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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM111808 Jefferson County LTAC Meeting Minutes November 18, 2008 9:15 am at Jefferson County Courthouse Members attending were: Joy Baisch, Bill Tennent, Debi Bainbridge, John Austin Others attending were: Philip Morley, Bill Roney, Kathy Sharp, John Eisinger, Kitti deLong Funding requests: John announced that the requests were more than the projected income. Joy asked if there was carry over from last year, or other years. Philip will check. Kathy Sharp stated that in her records, the Total Revenue for last year was $301,000, and the amount funded was $298,000. Kathy Sharp presented the Budget Request for Port Ludlow Chamber. From last year on, they have not been giving money to the Gateway Visitor’s Center. Are now focused on community enrichment and making the area welcoming for visitors. They now have banners that announce events or anything the Chamber is trying to promote. They are asking for $9,000 and have a desperate need to redo their brochure. They have trimmed their own budget by $5,000 before submitting. As far as community enhancement, it is vital that they look good, banners are key. There are four poles that are in desperate need of brackets and banners. It is important to capitalize on things that are already in motion and Art Walk is one of those, which took place last month at the same time as Lavender Fest. Community enhancement = flowers and banners. Debi asked if there was a bid on the design for the brochure because the amount looked small. Kathy stated yes, that the amount listed was only for the printing and that volunteers were designing the brochure. Bill Roney presented the Budget Request for the Gateway Visitor’s Center (GVC ). Bill stated that they hosted 10,713 visitors during 2007. Many of the people who stop at GVC are short term travelers who do not want to waste a lot of time determining what there is to do and will be here only one or two days. The addition of the Museum has allowed a small sign on the highway to direct people to GVC. The sign isn’t what GVC had hoped to have, but that may be able to be improved later. GVC currently has a small grant that helps with the Port-a-Potties and hope to have something better in the near future. Maintenance on Port-a-Potties has fallen to GVC, was not in the budget, and has to be done frequently. Cost of operating GVC is approx. $90/day. Over all cost per each contact is approx. $1.60, at 26,302 contacts. GVC has 1103 volunteer hours. GVC markets nationally, regionally, some with other agencies, and some on their own. The second level of GVC is to market to people directly as they get here, then GVC provides the next step for the visitor’s needs. Debi asked what was happening with the waterlines and paving. John stated that those are on hold right now. Before any improvements are made, we need to get a 99 year lease from the owners. Debi asked that, because that is a park and ride, whether GVC shouldn’t have to maintain the Sanicans and whether the cost of that maintenance should fall on GVC. Bill stated that might be deferred to some other entity. John stated there has been an announcement mailed by the State re: an open house to discuss changes to Hiways 19 & 20. Debi asked if GVC sold items. Bill stated that before the remodel, sales were virtually nonexistent. After the remodel, have put in a small point of sales section carrying mostly books. Volunteers are reluctant to become sales people at this stage in their lives and Bill doesn’t want to compete with local businesses. Debi asked if GVC was responsible for mailing Travel Planners for everyone. Bill answered no, Peninsula Mailing, a single clearing house, takes care of mailing, and that cost is split 50/50 between Port Townsend and Jefferson County. Bill Tennent presented the Budget Request for Jefferson County Historic Society. Bill explained that they are related to LTAC because in the beginning, their staff members were Jefferson County employees. BOCC felt LTAC would be a more secure source of funding for them in times of crisis. Promotion and support of facilities: Initially it was thought of as being a tourist attraction. However, the Attorney General made a ruling changing eligibility. Jefferson County and the Director worked out a new system to do promotions. Current facilities include: County Museum Rothschild House Commanding Officers Center Research Center Gateway Visitor’s Center The Research Center is in process of $2 million improvement/expansion. Traditionally have always been County Historic Society. City of Port Townsend feels that they contribute approx. $70,000 in-kind to the museum. Had the first West End weekend last weekend and was a success, and provided a big boost in lodging and sales. JCHS does get a lot of unpaid newspaper coverage. JCHS has been working closely