HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-11 - Minutes• ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
March 11, 2013
Commissioners Present: Bill Lyle, Ching Mong, Matthew Petty, Maudie Schmitt and Justin
Tennant. Matt Behrend was present but his nomination had not been ratified by the City
Council.
Commissioner Absent: Bob Davis
Staff Present: Marilyn Heifner, Sandra Bennett
CALL TO ORDER
Ching Mong called the regular monthly meeting of the Fayetteville Advertising and
Promotion Commission to order on March 11, 2013, at 2:00 p.m.
REVIEW OF APPLICANTS FOR AT LARGE AND INDUSTRY POSITION EXPIRING 3/31/13
Six nominations were received for the Industry position: Michael Andrews (Fresco Cafe &
Pub), Serena Hattabaugh (Candlewood Suites), Jim Huson (Doe's Eat Place), Shellie
Morrison (The Event Group), Hannah Withers (Little Bread Co.), and Denise Youngblood
(Mojo's Pies).
Ten nominations were received for the At Large position: Roger Barrett (Nightbird Books),
• Terry Coberly (retired), Bobby Ferrell (retired), Julie McQuade Heyes (Fayetteville
Underground), Eric Howerton (WhyteSpyder, Inc), Lewis B "Bucky" Jones (retired), Steven
Kay (attorney), David Russell (First Security Bank), Terri Trotter (Walton Arts Center), and
William H. (Bill) Waite (Dickson Street Liquor).
After discussion of "state law" vs "city nominating committee policies and procedures",
Schmitt moved to table the discussion of appointment of nominees for vacant positions
until the April meeting, second by Petty. Motion carried.
Commission decided state law should be followed regarding applicants which does not set
term limits. Therefore, Schmitt and Davis will be allowed to submit applications if they
wish to serve another term.
REPORTS
MINUTES
Moved to approve the minutes of the January meeting and February meeting by Mong,
second by Tennant. Motion carried.
FINANCIAL REPORTS
HMR Revenue - Marilyn reported that February revenue was $187,562, a 5.20%
increase over February, 2012. Year to date increase is 3.77%, $398.700.
• Jerri Kuburich, new account manager for the A & P Commission was introduced.
She reviewed the Financial Reports for January, 2013.
• Delinquent Tax Collection Efforts - City Attorney Kit Williams reported that the City
Prosecutor collected $3,024.456 in February. Tax cases increased from 23 to 27. Ten
cases were for failure to submit proper monthly forms.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
Because of the potential length of the meeting, departmental reports were not presented
orally, but were included in the agenda packet.
AD AGENCY REPORT
Drew Finkbeiner said the concentration of the agency time was on the Insider Guide. They
have completed the Trip Advisor page and it will go live on Wednesday of this week.
OLD BUSINESS
SURVEY
Petty said the survey was passed by the City Council and invited the A & P Commission to
participate in the process.
Lyle asked what would be the use of the survey. Petty said the city would solicit quotes
and would go with the lowest bidder. The survey would tell us what we want to learn and
the company would develop open ended questions. Examples of the questions would be 1)
What is your perception of the regional park plan? 2) What do you think of the WAC
expansion? Itmould provide public input for the ballot questions.
• Schmitt said she thought there was a lot of emphasis on the bond issue paring up with the
regional park. She thought we might be trying to do too many things at once with the bond
issue.
Lyle asked if the Commissioners would be able to approve the questions prior to the
execution of the survey. Petty said the time line would be 1) city would allocate funding, 2)
city would develop a request for proposals, 3) City staff, WAC, A & P, Parks would develop
questions.
Lyle moved to approve the A & P Commission participating in the cost of half of a survey,
not to exceed $10,000, second by Tennant. Motion carried.
WALTON ARTS CENTER FUNDING REQUEST
Petty moved to give the Walton Arts Center $600,000 with conditions, second by Lyle.
