Transient Lodging Tax Committee Minutes
September 20, 2022
Baker County Courthouse – Commission Chambers
Shane called the meeting to order at 9:00 am.
Members Present: Buell Gonzales, Shane Alderson, and Brian Vegter
Guests Present: Shelly Cutler, Matthew Koppenhaver, Bryan Tweit, Jessica Hobson, Kelly Martin, Kate Grace, Keeley Walker, Christina Witham, Dan Garrick, Shelly Christensen, and Bill Harvey
Grant Presentation:
Huckleberry Mountain Dog Trials – Cassi Johnson
The TLTC awarded Huckleberry Mountain Dog Trails $5,000. Cassi reported they had approximately 100 spectators; demographics included several Idaho locations, Spokane, Washington, Elgin, Enterprise, Hermiston and Pendleton. Concessions were provided by the BHS Letterman’s Club and netted approximately $1,200. The prize payout for this years’ event was $19,000; $13,000 in fees collected and added money of $6,000. Cassi provided a list of winners, sponsors and the program spectators received at the event. Video coverage is available on the Huckleberry Mountain Dog Trials website. She is still working to get the event televised on The Cowboy Channel. Their goal is to get a live feed on the internet using any platform. Brian Vegter suggested if they get a video that is edited and ready to go they may have more of a chance to get the segment aired. This year they created a committee, which will help with connections and sponsors and also provide ideas. The event will be held again next year on the third weekend in June and they plan to keep the event on that date in the future.
Approve Agenda: Changes to the agenda include the addition of the Oregon Junior High Rodeo grant request, the addition of a grant presentation by the Hells Canyon Jr Rodeo and moving the Huckleberry Mountain Dog Trial Grant Presentation before approving the agenda and minutes. Brian moved to approve the agenda with changes. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Approve Minutes: Meeting minutes from August 18th were reviewed. Buell moved to approve the minutes as presented. Brian seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Grant Requests:
Oregon Junior High Rodeo – Kelly Martin
Oregon Junior High Rodeo is requesting $5,000 to pay for the stock, judge, dumpster and porta pottie rentals and the arena deposit. The event will be held on October 8th and 9th. Brian Vegter asked about sponsors for the event. Kelly shared a list of sponsor and Brian indicated TLT funding is designed to promote tourism and not those things listed. He suggested she use her sponsor revenue to cover those and redirect TLT funding to marketing the event. This event is held in different locations each year. Kelly was introduced to Jessica Hobson, Baker County Marketing Director. Jessica encouraged Kelly to get her information so she can start advertising for the event. Bill Harvey pointed out that this is a two-day event, which will bring overnight visitors to the area. Brian asked if they could host this event annually. Kelly indicated the hope is to host the high school rodeo, which would bring in a lot more people. Eastern Oregon is the only team that does not host their own rodeo and she wants to see that changed. Brian moved to grant $3,000 to market the event. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Bill Harvey recommended a work session to develop an application that identifies how grant funding is to be used.
Grant Presentation:
Hells Canyon Jr. Rodeo – Kate Grace and Sr. Queen Keeley Walker
The TLTC awarded Hells Canyon Jr. Rodeo $5,000. This year’s rodeo started in a dire situation with finance and poor management of prior rodeos. Kate expressed her thanks to the committee for supporting the event. This year they had 108 contestants coming from Nevada, Washington, Idaho and Oregon. They received a lot of positive feedback from this year’s event. This year’s event resulted in a net income of $7,303.05. The electronic scoring and check-writing program used, Rodeo Ready, crashed Sunday morning. They were not able to get a response from the new Canadian owners of the company. Unfortunately some payouts were made that should not have been. She shared a big thank you to Mandy Clark for stepping in to help. Kate contacted local lodging establishments but have not heard back with information on how the event impacted lodging. Next year they are going to combine the Jr. Rodeo and Hells Canyon Jr. Rodeo Courts. The rodeos will be separate but the Courts will be combined. Next years’ event will be either in late June or early July.
Visitor Services Update – Shelly Cutler
Shelly provided the Committee with her August report indicating the Center saw 189 travelers passing through. Sixty-nine travelers were seeking lodging. One hundred seventy-six travelers requested County information. Eighty-two requested City information. The Center mailed 11 Visitor Packets. One Relocation Packet was mailed. The Center received 97 visitor phone calls. Shelly also provided demographics of travelers. Numbers trended down for the month of August. Change in travelers, different types of visitors; retirees and international folks.
The Center has received more hiking questions. With the current fire situation, she was able to direct hikers to the Elkhorn Crest Trail. They are discouraging people from taking the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway due to fire danger and visibility from the overlook. Visibility can be checked on the Baker County Chamber’s webcam.
Brian Vegter asked if the new sign had been hung on the building. Shelly reported they are on a waiting list to hang the sign. Christina Witham from Oregon Sign Company indicated they are unable to hang the sign without a contractor’s license.
Second Quarter Performance Review
The BCU Board has requested the review be held in Executive Session. The review was tabled to the October meeting.
