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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM110713 Draft LTAC Budget Presentation Minutes, Nov. 7, 2013 Jefferson County Commissioners Chambers - 9:00 am Attendees: Debbie Wardrop, Bill Tennent, Joy Baisch, John Austin, Walter Kochansky Staff: Philip Morley TCC Staff: Kitti deLong took minutes. Minutes from 11-28-12: John requested a change from Kitsap “Island” to Kitsap “Peninsula” on the second page 2. Minutes as amended will stand approved re: John. Philip discussed Olympic National Parks closure and how that affected Kalaloch. All members agreed that the ONP closure negatively affected all lodgings on the Peninsula. Philip presented the “asks” for this year, which is more than the amount available to distribute, but is less than the difference from other years. Discussion. When Commissioners decided on the budget for 2013 they built in a small amount for repairs at Gateway VC, but when the second doorway was put in for safety, the repairs were more than budgeted. An additional expenditure of $5,400 was made in 2013 out of the Capital Reserve Fund. Discussion about Dollars for Scholars, which looks like it does not fit within the guidelines for LTAC funding. This really is the Quilcene Half Marathon, and the name of the organization is misleading. Discussion about how much of the funding for Dollars for Scholars was duplicated in North Hood Canal funding request. After discussion, it was determined that the overlap was probably $1,500-2,000, and that both requests were for different aspects of the marathon event. Discussion about whether Port Hadlock Days event is happening this year. It was determined that there is not a viable committee yet. Philip passed out the LTAC Funding Timeline of 2013. LTAC Funding Timeline 2013 August 30, 2013 Email RFP Oct. 1, 2013 Deadline for Receiving Proposals Begin of Nov. LTAC Meeting re: Presentations/Determinations Middle of Nov. Request “draft” LTAC meeting notes from Kitti Delong And send results to recipients End of Nov. Meet with Philip to draft agreements and scope of work. Agreements Processed thru Contract Review Dec. 13, 2013 Send Agreements to Recipients Jan, 214 Agreements on Agenda for BOCC Approval Philip stated that he had tidied up the language and format of the contracts, so all “tweaking” of contracts has been done, and they are now “plug and play.” Discussion about how we can help promote events like Quilcene Half Marathon. Discussion about follow-up to determine whether recipients of LTAC Funding are using those funds as required and about what the administrative overhead is to make monthly and quarterly reports on the monies each recipient received through this process. John suggested that some language be put into the contracts requiring minutes or quarterly reports be sent to the five participants of the LTAC. Gateway VC will continue to send monthly reports as they do now. JCHS – Bill Tennent The reason why the JCHS receives Lodging Tax to begin with is that about 15 years ago when the LTAC was created, the Commissioners at the time felt that a safer funding for JCHS would be LTAC. Up until that time, the JCHS staff members were all County employees. So JCHS was written into the County Ordinances. It seemed like a wise decision because during cutbacks, parks and rec were always the first to go. JCHS is one of the oldest organizations in the State. We have five facilities: The Research Center, Rothschild House, Commanding Officers Quarters, Gateway Visitor Center, and the Museum. Each facility does operate as a little visitor center. We keep track of lobby visitors who come in to pick up brochures or ask questions. Each facility operates as a small visitor center. We also have a website to find out information, as well. Our Lodging Tax Funds are used toward salaries, though they do not cover all of them, of course. We are asking for the same amount as requested in 2009. Our staff members have not received a raise since 2009. We promote heritage tourism, and those visitors spend longer staying here than other visitors. People do come specifically for our programs. For the last First Friday Lecture, Daniel Brown spoke, who wrote, “Boys in the Boat.” We had 130 people packed into the room and many of them came from out of the area. The month before last, our presentation was, “Tales of Town Tavern.” West End Heritage Weekend is coming. We have First Night Celebration on New Year’s, which just keeps getting better and better. This is an alcohol-free event. We do the Walking Tours down town and up town. We provide all events for the Cruise Ships when they dock here. Last month, we changed our name from JCHS to Jefferson Museum of Art and History, which has been a positive change. The current exhibit is Maritime Art and has been a very good exhibit. Maritime can mean a lot of things, so the parameters for this exhibit are wide. We do not do paid advertising because the media is very good about writing about what we do. The ad we do purchase is a 1/3 page ad in the Getaway Guide, which is the most widely distributed piece produced on the Peninsula. Using a formula based on the number of visitors, spending by those visitors would be over $2 million in our County on an annual basis. When asked if the City contributes to JCHS income, Bill stated that the City calculates the cost of the building where the museum is housed as $70,000 per year, and is the City’s contribution. Gateway Visitor Center – Bill Roney We have not raised our budget since 2009, and are asking for $58,050 again this year. $55,525 was what