arts Council raised through the event where a band was streamed. Mishoe said attendance was about 700 and she did not yet have the dollar amount. She added that virtual events fulfill the council’s mission and benefit the town. Stann pointed out that virtual events don’t bring people to Hillsborough restaurants; however, he sees the value in letting people know that Hillsborough still exists. He likes that. Stann suggested funding the partners less until museums can open. Campbell pointed out the board had already agreed to fund the partners for FY21 so that would be a separate board action and the board would have to determine by how much they’d want to reduce the amounts. Tesoro agrees with what Stann is proposing. She doesn’t see why one would fully fund events that cannot take place. She said that they did not now how long this would go on when approving contracts for FY21. Mishoe pointed out that quarterly reports reflect how the money has been spent on each event/program. Tourism Board Minutes | 5 of 6 Hughes suggested creating a subcommittee of three members to talk about these issues and add language to the addendum that dictates when the organizations need to reopen and that they need to continue to promote tourism even when closed. Motion: Tesoro moved to table this item to a subcommittee. Discussion: Hughes suggested Turner and Tesoro serve on the subcommittee. Bateman suggested Stann. It was explained that four members is a quorum, which is why the subcommittee was proposed to include three members. Motion: Tesoro amended her motion to table this discussion focusing only on the COVID-19 pandemic and not on other states of emergency situations to a subcommittee to include Stann, Turner and Hughes. Turner seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Bateman, Turner, Tesoro, Caton, Stann, Hughes. Nays: None. C. Reappointment of Tesoro (added item) Motion: Stann moved to recommend that the Board of Commissioners reappoint Tesoro. Caton seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Bateman, Caton, Hughes, Stann, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. 6. Discussion items A. Draft scope of work for review and comment: Hillsborough Holiday Parade and tree lighting Campbell noted a typo where Hillsborough Arts Council was written instead of Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce. She said this board was asked by the chamber to contract for the event. The chamber originally did this event to help the businesses, but it’s more of a tourism draw now. Some food businesses see an increase in customers that night, but most retail shops are closed during the parade. The chamber has asked the Tourism Board for financial support for the coordination of this event. She added that she and Tesoro are talking about how this event would be carried out. Usually planning would have started in July and they don’t even know if it’s going to be feasible to have it this year. Tesoro said the parade is not loved by the business community and takes a lot of chamber staff hours. Turner asked what kind of funds would be used to financially support the project and whether a report exists from the December 2019 event. Campbell said that she could share that information at a future meeting. She thinks she included details about the 2019 event in her January 2020 staff report. She said that the Chamber estimated needing about $8,000. 7. Monthly reports and comments A. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director and Alliance Programs reports; Visitors Center Communications Report; Tourism Staff Report and Orange County Visitors Bureau Updates Sarah Parris, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, said that although the Visitors Center is not open, there is information available for visitors on the porch and staff has been answering the phone and responding to emails. She noted more people had been calling in recent weeks with an interest in visiting Hillsborough. The Visitors Center staff has also been making an effort to sell merchandise by offering curbside pickup and local delivery as well as by shipping Hillsborough-themed merchandise packaged as gift boxes. Campbell added that the “Find Your Calm in Hillsborough” advertising was being used more now that some places had opened. She shared that a future advertising campaign would emphasize that Hillsborough is a safe place to visit. For that campaign, a photographer has taken photographs of people wearing masks in Tourism Board Minutes | 6 of 6 Hillsborough businesses to depict both owners and patrons being cautious. She said videos would be forthcoming. B. Tourism Board and staff comments and updates Campbell reviewed that the prepared food and beverage tax revenue was down 20% in March, 13% in April, and 16% in May. Campbell added that Billy Maupin had resigned from the Tourism Board because he is no longer with Redeye Worldwide. She noted the board has two vacant seats. 8. Adjournment Motion: Hughes moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:14 p.m. Vote: None.