with Jefferson County Public Health, also with Parks and Recreation to put on programs. Jefferson County kids will now participate in the State History Fair for the first time. Debi stated that it looks like the majority of funding is going toward operations and maybe 4% of LTAC funds will be dedicated to advertising and marketing. Bill stated that money goes to Operating Fund. JCHS has always tried to say that LTAC money goes to salaries because Jefferson County has always paid those salaries. Debi asked if JCHS targets outside County to bring tourists? Bill stated that Victorian Fest gets major advertising, with 80,000 hits to their website and they use email to notify people. Another major event is New Year’s Eve Celebration. That is going to get bigger and bigger as time goes on. Joy asked if PT LTAC dollars go to JCHS. Bill stated that they do not receive any funding from Port Townsend LTAC. Discussion about whether funding should come from PT LTAC. Joy asked if we can take Jefferson County LTAC dollars and pay for something that is generating PT LTAC dollars. Discussion. Philip suggested that if this group wanted to make any changes, that would have to be done in a future cycle because of advertising requirements for any changes. Bill stated that JCHS was actually written into an Ordinance, and that the City of Port Townsend feels they contribute approx. $70,000 in-kind for the Museum space. John Eisinger stated that an Attorney General ruling determined that PT LTAC dollars can not go to anything that is owned by the City. Bill Tennent stated that the County Attorney said that was just an opinion and until it was tested, it was just an opinion. Philip asked if the current Proposal follows the current Attorney General’s opinion. Bill said you could interpret it that way. Carol Fletcher, Viva Davis and Laurie Gore presented the Budget Proposal for Hadlock Days. Hadlock Days has been going for about three years though with a declining attendance. There are now new people involved and a new focus. Hadlock Chamber of Commerce is no longer involved. Hadlock Days is a growing event and nearly doubles in size each year. Last year, Fred Hill donated the use of their pit and made a beautiful race track there, with spots inside the fence for all the vendors. All lodging is booked during Hadlock Days. Without this funding, Hadlock Days will not be able to do any outside advertising. There will be two addition Lawn Mower Racing events during the year but Hadlock Days does not have any money to cover the additional insurance costs. The Car Show has drawn an increasing number of people with 150 cars this year. Frances Rawski presented the Budget Request for Port Hadlock Tri-Area Chamber of Commerce , who has requested to double the Budget Request this year to include a facility with a physical face and address in the community. There appears to be no WIFI available in the area and travelers look for that. They are promoting the Historic buildings and waterfront, using brochures and marketing to bring people. Bill Tennent asked if the Chamber had an office now. Frances answered no, she uses an upstairs room in her house. C of C would also like to put up a Power Point Presentation that covers the entire Peninsula. Joy asked where the Chamber now has their meetings. Frances stated that Board meetings are held at the Mexican Restaurant on Rhody Drive. Chamber meetings are held at the Tri Area Community Center. Debi stated that Chamber’s membership funds are planned to be used for administrative fees. Frances has volunteered all this time. The Chamber now plans to pay her. Frances stated that if they do not receive LTAC funds, they would not be able to have a facility in the community. Joy asked if sharing office space had been explored and Frances answered that option had been explored, that in the few spaces that were available, the owners did not want a Chamber of Commerce to distract from the look of their businesses. Mari Phillips, Larry McKeehen and Winona Prill presented the Budget Request for Quilcene Historical Museum. The Museum has just completed their building project. Have found that there is a geo-tracker in the landscape display, which is a very good thing. They have asked for an increase for utilities. Have installed a new propane heater and would like a copier. Must now farm out all copying and that is a substantial cost for them. Had approx. 