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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM030513 TCC Minutes, Draft, 3-5-2013 Resort at Port Ludlow 10:00 am Members attending were: Bill Roney, Carol Christiansen, Jennifer Lampe, Allison Willing, Joy Baisch, Diane Schostak via conference phone, Others: John Austin, Prospective Board Member Mike Zimmerman, Christina Pivarnik, Teresa Verraes Staff: Kitti deLong WTA Reminder: The WTA Summit is next Tuesday, March 12, and some of the highlights will include: Governor Inslee will speak at 9:15 am. A representative from Dean Runyon will be present new stats; Release of the new state Travel Guide; Miles Media—the company that has created the new website will present it; Yodio-mobile app for all communities across the state will be shown; There will be time to meet with the Legislators; Will be a debriefing session at 4:00 in the afternoon; Reception at the Governor’s Mansion at 5:00 p.m. Minutes, 2-12-13 Christina requested a change in the section covering her report, change from “Equestrian Park Board” to “Jefferson Equestrian Association Board. . .” John requested a change of name from Kathy Blair to Cathleen Kler. Carol moved to approve the Minutes as corrected. Allison seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Joy introduced Mike Zimmerman, Washington State Park Manager for Fort Flagler, Fort Townsend, and Fort Worden, and including Anderson Lake Park, Mystery Bay, Kinney Park. Financial Report, February-2013: There is only one Invoice for March so far : Coordinator’s Services + Expenses: Coordinator’s Services: $ 700.00 WTA Summit Registration, Joy & Kitti 170.00 Digital Recorder to record TCC Meetings 102.11 Copies, Mileage, Supplies, etc. 211.21 Total: $ 1,183.32 Allison moved to accept the Financial Report as presented. Jennifer seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Kitti reported that there is not yet a contract between TCC and LTAC/Jefferson County and the invoices have not yet been paid. Kitti reported that she emailed a strongly-worded email to Philip Morley stating that “Time is of the essence and that contract does need to be made available for signature immediately.” Philip had not responded by the time of this meeting. Discussion about what month to meet at the West End. Kitti reported that Walter Kochanski requested that TCC meet at Kalalock Lodge in May rather than April so that the remodeling will have a chance to be finished by the time of the meeting. It was decided to meet at Port Ludlow on April 9, at Kalaloch Lodge on May 14, and tentatively at Elk Meadows in June. Commissioner’s Update – John Austin John announced that the model for the Statesman Resort at Black Point has been finished. Diane Coleman (360-302-0394) invites everyone to see it at Pleasant Harbor. Discussion about improvements that have been made to support this resort. From Joy’s perspective, the resort is a beautiful operation, and there is full cooperation between the tribes, parks, and the resort. John was in Derek Kilmer’s office in Washington, DC, last week. His new Chief of Staff, Jonathan Smith, is really aware of the Dosewallips Road difficulties. He said the Washington Trails Association was okay having that trail repaired. They are responsible for the trail that takes you around the switchback. Joy felt this fit in with the Wilderness Area. Discussion about how to get attention for the Dosewallips Road repair. Joy reminded us that this is the only ADA approved high campground. Sarah Critchbaum, new ranger for Olympic National Park, is doing the input for their new wilderness plan. It would be good to weigh in on that issue. Discussion about having Judith Morris visit. She was Norm Dicks Representative for this area and is now Derek Kilmer’s. 360-797-3623. Diane joined via conference phone at 10:45 am. John will forward information about how to get the EIS for that. Jennifer asked if there was anyone who was adamantly opposed to this so we could review their opinions and effectively counter them. Discussion about how to get that information. Diane suggested that the National Park Superintendent, the Forest Service, and Judith Morris come to one of TCC’s meetings to discuss these matters and that would be good information-sharing time. Jennifer made a motion to invite all three to the next TCC meeting. Bill seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Diane would like to be included. John returned only last night from Washington, DC, and was not able to bring the LTAC and Sales Tax reports. Kitti will send those out. LTAC Sunset Law: Diane stated that there are new bills in both the Senate and the House re: defining what a tourist is and defining how those funds can be spent. Language is still being massaged. This is out of committee now. We will discuss this at the Tourism Summit and be able to get behind the language next week. We need to stand firm on “Day Travelers” and define the purpose of the market that we are all trying to attract. Cities and Counties want to fund feel-good festivals that do not always attract overnight visitors. John left at 10:55 am. Diane stated that they are strengthening the LTACs a little and asking for prioritizing so Commissioners will be focused on how to select from the list of eligible recipients. Legislation suggests that there be some ranking so that recommendations are taken a little more seriously. There is language in the legislation that will keep the fund dedicated to tourism. Discussion. West End Member: Diane thought there is another person who works for Delaware North named Alicia who would be a good candidate to represent the West End, and she would probably attend meetings via conference call. Discussion. Joy will review the By-Laws to see if that person has to live in the County or if the organization that they work for is in the county and they can then live in another state. Jennifer moved to table this matter until the next meeting. Allison seconded. Motion passed unanimously. PT LTAC – Christina Port Townsend is gearing up for American Cruise Lines to come in seven times this spring and 8-9 times this fall. The ship carries approximately 80-100 guests who will have an average age of 72. Christina has been working with local businesses to develop on-shore excursions. These visitors will be day-trippers who have not been in Puget Sound before and we hope they will all come back to visit. Christina has been working with Seaport Landing to use a shuttle to transport visitors around and also give them information about Seaport Landing living. The Cruise will start in Seattle, and will visit Anacortes, Friday Harbor, Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Poulsbo. There is a new non-profit called Olympic Peninsula Steam, headed up by Nathan Barnett and his wife Cindy (owners of the Old Consulate Inn). OPS will now coordinate both the upcoming Victorian Festival and the Steampunk festival. Teresa stated that Nathan’s goal is to develop Port Townsend as an ongoing weekend destination for Steampunk. The Chamber is sponsoring the Steampunk Hootenanny this year. The Steampunk Festival is June 5-7, and the Victorian Festival will be March 22-24. Port Townsend had a four-page spread in Northwest Travel Magazine, which included info about Fort Worden, the PTMSC, the NWMC and the Farmers Market. Christina has been working with Allen Cox, their editor, for two years and was happy to finally see the successful outcome with this article. Was mentioned in Poets and Writers about the Writers Conference at Fort Worden. There will be another Salish Sea FAM Tour, which will include the editor for AAA Arizona and a couple of other really top-notch writers. 