HomeMy WebLinkAboutclosed_caption14:00:32 Yeah, it was summertime, had to go.
14:00:38 Alright, I'm gonna turn the recording on⦠See, do we have a forum? 1, 2, 3⦠for⦠that is a core. Okay?
14:00:53 Just missing Clone and Dan right now, so I will call this meeting of the Tourism Coordinating Council to order.
14:01:01 As this is a special meeting, we can't, uh, um⦠add or change the agenda, so we'll kind of cue straight to it, and we'll start off with introductions, and I'll⦠let's start
on the Zoom room and ask members of the group, I'll call you out, you can⦠if you can just say hi, who you're with, Diana?
14:01:20 Wanna say hi?
14:01:21 Sure, Diana Smelland, uh, resort at Port Leva.
14:01:26 Is he a Diana? Amy?
14:01:28 Hey, I'm Amy Neal over at the Clay Life Lodge.
14:01:31 Welcome, and Steve?
14:01:34 Steve Shively with⦠Gateway Visitor Center, and I see my name is, uh⦠from another meeting, so I'm going to change it so it says Steve.
14:01:43 Yeah. Yeah. Great, good to have you, Steve. And in the room?
14:01:48 Caitlin Friedman community member in Worthington Park? Yeah. And David Terra and Norfolk Canal Chamber of Commerce, and Cobar B. Parks and Country Store. Good to have you, Dan,
and I'm Greg Brotherton, District 3 County Commissioner, and maybe the other one to say hi. Deputy Clerk of the Board.
14:02:06 Uh, and we have a couple members of the public with us. If you want to say hi, you can unmute yourself, and we'll give you an opportunity to say hi, or you don't have to.
14:02:16 Um, but we will give you an opportunity to continue to talk as we move on to the next item on our agenda, which is public comment. So would anyone from the public like to, uh.
14:02:26 Make a public comment. Mr. Tirche? You know, 3 minutes.
14:02:32 Well, good afternoon, everyone. I wanted to mention a couple of things about the meeting itself.
14:02:39 Uh, I was trying to find⦠looking through your agenda, I was trying to find out if there were Any discussion materials that were distributed.
14:02:47 And I was unable to find any, and it looks like there are a couple of significant action items that you intend to take final action on.
14:02:54 And, uh, so it's kind of disappointing that none of that information was available to the public to to see and to, you know, uh⦠help understand the discussions and decisions
that are being made.
14:03:05 So, um, uh, just a point for the future, for future meetings, I think that would be Pretty darn important. The second thing that I was having difficulty with is I had some information
that I wanted to submit in writing.
14:03:21 As a matter of public comment. Which then would have to be distributed to all the members.
14:03:27 Uh, unfortunately, there is no email address provided for your committee.
14:03:32 Uh, anywhere that I could find on the county's website. Um, the, you know, there's not even, like, an email for the chair of the committee.
14:03:42 Uh, so that's⦠that's problematic, and in fact. That's a problem with the open Public Meetings Act.
14:03:49 Potentially, because you're supposed to be⦠Providing an address, not just an email address, but also a mailing address.
14:03:56 So that the members of the public can, in fact, provide you with input prior to your discussions.
14:04:01 So, again, disappointing Well, I'll leave it at that, but I really hope you can clean all that up for the future.
14:04:13 Thank you, Mr. Kirish, and we'll respond to public comment after we hear all the public comment. Anyone else from the public like to make comment today?
14:04:23 I'd like to make public, probably, even though a member. Sure. So, since it's not on the agenda, I'll kind of bring it up as public comment. Um, in recent Board of County Commissioners
meetings, I think that our chair, Greg, has talked about stepping back from tourism-relatedâ¦
14:04:38 Chairmanship of this committee in LTAC, I think that's a mistake. I think we embarked upon a tumultuous but rocky change in the way that we're doing things.
14:04:48 And I would personally like to request that you stick with it till the end.
14:04:53 I think it would be sad if we⦠Web through all of this, only to end up back at the default of where we were. We just need to find a way to take some of the good but challenging
ideas and move forward with them, and agree to disagree on the ideas that some of us feel incorporated.
14:05:08 So, that's my comments. Thank you for that, Dan. Anyone else like to make public comment today? Jesse?
14:05:16 Oh, no, did Jesse have her hand up? I can't see it.
14:05:22 Yes, go ahead, Jesse.
14:05:22 Yeah, I did. Um, I just had some corrections to your minutes.
14:05:28 Um⦠It's⦠they're nitpicky ones. It says NPR, and it should be NPR.
14:05:37 Yep.
14:05:35 As in master-planned Resort. Um, and then there's no⦠notes in⦠or no, um⦠mention of the discussion of the transit station.
14:05:49 Um, so I thought that was kind of a⦠oversight, since it was⦠uh, you know, brief discussion during the meeting while I was there.
14:06:00 Yep. Good point, Jesse.
14:06:09 All right, any other⦠Comments today, public comments?
14:06:17 Welcome, Cleon. We have Cleon Telling join us, too. In person?
14:06:25 Find a parking spot. Oh, yeah, yeah, trial day today, sorry, it's not usually like this I'll make one more call for public comment.
14:06:36 They're just weak.
14:06:38 Yeah, go ahead. Gene, did you have a public comment?
14:06:44 Um, it would beâ¦
14:06:50 We're struggling to hear Eugene.
14:06:58 Bâ¦
14:07:05 We really can't hear you. We heard a little bit of drawled out.
14:07:10 Consonant.
14:07:16 Can you, uh⦠I don't know that there is a chat.
14:07:23 Wanna try it one more time, G?
14:07:26 Uh, terrible words. Oh, I think I have reception for a moment here. It would be nice to be able to make a comment after we hear your deliberations.
14:07:31 Yeah, we can hear you right now?
14:07:39 Okay? Thanks, thanks for your comments.
14:07:43 Um, we, as I said before, I think all the public has spoken now, so maybe we can respond. Um, I can⦠I can address some of the issues brought up, because it is a special meeting,
we can't⦠add, uh, public comment.
14:07:57 And there was public comment period. Already, so we can't add it today, but I take your point.
14:08:05 And to Mr. Tierche's, you know, that's, uh, that's on me, you know.
14:08:11 We accelerated the cadence of the meetings as we were responding to public comment last time, um, and moving off of the second Tuesday onto the first Tuesday, which is why this
is another special meeting.
14:08:22 Um, so we could avoid conflict with the Port Townsend LTAC.
14:08:27 And, uh, um, there just wasn't⦠A lot of time. So, um, I will correct the email. You can⦠Mr. Tearson, public comments to me at⦠for the time being, at gbrother10 at co.jefferson.wa.
14:08:45 U.s, and we'll make sure to post that on the website. There were the⦠primary materials that went out to the group were really just⦠the, uh, minutes and the agenda.
14:08:59 There was a request for follow-up. Um, based on one of the topics here, the RFP for tourism impacts under 4B.
14:09:07 And so I did send out a supplementary report that I will add to the record on Laserfiche after the fact here.
14:09:14 Uh, sorry about that, we'll try to get our ducks in a row there as we move into regular meeting schedules.
14:09:21 And then, uh⦠Um⦠to Jesse's comments, we can certainly change the NPR to NPR, but maybe we should⦠we can always hold off on these minutes, and I can add a little bit
on the the conversation about the transit center, so I⦠we can always not approve these minutes if we don't want to, uhâ¦
14:09:44 Do some copy editing right now, and, um, bring back⦠bring them back at the next meeting. So, I'd recommend we just don't vote on those today.
14:09:55 Any other⦠oh, and to Dan's comment about me not backing off on all the tourism stuff, I have⦠I've reconsidered the, uh, accommodated my schedule for participation in the
Paradise Bay Roundabout signage project that we're going to hear about today. We didn't have any materials for that.
14:10:16 Um, I think what I'm going to do, as we discuss, uh, the composition of the lodging tax advisory committee next week.
14:10:24 Is I'm going to ask to not be on LTAP, but continue with TCC and bifurcate the approach to tourism so we can have more of a⦠Um, one advocate and one, uh.
14:10:38 Uh, you know, adjudicate, for lack of a better word. So, um⦠I'm not backing off completely at this time.
14:10:47 Any other responses to public comment?
14:10:54 Okay? Um, moving on to old business, approve the past the meeting minutes from May 13th.
14:11:04 Are folks okay to bring these back? I can update it with a reflection of the conversation about the, uh, the transit, uh.
14:11:12 Conversation at the Gateway? Yeah, I think we do need to get that a little more. Okay, so we'll just⦠Table Lowe's?
14:11:18 So do we need⦠do we need to move to table, um, or are we just all in concurrence that, um.
14:11:24 We'll see them again.
14:11:26 Uh, we don't need to move the tables. That's not our practice here. So, yep, we'll just⦠we'll just see them again.
14:11:33 Okay.
14:11:32 You don't need to make a motion. Um, and then⦠oh yeah, that was one other bit of information. I think I neglected to send out, but the tourism report that Marcia shared at
the last meeting, I will email that out and put it in later features, too. You should send it to me, and Iâ¦
14:11:49 So if I thought I had asked to get it sent out, but it didn't get sent out. We're still trying to work out Where there's challenges for me to send materials to, uh, folks as
well without creating a rolling meeting, soâ¦
14:12:01 Um, still, um, dialing in our process, so I appreciate any, uh, any recommendations in that, uh, regard.
14:12:12 Okay, uh, on to new business. Uh, we⦠So, as discussed in the response to public comment.
14:12:21 We've got some proposed dates, I guess that 6-3 would not be it, since that's a special meeting today, but if we want to move to regular minutes, our regular meetings where
we can adjust the agenda at the Um, and during the meeting and everything, we need to publish the rest of the year's schedule.
14:12:39 So, we had talked at the last meeting about First Tuesdays, the same time that we're here today, 2 to 4, so⦠Um, thoughts, conversation?
14:12:50 Well, the parking's like it is today. I'll be open soon. It's, uh⦠it would be like this the second Tuesday, if that's when a trial happened as well, so it's really⦠I can
always let people know if there's a trial going on, but we have these.
14:13:05 Three times a year, so it's not that regular. Does he check the rooms?