Conditions include Walton Arts Center providing a statement of commitment, signed by an
authorized employee of the Walton Arts Center with the authority to obligate the
organization, agreeing to the following:
Walton Arts Center will:
1. Provide an annual audit, conducted by an independent outside auditor, each
year during the project, and for any others years prior to or after, as requested;
and
2. Provide quarterly reports of the use of the provided funds until the funds have
. been spent; and
• 3. Continue with a capital campaign - quiet and public phases - working to secure
the remaining funds needed to complete the expansion as described in the
proposal; and
4. Spend the provided funds exclusively on the design, pre -construction, and
construction costs of the expansion of the Walton Arts Center's Fayetteville
facility; and
5. Not spend the funds on programming costs, administration or otherwise.
Schmitt said she was concerned about giving the WAC $600,000 - that is setting a new
precedent of an upper amount from the A & P Commission to projects.
Peter Lane, WAC, said they hope to get $2 million from the A & P Commission over the
next several years to kick start construction costs.
Schmitt asked what happens to the $600,000 if the bond issue does not pass. Lane said
the WAC was incurring costs today finishing the schematic work, etc. This is a piece of the
fundraising puzzle.
Mong said he was concerned about the larger amount and where that may lead.
Lane said twenty years ago the City made an investment and created a $1 million
operating budget which is $10 million now. Jeff Shomberg, chairman of the WAC Board,
said he was confident that the WAC could run the center at a 96% capacity after the
• remodeling.
Petty said the concern was not justified. He would be willing to entertain any request
anytime. Funding the design was spot onto promote tourism. Return was proven and
demonstrable. The design is the cornerstone to the project, fundraising, etc.
Motion carried.
Mong had to leave the meeting to go to a doctor's appointment. Schmitt took over to Chair
the meeting.
BOND ISSUE
Petty moved to submit the bond proposal as presented by Executive Director Marilyn
Heifner to the City Council. Specifically, the proposal is to use $6.5 million of the proceeds
of the issuance of a bond for the construction of the Fayetteville Walton Arts Center
expansion and $3.258 million for the construction of a regional park. Furthermore, the
Commission respectfully recommends the City evaluate its capacity to issue bonds for the
construction of the regional park, backed by the "parks HMR penny" and to plan a capital
campaign for raising money from private sources for the remainder of the park which
cannot be paid for by public sources. Second by Lyle.
Petty said the A & P Commission needs to determine if the regional park is a priority and
respectfully request that the city look at it. We think this is so important that we're willing
• to commit $3.25 million to the regional park.
• Tennant said there are no two more important economic drivers than the Walton Arts
Center and the regional park. We need to move it forward and let the rest of the process
work for generations of long term value.
Terri Trotter explained the public input campaign that WAC is conducting with
shareholders.
Tennant indicated a desire to move this proposal forward to the city council to begin
discussion knowing that in the end, the people will decide. Schmitt asked about diluting
the WAC expansion with the regional park and would that be a problem. Petty shared a
survey indicating that the WAC proposal would be strengthened by the regional park
proposal.
Motion carried.
ATTORNEY FOR THE COMMISSION
Moved by Petty, second by Lyle to hire an attorney for the A & P Commission. The attorney
would review big items before the Commission, review the agenda before each meeting
and catch potential problems prior to A & P discussion. Motion carried. Marilyn presented
a proposed RFQ to advertise for an attorney. The Commission will review applicants at the
next meeting and come up with a short list to interview.
• FUNDING REQUEST FROM ROTARY CLUB
Because of the timeliness of the request and construction deadlines, Petty moved to give a
$25,000 match (with Rotary) to construct bleachers and awnings for Ladyback softball
field. Second by Tennant. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS
DMAP
The remaining sections of the DMAP accreditation documents will be presented to the
Commission at their next meeting. Then those will be submitted to DMAI.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Heifner
Executive Director
Fayetteville A & P Commission
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