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Home My WebLink About2013-04-08 - Minutes• ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING April 8, 2013 Commissioners Present: Matt Behrend, Bill Lyle, Ching Mong, Matthew Petty, Maudie Schmitt and Justin Tennant. Commissioner Absent: Bob Davis Staff Present: Marilyn Heifner, Sandra Bennett, Matt Clement CALL TO ORDER Ching Mong called the regular monthly meeting of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission to order on April 8, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. REVIEW OF APPLICANTS FOR AT LARGE AND INDUSTRY POSITION EXPIRING 3/31/13 Seven nominations were received for the Industry position: Maudie Schmitt (Cafe Rue Orleans), 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). The City Nominating Committee interviewed Serena Munns, Hannah Withers, Shellie Morrison, and Maudie Schmitt. The Nominating Committee recommended Hannah • Withers. Petty moved to appoint Hannah Withers, second by Tennant. Petty said that Hannah represents a unique perspective. She started the Block Street Party which now has attendance of 15,000 and has recently purchased Maxine's Tap Room. She would encourage a sense of place. Mong said Hannah is a strong candidate. Tennant said it was tough from the nominating committee standpoint because Maudie Schmitt has served the commission so well. He liked the new ideas and fresh approach of Hannah to downtown and to Fayetteville as a whole. Schmitt said she had enjoyed the last 8 years serving on the Commission and she thought under her chairmanship, the Commission had accomplished some good things such as Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, the Square renovation, and many small festivals started by the A & P funding. She said she had been a good steward of the HMR money and had a perspective of experience and a level headed opinion. Lyle nominated Maudie Schmitt. He expressed a concern for Hannah and her negativity expressed on Facebook after she was nominated last time. Second by Mong. Hannah was selected in voting with Tennant, Behrend, and Petty voting for Withers and Lyle and Mong voting for Schmitt. n • 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). Petty asked to eliminate Waite and Trotter because of pending business between the Walton Arts Center and the Commission. Waite is a board member of the WAC and Trotter is an employee. Tennant said the city nominating committee recommended Ferrell. Tennant moved to appoint Ferrell, second by Petty. Mong moved to recommend David Russell, second by Lyle. After discussion, Ferrell was elected with Tennant, Behrend, and Petty voting for Ferrell and Mong and Lyle voting for Russell. Petty recommended that the Commission interview all candidates in the future. REPORTS MINUTES Motion to approve the minutes of the March meeting by Petty, second by Tennant. Motion • carried. FINANCIAL REPORTS HMR Revenue - Marilyn reported that March revenue was $213,526, a 6.22% increase over March, 2012. Year to date increase is 4.61%, $612,226. Jerri Kuburich reviewed the Financial Reports for February, 2013. Petty asked for a report of cash unencumbered at each monthly meeting. Delinquent Tax Collection Efforts - City Attorney Kit Williams reported that the City Prosecutor collected $7,261.39 in March. No reports decreased from 10 to 4. Four cases were closed and there are now 5 with zero balances. The prosecutor will try and use the business license as a tool forgetting reports submitted. Lyle asked about business owners being able to open new restaurants when taxes are owed on previously owned restaurants. The City attorney will check into that issue. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS Clinton House Museum - Website traffic continues to grow with just under 6,000 visitors (89% of those were new visitors to the site). Iron gating on the west side and handrails on the rock stairway to the garden were • installed. Johnson attended the Arkansas Museums annual conference in Bentonville. • Convention and Visitors Bureau - Hospitality Hero program had 26 entries for the month. It is still well received by the managers and first line employees. Mandy Carrillo from the Quality Inn was the winner this month. Staff booked 11 meetings with total economic impact of $1,509,044. A sales blitz in Little Rock is being organized for April. Store sales continue declining revenue pace. Store items and sale items are being discussed as a method of regaining sales. Town Center Sandra Bennett reported a 21% increase in sales for March 13 over March 12. Year to date collections are 9% higher that 2012 at $104,212.40. Bennett attended leadership conference this month. Executive Director Tanner Montgomery, visitor services manager, resigned. A search is on for his replacement. We have finished updating the Fayetteville Insider's Guide. It is now at the printers. A pocket trail z -card design work has been started. We will have a page featuring Fayetteville in a coffee table guide called Arkansas. • The Northwest Arkansas area will be featured in the July issue of U. S. Airways in-flight magazine. It has a printing of 315,000 with each issue being read 6-10 times. The experiencefayetteville.com website is being updated. We anticipate it going live within the month. Wayfinding and signage project has been bid and the signs should be installed in July as part of phase 1 of the project. The server for the CVB crashed last week. A new server is up and running and no information was lost. Auditors completed their in-house portion of the audit. We had a problem with the materials that Keith Glass submitted and he refused to provide a final financial statement and write the management letter. Jerri recreated the documents and made adjustments to have the report reflect the actuals (with auditor approval). The preliminary report should be back to Heifner by the end of this week. A sales blitz is scheduled in Little Rock on April 16-17. All directors are required to file a statement of financial interest because of state • legislation passed in this session. • AD AGENCY REPORT Mike Sells said the Insider Guide will have several new sections which are designed to help visitors and residents as well. It is scheduled for delivery for the end of the month. OLD BUSINESS ATTORNEY FOR THE A & P COMMISSION RFQ's were received from the Asa Hutchinson Law Group and from John Logan Burrow. After interviewing both firms, it was moved by Petty, second by Schmitt to go into Executive Session to discuss hiring because it was deemed a personnel issue. Motion carried. After the Executive Session, Mong called the meeting back to order, moved by Petty to enter into negotiations with John Burrow, second by Mong. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS DMAP DMAP materials will be submitted at the end of April. If Commissioners have questions regarding any sections, they should contact Matt Clement. MOBILE TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER Commissioners gave Marilyn authority to investigate a mobile tourist information center. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. • Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Heifner Executive Director Fayetteville A & P Commission 0