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Home My WebLink About2018-04-16 - Minutes -Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission Minutes from April 2018 Meeting April 16, 2018 Commissioners Present: Matthew Petty, Chair; Matt Behrend; Adella Gray; Robert Rhoads; Ching Mong; Todd Martin; Chrissy Sanderson Staff Present: Molly Rawn, Sally Fisher, Hazel Hernandez, Jordan Garcia I. Call to Order Chairman Matthew Petty called the meeting of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission to order on April 16, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. II. Old Business A. Chairman Petty asked for approval of the March 2018 minutes. Commissioner Todd Martin moved to accept the minutes as presented. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Adella Gray. The motion was approved. III. New Business A. HMR Report Executive Director Molly Rawn presented the HMR information for March collections, noting that March collections represent February activity. ED Rawn noted that there would not be a marketing report this month. The March and April marketing overviews will be presented in May. B. Walker Stone House Committee 1. The committee met on May 30th. Amy Robinson of Reeves -Robinson facilitated. 2. The U of A School of Art is using the house through the end of May. 3. Commissioner Matt Behrend reported that the committee recognizes the uniqueness and authenticity of the house and wants to explore creative community engagement and transition into other downtown activities. 4. Rawn noted that one of the interesting points is that revenue generation did not come up in discussion as a primary goal for the house. 5. The next step is to prepare and present a report for the May meeting. C. Vote: Proposed changes to by-laws 1. The changes were first presented at the February Commission meeting, revisited at the March meeting and tabled at that time to the April meeting. 2. Commissioner Robert Rhoads made a motion to table the vote again. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Gray. The motion was approved. 3. Regular A&P Commission attorney Vince Chadick has not attended a 2018 meeting. Rhoads noted that he would like the opportunity to review and discuss these changes with Chadick before a vote. 4. Let the minutes show that another attorney from Chadick's firm has been present at all of the 2018 meetings and available to provide insight. D. Vote: Town Center office renovation 1. Jordan Garcia, Fayetteville Town Center general manager, presented a market analysis and comp set for other similar facilities in the area, outlining the FTC strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. He noted many facilities are currently undergoing or planning to undertake renovations. 2. Garcia proposed a remodel of the current Town Center offices into break-out spaces, the FTC would be able to capture additional revenue. He explained that the FTC loses business due to the lack of additional break-out space. Garcia is confident that if booking can begin this fall the space will pay for itself allowing the revenue increase by 2021. 3. Garcia noted that this plan would mean relocating the Town Center offices, offsite. He met with his counterparts in Hot Springs, Fort Smith and Little Rock to get a better sense of our peer CVB operated convention and office spaces. He noted that the Little Rock CVB will be moving their offices out of their convention center space. 4. ED Rawn presented a funding plan to cover the costs of the project without having to draw funds from the investment account. She noted that a combination the current FFE and Improvements budget, unrealized expenses cover a portion of the cost. She recommended utilizing the A&P's Future Capital Improvement budget to cover the remaining expense. 5. Matt Behrend mentioned that he had a personal, yet non-financial interest in the office space the TC was considering. He stressed he did not stand to gain financially from a lease. He noted he would abstain from the vote. Rawn pointed out that while he should abstain from the vote regarding the location of new space and the office lease, he didn't need to abstain from voting on the Town Center specific renovation. Chairman Petty concurred. 6. Commissioner Gray made a motion to approve proceeding with the renovation project. Her motion was seconded by Commissioner Ching Mong. The motion was approved. 7. Garcia and Rawn discussed the future of the FTC offices. They considered several options in the area, noting that quick, easy access to the FTC was a must. Ultimately, a space at 5 West Mountain, adjacent to the plaza provided the best fit. 8. Garcia presented three options for renting office space in the 5 West Mountain: A 1, 3, and a 5 -year lease option. 9. Rawn noted that she did not support the 1 -year option as it did not allow sufficient time to see a return on investment and would require looking for new longer-term space almost immediately. Chairman Petty and several other commissioners agreed with this sentiment. 10. Commissioner Mong made a motion giving ED Rawn authority to execute a five-year lease for the space. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Gray. The motion was approved with abstention by Commissioner Behrend. E. Vote: Spring 2018 funding requests 1. ED Rawn presented the list of entities that applied for funding along with Experience Fayetteville's recommendations. 2. Chairman Petty expressed that he was comfortable approving the all the recommendations as presented. He again noted that the previous few cycles the commission had discussed each grant but made very few changes to the EF recommendations. 3. Petty requested that any commissioner who wanted to discuss an applicant in-depth, to express so and discuss those applicants at the end. 4. Commissioner Todd Martin asked that Art Ventures (AV) and Fenix Fayetteville (FF) not be a part of the first discussion/vote. Rawn's team's recommendations awarding $10,000 to each organization. 5. ED Rawn went through each applicant, gave a few key points regarding each event, and the Experience Fayetteville recommendations. 6. Commissioner Rhoads made a motion to approve Experience Fayetteville's recommended funding amounts, without Art Ventures or Fenix Fayetteville included. Commissioner Gray seconded the motion. The motion passed. 7. There was then discussion regarding Art Ventures and Fenix Fayetteville. a. Commissioner Martin stated that both entities are valuable to the art community, also noting that there was a dispute between the two organizations before they split into two separate entities. He recommended that neither one be funded, as an effort to encourage them to work together. b. Rawn acknowledged this concern but stated that entities each had a strong application and proposal worthy of support. c. Rawn noted she does have some concern that the A&P impact is being split. She stated collaboration between art entities was important and that Fayetteville would be well served when the two work together. She felt it was important to stress "collaboration" and "work together" did not necessarily mean merge into a single organization as commissioners had characterized it previously. d. Commissioner Petty stated that it was a core belief of his that the arts need ongoing, sustaining funding from public sources. e. Commissioner Behrend stated that both are worthy of funding and there is room for more art entities. Commissioner Behrend made a motion that Art Ventures and Fenix Fayetteville both be funded at the recommended levels. Commissioner Chrissy Sanderson seconded the motion. The motion passed, with Commissioner Martin abstaining. Commissioner Petty adjourned the meeting at 3:27 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sally Fisher, Finance Director Experience Fayetteville