was approved last year. We are already operating on a short budget. A great benefit to the County is that we stay open 362 days per year. Last year, we were one day short because of a volunteer snafu. The number of people through the door so far this year were 8,228. Outside of running the Visitor Center, we provide a mailing including the activities map in every packet. Over 17,000 have been requested. There is also distribution on Washington State Ferries. Also have distributed 11,000 out of house. We also provide funding for development and placement for this activities map, and for internet marketing services. Just found out that on Google, our website is number one over all the websites that have Olympic in the name. We provide support and entry for Olympicpeninsula.org that includes everything from lodgings to tide tables. We also contribute to our new website, visithedragon.com. Also have several Facebook pages, and we support and work on the pages for Port Ludlow and Port Hadlock as well. Staff provides oversight to many committees and many subcommittees including OPTC and TCC. Our Visitor Center is funded only by LTAC funds. There is no other funding other than sales of candy bars and donations. We stock all brochures without charging fees. Please realize that if we do not to have a budget, we will not be able to operate as we have in the past. When asked if Bill was still concerned with the safety of the facility, Bill responded there has been a change by adding a new door and about $2,500-3,000 was donated value by the Rotary to get that put in. Also have a new security system that is working quite well. We actually caught the people who stole gas on the security tape. Those things have made the environment much safer. When asked if the rent on the Sani-cans was the same, Bill stated yes, that Goodman charges less than the going rate and that is a still a fair amount of the Gateway budget. Jefferson County Chamber – Teresa Verraes The mission of the Chamber is to build business and build the community and support businesses that are thriving and doing well throughout. Have put a map in the packet as well as other brochures. We are very proud of these. Our partners are doing a great amount of work. When we created our proposal, we really considered what would add to the efforts of everyone else. We are focused on our kiosks, These projects take a really long time. Teresa brought a book, “Your Town, a Destination,” and stated that on page 22, the author writes that, “kiosks never sleep.” She stated we have these great tools where people can stop and recognize activities and lodgings. Also are using QR codes at the kiosks so there is not a lot of paper “schwag.” Also did a couple of ads in the Sequim Gazette and Getaway Guide, which prints 65,000 issues and they are sent off to all VC’s. Numbers from the VC’s show that we have incredible traffic from Clallam and Kitsap Counties. Have been exploring tools for our website and what the trends are. Have proposed a mobile app, but I would like to hold off on that until 2015. We have a little ways to go before doing that. That just needs a little bit of research. Those are $5,000 per year plus a lot of staff time. This year, we will do the preparation work. I want to expand on the kiosks, which turned out to be more expensive than expected. Would like to have them lit. We will be partnering with Port Ludlow Associates on the Kiosk in Port Ludlow and a monitor system will be included. We have a website and Facebook page. This year, we have increased our traffic by 75%. Our Web Designer is working on links to Visit the Dragon now. The Cider Route has an entire page and we have a system to keep people on the page to find information. We are creating tools to help our businesses create improved business. We really listen to our visitors and make sure they get to go where they want to go. When asked about the Chamber’s $157,000 income, Teresa stated that Jefferson County Chamber is a membership organization with about 65% of members in Port Townsend, which is where most of the businesses are. When asked about Port Hadlock Days, Teresa informed us that she was going to try to convene a group that can start afresh with that event. There is a request for $2,000 in the budget proposal. Discussion about how Jefferson County Chamber was created through a merger of Port Townsend , Port Hadlock, and Port Ludlow Chambers. The Port Townsend Visitor Center is supported by City of Port Townsend lodging tax. Teresa stated that for our office space, we made a significant contribution to that VC to make sure we have 30 years of residence there. Hadlock Shelter Repair – we are looking at the park that is right across from Port Hadlock Motel, which is really in shabby shape. This clean-up is really the first stage for where we want to create space for a kiosk. Since receiving the graphics for the map for the Chimacum Corner kiosk, we would affix the map to a sign for that park so that it would be an information site. If Port Hadlock Days was included, then we could really clean up that site. When asked how far this is from the Chimacum Corner farm stand, answer was one mile, but there are cross roads with different traffic patterns. There are great attractions in Port Hadlock. When asked if there were pull-offs at that park, Teresa answered yes. North Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce – Joy Baisch In clarification about funds being requested by two organizations, NHCCofC and Quilcene Dollars for Scholars (Quilcene Half-Marathon), Joy stated that the Marathon committee is