14:13:11 Uh, we got the room reserved. Oh, that's true. Yeah. Yeah, so we do have this first floor conference room reserved for these dates if we, uh, want to move to the first Tuesdays.
14:13:24 In advance? Doesn't matter to me.
14:13:29 The time of day is put through. Okay. Um, if people⦠if there's no objection, I'd welcome a motion to⦠to schedule our regular meetings for the, uh, slate proposed inâ¦
for AA2?
14:13:43 Minus the 6th Street, then? Go ahead, Amy.
14:13:45 I'll make a motion.
14:13:48 Second motion to approve, as laid out here, virtual and in-person. Hybrid. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Any further conversation?
14:13:59 All right. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?
14:14:08 In the absentience. All right, that motion passes.
14:14:11 Uh, next up is the RFP for Tourism Impacts of Aquatic Recreation Facilities, Discussion and Potential Action, um⦠In public comment, it was asked, you know, why there weren't
more materials, and, you know, I got a question from one of the members, too.
14:14:27 What are we talking about here? And basically. This is at the LTAC last year.
14:14:35 Uh, the county and PFD, which does not exist yet, were awarded $20,000 for market study, kind of very generally laid out, uh, to investigate the⦠strategic and touristic nexus,
uh, of an aquatic recreation facility. So⦠We spent, as I emailed you guys, about $2,500 of that
14:15:02 $20,000 that was awarded on, uh, paying for the, uh. Inserts in the PUD, Jefferson PUD, and Mason 1 PUD survey inserts in all the bills.
14:15:16 Which, uh, all that we did was pay for it, everything else was paid for by, um, and managed by the, uh, the nonprofit Jefferson Aquatic Coalition.
14:15:27 They are, right now, working on kind of a different aspect, working, uh, and I'm not in this group anymore, but they have a workstream group that's kind of further developing
the idea for a community facility at the Chimicum Creek
14:15:43 Primary, but I thought this would be a good group to discuss what would, um⦠what would this look like? What would be valuable information to assess the⦠potential tourist
impacts?
14:15:58 And I sent you guys all just a⦠kind of an AI-generated report on some of the tourism benefits of, you know, extending the shoulder season with water parks, essentially, andâ¦
Um, wondering if we can engage our tourism industry in, kind of.
14:16:18 Two ways. Is there a report that would be beneficial that⦠that we could⦠Um, uh, generate, you know, have an RFP, and generate that market study, and second.
14:16:31 The⦠the, uh, survey that Jack created had a tourist element as well.
14:16:38 But we would need another flyer and kind of buy-in from the different tourist facilities to get that survey to Um, tourists, uh, to tourists. So⦠do we think that that is,
or both? Which is, you know, comparing these investments that we have to figure out
14:16:58 Um, whether, uh, an aquatic facility, let's call it a water park.
14:17:03 Is, uh, appealing to tourists. So⦠Yeah, go ahead, Amy.
14:17:10 I just had a few questions about the survey that went out, like, what contents was in it, and what kind of feedback you got.
14:17:19 Yeah, there's been a lot of reporting. You can check out Jefferson Aquatic Coalition's website to look at it specifically.
14:17:26 Um, it was⦠Uh, very⦠I mean, I'm gonna just kind of give you rough numbers, but we had about 20% of the population of the Jefferson County represented. It was supposed
to be one survey per household It was, uh, generally, you know, there wereâ¦
14:17:46 1,500, uh, specific written remarks that add a lot of additional nuance as well, but⦠And the numbers, I want to say it was 60% were in favor of developing a PFD and would
be willing to take on the funding mechanism.
14:18:04 We have a sales tax. There was⦠a lot of different digging into the, uh⦠Um, the different amenities that might be included, you know, a lot of people were into Um, the
dry side facilities, like, you know, rock wall climbing was⦠was quite popular, you know, kind of out of proportion to what we expected, andâ¦
14:18:28 Um, I hesitate. I can send you a link to, and anyone that's interested, a link to see the results of that survey, but it was⦠Um, geographically, fairly, uh, responsive. You
know, we had pretty good distribution across the geographies, and they do some analysis in comparing
14:18:46 Which areas were more in favor, and as you would expect, the farther away you get from the Chimicum area, which is where it was centered.
14:18:53 Um, the less encouraging people were, except for poor Townsend, which was very in favor of it.
14:19:00 Does that⦠do you haveâ¦
14:19:01 No, that's helpful. I think what the results of that kind of drive what happens next, right? So, obviously, you've hit the local market, meaning all the residents of the area.
14:19:12 But that's still important, because you need that winter off-season staycation attitude, right?
14:19:18 So, I think I agree with hitting up the tourism market next, right? How do we get surveys out to all of them? But then the questions for the tourism market are going to be more
like.
14:19:29 Would you come here because of this, and what does it need to have?
14:19:32 For you to want to come here, you know, because it's going to have to be fun features, it's not just going to be a lap pool with a, you know.
14:19:39 Whatever.
14:19:39 Or Amy, does it extend your length of stay by a half day or a full day, um, because of the features? They have Hurricane Ridge, they've Soul Duck on their list, and they've
got the Aquatic Center. So, I mean, those are theâ¦
14:19:56 Pieces is whether or not it will be a self-sustaining draw, or whether or not it will extend length of stay.
14:20:03 Sure. Mm-hmm.
14:20:05 I can bring up the questions that are on there, but we can add to the questions.
14:20:10 Jack is willing to continue hosting it, and they did host, uh, you know, a tourist survey simultaneously that was essentially the same. If you answered, do you live locally?
You said no, it shifted you over to essentially the same survey, but if we want to ask these⦠if we want to write down some questions, I can send out the drafts of those
14:20:30 Uh, of what the existing questions are, and we can work together to add or subtract to get a more, uh⦠tourist-responsive Survey.
14:20:40 Cool, and then I guess at the end of that, then what happens with the results? Is that what determines, moving forward, what happens?
14:20:46 Do we need the pool? Yes, no? Should I have these features? Yes, no? Like, what are we trying to get out of the survey, I guess?
14:20:52 I guess, to me, you know, and for the county. But we're still focused on finding a way to a community pool. Um, there was a lot of⦠uh, resistance in this community, I would
say, to a tourist nexus for using funds from LTAC or, you know, many other things, uh.
14:21:15 Like, it⦠it sort of⦠is there a tourist nexus with the development of a community pool? I guess is the question I'm trying to answer.
14:21:27 Yep, Diana?
14:21:29 Well, um, a couple of things. Um, one, I think a survey is really difficult, unless we're giving people Um, pay locals.
14:21:39 Do you want this pool? This pool will cost you approximately this much more per year.
14:21:45 Um, and I don't think we gave all the math, because if you just say, hey, Diana, do you want to Cool, I'm gonna say, sure, but I don't pay anything. If it's free, and I get
to go to it for free.
14:21:55 You know, so I think that's a concern with surveys, but I also think when we were sitting there with LTAC, and we were having the conversation.
14:22:05 You know, one of the things I think we were thinking about was that we were talking a survey.
14:22:10 We were talking about⦠a professional that does market studies, so⦠Um, you know, an example⦠Uh, if I'm developing a new plaque, I might go to an expert and say.
14:22:24 Hey, what, uh, type of house should I build? What cost do you think, or price, do you think people will buy it for?
14:22:32 Uh, who's going to buy it? Is it single? Is it family? Is it⦠uh, aging? Is it⦠what is it?
14:22:38 And where are they going to come from, and how do I market this?
14:22:41 And that study really sets you up for success. So, my thought process is, and I love that you're bringing this, and we get to discuss it, and this is awesome.
14:22:51 Um, but I'm wondering if the RFP shouldn't be to⦠a consultant.
14:23:00 Company that really looks at our market and says, hey. Okay, what's great wolf⦠um, what's Great Wolf Lodge doing? How successful are they if they didn't have the hotel?
14:23:12 Would they close it because they can't make enough money? Bainbridge Pool.
14:23:16 What's going on with that. It's not really a tourist mechanism, so that one may not fit into the group.
14:23:22 Um, you know, is there other competition? Is there other place that might make more sense? A sports complex?
14:23:28 And what's going⦠what's going on with, um⦠Pleasant Harbor, you know, I originally saw that he was putting in a pool complex, and courts and soccer fields, and all this
stuff.
14:23:44 So, is that going to be a direct competition to their projects someday?
14:23:48 Uh, if they ever get to it. Um, but, you know, that's where I'm thinking it might take somebody who's who was very experienced in looking at this.
14:23:59 Um, rather than just asking the general public or the tourism public Um, you know, what do you want?
14:24:06 Um, because we would have to be so careful with those questions.
14:24:11 To get a factual answer. And then we might not understand if it's⦠You know, if it has to have⦠Um, looking at the report inset.
14:24:21 You know, if it has to have⦠Um, you know, indoor competition pools, water parks, slides.
14:24:30 Um, lazy rivers. Those kinds of stuff, you know, what's the cost? Are we talking $39? Are we talking $40 million?
14:24:38 And then, how long operationally before tourism can support that. Um, would also be good to know, because I know sales tax will cover it, and things are going up, and that's
great.
14:24:49 But then, how do we get⦠normal operations covered? Is, you know, is that going to happen in the⦠in Jepson County's budget.
14:24:58 Is that going to happen through an app type? Is that going to happen through a grant?
14:25:02 Um, all of that would be extremely helpful Um, information to⦠see if Jefferson County is the right place. Even⦠even the location. Location is no longer visible from 104
or 101.
14:25:20 Is there a 101, a 104? Uh, or other⦠major traffic that this should go by, like a Great Wolf Lodge is on I-5.
14:25:30 So, I just have a lot of questions, and a lot of, you know, what are we doing, and⦠And, um, you know, I would love to bring more tourism, especially in off-season, it's justâ¦
Is this the right answer, and how do we figure that out?
14:25:45 Yeah, and I agree with everything you said, Diane. I mean, I think we, you know, my question is, you know.
14:25:52 Kind of both, right? Like, the market study, that's the RFP I was talking about, is what should go into this market study, and I don't want to re-litigate the survey that already
happened that did talk about the cost and everything, but⦠The⦠it would be a fairly simple thing, and hopefully additive to a market study.