425 Magazine had an article about Quirky Places for science geeks to visit near Seattle, and the new Orca Exhibit at the PTMSC was mentioned. Christina has been invited by the national SeaGrant organization to speak at their annual meeting in Tacoma on Coastal Tourism. She’s been contacting communities around Puget Sound and the Washington coast for information and would appreciate info from us, too. She has a questionnaire to fill out. Joy reminded Christina that Puget Sound has the only deep-water fjord in the lower 48 states. Christina will send the questionnaire to Kitti and Kitti will send that out to all the Board Members. Most of the people involved in this organization are university professors, academics, etc. Jefferson County Chamber –Teresa Teresa had the opportunity to meet with the writer for Fodor’s Travel, which has not been updated since 2011. They worked together to clean up about 20% of the information from 2011 and made it current for 2013, then added information about food, etc. They will be featuring Port Townsend. Kiosks at Chimacum Corner Farm Stand will have racks for guides and maps, and also a directory for businesses. Teresa is also working with Port Ludlow to upgrade that kiosk. Did new banners last year and now wants to revamp, add lights, and put a different map on it. Marine Tourism Bill: Our Representatives are very knowledgeable about what is happening in our community. This is good when we go to Olympia. VisitJeffersonCounty: Had a Google map that did not work. Now it needs to be tweaked. We need to be able to add Jefferson County listings easily on a regular basis. When you go on the website, you can add your own information. We need to be able to extend the maps out. Discussion about having a kiosk at Gateway Visitor Center for after-hours visitors. OPTC - Diane The Tourism Council had a discussion and members were most concerned about messaging but did not have any difficulty with the scheduling. After much discussion, it was decided to use: “Want Amazing? Find it on the Olympic Peninsula! Embrace the Adventure.” There are three pillars under that. There is a call out for photos and product to put into this mix and to be able to incorporate into banner ads, etc. Get them to Diane and she will get them to Debbie Black. Diane also needs B-roll for 15-30 second spots. John does have quite a lot but if you have anything you specifically want us to use, get them it Diane. Diane has a request for TCC people who attend the OPTC meeting that we all speak up and let people there know that we approved and feel positive about the new focus for the I-5 Corridor Campaign. There are some give-aways on the Wolf’s program in Portland, so Debbie Black will get to us with that information. Diane requested audio files for radio spots. The deadline is March 15. Carole moved to support the 2013 Campaign as outlined in our TCC meeting today. Bill seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Diane stated we are cruising along on many fronts with the Cruise, etc. Are running a Vampire Project Sweepstakes. OPVB has invested $10,000 with partners in that project. This campaign has been up for just one week, and there are now up to 5,000 likes. This is only a one month long campaign. There are 700 entries asking a question of the Vampire. Mary will present an update on Thursday at the OPTC meeting about this. Travel writers are starting to come out. Mary, Christina, and Debbie Wardrop will attend the Travel and Words Conference at Seaside, OR March 17 & 18. Go West Summit for western states group operators and conferences will do a pre- conference FAM Tour of the West End of Jefferson County during the first week of May. Will be Port Angeles to Quinault and back. Tourism is part of Governor Jay Inslee’s plan and the bridge funding appears to be still be in his budget. We are looking forward to hearing him speak next week at the WTA Summit. In the afternoon, we do have time to meet with our Legislators. Christina has asked Diane to coordinate that with Linda Barnfather. Nonprofit Status has been moved to next month’s meeting. Quilcene Museum Update – Carol Lotus Street Taxi will play at 6:00 pm on June 8 at the new concert venue at the Quilcene Museum. Freddie Pink will play on July 20. Last year’s events were very successful. Carol has chatted with the Village Store, and they are now members of the Culinary Loop. The Worthington Trust is now at 75%. Will be putting together a new Eco- Park and Carol expects that there will be a new glass blowing facility for teaching. She will give us more information about that later. Carol did a stay-cation in Port Angeles and had a blast. Potlatch is now under Doug Hinton’s wing. Christina, Teresa, Jennifer, and Diane left at 12:03 pm. Mike made a motion to authorize up to $500 to pay for the trademark, and to file for the trademark. Carol seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mike questioned whether a c6 nonprofit was what we wanted because we would not be eligible for grants. This matter will be discussed at the next meeting. Mike announced that Friends of Fort Flagler are having a dance (Polka) on March 23. Friends also does a concert series. Mike will send information about that to Board Members. August 4 is the Centennial for State Parks, and there will be special events going on all year. Kitti will try to arrange with Renne to meet after the OPTC meeting on Thursday to work on some details with the Social Media work. Kitti will send maps to all Lodging List and RV List entities to demonstrate what their LTAC tax dollars are paying for and to make sure they have seen the Activity Map. Joy is attending the Concierce Show in Seattle representing the Peninsula and needs brochures. Bill stated that we need to have a meeting in November to discuss focus and depth for the Spring Campaign each year. Waiting until after the first of each year is too late and uncomfortable from a planning perspective. Meeting ended at 12:30 pm.