There was discussion around work session, regular session and executive session.
EDC Update: Bryan Tweit
Bryan shared that due to poor air quality other schools have held their sporting events in Baker City and thanked Buell for making that happen. Bryan attended an OTEC Economic Summit at Anthony Lakes. There are currently 37 people receiving unemployment benefits in Baker County, which is .01%. The hiring pool is very small. A thrift store will be opening on Main Street. Bryan shared he has attended some really positive meetings in planning for the new event center.
Bill Harvey shared more on the event center. Baker County has an agreement in place to purchase a 70-acre parcel of property. The County is applying to the legislature for State funding to pay for the property. The County is also working with ODOT for funding for a road to access the area. Parks Resource has been hired to start the planning process and a Needs Assessment. This will enable the County to apply for additional funding. This is an ongoing and long-term project. The impact this event center will have on the entire County is huge. Bill is thrilled with how fast the project is moving. More information will be released when steps are complete.
Hells Canyon Update: Becky Kaaen
None
Tourism Marketing: Jessica Hobson
Jessica went over her September Marketing Report. She boosted Pinefest, Halfway Fair/Rodeo, Great Salt Like and Last Hoorah Rodeo. This month she is boosting Taste of Baker, Artist Tours, Churchill Haunted Studio, Ison House Escape Room, OktoberFest, Concerts, and the Pumpkin Chuckin Bash. She was surprised that the Great Salt Like has reached 135,035 and had 3,539 reactions and 530 shares.
Jessica attended PineFest, and said it was a little smoky. She said Steve is going to report numbers to her. Jessica’s goal for Travel Baker County’s Facebook page is to have 15,000 page likes.
Jessica ran a ski ad with 1859 and 1889 magazine in November and December for $2,900. Shane indicated Anthony Lakes is not advertising for this upcoming season because they reached capacity last year. A full-page ad will be run in Go Magazine for Taste of Baker and the Artist Tours. There is an opportunity to advertise in the United Airlines seat magazine. This opportunity has the possibility to reach15 million people. The cost would be $7,200 for a half page ad to run one month. Bill Harvey expressed his concern in not being able to accommodate that kind of an increase in visitors during already busy months. Jessica indicated the ad would run in December, which is a slow tourism month. Bill Harvey cautioned inviting visitors in winter months due to inclement weather and that Anthony Lakes is expecting to be at capacity. He suggested a Spring-Summer campaign highlighting outdoor activities. Brian Vegter asked if Jessica felt advertising in regional publications would be more beneficial. Jessica agreed that advertising regionally would be more beneficial. Shelly Cutler stressed the importance of including snowmobiling in winter sport advertising. There are several snowmobile clubs in the area. Jessica will get that information from Shelly and include it in her advertising. Bryan Tweit pointed out that if Anthony is at capacity and people come their trip turns into a negative experience and we don’t want that to happen. Jessica is also working on radio ads for events. The billboard campaign is taking a back burner for now. Jessica updated the Committee on upcoming meetings she will be attending. Jessica reached out to Oregon Media about doing the Visitor’s Guide for next year. The Committee thanked Jessica for her work.
Grant Funding and Guidelines
Bill Harvey encouraged the Committee to meet in a work session to discuss reallocation of grant funding and grant guidelines. He also recommended postponing the review and recommendation of volunteer applicants to fill the two vacancies on the Committee.
A work session was scheduled for September 27th at 9 am to discuss grant funding, grant guidelines and volunteer applications. Shelly will email a word document of the grant application to Committee members.
An executive session is planned to take place in conjunction with our October 20th regular meeting to select and recommend two applicants to fill the vacancies and conduct the BCU second quarter performance review.
Financial Reports: Shelly Christensen
Shelly Christensen reported there is not much change to the financial reports this month. She mailed 15 past due letters to small establishments that are booked through online intermediaries and do not result in additional revenue.
Citizen Participation
Matthew shared the Sumpter Labor Day Flea Market had a good turnout despite the intense heat. In traveling to Portland he noticed the price of fuel was the same as this area.
Staff Comments: None
Committee Comments:
Brian announced his resignation with EOVA since the hiring of Jessica. He will join her at the stakeholders meeting. There will be an article in 1859 magazine about Churchill Studios…..for free.
Shane commented on the impact construction on Main Street is having on businesses.
Buell shared that he will be putting together a packet to share with other schools when inviting them to come and use our facilities. Eastern Oregon Youth Soccer League will come to Baker as a central point for six Saturdays. We will be hosting District and State Basketball Tournaments again next year. They were also able to get the 1A Volleyball Tournaments back again next year. There will be a Christmas three day basketball tournament again this year with local 1A and 2A schools. The biggest obstacle in planning these tournaments is getting officials. Brian Vegter asked if it was possible to offer training clinics for officials. Buell said that is possible but it seems officials get burned out quickly.
Brian moved to adjourn the meeting. Buell seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned.
Next Meeting:
October 20, 2022 @ 9:00
Meeting adjourned at 11:00
Respectfully Submitted: Shelly Christensen