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Home My WebLink AboutM061014 Tourism Coordinating Council Jefferson County Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of the Board of Directors June 10, 2014 At 10:08am Chair Bill Roney called to order the meeting of the Tourism CALL TO ORDER Coordinating Council (TCC) for Jefferson County, noting a quorum present. Voting Members present were: Bill Roney, Allison Willing, Jennifer Lampe, Joy Baisch. Members Excused were: Mike Zimmerman, Diane Schostak and Larry McKeehan TCC Friends in attendance: Christina Pivarnik, John Austin, Crystie Kisler TCC Marketing Coordinator present: Steve Shively On motion by Joy Baish and seconded by Jennifer Lampe, TCC unanimously APPROVAL OF approved the minutes from the meeting conducted on May 13, 2014. MINUTES Bill reviewed the TCC transactions of the past month, noting accurate actuals over FINANCIAL budget on combined Activity Guide design and a 35,000 unit reprint. REPORT TCC reviewed supplied general sales tax receipts and motel / hotel lodging tax figures for May. YTD trending continues to be tracking well. On motion by Jennifer Lampeand secondedJoy Baisch, TCC unanimously voted to approve the May-June TCC Financial Report. A.Bill welcomed Crystie Kisler of Finnriver Farm & Cider, inviting her to provide a ADDITIONS TO Chimacum report later in the agenda. AGENDA Commissioner John Austin updated TCC on the following: A.June 19 State Historic Society meeting anticipates 100 + meeting at Fort Worden (alongside 400 from Furniture Makers Society) UPDATE B.Memorial Field bleacher - structural engineering review. Three potential mitigation scenarios: i) Repair and keep roof, ii) Take roof off, iii) Concrete bleachers could also be at risk, resulting in condemnation of full seating area. Anticipated engineering findings scheduled to be received by County Commission in 3-4 weeks. th C.July 7 Parks & Rec fee hearing. First review of rate recommendation review since 2008. Based upon recent personal visit to the Forks / Kalaloch area, John will seek improved County wide information display and sharing at the West-end VIC. attending to new Granddaughter (Congrats!) OPTC UPDATE TCC briefly discussed a number of the great press coverage articles featuring Play enting the core of the Spring Campaign are all in print. campaign is underway. Steve is in conversation with Stefanie Rotmark regarding campaign clippings and performance metrics. MARKETING Steve reviewed the TCC strategic assessmentprocess used to identify and then poll COORDINATORS TCC stakeholders and consumers for consensus on alternative domains to REPORT current VistTheDragon.com URL. EnjoyOlympicPeninsula.com / .org, HeartoftheOlympicPeninsula.com / .org, TravelOlympicPeninsula.com / .org Through TCC discussion EnjoyOlympicPeninsula.com was chosen as the focused replacement for VisitTheDragon, noted by Christina its perfect partnership with Port existing EnjoyPT.com URL. On motion by Bill Roney and seconded by Joy Baisch, TCC unanimously voted to approve the URL acquisitions and web / social media transition. Steve was instructed to secure the core domains and build out reflective social media platforms following his recommended timeline. 501(c)6 Bill reported on meetings with Aldryth O'Hara, CPA with Gooding O'Hara & Mackey INCORPORATION PS, Port Townsend and reviewed recommendations for ongoing pursuit of TCC non- profit status. Much discussion reg beyond current LTAC contributing lodging tobetter represent the full tourism -industry proposed assessment model. By unanimous consensus TCC gave approvalto Bill to file TCC non-profit application with the IRS, encouraging conversation with Diane and, updating TCC as the process progresses. Bill notified TCC that ongoing costs with Aldryth and IRS filing have been anticipated and are budgeted for. Port Townsend Christina updated TCC on successful peak season launch and AREA UPDATES numerous upcoming activities. Busy weekend, all accommodations full, thanks to all-things Steam Punk Today anchor hopefully of the Ia{ /ŷğƷŷğƒ, dropped 222 years ago- is being pulled ashore and moved to NW Maritime Center. Hold on for story development which wonderfully expand upon the NY Times story of the Steinbeck ĻƭƷĻƩƓ CƌǤĻƩ All other seasonal events, i.e. Fiddle, Jazz and Blues are on traditional track. Port Ludlow - Jennifer reported real estate related news with a new cluster of 42 AREA UPDATES cottages on June 21 sneak-peak and tour. Elsewhere great lodging on June 27 and (Cont.) July 18 Farm dinners, a Wine Maker event on June 29 and all trending towards sold- out. Seeking extra lodging partners to help expand availability. Labor Day weekend farm dinner will be at Finnriver. Quilcene Museum - Museum is now open for the Season; F/S/Su/M from 1 - 5 pm 3 concerts, 1 wine tasting and a Marathon series scheduled (+ 5 private events)on our Linger Longer Stage $100 passes available for 3 concerts, wine tasting, VIP parking, VIP seating and a free gift. Rehabilitation of the Hamilton-Worthington House progresses: $203K grant from the Dept of Commerce and 5 other grant or LOI (Letter of Interest) applications have been sent to prospective funders. WA State Historic Registry received from the Dept of Archaeology & Historic Preservation; app forwarded to the US Dept of the Interior for National Registry. Historic Structures Report received with rehabilitation recommendations, cost analysis, timeline for 5 phases. North Hood Canal Chamber and ETA - Joy shared the following highlights and happenings: LBJ Coyle music festivals are taking off Brinnion hoping Feds will open south-side of for hiker access Dosewallips River to falls. Very good ShrimpFest visitor attendance tourism supporting low tides has helped a lot. Marrowstone - Allison reported that the Beach Cottages on Marrowstone resort still has some very unusual - availability in traditionally full summer seasons of last two weeks July and the first week of August. Excellent star gazing, thanks to little light pollution this is an ideal location, including Northern Light sightings in the heavens and in the seas! Bioluminescence Chimacum Hub of the Universe Increased visitors at Farm, thanks to wood fired pizza in their pavilion. Still pursuing efforts for Browns Farm, 50-acre former dairy f Garage. Big possibility for expanded agritourism and production. Corner Store, SpringRain, Red Dog, Shorts Beef, Farms Reach Café, Big Squeezeall AREA UPDATES (Cont.) 16-acre plot behind Corner Store for farm and Ag accommodations leads to a LOT of transformation in coming years. Sunday Farmers Market season has started in Chimacum Aug. 9 th Summer Cider Day at NW Maritime Center. Cider biggest sector of beverage industry. Upcoming. Jefferson County Farm Tours Sept. 14. World Apple day is Oct. 12 Steve will work with Christy for shared TCC lodging event to link Next Meeting No meeting in July. Next scheduled meeting is August 12, 10:00 AM location TBD. Adjourn There being no further business, the TCC meeting was adjourned at 12:11pm.