14:26:12 To, uh, create that, uh, um, a survey to get the pulse of tourists as well, is my thought, but if it's just a market study, our lawyers have said within the capacity of this
grant, you know, it's both would qualify. So, we can do a $10,000 market study, and it would still give us substantial money to, you know, both
14:26:35 Create materials to put at tourist facilities. Um, as well as refining the existing survey and working with Jack to, uh, uh.
14:26:45 Run that survey through the⦠through the tourist season. See, Caitlin and then Steve? I think Steve's up first. Okay, Steve?
14:26:53 Uh, thank you, and I'll try to remember to lower my hand, but, um, the⦠Uh, ditto to all that was stated, and uh⦠I am interested in the data set that you provided in your
tee-up for this with the document, um, that
14:27:09 Uh, Wisconsin property is the only one that is in the latitude that's, um.
14:27:16 Akin to us, uh, everything else is a much further southern climb.
14:27:21 Where, um⦠Uh, particularly since the last time I had heard the consideration was a phased, um, aquatic center, which would start with an outdoor saltwater, um.
14:27:35 Um, pool, uh, piece as opposed to an indoor covered one And those certainly, as we know, climate is not going to catch up where we're Florida-like, um, anytime soon.
14:27:47 Um, I did try to do some, um⦠numbers crunching, uh, as requested from you and your staff related on this, particularly on the lens of tourism.
14:27:59 Taking a look at the, um, uh, development cost of these, um.
14:28:04 Examples, the annual operating costs were provided. The economic impact, which is just a simple equation of the resident population versus that cost.
14:28:15 And, uh, the, um, resulting per capita, if possible, in terms of profit and or loss, and uh⦠Um, the thing that is missing, that I think is essential for a study or a survey.
14:28:27 Is also what are the other draws. Diana mentioned location. Of course, uh, with I-5 corridor being a, uh, gold standard as far as location.
14:28:39 But we have heard, and we have discussed, particularly if it's going to be a visitor amenity.
14:28:45 There needs to be proximity to lodging, there needs to be proximity to food, there needs to be proximity to other pieces, um, uh, as a⦠As opposed to just, uh, the⦠the
pool and the aquatic facilities, so knowing what these other
14:29:03 Exemplars have, uh, in their surrounding area to help support that ongoing pull.
14:29:09 Um, is A important, and then B, are we, um⦠Envisioning ourselves as being capable for providing those, um.
14:29:20 Particularly with a visitor economy focus, um, those rooms in adjacent to the properties.
14:29:28 Uh, the last thing is, and it goes back to the survey and the focus, is that I did take, as a household in the county, one of those, um, initial surveys, and I do agree that
we take a look at
14:29:40 The questions, we do have to put a visitor's lens on it, and then figure out how to get it out so that, um, because it⦠It, uh, did not have much in terms of the, uh, the
focus of a visitor consuming the offerings of the pool from a program standpoint. That's it. Thank you.
14:30:00 Thanks, Steve. Kim? Um. I think my number one thing is just the⦠the sort of⦠We all seem to be using Aquatic-centered public pool and water park interchangeably, and these
are all very different things. They're not, like, like⦠There's a resort with a water park and a hotel, and that's very different than what
14:30:24 Jac was originally discussing what they were talking about in their survey, and that's very different from what has been discussed at the Board of County Commissioners meetings,
and that's very different from what is even being discussed here in this meeting, just between different people.
14:30:40 Um, so that's, I guess. That one's been sort of on my mind, is I'm⦠from Florida, and so we have everything from public pools to private pools to water parks to resorts with
water parks, to⦠so, these are all very, very, very different things.
14:30:56 My other question was, I guess, for you, Brad. Um⦠with the chat GPT-generated Report, what was it that you⦠felt like you got out of this.
14:31:07 Report that you felt the need to share it with us.
14:31:10 Um, the⦠the⦠output to that that were helpful. Wisconsin Dalsey was the case study, as Steve said, that was kind of at the similar latitude, where they made a conscious
effort.
14:31:23 To bring tourists there. Um, I think something that was asked for at the LTAC, uh.
14:31:30 Conversations were⦠demonstrate how this can be a⦠a touristic draw, and uh, you know, my request was looking for other places that have uh, successfully, or are working
to⦠draw tourists by building this kind of infrastructure, and I think there's some good examples there. There are some that are
14:31:53 Not totally applicable as well, but, um, have you been to those constant delves?
14:31:58 I have not. It's like a whole, like, town of⦠it's like a main drag, and it's, like, water park, water park, roller coaster, roller coaster, water park, roller coaster, hotel,
hotel, hotel, hotel, hotel, hotel.
14:32:12 And, like, it's just very, very, very, very⦠I don't see how Wisconsin does even⦠comparable in any way, shape, or form, even if you squint really hard to what we're talking
about here. I just⦠I have a⦠As a technical right, if I put on my technical writer hat, I had a huge issue withâ¦
14:32:31 Like, I spent a fair amount of time going through the ChatGPT report, and⦠If I just move beyond just how⦠horribly structured the entire report is, um, and I actually start
digging into the references, it's⦠It's⦠most of them are notâ¦
14:32:50 I don't think, unless we're talking about building a town of water parks, or a resort with an indoor water park.
14:32:58 I don't see how they're applicable to what we're discussing if we are actually discussing a community aquatic center that tourists could potentially use.
14:33:09 Yeah, I can respond, we'll go to Dan first. So⦠number one, and⦠Everybody should never repeat myself.
14:33:18 The chat GPT generated report is a function of the lack of funding for TCC. We do not have any staff. This is generated by a county commissioner that sits on how many other
committees? 20 other committees or so. Okay, so we could pick it apart about the individual things over and over again, but I think that's getting lost in the details.
14:33:36 And I think my concern that I've been talking about for a while is, what is the question proposed to this committee?
14:33:42 Is the question proposed to this committee, does a pool support tourism? Or is the question what destination supports tourism?
14:33:52 Or is it a question, the county is building an aquatic center, how do we improve tourism with what the county is doing? And I think that we're putting the cart before the horse
here. I don't⦠think that we're at a stage that we should be involved in this pool discussion, because, um, I think if you ask the question.
14:34:12 To this group, what is the best building the county could invest into, you know, support tourism, put more heads in beds.
14:34:19 This probably wouldn't be it. If the question is being asked, should the county build a pool for the purposes of tourism.
14:34:26 Nobody says yes, because, you know, as you said, it's a community pool. Jefferson Aquatic Center, community pool. The purpose of the pool is not necessarily to support tourism,
it's for many things.
14:34:36 So, I think we need to get to the point where the county says, we're building a pool, and then tasks the TCC with explaining how can we maximize the build of this pool to support
tourism? That's a germane question to our group.
14:34:50 At this stage, I feel like we're going around in circles, and Greg, I feel like you've spent a bunch of time.
14:34:56 Um, on justification of the pool for the tourist purposes, but that doesn't appear to be its sole or even primary purpose. So maybe we should be consulted Once the pool is happening,
on how we can⦠steer it and nudge it towards tourism to get that tourism benefit, but at this point, um.
14:35:16 I'm also unclear on why we should have any say in that $18,000. Like, what does it have to do with us?
14:35:24 Let me address your comments, then I'll get back to Caitlin.
14:35:28 The question, as I⦠I think I stated at the beginning, is really⦠How can we make this⦠the use of this LTAP funds to plumb the question of whether this aquatic facility,
recreation facility that we're exploring, I mean, there's no commitment to building it, there's no money that's going into it right now.
14:35:49 Um, but with this dedicated money, how can we explore this question from the perspective of the tourism industry to see if there is If part of the solution is a tourism nexus.
14:36:02 And⦠so I think that the reason I wanted to bring it here is to get buy-in from the folks that are skeptical, and the people that are excited about it.
14:36:14 Um, to see how can we⦠How can we use these funds to kind of figure it out? And I mean, you know, Dan's right, this was⦠don't put too much⦠that was just a⦠it's a
conversation starter, is the report. I think that there'sâ¦
14:36:28 You can call things a lot of different things, uh, aquatic recreation facilities, they're all aquatic recreation facilities.
14:36:36 We know that we don't want Great Wolf Lodge. We know we don't want Wisconsin Dells here, but there is there⦠there has been a lot of talk about Lazy River.
14:36:45 Cup Competition Pool. There's a lot in that report, too, about how Competition pools, which we've always done it in a 19-yard pool, if you can plan those, and we know I've been
to a pool in Boise that was⦠Created just for athletic competitions.
14:36:59 We can bring a lot of folks from Port Angeles and, you know, around the local region for a competition pool. There's a lot of different ways that it can be a water park. There
were a couple water slides I did in the facility down in Chehalis, which is a small.
14:37:14 You know, uh, aquatic recreation facility that you could also say with the two or three waterslides is also a water park. I think there's finding out what would work, if anything,
would work for our tourist community is the goal in bringing it to this group. So can we try to distill it into a single question? Because that'sâ¦
14:37:35 That's what I'm hoping to get for, like, if the TCC is being asked to help comment on an RFP, like, what's that header?
14:37:42 Jefferson County is seeking a proposal for a study that would determine if, and then, like, one sentence. I think Diana spoke to it, uh, pretty⦠effectively. I mean, a market
study was done in 2014. We can do a market study.
14:38:00 Looking at the specific issues, because the site that we're looking at right now, to Diana's point, is very small, you know? I mean, it's on transit, it's got a lot of things
going for it, but it isn't going⦠like, parking is an issue, so do you need, you know.
14:38:12 200 parking spots for it to be a viable tourist destination. There's a lot of different things that we can tease out in this, and then this is also the group that can get the
survey refined and figure out a way to get that survey to the tourists who we want to get their input as well as we got The locals, and so to⦠so, Jefferson County is seeking a proposal
to
14:38:36 Perform a professional market study to identify the size, amenities, and locations of a pool that will have a net positive return on investment.
14:38:50 I mean, it's not even a net positive, like, how do we stop the bleeding, right? I mean, it just⦠looking for the economics of a tourist facility, basically.
14:39:03 Adding that element in. I want to get to a good statement, a good clarifying statement. I think a lot of what we⦠a lot of what we deal with in the modern world, and especially
as I learn more and more about government over the years.
