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Home My WebLink About2018-02-19 - Minutes -Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission Minutes from February 19, 2018 Meeting February 19, 2018 Commissioners Present: Matthew Petty, Chair; Matt Behrend; Adella Gray; Robert Rhoads; Ching Mong; Todd Martin Commissioners Absent: Chrissy Sanderson Staff Present: Molly Rawn, Sally Fisher, Hazel Hernandez I. Call to Order Chairman Matthew Petty called the meeting of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission to order on February 19, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. II. Old Business A. Chairman Petty asked for approval of the December 2017 minutes. Commissioner Adella Gray moved to accept the minutes as presented. Her motion was seconded by Commissioner Todd Martin. The motion was approved. III. New Business A. Elect a Commission Chairperson for 2018 The A&P By -Laws dictate that a chair will be elected at the first Commission meeting of each calendar year. Commissioner Petty stated that he was proud of the work the commission and staff had accomplished over the past year and expressed a desire to serve again if the other commissioners were so inclined. Commissioner Robert Rhoads nominated Matthew Petty to continue as A&P Chairperson. Commissioner Ching Mong seconded the nomination. The nomination was approved unanimously. B. December 2017 and January 2018 HMR Reports Executive Director Molly Rawn presented the HMR information for both December 2017 and January 2018. December collections were at $289,005, up 3.76% over 2016. Total 2017 collections were $3,403,913, up 3.14% over total 2016 collections. January collections were at $284,871, up 6.50% over 2017. C. Marketing Report Hazel Hernandez presented the marketing activity for December 2017 and January 2018. D. Vote on Memorandum of Understanding with TheatreSquared ED Rawn presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the A&P Commission and TheatreSquared, outlining the intent of the Commission's financial support to TheatreSquared. The financial commitment was voted on in 2017; this MOU clarifies the terms of that commitment. The MOU is signed by Martin Miller, Executive Director of TheatreSquared, and ED Rawn is prepared to sign the MOU after approval by the Commission. Commissioner Martin moved to approve the contract. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Gray. The motion was approved unanimously. E. Vote on Peace Fountain Contract ED Rawn is prepared to sign contracts related to Peace Fountain repairs with Multi -Craft Contractors and Olsson Associates. Rawn is working closely with Wade Abernathy, facilities director for the city, as he is serving as the point person on this project. The contracts were not ready at the time of this meeting. Rawn expressed a strong desire to have the work begin as soon as possible in order to hit a May 1, 2018 completion date. She requested the authority to sign the contracts so long as the financial commitment did not exceed the approved, budgeted amount for repairs and maintenance of $97,000. Commissioner Gray made a motion that ED Rawn sign the contracts. Commissioner Mong seconded the motion. The motion passed. F. Executive Director's Updates and Announcements 1. The September 17, 2018 Commission meeting needs to be relocated to the Experience Fayetteville conference room due to a scheduling conflict with the Town Center conference room. 2. The Spring 2018 A&P Grant Applications are available on the Experience Fayetteville website now. The due date is March 12. The applications will not be voted on until the April 16 meeting, which allows a full month for review. 3. Commissioner Mong's term is up at the end of March. There will be a vote on this position at the March Commission meeting. 4. ED Rawn noted that the 2017 Financials show a net revenue for the year of zero. That is because of allocation of funds of $181,465 toward operating and capital reserves. We had hoped to allocate more to those reserves after our purchase of the Walker Stone House but were unable to do so this year. For 2018, we have only budgeted $103,000 toward reserves, which is approximately 30% of what was budgeted in FY2017. 5. Update on Walker Stone House Rawn reports that work to this points includes tree removal, replacement of three HVAC units and new insulation in the attics. We are currently collecting bids for draining and filling the cistern. We are also collecting bids to execute relocation of the ADA entrance on the west wing of the house. 6. MOU with the University of Arkansas School of Art ED Rawn will be signing an MOU with the University of Arkansas School of Art for a pilot program for art department students to utilize the Walker Stone House March — May for classes, gallery space, community engagements and various efforts as part of their transition from an art department to a school of art. This pilot program could potentially lead to a long-term arrangement that generates revenue and tourism, centered out of the Walker Stone House. 7. Town Center We are reclassifying our bartenders as employees instead of paying them as contract labor. That will result in an increase to payroll expenses of $22,000 but will be a decrease in bar/contract labor expenses. With this and other changes to the way we operate our bars, the Town Center is still projecting an excess of revenue over expenses in that operation. IV. Changes to the By -Laws ED Rawn is proposing changes to the commission by-laws. Her expressed intent is to make them more clear, concise, and more appropriate by addressing only the functions that by-laws are designed to address. Per our current By -Laws, changes must be presented and then voted on at a subsequent meeting. Recommended changes were presented at this meeting and will be voted on next month. Attorney Lindsey Pesek from Quattlebaum, Grooms and Tull sat in for Commission attorney Vince Chadick and assured the commissioners that the by-law changes recommended by Rawn had been proposed in collaboration with Chadick and were appropriate. Commissioner Rhoads requested a red -line version of the by-laws tracking the changes. Rawn explained that there was not a true red -line as the by-laws proposed were not a modified version of the existing by-laws but rather were created from a blank slate. A red -line would be impossible to read. She did state that she would work with Vince Chadick to create a modified red -line so that the changes could be easily seen at that she would distribute that to commissioners. Commissioner Petty adjourned the meeting at 2:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sally Fisher, Finance Director Experience Fayetteville