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HomeMy Public PortalAbout09-08-2020 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 3 Minutes Tourism Board (Remote) 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8, 2020 Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Chair Matt Hughes, Barney Caton, Barry Hupp, Tommy Stann, Kim Tesoro and Cathleen Turner Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell Guests: Sarah Parris 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 There were no changes. Motion: Member Barry Hupp moved to approve the agenda as presented. Member Cathleen Turner seconded. Vote: 6-0. There was no roll-call vote. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from the Aug. 3, 2020 meeting were not ready. 4. Presentations There was none. 5. Discussion items Fiscal Year 2021 unfunded items prioritization Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell shared the list of unfunded items, which totaled $62,958.50. She said the food and beverage tax revenue was down significantly at the end of FY20. If revenue remained that low for FY21, then it was possible none of the items on this list could be funded, she said. Member Cathleen Turner pointed out that she thought the decimal was in the wrong place for the end of year percentage. Campbell apologized and said she would review her calculations and correct any errors in the spreadsheet formula. She explained that the Finance Department does not do the report, that they just give the gross receipts numbers for each month. The end of year numbers will usually be a bit more because restaurant owners sometimes pay a few months of prepared food and beverage tax in arrears at one time, will pay late fees, etc that are not reflected in gross receipts. She indicated that final numbers would be available for FY20 in the annual audit. Member Kim Tesoro said August was a bad month for retailers and restauranteurs. Tourism Board Minutes | 2 of 3 Hughes suggested using the board’s Submittable software to rank the funding priorities. He then said that a parking study conducted now would not include observations of where people are parking to visit downtown businesses because so few people are visiting downtown. He said some programs may not be able to take place due to COVID-19 and so it may be best to remove events from the list altogether. Tesoro agreed with Hughes that some events may not be feasible now. She said it looks like it will be quite challenging to safely do a holiday parade. Campbell said the list was created in May or June and may already seem outdated given how quickly things are changing. Tesoro said she thinks local businesses would be interested in the board addressing parking, although it’s not an immediate problem because business is down. Hughes suggested that a request for proposals could be made for the parking study now and released later. He suggested the items of highest priority on the list are the biodock, kiosk signs, and the parking study. Turner agreed that the kiosk signs are a priority because people are visiting Hillsborough. She also spoke in favor of supporting the grant book project that would feature Hillsborough architecture. Tesoro agreed that the kiosk signs would be helpful for visitors now, as would the biodock, which would provide a better kayak launch. She said money spent during the pandemic should be beneficial in the short term. She is less certain that the architecture book will generate customers for Hillsborough businesses. Campbell said she will explore putting the list into Submittable so that members can rank their priorities. 6. Discussion items Update from COVID-19 contract subcommittee meeting. Hughes said the subcommittee had met and was working on a draft contract addendum. Campbell said the addendum clearly states that the board expects the contract partners to reopen as soon as permitted, to provide quality programming, to encourage visits, and to provide specific information for the quarterly reports. The contract addendum is expected to be an action item on the October agenda. 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 Campbell screen shared the FY20 revenue. She reported that the Orange County Visitors Bureau had created a Welcome Back to Hillsborough slideshow video. The bureau is continuing a local advertising campaign. Sarah Parris, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, added that the Hillsborough Visitors Center would be opening the following day, Sept. 9. It would be open Wednesday through Sunday for limited hours. One group of visitors at a time would be allowed to enter the building. B. Tourism Board and staff comments and updates Tourism Board Minutes | 3 of 3 Tesoro asked members to take photos of themselves supporting local businesses in their masks and to tag #visithillsboroughnc to encourage others to come out to local businesses. 8. Adjournment Motion: Member Barney Caton moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:08 p.m. Turner seconded. Vote: None.