14:39:15 Is, um⦠inappropriate direction or insufficient direction towards consultants, and consultants feeling like they're gonna get more work if they give a presupposed answers,
so really crafting that kind of narrative statement, like, what are we asking you to figure out? I guessâ¦
14:39:33 I mean, I think that could be something that, if there were⦠for the purposes of tourism is included in it, that's, like, a germane question to this group. Can we help craft
that statement?
14:39:44 But, um, I guess we want to see, like, you know.
14:39:48 If this is going to have a net positive return for tourism.
14:39:53 A market study could show us how big would it need to be, how much would we need to invest if we're going to actually be able to outdraw Port Angeles, Silverdale, Great Wolf
Lodge, down south, like, maybe that's a good study.
14:40:04 But I don't think that⦠an additional survey would be valuable data. I think, like, a market research study, and maybe the $18,000 might not be enough for that, I don't know.
14:40:17 Yeah, okay. Amy?
14:40:20 Yeah, I think it's just tying a lot of this all kind of back together again for me, as far as, like, how broad is the scope? Is it open to accommodations? Is it open to a restaurant
facility?
14:40:30 I mean, when we look at summer business in all of these areas.
14:40:35 We run out of accommodations, right? Everything's booked up, so what happens then if we have a pool, but nowhere for anyone to stay So I don't know if that's even part of the
scope or investigation of, is there a market for a hotel or restaurant?
14:40:50 Alongside this.
14:40:53 Yeah, no, I think, I mean, as we look at placemaking and Port Hadlock, you know, we've⦠We've lost motels in Port Hadlock, so is there something that we can do to incentivize
the development of more short-term rentals?
14:41:06 Because we make all the money in the summer, for the most part. Yes, we're trying to bridge the gap with the local communities for the shoulder seasons.
14:41:12 But we'll make our money in that 6-month window when all of our accommodations are full.
14:41:17 So, it doesn't have to be, again, a Great Wall Lodge, but is there an opportunity for any accommodations? Because that's⦠That would offset whatever money the pool's gonna
bog down anyway.
14:41:28 For our athletic competitions in the winter and fall that bring out-of-town people into those empty⦠emptier accommodations.
14:41:35 Yeah, please. Event opportunities is important, for sure.
14:41:36 As strategic, uh, goal. Go ahead, Steve.
14:41:41 Uh-huh.
14:41:44 I⦠on that point of athletics and sports, um, spent the weekend down in Federal Way, Washington, and um⦠was fascinated by, um.
14:41:53 The growth that they've had, uh, uh, with a focused, unified.
14:42:00 Piece to be a, um, a nexus for athletic competitions. It started, um.
14:42:07 15 plus years ago with what is now the, um⦠the regional aquatic Center for Diving and U.S. Olympics.
14:42:16 And, uh, they, uh, have now had, through a collaboration of There are four high schools in the district.
14:42:25 A $46 million, um. Absolutely gorgeous stadium.
14:42:31 That complex that, uh, can host tournaments and, uh, so forth.
14:42:36 And, um, if they were willing to⦠mess up their beautiful turf facility. They would have been, um, a prime for one of the, uh.
14:42:47 To FIFA competitions going in, but FIFA as a requirement that it has to be natural turf as opposed to artificial.
14:42:55 Needless to say, the entire component, the restaurants, the lodging, not motels, the lodging, um, uh, purveyors, and so forth, are all at the table there in Federal Way as they
have a dedicated destination marketing tourism desk that is outbound contacting tournaments large and small, um, state level, national level, international level, to, um.
14:43:22 Consider a federal way for, um, this⦠this growing industry. It's exciting, but it has taken 15 years, as I said, when they started with the, um, the pool, and they just finished,
um, this next of three phases, um, which isâ¦
14:43:40 Their sports stadium, now they're going to get into a quartz stadium for basketball and indoor track and things like that. So, um⦠somebody who's doing this study should add
them as a local touchpoint.
14:43:54 Great, thank you, Steve. In Snohomish County, they have a pool, or Snohomish, excuse me, and they're, like, the, uh, the gold standard for cost recovery with aquatic centers.
14:44:05 They have, like, a 98% cost recovery, and they do it basically with you know, lots of activities, right? Competitive sports events for youth, as well as kayak and water safety
classes with a variety of folks, and They accomplished that in the same sort of way, where they've got a full-time desk that is just out there making connections and scheduling, you
know, every available
14:44:32 Day, and that's part of the programming that comes you know, in our exploration of aquatic recreation facilities, the programming needs to come as, uh, to inform the design.
So the programming almost has to come before you start figuring out what is the shape of this, what are the amenities that are inside it, is⦠how can you fill it up?
14:44:52 All week long.
14:44:53 So, to Dan's point then, there is a place where tourism should be at the table to help to inform that design, but it's probably, to Dan's point.
14:45:03 Not at this⦠early stages, is what I'm hearing him say, and I would tend to concur if I'm hearing him correctly.
14:45:13 Well, I guess as we go through this tourist season, I'd love to hear from others about whether you think that getting this survey, modifying the survey, that's the most time-critical
thing. I mean, we can do the market study, I can bring a draft back at the next meeting that we can look through and talk about that's kind of to the model that Diana was laying out,
but⦠expanding this survey and getting it into our various, uh.
14:45:42 You know, visitor touchpoints. Do you guys think that that would be worthwhile? Is it practicable? I mean, what kind of⦠what would make a visitor want to actually fill out
the survey?
14:45:54 I don't believe that's going to be helpful. I think that a professional that, like.
14:45:54 Yeah.
14:46:00 Figures this stuff out and knows trends and how to attract people, because the chicken and egg problem is.
14:46:06 We want to attract new tourists, so why would we ask the tourists that are already here for other stuff? We want new people that are going to come in from somewhere else, and
rather than asking them locally, it's like, how do we go out and build it for those people to come in? So I don't know⦠I think you have as good a survey data as you're ever going
to get that you⦠and you only spent this much of the money. I think if $18,000 is enough for some kind of, like, serious professional market research study, that would be the most
beneficial use of the money, I think.
14:46:37 And part of that market study should be the effects are more⦠vehicles coming over the bridge, coming from the ferries.
14:46:48 They're already plugged. We don't have enough sources for people.
14:46:54 Together. And then 101 isn't exactly, uh, the most, uh⦠both through highway in the area.
14:47:01 And I think⦠We've traveled a lot, and whenever we go⦠someplace. Oh, where you're from, this and that.
14:47:11 In, uh, my husband always said. Well, we're buying for Townsend. I always say we're from Quilcyon, Washington, but uh⦠It says, we're brought for downtown Middle.
14:47:21 So we just love worked on, so that's⦠oh, we'd love to go there, and so forth.
14:47:26 Personally, I think we have enough tourists that are coming here regularly, and they tell their friends, and they tell their family, and Uh, I don't see that we're having a
water park as⦠that we need to have a watermark. We got a Word of God.
14:47:43 Hundreds of people coming here, especially in the summer and this⦠well, while it's spring, too.
14:47:48 So, I just⦠Yeah. Oh, and water consumption for this water park.
14:47:56 Um, Park Council doesn't have enough water for that. Start stealing ours. They're already stealing ours without knowing paying us for it.
14:48:04 Well, actually, the Johns Mill paid for all that. Yeah. Well, I think the question is, you know, is it germane to the group?
14:48:15 And how do we distill it down into⦠a statement, if it is to me to the group, how do we distill it down to.
14:48:24 A statement of intent, you know. Proposals being requested to create a⦠And, like, one sentence, I think. Yeah, okay. Well, I⦠yeah, sounds good. Steve?
14:48:37 Yeah, Marcia is on the call, and so she could give more current pieces, but⦠See, what I'm understanding, if you want Dan, or⦠Greg, excuse me, to capture a, um.
14:48:49 In-market. This season survey, um, we're really late, uh, in⦠tweaking any, uh, material to get out there, and then to get a qualified defendable black box survey of visitors,
you don't have enough money in that LTAC grant to be able⦠and Marcia could confirm on⦠based on current pricing of what those research firms charge for that kind of study.
14:49:15 We do have, um sufficient mailing list and opt-in from all of the lodging players and partners that we could send out a single call to action to, um, if you're interested, we'd
love to have you coming back. Of course, we would, that's why we send them, um.
14:49:33 E-blasts plenty, but⦠tell us more of what this⦠your interest would be with this potential aquatic center coming in East Jefferson County.
14:49:43 That can be sent out any time of the year and the day.
14:49:47 Uh, to the visitors, um, and doesn't require that that window that is⦠if it hasn't closed, it's passing, uh, to capture them this tourism season.
14:49:58 Gotcha, okay. Thank you, Steve. I mean, it sounds like there's not, uh, it's not very practical and⦠or recommended to⦠do the survey side of it right now.
14:50:12 So, based on this conversation, you know, I'll work in, you know, Diana, you had some good comments, and anyone else that has ideas for⦠developing that RFP, we can bring
a draft back for a first look next⦠at the next, uh, TCC meeting to
14:50:29 Figure out how we would engage, uh, you know. A consultant for, you know, at least understand the kind of the parameters of that market study that is more, uh.
14:50:42 Refined than what we have now, which is nothing. So, can action be taken on this subject? Is there no action? So we've discussed a lot, but it sounds like There's no action
to be taken, or⦠Is there a group consensus that we can make a motion or submit a statement that says.
14:51:03 The CCC feels that we should be involved, shouldn't be involved.
14:51:08 Craft a statement for RFP. I feel like we haven't got anything completed. It's a helpful conversation for me. I mean, if you guys want to take formal action, we can, but it's,
like, it's informed what I do next with this⦠with this⦠LTAC money, I won't⦠I won't explore the⦠the survey more, but I'll just keep trying to refine an RFP that we can put
out to, uh, bid and bring it back, but there's no particular action that people have to take today, unless you want to make a motion, you're welcome to. One of the thingsâ¦
14:51:38 That I did want to clarify before the end of this topic isâ¦
14:51:46 Our level of involve⦠so there's not going to be a survey, I think that's not⦠that's actually in your taking, and thank you for listening, and I think we did have reasonable
can set this on that. So, if the next action is going to be, like, lead generation RFP, because this $18,000 needs to be spent.