handling all of their events. NHCCofC is handling the regional marketing and is lumping both into our electronic marketing in the VC’s and our paper marketing. The Marathon was created by a combination of the North Hood Canal Chamber and Lion’s Club trying to bring this into the community with less restrictions, which allowed us to bring this to Quilcene Fair Days. Quilcene VC staff is based on Forest Service requirements. We staff the Quil VC using a Challenge Grant. The Brinnon VC is funded solely by the Chamber. When asked if this was the first time for the run, Joy answered that the forerunner to this was the Ranger Run that was failing so was changed to half-marathon, and that took off like a rocket. Debbie noted that the committee has purchased ads in interesting places to bring in new people. When asked if people who came to that event stayed overnight in hotels, Joy answered that between Shrimpfest and the Half-Marathon, those two events together increased our visitor counts and income. Tourism counts for NHCCofC with Ranger Run are still number one in the rural areas. There is a count in the budget request packets. If you look at 2013 Jefferson County LTAC tax, we have an increase of 10.48% through August. We still have the rest of the year to go, but that is encouraging to us because a lot of that will continue. Quilcene Dollars for Scholars – Tom Half-marathons are the most popular runs for serious runners. People came from as far away as Vermont. It was amazingly attractive to people, who liked the run through the forest with great scenic vistas. People were very appreciative of the volunteers who made this possible. After all that work, we made about $200 because there was a lot of money that was put into preparing the routes. Was certified in July. That cost is now gone so we think we will make more money next year. There has been a lot published on the net about this run. People like to share what they know. Last year, we spent $1,500 to advertise. Next year, we would like to spend $3,000. The more advertising we can to, the better. Have put out flyers in sporting goods stores, etc. We had 217 entrants. Most of the money we received was from outside the County. There were 60 sponsors. The $3,000 we requested is for “hard” media. We had focused on runners but have not reached a lot of people yet. We chose Sept, 28 only because that was the last date available, and a half-marathon run at the end of Sept. is a perfect training ground for other marathons. Our ads were focused on two of the three northwest running magazines. We would like to advertise in all three running magazines next year. When asked if there were 1,000 participants, would you have space, the answer was yes. The only bottleneck was the bridge. Sheriff’s deputies stopped traffic for the beginning of the run, and after that, there is no problem. Tom stated they could handle a lot more. Joy: North Hood Canal supports community events. Shrimpfest had a little over 4,700 people at Yelvicks, and still had a lot of space. Shrimpfest committee put in a ton of money, and had a little bit left to go toward next year. Shrimpfest is pretty much self-sufficient. We have a significant number of visitors to our website. All our lodgings are small. Lodging tax is up 10.48% through the end of July and we are certainly holding our own. Debbie stated that Shrimpfest was great because it is at the time of year that can extend our business, and she subscribes to the theory that multiple events are very good to draw people. Tom stated that all businesses had increased business. When asked when Tom thought the run would reach 1,000 runners, Tom replied that would probably happen in 3-4 years. Joy stated that there is no duplication of funding requests between the Quilcene Half-Marathon and NHCCofC. Each request was for different things. West End/Forks – Lissy Andros and Bill Peach Our application was for the same amount as we received last year. Have the major portion going to staffing for the VC at Kalaloch. Then a portion is going to print and development of the Rain Forest Country Map, and the mailing of the map. Even without funding, we promote West Jefferson County. We have several members from West Jefferson County and we promote them. This year, we did contact Jefferson County to make sure that we are promoting all lodgings. We are always trying to direct people to things to do, including the Hoh Rain Forest. Cedar Creek has been added to the map, which is a great place to view sea life. There is not a lot of change in our request. Last year, we requested a little more for flat screens. We are very happy to have those, and to be displaying places in West Jefferson County on them. John asked when the Nicholai Memorial on the Upper Hoh Road was going to be finished. Lissy responded that she did not know, but flags and banners have been installed. Lissy reminded us that the Nicholai wrecked at Rialto beach, and the survivors made their way to the Hoh River. She stated that they are trying to get more involved in the historical significance of the shipwrecks along the coast. When asked if they did not receive the full amount of their request, what would have to change? Lissy responded that they saw 16,283 visitors from May to September, though not everyone signs the visitor book. If you do need to make a cut, will have to make it in the maps and distribution. Nov, 2012 to Oct 23, we mailed out 9,300 visitor packets. That left 5,700 to hand out of VC’s and other locations. We try to have a reciprocal relationship with other VC’s. When asked about Chamber members, Lissy