800 visitors this year, down from past years because of the construction. Are open four days per week from approx. April 21 until Quil Fair in September. They are working on a Genealogy repository and a map for the Quil Cemetery, which will take hundreds of hours of donated time. They are strictly volunteer and have no paid staff. Larry McKeehen has had donations of photos from the Quilcene School Alumni Assoc, which has large volumes of photos and documents and they need a repository for these. The difference between ’07 and ’08 is because of the new addition, with a $36,000 one-time grant from the County. They close between Sept-April but still have the expense for utilities/heat. Larry stated that if they do not get the increase, they will use the priorities chart on page 10. Mari stated that this year there is an increase of $2,500. They hope to purchase a copier. Debi asked if the genealogy software would bring in revenue. Mari answered that when people come and use the facilities, they will usually make a donation. If they don’t, the Museum volunteers gently remind them. Debi asked if the Quilcene Museum is part of JCHS and Mari answered no, that they were a completely separate entity. Bill Tennent stated that part of JCHS’s mission is to answer questions for the Quilcene Museum re: artifacts. Larry McKeehen presented the Budget Request for the Quil Fair & Parade. They used to be part of the Jefferson County Fair until 1940’s when the Fair was moved into Port Townsend. They would like signs and brochures to support the Fair. Joy Baisch presented the Budget Request for the Quil/Brinnon Chamber of Commerce, which has been a 501c3 since 1993. Have never had a facility, but have always partnered with other entities. The Forest Service allows them the use of an office for the Board meetings. Everything else is done out in the open.. They are putting up banners from part of the 2008 LTAC dollars as long-term branding and visual markers of where Brinnon starts and ends on approx. 35 miles of road front. The utility company has graciously offered to put up and maintain the banners. Regarding the budget for this year: When Homeland Security came in, they were going to close down the Forest Service office. Instead agreed to partner but now the Chamber has to supply two employees to keep the office open. The Chamber is training a number of high school youth and other community members to take part as paid personnel. All others are volunteers. Visitor counts have remained consistent. They have decided to open a Chamber of Commerce in Brinnon, which is taking off and providing a lot of services. They are on target from last year. Still need to finish Kiosk and walking paths with info, and will follow the same format as Jamestown S’Klallam tribe uses. Also wanted to put $4,000 toward eco-tourism in partnership with WSU to do youth education in eco-systems. If not awarded the increase in the requested budget, Joy stated they would not take back their commitment for the Visitor’s Center in Brinnon. Maybe they would only do one kiosk and put off the second. They also added a contribution for Emerald Towns Alliance because those two communities do a lot to help each other. They also work with public health on some programs. Debi Bainbridge presented the Budget Request for Jefferson County Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC). The only operational expense is for administrative support and will be less by about $2,000 next year. We partnered our funds to get more advertising for the money in electronic media and with very little print advertising. If we had to cut back, possibly we would cut the Washington State Travel Planner. We partner with Clallam County and other cities on the Peninsula to make Olympic Peninsula Tourism Council, the higher level of TCC, with whom we partnered in advertising with $20,000 in ’08. If we don’t get our increase, we will come back with same amount. Our print material would consist of East Jefferson County Travel Planner partnering with Port Townsend, and we are locked into that. We will still continue the Olympic Coastal Cuisine and Waterfall Trail Project if we are cut back but will have to cut back on the amount we contribute. There was no presenter available for the West End proposal . Discussion about how to trim the requested amounts to fit the projected Jefferson County LTAC income. Joy stated that she would rather see salaries and personnel cut back than programs. Joy asked if JCHS can fall back to last year’s amount. She requested to keep the Quil Museum amount in tact. Requesting Agency Recommended 2009 Budget Port Ludlow C of C $ 5,600 Olympic Pen. Gateway VC (JCHS) 58,050 Jeff. Co. Historical Society (JCHS) 54,573 Quilcene/Brinnon C of C (QBCC) 4,000 -South Co. Visitor Center (QBCC) 38,500 Hadlock Days Association 0 Tourism Coordinating Council 85,000 Port Hadlock/Tri-Area C of C 5,800 Quilcene Historical Museum 9,000 Quilcene Fair and Parade 0 Forks Chamber of Commerce 27,424 Balloon Hanger Debt Service 14,536 _______________________ Total $303,283 Debi made a motion to approve the above recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners at this time. Bill seconded. Passed unanimously. Jefferson County LTAC will plan to meet quarterly to review actual LTAC income and to disburse any possible in projected funds at a later date. Meeting ended at 12:20 pm. .