14:52:01 Um, who is responsible for the RFP, and for evaluating and choosing the awardee for that. Is that Jefferson Aquatic Center, or who received the money? I can't remember. It was,
uh⦠it was applied for by the county on behalf of the PFD, which we didn't form, so our legal team's interpretation is that the county can
14:52:26 Use it for the purpose, uh, in it. So right now, the county would generate that, and I would use this group as a sounding board to refine that RFP before it goes out Okay, if
this group is to be assembly board, do we get a say in the awardee or the contract?
14:52:45 Or⦠I guess what I'm concerned with is not repeating stuff from last year, and, like.
14:52:53 It's almost better⦠to not be asked for input if we don't have any⦠any real say in it, but if we're asked for input, then can we define the boundaries of you know, what
our output would be Obviously, you don't have to take⦠this is a Board of County Commissioners
14:53:08 Overarching project now, but I'd like there to be somehow put, like, hey, here's a letter on what TCC recommends, and then you guys can do that or something different. But if
we're going to be asked for input, can we formalize a statement so that it doesn't become, well, we had a conversation, and this is what we chose.
14:53:24 Because then it kind of sounds like TCC has supported this, or supported that through our mission statement. I think that's reasonable, yeah. Okay, 100%. Cool. Yeah, we don't
have⦠kind of building this process as we go, so I think having, you know, maybe⦠probably not a quorum of this board, so we don't have to have every RFP meeting, a open public
meeting, but if there was a committee of people that were interested in going through the RFP process, it seems like Be it the appropriate people to have at the table.
14:53:52 To make a selection, you know, down the line. So we'll bring back a process, and we can talk through it and make a recommendation. That would be my request, is that this group
has a work product output that feeds into it, whether it's, you know.
14:54:07 Accept it or not doesn't really matter, as long as we have some kind of final product, we can say, okay, this is what we thought.
14:54:13 Yep, cool, okay, great. Sounded good, thank you. Any other thoughts on this topic before we move on?
14:54:23 All right. Uh, next up is, uh, an update on the Paradise Bay Roundabout, and I asked Steve if he would, uh.
14:54:32 Kind of walk us through this, and hopefully you have a⦠maybe the slide⦠I don't know if you had the slide deck?
14:54:37 From a couple weeks ago. Steve has all the slide decks
14:54:50 Sorry to catch ya. By surprise, there we go.
14:54:57 You're also on mute, Steve.
14:55:04 Unmute. There we go. Okay. Um, you can see it and hopefully, uh, follow along. Yes, the roundabout⦠We have a subcommittee of Optic Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission.
14:55:17 That, uh, has gone through the process, and we are at the middle point of having completed our vetting through the RFQ, Request for Qualifications process and results.
14:55:28 I want to bring you up to speed on where the request for proposals with the finalists are, the key dates ahead.
14:55:34 And, um, the, uh, the steps, uh, that we're leading towards that.
14:55:40 So, um, the Tourism Master Plan, um, is⦠into its second year, and part of that, uh, major piece is that, uh, a goal is that Collectively around the Olympic Peninsula, we
unify and we⦠Um, uh, improve our⦠public-private sector alignment on first impressions, and uhâ¦
14:56:03 The consultant that was used to, um, uh, study and come up with the four-county representative tourism master plan.
14:56:13 Counseled us that investing in welcome signage at the major points of entry onto the Olympic Peninsula is an important sense of arrival. It shows the destination, appreciates
its visitors, and the community is proud of where they live and what they want to share.
14:56:28 And so, in a parallel piece, uh. When, uh, fish barriers aplenty and roundabouts were coming in, uh, we said.
14:56:37 What is a better, um, nexus than the Paradise Road SR104.
14:56:45 For West End of the Hood Canal Bridge, where that, um, roundabout sign is, uh.
14:56:50 Growing bigger and better, and WSDOT says they do plan to have, by July, it's completely completed, and so⦠Um, we have a design to⦠Um, have a request for proposal, request
for qualifications, uh, to have a designer Design a welcome Olympic Peninsula sign, uh, with the possibility of, uh, eventually having some
14:57:14 Um, also appropriate, authentic, place-based art. In the center circle. We, uh, sent, uh, the messaging wide, uh, through a variety of art and then commerce.
14:57:29 Channels, as well as, uh, city, um, excuse me, social media platforms.
14:57:34 We went to school, um, almost a year ago. Commissioner Brotherton and a variety of others, we went down to the city of Paulsbo, and we were, um.
14:57:45 Still are very impressed. And, uh, aspirational with, uh, the City of Paulsbores.
14:57:51 Welcoming visitors that are coming off of the Bainbridge Ferry, coming across the Agate Pass Bridge, and they see that Welcome to Paulsbow with at least seven different dialects
in translation.
14:58:04 Plus then a gorgeous, um, heron in the center that's artistically crafted, so⦠We, um, the City of Bend has a, uh, complete tourism product, um.
14:58:14 Representing their 17 or 18 roundabouts. The City of Aberdeen just put out one as well, so we've mined all of those and gotten the word out.
14:58:24 Um, we had, uh, 6, um, qualified vendors who applied for consideration for the RFQ.
14:58:33 And, um, we had a subset of our committee that scored on this rubric here.
14:58:40 Design statement, comparable experience, uh, aesthetic excellence in their samples, and their site-specific concept.
14:58:48 And we narrowed it down to what is now three. All of them had great public signage, um, uh.
14:58:59 And that was, you know, one of the criterias, not just, um⦠graphic arts, but, uh, nor interior design, but, uh, durable, uh, lasting experiences at scale, uh, with a public
exterior signage.
14:59:12 Um, and we had, um, a total of 6, um, uh.
14:59:18 Applicants for the RFQ. Two of them were, um, could be identified as small businesses, as far as just looking at, uh, their Secretary of State data and so forth. One of them
was registered as a woman's owned business.
14:59:33 They came from offices in Port Angeles, Bremerton, Bellingham, Squim. Port Townsend, and a co-op of a Woodinville, Washington fabricator with a San Francisco-based design firm.
14:59:50 All told, they had over 60-plus listed, uh, relevant clients. Headquarters all over the Pacific Northwest, um, signage from these folks is displayed at Expedia, Microsoft, Amazon,
T-Mobile, Park.
15:00:05 Alaska Air, Google Seattle's headquarters, UW Football Stadium, the Climate Pledge Arena.
15:00:14 Uh, and so forth. So there is a lot of practicum in the group, and so we felt very benefited by that.
15:00:23 Um, we also⦠had, uh, requests and requirements in our RFQ that they submit some designs in their, uh, initial concept.
15:00:33 Uh, some of them, um⦠all of them impressed us, but some of them just blew us away because we had, based on Paul's bow and other traditional roundabout signs is rather single
dimension, but these designers, being the creative folks that they are, took full advantage of the 360 of a roundabout, and some of them had truly a 360 wrap proposed.
15:00:57 Others had, um, uh, more vertical than horizontal in it. Uh, at least 3 of them had really intentional native stylings in it And, um, two of them really spoke out in terms of
how their fabrication would dig deep into
15:01:15 Native, uh, excuse me, local materials. And some of those materials are⦠Um, quite obvious and apparent, um, such as findings and sourcing some timbers from the Olympics.
Others were very creative in using the⦠the fiber, and I'm not using the correct term, but in Port Angeles, there is a, um, uh, enterprise that recycles, um.
15:01:46 Fiber, and they work with Boeing, um, and I'm at a loss for it right now, but they would, um.
15:01:52 They have used that material and that byproduct in other sign products, and so they would propose that here.
15:01:58 Which isn't a visible piece, but it's a cool story that they, um⦠are thinking that way, and so forth. So that was, uh, really good.
15:02:08 A lot of beautiful craftsmanship. Many of the pieces that were proposed, unfortunately, as we've looked at it, may not have met the scale.
15:02:17 We also know that all of this is predicated on the fact that it's a public road, and so we're under a very, very thick library of WSDOT public art rules and regs and cans and
cants, and uh⦠Um, and so, uh.
15:02:32 As we're learning that piece, we also had to just factor it through. They were all given access to, and some of them have, um, um.
15:02:41 Worked with WSDOT, and so those are the ones that, um, uh, made the cut, essentially, because some of these designs were great, but they just didn't have either the experience,
the practicum.
15:02:52 Or they didn't represent that they had an understanding of the technicality that WSDOT places on this public art in a, um, uh.
15:03:03 Transit situation. So, uh, we had, um⦠a group of RFQ reviewers, um, many of them are on this call. Marcia, Steve.
15:03:15 Diana are all on the call. Debbie Wardrop, who helped write the Tourism Master Plan.
15:03:23 A project manager, Ann Burkhartt, um, who is, uh. An entrepreneur here, and then Shelly Levins from the marketing city of Port Townsend were involved with that.
15:03:35 Um, we went through all of the credentials and criterias, and we came up with some collective scores, and we decided to, um.
15:03:44 Put the line in the sand with the top four. Um, we put out the request for, um, to these top four, and said, um, would you be interested in moving on to the, uh, next round
as an RFP?
15:03:57 And one of them, um, uh, regretfully, had to pull out because his preferred fabricator did not have the bandwidth to be able to deliver it on time.
15:04:09 And the key to it on time is because this project was in part funded from some communities, such as past iterations of Jefferson County TCC, collecting funds on behalf of, um.
15:04:25 The Tourism Master Plan implementation, such as this, but also the other part of it was in the lion's share, is a state of Washington offered variety of grants from Commerce
Department And they come from federal sources, and, um, A, they weren't clawed back, and so we're pleased with that, but B, they do have a, um, shelf
15:04:48 Use-by date of the end of this calendar year, and so we clearly made it known that Should an award be given, uh, the sign has to be designed, fabricated, and delivered.
15:04:59 Before the money needs to be expended, and we're not paying until the product is in our hands. And so.
15:05:10 Um, we reduced our four finalists to three based on those criteria, and have moved ahead, and, um.
15:05:17 Uh, we have an expanded group. From our regular meeting convening, um.
15:05:24 Signage group, and we've added to the top list, we've added a representative from the Board of County Commissioners.
15:05:33 Um, uh, Sarah, uh, Hanke of Puget Sound Express has been involved, and she's interested.
