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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM100813 TCC-Draft-Minutes, 10-8-2013 In Port Ludlow Associates Offices Members attending were: Diane Schostak, Allison Willing, Mike Zimmerman via phone, Larry McKeehan, Bill Roney, Jennifer Lampe, Joy at 10:10 County Commissioner: John Austin Friends: Teresa Verraes Excused: Carol Christiansen, Walter Kochansky Staff: Kitti deLong Commissioner’s Update: John Austin General Sales Tax: We seem to have hit the bottom and are bouncing up again. We are up over what we expected. Also, RE Excise Tax is up and is better than it has been over the last four years. Hotel/Motel income is holding. Discussion about reasons for variances in income. Jefferson County has put the study of a Metropolitan Park District on hold for now. Joy arrived at 10:10 am. Discussion. John left at 10:20 am. September Minutes Bill request a change in the third paragraph under Draft Budget 2014 to say: “Bill Roney stated that this year for the first time since we started keeping track, about 85% of visitors are marking that they are here because of ‘friends and family’.” Bill made a motion to amend the Minutes. Jennifer seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Jennifer moved to accept the Minutes as amended. Allison seconded. Motion passed unanimously. October 2013 Financial Budget Dianed moved to approve the October, 2013, Budget as presented. Jennifer seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Note: Bill will have copies of the Bike Map at Gateway VC tomorrow. Kitti will check on doing a lodging list update, will send out postcards for the updates, and will distribute the updated lodging list to all TCC Board Members, especially to Jennifer. Allison stated that an issue that may eventually effect us all is that Air B&B is being sued by NY City because rents are set but people are renting out for a lot more, and other people are joining in the suit. OPTC – Diane Lake Quinault Innkeepers hosted OPTC meeting last week, and it was great to be there. RFP for Research: Down to two companies, a one-person company from Seattle and one from Nashville. Will cost $18,500 for this year. Price goes to $42,000 and that gets us to the concepts, but the art work is not included in that price, which would be another $18,000. Discussion about how to reduce that cost. Diane is still processing these costs and information. We may be able to pull from some unused areas before the end of the year, and this might be a good place to use it. Discussion about how long to amortize these costs, 10 years? Jennifer asked whether we were concentrating on in-bound or out-bound marketing. Discussion. Diane is still researching. She has permission from OPTC to move forward, though she will not move forward until she is comfortable that charges are deliver what we need and are what we can afford. Diane will ask about staging the work. Tourism Summit: Have only 25 people signed up and we need 100 people to carry on. Please sign up as soon as possible. Discussion about what to do about any 2013 funds that have not been spent by the end of the year. ONP Magazine: Discussion about which package to take, and what is included in the package. Jennifer had asked some questions when David Krause presented to the Resort, and she shared the information that billing would occur in Jan/Feb of 2014, and if an initial payment was made up front, there was some flexibility on spreading the payments out. Also, leads can be formatted for either printed materials or digital information to be sent to the requesting party. Bill made a motion to pursue Package #1 of ONP Magazine. Larry seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion about the leads that will be generated during the ONP Magazine promotion. It was determined that TCC will not purchase the leads because OPTC will purchase those and share them with all partners. Diane moved to find $1500 from small line items and adjust the budget to make ONP Magazine in 2014 Budget. Jennifer seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Get off the Rock for Fall: the promotion with the Zone Radio Station is for younger people, will focus on wine, offer a stay in Bishop Victorian Hotel in Port Townsend, and a nice B&B in Sequim. The promotion with “Q” Radio Station is for the older set, package includes a stay at Fernhaven Cottage on the West Side. Crabfest: 18,000 people will attend. 1500 are coming from Victoria this year. Diane is making that booth on Saturday. Fall Social Media: “Pin It to Win It” Have had 60+ boards. People are engaged. Winner of Crabfest Tickets is from Georgia. Diane talked about how well the FAM tour went last year, and resulted in another article about Chimacum farms, “Savoring Chimacum Valley, Washington,” in Northwest Travel Magazine. Kitti passed out copies of the article. Diane will be hosting a French FAM Tour today and tomorrow. FAM tours are now spending more time on the Peninsula, not just one day! Joy requested State Park Visitation numbers and LTAC numbers for Jefferson County from Mike. All our State Parks are still open during the Federal shutdown!!!! West End Board Members: After discussion, Jennifer moved to place Diane as interim Member for the West End in place of Anna Matsche. Bill seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Area Updates: Mike stated that Fort Flagler has closed their campgrounds from November through February, but this year, the most popular campground loop will be opened year- around. Friends of Fort Flagler will be putting on another Halloween event on October 26 & 27. It is very popular, had close to 750 visitors last year. There will be “Trick or Treat Street” with 11 cabins to visit. Each local business takes one cabin to pass out treats. Are considering opening the Historic Hospital on the retail market for weddings and dinner gatherings, etc. The first floor has been completely renovated. Larry, Quilcene Museum, stated that Worthington, in 1½ years, raised over $300,000 to buy the 10 acres and house. The house is presently up in the air “tensioning” for the move forward and will take out the basement. Had an increase of 172% to come see Worthington Park and Museum. Got a grant from the State Capitol budget for $210,000 through Rep. Tharinger, Rep. Van de Wege, and Senator Hargrove. Are making a National and State Historic Registry. The whole town of Quilcene and Worthington House will light up for Christmas. Joy, North Hood Canal, visitor counts are still the highest until you get to the National Park. Dosewallips State Park is in the process of getting permits. The fish are running. Lodgings have been up 20-30%. Teresa, Jefferson County Chamber, stated there were 7,517 visitors to the Visitor Center in July, and there were 8,130 in July, 2012. Had visitors from all 50 states, three Canadian provinces, 40 countries, and 15 of those countries had not visited previous to 2013. Have had lots of new exposure. Karen Anderson gave great talks about how to send visitors to/from the Visitor Center. The Chimacum Corner Kiosk has the map up now. Are using the Bike Map and QR codes. Bill, Gateway VC, numbers are down. Bill thinks it is a change in technology that is making the difference. Meeting ended at 12:30 pm. Next meeting will be at Fort Flagler thanks to Mike Zimmerman!