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HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-07-2021 Minutes Tourism Board Budget Public Hearing 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov www.visithillsboroughnc.com | @HillsboroughNC Tourism Board Minutes | 1 of 3 Minutes Hillsborough Tourism Board Remote regular meeting 5:30 p.m. June 7, 2021 Virtual meeting via YouTube Live Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Chair and Commissioner Matt Hughes, Vice Chair Kim Tesoro, Barney Caton and Cathleen Turner Absent: Mark Bateman, Nic Beery, Barry Hupp and Tommy Stann Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell 1. Call to order Chair and Commissioner Matt Hughes called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. with four members present. 2. Agenda changes and approval Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell added Item 5B regarding end of year budget amendments. The agenda was approved by unanimous consent. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from regular meeting on May 3, 2021 The May 3, 2021, minutes were approved by unanimous consent. 4. Public hearing Hughes opened the public hearing on the FY22 Tourism Board budget. Campbell noted that no one had submitted comments or signed up to speak. She also noted that no viable grant applications had been submitted so there was $10,000 for grants that had not been assigned. There was one application from a loose collective still working on achieving non-profit status, however they couldn’t meet grant disbursement requirements at this time. Campbell asked for thoughts on funding the parking study. Hughes said the town government should pay for more of it. Campbell asked for thoughts on designating $5,000 for the Holiday Parade. Hughes expressed support for this expenditure and added that Member Kim Tesoro should abstain from the votes on it because she is the chief executive officer of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce, which orchestrates the parade. Tourism Board Minutes | 2 of 3 Member Cathleen Turner asked if a formal request could be submitted for the parade. Tesoro said she believes she has already presented the numbers for the parade to the board before Turner joined the board. She added that the bigger ask was closer to $10,000. Campbell explained that it would be better procedurally for the Chamber to present a formal ask for exactly how much funding they need. She indicated that when the Tourism Board providing funding to support the parade previously that they only gave less than $5,000 because that was the limit of ‘Special Project and Partnership’ funding however she recalled that the Chamber reported that it costs closer to $10,000 to do the parade. It would be good to have exact numbers and what the funding is going towards. There was support for funding the parade with a formal request being made. Motion: Member Barney Caton moved to change the parking study funding to $0 until the Town and TDA figured out their portions and transfer $10,000 from grants to unassigned special project and partnerships. Turner seconded. Campbell called the roll for voting. Vote: 3-0. Ayes: Caton, Hughes and Turner. Nays: None. (Tesoro abstained due to conflict of interest with the parade discussion.) Motion: Tesoro moved to close the public hearing. Caton seconded. Campbell called the roll for voting. Vote: 4-0. Ayes: Caton, Hughes, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. Motion: Turner moved to approve the budget as amended. Caton seconded. Campbell called the roll for voting. Vote: 3-0. Ayes: Caton, Hughes and Turner. Nays: None. (Tesoro abstained due to conflict of interest with the parade discussion.) 5. Action items A. Isley audit prep contract Campbell said the cost has more to do with the amount of work involved than the amount of revenue or expenditures. She indicated that a more detailed email about how the costs are calculated went out to the board and that she has shared concerns over the cost of the audit with the town manager. Board expressed some additional reservations over the cost. Hughes noted the board has reservations about the costs of audit preparations and the audit every year. He noted that the town manager and new finance director should be invited to a meeting to discuss the costs associated with audit preparations and auditing. Motion: Tesoro moved to approve the audit contract. Turner seconded. Tourism Board Minutes | 3 of 3 Campbell called the roll for voting. Vote: 4-0. Ayes: Caton, Hughes, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. B. Amendments Campbell reviewed the amendments included increasing the amount of holdback to ensure the revenues do not exceed expenditures and $689 in miscellaneous revenue to account for some late food and beverage tax payments and penalties. Motion: Turner moved to approve the budget amendments as presented. Caton seconded. Campbell called the roll for voting. Vote: 4-0. Ayes: Caton, Hughes, Tesoro and Turner. 6. Monthly reports and comments A. Board comments and updates Campbell said the Visitors Center had paid for WRAL Spotlight ads that were generating a lot of click-throughs to the website. She shared recent social media posts and noted that the Visitors Center was reaching 1,400 to 1,500 people via Facebook posts without running ads through organic reach. She added that Hillsborough would be featured in a full-page ad in a magazine in Danville, Va., in June. Sarah Sandbeck, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, said she hoped to have the Visitors Center open for its pre-pandemic hours by Sept. 1. The board decided to meet July 12 instead of it’s scheduled July 7 meeting. 7. Adjournment Motion: Hughes adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Shannan Campbell Economic Development Planner Staff support to the Hillsborough Tourism Board Approved: August 2, 2021