15:05:38 Alexis, who's a key stakeholder of the City of Port Townsend's Arts Commission, has also been involved, and so she wishes to, um.
15:05:50 Be with the RFP reviewers. We have, um, uh, established this list of five scoring criteria.
15:05:59 Um, and we have to get together as a collective group and come up with a similar rubric to what you saw we did, um.
15:06:06 For the RFQ, so that we have our game plan set.
15:06:11 We have, uh, also⦠after the, um⦠finalists present to us. We have a month of vetting.
15:06:21 Checking references, uh, and so forth, and we also will have a number of, uh, public opportunities to.
15:06:28 Have both stakeholders and public take a look at the, um.
15:06:33 Proposed apparent design, and that will, of course, we do have, um, uh, representatives from The Jamestown Slalom on our committee, but we would expand that net and WSDOT sits
right beside us, and they've been instrumental in answering our questions, uh, and the designers' questions, uh, and so forth.
15:06:54 And we intend to, um⦠have the equivalent of our own conclave send up the smoke on August 1st, and we will have a Um, um, agreement with⦠a, um, winning designer, and they
will start fabricating fast as a Beaver to be able to meet the deadline. So, um, and the deadline, um.
15:07:14 We've started this process back in May, and we had the notification in middle of May for the, um, uh, those that qualified and are in the RFP pool.
15:07:26 And, um, we have accomplished the first, uh. Series of pieces, uh, and we're at this middle milestone where we're ready to prep with our team for the RFP presentations.
15:07:40 Those will be June 26th. Um, they will start at 3 o'clock. It will be a hybrid piece.
15:07:47 And we will be at, um, uh, Port Ludlow. For the in-person, and will be online for that.
15:07:53 And, um, we will, um, then have, as I said, through July, a variety of public and stakeholder inputs.
15:08:00 And, uh, then the August 1st evaluation that will get us to that.
15:08:05 And, um, we have the RFP that they're working that's available, and I can add that to ADLs that can be in the notes.
15:08:16 For anybody who wants to see it, but that's what the designers are all asking right now, we're open with our Q&A time, and they're giving questions, and We're giving, uh, publicâ¦
excuse me, we're giving, uh, open responses to all the bidders, so all the bidders know all the questions, and they know all the answers, and we're handling the procurement.
15:08:37 At the same level that Washington State would handle their procurement, so that's it.
15:08:45 Any questions?
15:08:48 Questions for Steve. Thanks so much for going through that. Steve, is that $85,000 include installation as well, or is the county or DOT taking care of install and lighting?
15:08:59 Very good. Uh, we have $100,000, um, budgeted, Dan, and, um, we have, uh, 85 allocated within this phase of the RFP for design, fabrication, and delivery.
15:09:14 And, um, the designers are required to meet the WSDOT requirements for, um.
15:09:25 A professional engineer's stamp. On any treatment on the foundation and the base and so forth, it has to, of course, meet all of the Federal Highway implications that WSDOT
clearly spells out.
15:09:39 And so, if they, um⦠are going to, um, just say that in order to install this, go to aisle 6 at Home Depot and get two of these and 4 of those. That's one thing. If, uh, on
the other end, they're going to actually
15:09:55 Include in their fabrication. Some custom brackets and hangers for it.
15:10:04 Uh⦠the installation and illumination as a part of Commissioner Overton Well, first⦠in⦠with Paul's bow, we went and we went with WSDOT and, um, Jacobs, who is the contractor
that's doing the roundabout now.
15:10:23 And they had not, um, uh, at that point. Had plans for a JBox to bring power onto it, and so thanks to Public Works and Commissioner Brotherton.
15:10:34 We put in, um, a change order with WSDOT, and they said, that's no problem, you're getting us early enough, and it was done, uh, very affordable, and there is now power brought
to the center circle.
15:10:47 The artists and designers know that should their design, uh, require, um.
15:10:54 Illumination, or be enhanced by illumination, that power will be available, and that is part of the install. If you're going to illuminate it.
15:11:03 Tell us what you're planning to illuminate it with, so that we know that it's, um.
15:11:08 Something that can be replicated, and it can be readily available, and it's affordable to operate, yada yada yada. So that's⦠That's all part of the installation, and we have
the set-aside of up to $15,000 to work with WSDOT.
15:11:22 And their preferred, um. Sign installers, uh, will come and, um, uh, install the sign at a later date.
15:11:31 Okay, awesome. And the reason I ask is, like, I just imagine, like, from the owner of a construction-based business, like, okay, we need you to install this side. Well, it's
fun to install in a grocery store parking lot, but how many flaggers do I need? How much? Because I could see $15,000 getting eaten up real quickly in just shutting down the area to
safely bring it, not necessarily mount it. But if watch not stealing all that, that sounds like you got I'll also be able to go in there, so that⦠Iâ¦
15:11:58 I was super impressed by all of those artist renderings, and I think any of them will be killer. I think it's gonna be awesome. Yeah.
15:12:03 Well, and⦠Yes.
15:12:05 Arp as well as signage, was really impressed. I like the big woodwork, just imagining, where's⦠where's a slab of wood that wide that we could find, but⦠whatever you guys
do, right?
15:12:13 Right, but⦠well, and so, to that point, uh, we were⦠Our paradigm was blown away because we all came in with the Paulsbow kind of model.
15:12:24 And, uh, that's just not our wheelhouse, and uh, and so⦠Shelly and Greg and Alexis and some of the others who were⦠on the, uh, Center Circle Art Foci.
15:12:39 Um, they were all kind of saying, man, there's a possibility that we've got a two-for-one in some of these conceptual designs where we've got some artists that are thinking,
um, a monument that would meet that kind of gateway welcome component that we wanted to have.
15:12:56 Um, and uh⦠and it still says welcome, and of course, the requirement is that, uh, and we used the tribe's help to determine which Um, uh, first language Welcome will be depicted,
and so that, uh, that, that welcome Olympic Peninsula, and then the, uh, the native translation is the bare minimum, but these designers have blown us away and gone well beyond that
with
15:13:22 Are assigned request.
15:13:29 Other questions or comments for Steve?
15:13:35 All right, well, it's a really exciting project. Moving forward. At the same time, of course, I hear that Long Live the Kings is, uh, I think talking today or tomorrow about
long-term plans to replace the bridge, so more things change, the more they stay the same.
15:13:50 Great coverage. The Canal Bridge. Because of mortality to, uh, the salmon.
15:13:56 It's hard for them to sell thunderstorms. Uh, you know, the smolts, I guess, going at, like, 15 feet, so they just get stuck in a feedback loop, and the seals just feast, and
they'll just stay there until they're all eaten up. So they've tried a variety of, you know, pontoons to kind of⦠should make the area shallow and everything, but uhâ¦
15:14:14 The next step is⦠Shoot the seals. Shoot the seals? There's a lot of people that have advocated that, too, but you're not going to get it from a wildlife preservation.
15:14:23 Agency.
15:14:22 And Dan, there is a artist representation that is a large plank of wood. That could be the fairy that would get people across the bridge, or that gap while the bridge is gone.
15:14:36 Okay, any⦠anything else? Um, we can go on to roundtable then. Why don't we start online? Uh, Diana, do you have anything to report, uh, goings-on out at the resort of Port
Ludlow?
15:14:51 Sure. Um⦠So, uh, every Thursday, we're doing a golf league, it's just a drop-in.
15:14:57 Called Sparks League, so if you know some golfers that are just looking to get out.
15:15:01 Uh, it's only 9 holes, so you can get home and have dinner, and it's the rest of your day.
15:15:06 The Portland Village players are putting on a play called Nunstakes.
15:15:11 2, so that's on June 6th. Um, we have, uh, knitters that have been coming to the inn for many years, and they're going to put on a community market.
15:15:22 On June 7th, which would be kind of fun. It'll be, uh, things made with yarn.
15:15:28 It'll be yarn and other items, almost like a crafts event.
15:15:33 Um, on, uh⦠Um, every Sunday, we're doing the farm dinners. The menus are going out on the social media, so if you want to know what's going on there.
15:15:46 And then the second Tuesday, for the rest of the year.
15:15:50 We're doing $10 wine tasting with either, um, distributors or winemakers, um, just depends on what's going on.
15:15:58 And then we're also doing a pork and canvas, so you can come and paint.
15:16:02 Have some wine, and a little bite, and that's on 625.
15:16:07 Uh, we had our first one, it was a lot of fun, so looking forward to doing that for the rest of the year also.
15:16:14 Anyways, though, those are available by newsletter Or go to our website.
15:16:19 Great. Thanks, Diana. Amy, how are things on the West End?
15:16:23 That's busy. I think once the hoe opened, the roads are just full of people.
15:16:28 Um, there's a lot of construction over here, it's very frustrating. There's four traffic stops between Forks and Claylock right now.
15:16:34 But it's, um⦠It's hopping. The hotel's full every day, we're fully staffed now, everything's just summer, go ahead.
15:16:43 Um, all the beaches are open, everything's⦠open and happening around here, even South Beach opened.
15:16:48 A couple weeks ago, so it's, uh, it's busy, I think.
15:16:53 Otherwise, Cadillac to Anna, a few new things rolling out in the food and beverage world. We've got new menus rolling out in a couple weeks.
15:17:00 Um, this season, we're gonna try doing Saturday lunch barbecues outside in the field.
15:17:05 Um, we did one last week, it went really well, so we're gonna keep doing that. And then we're gonna kick off⦠a bigger barbecue on Father's Day, but also we're going to continue
Um, Sunday brunches through the summer as well, till Labor Day
15:17:18 So, just kind of playing around with food things right now, but⦠just⦠there's a lot of people around⦠It's good. Mhm.
15:17:26 Great, Glenn, good to hear, Amy. Uh, Steve, you want to give us an update on the Gateway Visitor Center?
15:17:31 Yeah, Gateway and some other tourism stuff. Gateway's added, uh, post-Memorial Day, and will carry through until after Labor Day with added hours. We're now open 6 days a week,
and we've extended hours of service on Friday and Saturday.