responded that they have about 200 Chamber members. All restaurants belong, 95% of lodgings are members, and most travel-based businesses are members. Lissy informed us that a logging and mill tour takes place in parts of the County and is very popular. Even had one couple come from England just for the tour. We use a 15 passenger van for a three-hour tour that we do once per week. We could do it three times per week and be full but we are totally run by retired loggers and volunteers. The tour takes 10 people, no children under eight years old, and goes to Allen logging. Even though there is no charge for the tour, people have been very generous with donations. This last summer, we got a lot of people from Sequim. Bill Peach talked to the issue of measuring success and referencing visitor counts. He has reviewed State information and Jefferson and Clallam County numbers at the State. During a decline in the economy, visitor counts in all other counties in the State declined, but ours in the two counties remained relatively level. That says something about how well we are doing with our promotions. Quilcene Historical Museum – Larry McKeehan The Museum was started in 1991 by a group of people who wanted to preserve history. They had a lot of photos to put into the collection. The Half-Marathon was a huge success and the finish line was at the Museum. There was an amazing number of people who came through Quilcene on Hwy 101. The Museum has purchased the Worthington House with 660 feet of waterfront, and 14 rooms. We are at the stage now trying to determine how we use that to bring people to Quilcene. This is the only Victorian home of that size in rural Jefferson County. We have built a stage with all volunteer help that probably would have cost $180,000. Used timber from the property with native carvings. Have had three concerts, have had giant yard sales for Center Valley Animal Rescue. Visitors are up 172%, and have had 2,659 visitors between the Museum and the concerts. We are pushing the lodging and the dining. We don’t want to let visitors get out of the county until they at least look at some of the things to do here. Our web traffic is up. Have had visitors from 63 Washington Cities, 20 States, five foreign Countries. When asked how the Museum prioritized if the committee is not able to fund the whole amount, the answer was that they would have to cover the utilities, etc, first. They really hope to buy “Past Perfect” software to keep records of the collection pieces. There is no paid staff, 23 directors on the Board who give very large amounts of time, with 25 volunteers who give 10 hours per month or more, and another 10 volunteers who give less than 10 hours per month. Tourism Coordinating Council – Kitti deLong Kitti was pleased to hear Bill Peach report that Jefferson and Clallam Counties had held their own during the past recession, though the visitor counts and lodging tax income had fallen in other Counties in the State. A good example of what happens when you do not remind prospective travelers that the doors are still open is, as you will recall, what happened in Colorado. In 1993, Colorado’s tourism marketing function was eliminated. Over the next two years, Colorado’s domestic product plunged over $1.4 billion in tourism revenue annually. Over several years, the revenue loss increased to well over $2 billion annually. Travelers went instead to states and regions that continued to print shiny and exciting ads. We can not afford to let a fickle public forget Jefferson County and the Olympic Peninsula when they decide to take a vacation, do on a camping trip, or indulge in a leisurely drive. According to the Department of Revenue and based on Room Tax Collections for Jefferson and Clallam Counties in 2012, lodgings brought approximately $45 million in gross domestic product, and that is just for overnight stays. Can you imagine a 30% drop in that income, not to mention a comparable drop in general sales tax for food sales, retail sales, and activity sales that would be lost if visitors did not visit the Olympic Peninsula. Therefore, we need to be diligent in our advertising and promotions to continually inform prospective visitors that there are exciting things to do here on the Olympic Peninsula. And that is what TCC is, diligent, and constantly looking for creative ways to draw attention to our assets. TCC partners with Clallam County, Port Townsend, Sequim, Port Angeles, Forks, Sekiu, Clallam Bay, and more, a total of 13 entities in all that take part in the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission. In those partnerships, we are able to purchase bigger, and more, advertisements and promotions than would be possible separately. One example of creativity in the promotion arena is that we host travel writers from all over the world who plan to do research for possible articles on the Olympic Peninsula. One of our big coup’s in 2012 was that our entire OPTC collective worked on supplying rooms, food, transportation, tour guides, and even kayaks and small planes to host a film crew from the UK who filmed, “American Times,” an hour-long program that was part of a series. That program aired in November of 2012, will reach over 67 million viewers in 118 countries over the next five years, and will be translated into 18 languages. This would have cost us a very large amount of money, but we didn’t have to make that purchase. Our out-of-pocket costs were minimal (compared to the estimated cost) because we were able to secure sponsors and contributors for the lodgings, and most of what was