15:17:48 Had today a really, um. Excuse me, we also then partnered with a really good collaborative with, um, Quimper Event Collective, the City of Port Townsend, and, um, Gateway representing
the legacy pieces of getting in published, our lodging matrices, they're both in the, um.
15:18:10 Seasonal getaway guides for the PDN and the leader, and those are out, and we're pleased with that. Thanks to Jesse at the resort at Ludlow for.
15:18:20 Helping, um, us stay very cost-effective with design work. That was great.
15:18:27 Um, the leader is also done with reprinting the Jefferson County Activity Planner that the Gateways put out. We've got, um.
15:18:35 A condensed version of Jesse's, um. Uh, lodging matrix with parks and, um, uh, food service and other things like that that's a blow-in, and so we've got that, uh, going out.
15:18:48 Um, there are other print publications that are out, Marcia can speak to the, uh, plentiful, um.
15:18:55 Full, um, enchilada of the Olympic travel planner that is out.
15:19:00 Um, another publication that is, uh, uh, distributed is the green pamphlet Size O-Ranger.
15:19:06 And it covers all of the⦠Washington National Parks.
15:19:13 Um, and had a good meeting, uh, with their, uh, person today, uh, Mark Appshire from Pin⦠the, uh, Port Angeles Visitor Center, Lucy Andros with, um, Forks and myself.
15:19:25 And, um, there's⦠piloting technology, if you have an Apple iPhone, you may have been offered the opportunity to pilot the SOS feature when you're out of cell range.
15:19:38 And, uh, that's in beta right now. The FCC's, um⦠releasing satellite licensures for telecommunications and T-Mobile has that first, um.
15:19:50 Satellite emergency piece. And, uh, they're, uh, working with the publisher of O Ranger.
15:19:57 To take it to national parks. And what a perfect spot, because that has always been one of our major pieces, is that cellular coverage in our, um, best resources is non-existent.
15:20:11 And, um, uh, and supposedly, by signing up with this, um, piece, you don't have to be a T-Mobile user.
15:20:19 But you can then, um⦠all you have to have is a smartphone, whether it's Android or, um.
15:20:26 Iphone. And you'll be able to have, uh, text.
15:20:31 Uh⦠push through, um, regardless of cell tower. And, uh, so they're working with the visitor centers as a point of contact.
15:20:39 And the lure is, is that they're also then going to invest in charging stations for cell phones.
15:20:45 Uh, which is great at the Gateway, because hopefully we still have the, um.
15:20:49 It hasn't been clawed back for the EV charging there, but we can get people to sign up express interest, and they could then have, um.
15:20:58 A text capacity. It's being piloted on a whole variety of pieces, but that was a great, um, um.
15:21:05 Piece, I'm happy to be asked about that. And then the last thing that I have, uh, is that, um, uh, the quill lantern, um, venue has a great lineup with Tarbu, um, summer concerts,
and so, uh, we're working, and, uh, we'll be
15:21:21 Promoting it and getting the word out. Um, through our various channels to invite people out, because it's kind of like a thing.
15:21:29 And, uh, thing has, um, kind of⦠it hasn't done well since it left Port Townsend, and so, uh, we've got Thing 2.0 known as Tarbu out here, uh, this summer, so⦠Good stuff.
That's it.
15:21:43 Good stuff. Thank you, Steve. Marcia, how are things going at Optic and OPPVV?
15:21:50 Hi, I'm gonna stay off camera just because I have a wonky internet connection here.
15:21:56 Um, a couple of things out in the Forks area, I got a message from Lissy today, uh, just talking about visitor centers, and she sent her May numbers in, and to Amy's point about
how busy it is out there.
15:22:13 Uh, the Forks Visitor Center, January through May. Is up over 4,000⦠visitors from January through May of last year.
15:22:26 Which is kind of astounding, that those are big numbers of people that are stopping in and you know, actually logging in there at the visitor center.
15:22:36 Um, we just received, or we just pulled, I should say, the⦠Um, lodging tax numbers for May.
15:22:48 I haven't sent them out yet. They are going out this afternoon, but I can tell you Uh, good news for Jefferson and Jefferson County and Port Townsend.
15:22:59 So, May of 25, is about 2⦠about $2,500 above May of 24.
15:23:09 Um, April was down a little bit, so some of that could be a reporting thing, but the net of it is⦠Uh, year-to-date, Jefferson County is⦠Looks like up.
15:23:23 4.37%, if I'm reading this correctly. Year over year. And Fort Townsend is also doing well. They came in just a⦠their main numbers came in Just a little bit below May of
last year.
15:23:37 Uh, they're down about 3% year-over-year, but they've also lost Fort Warden, so⦠That could be a factor there. So, the rest of the numbers that will all be coming out, uh,
we'll be getting that sent out this afternoon.
15:23:52 Um, as Steve said, the, uh⦠I'm sorry?
15:23:51 That's correct. Oh, no, go ahead, sorry.
15:23:58 Um, the, uh, the OP travel planner is out and about. If anybody needs some, contact our office. We'll be happy to Um, get those out to you. We did deliver, I think, 20 boxes
to the visitor center, so⦠Those of you on the east side, you know, can also get them from the Visitor Center.
15:24:19 Um, the smaller version the map version is out on the Washington state fairies and cruise terminals and all the other places that Certified delivers, so⦠Those are all out
and about.
15:24:35 Um, and we're having⦠we're bringing the optic meeting to Port Townsend on Thursday.
15:24:40 Um, so working session's not a full, uh, optic meeting, it's a working session for the partners to⦠talk about the second half of the year.
15:24:49 Um, we've had some good fam tours through, uh, albeit you know, a little here, a little there, probably the one that was the mo⦠the most impressive was earlier No, last month,
May.
15:25:03 Uh, we had 10 people in from Edelweiss Air. Yesterday, Edelweiss Airlines, uh.
15:25:11 Had their first flight, and to see TAC direct from Zurich.
15:25:15 And their senior⦠management team, uh, came in with them.
15:25:20 They had a nice reception that I attended yesterday. Um, they're very excited about the service.
15:25:27 To the Northwest, not only for the Swiss travelers, but really as through service. They talked a lot about the Indian market and how a lot of the Indian market travels through
Zurich and onward.
15:25:42 Um, and that's a big market coming into the Greater Seattle area, and they travel a lot. They get out and come visit all of us, so⦠Anyway, great service to have coming in.
15:25:54 Um, they're working on a very nice promotional piece that they will put out in conjunction with the inauguration of their service, and then they also had 6 journalists with
them that will be writing up.
15:26:07 Their trip to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula, so⦠Um, some nice, uh.
15:26:14 Coverage there. And then later this month, I will be attending⦠I'll be in the state of Washington.
15:26:22 Tourism booth. At an international trade show called IPW.
15:26:28 Um, this is its, I don't know, 55th year, or something like that, but it's, uh⦠It's bringing the world of⦠travel professionals to the U.S.
15:26:37 To learn about U.S. Products, U.S. Destinations, that sort of thing.
15:26:43 Um, I think we're all eager to see what our appointments are going to be like, what the conversation is going to be like.
15:26:50 But this group of people really take a long view. And I think they'll be focused on you know, 26, 27, 28, more so than 25.
15:27:01 But it'll be interesting to see what we learn. And interesting to see⦠you know, if some markets show up more than others. Still to be determined, but it's going to be in
Chicago, and⦠We have, um⦠Something like 88 appointments, I think. It's quite a lot.
15:27:23 Busy.
15:27:28 All right. Thank you very much, Marcia. I guess we've come to the room. Caitlet?
15:27:35 Well, yeah, you want to talk about Worthington Park? Um, so, to start, for just quilting, uh, tomorrow, Wednesday the 4th, we've got Mary Fund of Seven Monkees Gallery has sort
of taken the reins on trying to organize and coordinate businesses of quilting. She's started a thing called the Quill Scene. Um, it's going to be a website launch, and um⦠general,
you know, wrapped carts that she's hoping to eventuallyâ¦
15:28:02 Have just be available through the website, I believe, is for our ultimate goal, so she's having a meet and greet at the Seven Winkies Gallery tomorrow evening. Um, we have
the Bon John Pass Out coming up on Saturday the 14th, which is the gravel bike race at Worthington Park.
15:28:20 Um, Tuesdays, out more story time has started with Jefferson County Library at Worthington Park. That's Tuesdays, and it's, like, 10.30 in the morning.
15:28:28 Nothing, that was fine, what I was gonna say. Um, and then we are going to be doing 3 ice cream socials at Quilstane Historical Museum.
15:28:39 Uh, our first one is going to be June 26th, which is a Thursday afternoon. That's gonna be from 4 to 6 p.m. Come by for a free scoop of ice cream.
15:28:49 And that's all I have. Well, I wash the rug. The road of that museum. Oh, good. I think it would be⦠Well, I just want to say.
15:29:01 And I go, uh, Greg, didn't work on this. We have fiber optics, like, about a month. Exciting.
15:29:10 And in, uh, the Fallsview campground, half of it is open now.
15:29:15 Oh, and that's exciting. And it's⦠it's really recovered. I mean, the trees⦠It looks nice, it's a beautiful place. But they still⦠they see those laminated riplot there
And so they're gonna have to take some more out on the other side, but it is recovery, whichâ¦
15:29:34 It's nice. Uh, and then, uh, this Saturday⦠this last Saturday.
15:29:39 We have the celebration of Life for, um⦠the chairperson of the museum for many years, and project manager for giving Ben Worthington House the interior of the uh, finish,
and the landscaping started. I mean, Christine Satterly, and⦠She was just absolutely amazing. It was the most wonderful celebration of life I've ever been to. It was fantastic.
15:30:06 10.50 or 300 people? Yeah, about 300. The gummy bear. The gummy bear game, that's true. And Mallard.
15:30:15 And sitting around and get into the room that she, uh, had stepkins. But anyway, these kids in the neighborhood would come to her house, and they get 3 gummy bears out of her
job.
15:30:26 And then she would have 3 different colors. And they can only have 3, and then they were supposed to look up in the, uh⦠I almost, like, immediately. The flags, and see what
colors and what country they came from.
15:30:40 And to locate them on the globe. That was for me. Is she a teacher also? She was that? She was a nurse, and a stewardess, and just, like, an auntie to everyone on the Fifth
Avenue and Ballard. So, yeah, she was a pretty special lady.
15:30:58 They're really not happy, or⦠Yeah. That's great. Thank you, Leon.
15:31:03 Dan, how we doing in Brandon? Brendan's good. Um, we got our season started early, so shrimping went, uh, very well. The town has been packed.
15:31:14 Cooey Duck's open for breakfast now, I haven't been there yet, but I think they're doing well.
15:31:19 The restaurants have been reporting record numbers. My store. To Memorial Day weekend, as well as we did when Shrimp Fest was a Memorial Day weekend.
15:31:30 So, it's been really good. I think it really highlights that capacity issue that we just hit a ceiling in a cap. And even though Sherpass wasn't a Memorial Day, we still get
that Celian cap for people being in town. Right. So that was really good. Um, Shirt Fest is gonna be inâ¦
15:31:50 Yeah, Steve's doing all the work, he's volunteered to be coordinator for everything, so that's great, I don't have to do much.
15:31:58 But, uh, it's gonna be really good, it's gonna be an all-day event, it's gonna be a single-day event downtown in the downtown corridor.
15:32:05 Um, and it's going to have a lot of music, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
15:32:09 There's gonna be a dog tank, and we're going to block its vendors, so everyone should come down, and then we're predicting a really good⦠strong tourist season, and⦠If
the businesses in the area can continue to grow and improve, that'll help the economic development. That's our cap right now.
15:32:27 You know, how much stuff can we sell, how many rooms or campsites do we have? That's what's limiting us.
15:32:35 Um, and then the⦠Board of County Commissioners put out a letter highlighting some of the challenges in permitting at the Pleasant Harbor Marina and Resort And it remains
to be seen as to⦠where that's gonna happen, when that's gonna happen, but weâ¦
15:32:53 Hope for some better economics forward. It's my whole story.
15:32:57 Excellent. Thank you, Dan. Also, the statement of support, really, we really want it to happen, right? I think, uh⦠Yeah, it was good. It was a⦠if anybody didn't read the
letter, I kind of tried to share it around on Facebook. Whoever was running Jefferson County government Facebook page is doing just a killer job. Liz Anderson. Yeah, yeah. She's fantastic.
15:33:16 But it was great, you came up, I shared that out, I think it sparked some interesting discussion in town, and it was a statement of support, and then an explanation of the challenges
with permitting, so⦠Um, still a work in progress, butâ¦
15:33:29 Would make a massive difference for the entire county, I believe. I would be pretty impressive.
15:33:35 Okay, uh, so that takes us around the roundtable. Uh, future agenda items, I have one thing I wanted to highlight, and then open for anyone else.
15:33:46 Um, I asked Ariel to create a draft of bylaws that have lots of blanks that we can, um, insert and remove, so at the next meeting, we'll have a TCC draft The bylaws for consideration,
and modification.
15:34:03 And, um, hopefully I'll have an RFP, some more information to kind of refine that RFP based on our conversation about the, uh, LTAC award, and⦠Other agenda items? I would
like to reopen my request for an agenda item of the last
15:34:20 Meeting, and I would like the group to formalize a statement on our opinions or thoughts, or⦠formalized recommendation regarding user information centers. What are they,
and are they important?
15:34:33 All right, no funding, no amount, no dollar, no specific project, but what does this group feel about that?
15:34:40 Okay, I think that's great, and of course, regular agendas for the rest of the year, so we can be a little bit more flexible on what we talk about. Diane?
15:34:52 Um, I was just curious on the TCC bylaws, did you start with the existing, and are you doing a red line so we can see what changed?
15:35:03 Uh, we can do a red line, it's kind of a⦠I'm not sure exactly how she's gonna do it, but she's utilizing both the bylaws of LTAP, which is kind of the form that we want the
county bylaws to take.
15:35:15 As well as the original, uh, CCC bylaws. She's Ariel Spesser, who's in the prosecutor's office.
15:35:25 Yeah, it would just be interesting, since we do have existing why changes, that kind of stuff.
15:35:33 I think with the repealing and reestablishment, those bylaws are not valid anymore, but we can certainly look back to them. And the purpose is slightly⦠different under the
new resolution, but we will certainly include the old copies, the old draft.
15:35:48 The old bylaws.
15:35:49 Yeah, I don't think the resolution said the bylaws went this way. I could have missed that.
15:35:54 But they should be in place as long as TCC's in place, so that's the only thing I'd want to be careful of. You might want to ask.
15:36:02 I'll check on that, thank you. Steve?
15:36:07 To Dan's agenda item, which I think is great, um. Since we have moved and approved these new, um, regular meetings going forward.
15:36:17 Uh, it would be appropriate for TCC's rep, i.e. You, Greg, to reach out to City of Port Townsend and say that, uh, we've accommodated your attendance, and because I do think
it would be good to have Port Townsend here. And on the subject of visitor centers, I was helping them, uh, open the Port Townsend Welcome Center, which is now nested in the Northwest
Maritime Center's, um.
15:36:43 Facility yesterday, and, um, uh, so⦠they should also⦠be solicited for that conversation as far as a statement of value of visitor centers.
15:36:55 Absolutely. I have a meeting scheduled with Shelly Levins and Owen Rowe in a week or so, and I'll invite them back, so definitely would love to have them come for that conversation.
15:37:06 Anything else? Yes, Clint? Oh, go ahead, Steve.
15:37:10 Um. The only other piece that wasn't mentioned, and Marcia and Amy didn't mention it, is that Um, there's plans afoot this season, um, Delaware North, Amy's, um, uh, concession
Company, and Aramark, um, will continue to manage the lodges and recreation facilities, uh, with, uh, partnership at Olympic National Park, but Olympic National Park just awarded
15:37:36 Um, starting the following year, um, a, uh, a new concessionaire Uh, that will, um⦠take over the management of all non-Delaware North assets at, um, Olympic. So that'sâ¦
that's big news.
15:37:51 It's big news.
15:37:53 Yeah, is there something⦠Amy, is it⦠I don't know, you wanna⦠is that a future agenda? I don't know, how should we⦠approach that.
15:38:03 Information.
15:38:03 Yeah, I don't think there's much we need to do, they'll take over in the new year, essentially, but, um⦠It's exciting news. I've heard good things about, um, Explore US as
a company, as opposed to Some other things I've heard. So, umâ¦
15:38:17 I think that's good news for the area, and I'm excited to work with them.
15:38:21 So, I'm looking forward to working with them. The other parallel piece to it, ExploreUS's closest property to us is Crater Lake, and today the superintendent of Crater Lake
resigned. And so, has nothing to do with, um.
15:38:37 Necessarily, um, with, uh, Explore as the concessionaire. It, uh, has more to do with, um.
15:38:44 Uh, just the overall cut to federal services and the fact that, uh, this is the last season Um, for, uh, public access to the water at Crater Lake because they've had a long-planned
trail maintenance, and it's going to take 8 years or 9 years to, um, um.
15:39:03 Punch in that new trail⦠trail. Amy can create a new pathway down to the beach in about 20 minutes, so they should need to be consulting with you, Amy.
15:39:13 But anyway, it's big news.
15:39:14 I think the big news, too, just with the new park contracts coming in, is there's a lot of obligations in the contracts, that there'll be a lot of upgrades and a lot of new
things, so the facilities in those areas will be
15:39:26 Greatly upgraded every time a new contract comes in. I know there was a lot of things in that contract, obviously, for upgrades of⦠you know, FFE interior furniture Stixtures,
um, they have to replace the dock at Lake Crescent.
15:39:38 Um, building more, like, bathroom facilities and stuff in that area, because it's so⦠populated, so there'll be a lot of good changes and accommodations in those areas, which
would be⦠Nice for the guests.
15:39:47 Yeah. Yep.
15:39:49 That's clear. Thank you. Um, Cleone had something, then we'll go to Marcia.
15:39:57 I was gonna ask, is there⦠Up there. Can you put closed caption on there?
15:40:02 My hearing sucks, and I have closed caption? I can kind of keep up with what I'm saying. I think it's under more, yeah.
15:40:11 Yep. Woohoo! I'll refresh that next time. Yeah, sorry, we started a little earlier rather than at the very end of the meeting. Marcia, any agenda items for future meetings?
15:40:23 Oh, I just wanted to make a slight correction to what Steve said Yes, uh, Explore U.S. Did pick up some of the Aramark properties, but the only thing that was in the contract
was Lake Crescent Lodge, Log Cabin Resort.
15:40:41 Fair Home Campground. And the operation at Hurricane Ridge. So, Soul Duck.
15:40:49 Hot Springs Resort. Remains under Aramark, and Lake⦠Quinault Resort remains under Aramark.
15:40:57 Thank you. Okay.
15:40:56 Still good news, but I just didn't want⦠For the public record to misstate what that⦠contract is. I think it'll be very interesting to have three concessionaires working,
uh, here, and I, to Amy's point.
15:41:12 Yeah, it's gonna bode well for the upgrade, and you know, the other two will come along, I don't know when, a couple of years, probably, but⦠Um, it's overall good news, and
I think we're all⦠Amy, you're probably the only one that
15:41:26 Might even know any of the people at Explore US. They're a completely unknown to most of us, so⦠I'm hoping to maybe meet some of them at IPW.
15:41:37 Good.
15:41:38 Great, any other future agenda items, folks, you want to⦠Thank you, that⦠I'm sorry, we can do that from the beginning.
15:41:48 Can, uh, an agenda item, Greg? Could just be a briefing on LTAC, because many of us, um, are⦠interested in the old tax cycle, and um⦠I know that you're working your magic,
and we're just wondering how that's all gonnaâ¦
15:42:04 Collide with, um⦠the necessity for⦠RFPs and, uh, and all that process.
15:42:12 We can do an update on the LTAC process, we should probably, hopefully, have it figured out by the next meeting, we'll see. Um, but yeah, definitely at a future meeting.
15:42:23 Okay, well, we are through our agenda on our special meeting, so I will adjourn this meeting and thank everyone for their time, and have a great day. I'm glad this time and
cadence still works for folks, and we'll see you at our regular meeting.
15:42:36 On July 1st, and we'll get the email up on the landing page and try to⦠and get our ducks in a row. So, thank you, everyone.