needed to host this production crew. We will reap all the benefits from this endeavor, and the return on investment is very, very high. This would not have been accomplished without the OPTC partnership, of which TCC is the second largest supporting contributor after Clallam County. In addition, all 13 tourism entities on the Olympic Peninsula band together in our Spring and Fall Promotional Campaigns. In 2012, we focused on two areas that were determined to be the most productive areas to advertise to bring visitors here: The I-5 corridor from Bellingham to Portland, and Southern Vancouver Island. The I-5 Campaign created the Culinary Adventure Map, produced it in print and digital formats, and promoted via TV, radio, print, online banner ads, and contesting for getaways. For Victoria, this was the third year for an organized outreach to Southern Vancouver Island Campaign. This six-week campaign included: TV, radio, Times Colonist display ads, and other PR, including giveaway trips to the Olympic Peninsula. All visitor centers on the Olympic Peninsula have reported increased numbers of visitors from Vancouver Island. In the area of collateral, the Tourism Commission collectively published 90,000 Olympic Peninsula Travel Planners that included information about each city or region as well as a Calendar of Events, lodging lists for all partners, and information to entice visitors to the Olympic Peninsula. 17,542 Travel Planners were sent to people who requested them and who are making travel plans. 72,458 were distributed to regional and international Visitor Centers. In addition, there were 255,524 visits to the OPTC website where a digital version of the Travel Planner lives with all it’s information, and 8,868 OP Travel Planners were downloaded. That is only one piece of the collateral we produce and distribute each year, though it is the most important piece. We also contribute to the production of the Jefferson County Activity Map, the Waterfall Trails brochure, the Culinary Loop map, the Jefferson County Bike Map, and more. TCC takes every opportunity offered to partner with other Olympic Peninsula communities. We work together under Diane Schostak’s wise hand, advertise together, share leads, network, and educate each other to improve our opportunities to market Jefferson County and the Olympic Peninsula. If it weren’t for tourism spending, every resident on the Olympic Peninsula would have to pay an additional $222 in taxes each year! Another way to stretch our promotion budget is through use of Social Media. TCC has developed a “brand” called “visit the Dragon,” a reference to the fact that East Jefferson County is shaped like a dragon on the map. This campaign, at present, involves a website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. TCC is taking advantage of every opportunity within the Social Media realm that becomes available, and will soon take part in Geocaching promotions, as well. Also under the Social Media umbrella, TCC is taking part in the new Olympic Peninsula Magazine patterned after Yosemite Magazine, and other National Park magazines. Olympic National Park magazine will be sold across the country, though the most important aspect of this particular campaign is that there is a high level of Social Media opportunities that come along with this beautifully printed magazine, including Facebook promotions, an online presence that will include our map, itineraries, and iPad & Nook editions, Reader Service Leads, an eNewsletter sponsorship, and banner impressions. This is a valuable and exciting opportunity in which TCC is taking part, and will help us gain national as well as regional recognition. The Olympic National Park received 2,961,302 visitors in 2011, a 4.1% increase over 2010. Those visitors spent more that $106 million, according to National Parks counts, which supported nearly 1,400 jobs. As a reminder, in all the advertising and promotions that the Tourism Coordinating Council of Jefferson County does, the TCC does not stand alone. TCC represents Port Hadlock, Marrowstone Island, Discovery Bay, Port Ludlow, Quilcene, Brinnon, and the West End. The TCC of Jefferson County does the “heavy lifting” advertising for all Jefferson County entities. I ask that you please fully fund TCC’s budget request. End of Presentations After deliberating, it was decided to reduce the Jefferson County Chamber amount by $9,500 (Mobile App, Hadlock Days because there is no functioning committee yet, and the Mini-Park Cleanup because it is only one mile from the Chimacum Corners kiosk). It was decided to give Quilcene Historical Museum the same amount they received last year and to reduce the Dollars for Scholars request to $2,000. Then reduce each other request by $200. The 2014 recommendations are: Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) $54,373 Olympic Peninsula Gateway Visitor Center 57,850 Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce 12,200 N.Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce 47,050 Tourism Coordinating Council 85,800 Forks Chamber for West End VC 23,120 Quilcene Historical Museum 8,420 Quilcene/Brinnon Dollars for Scholars 2,000 Debbie Wardrop moved to accept the above recommendations. Bill Tennant seconded. Motion passed unanimously. There was discussion about whether we need another meeting. It was determined that there was no present need to set a meeting. But if, upon reviewing reports, it is found that any recipient of LTAC funding is not using those funds as recommended, then a meeting would be called at a future date. Meeting ended at 12:30 pm.