Transient Lodging Tax Committee Minutes
October 20, 2022
Baker County Courthouse – Commission Chambers
Tyler called the meeting to order at 9:05 am.
Members Present: Tyler Brown, Mandy Clark, Buell Gonzales, and Brian Vegter
Guests Present: Shelly Cutler, Matthew Koppenhaver, Bryan Tweit, Jessica Hobson, Sara Artley, Christina Witham, and Shelly Christensen
Approve Agenda: Brian moved to approve the agenda as presented. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Approve Minutes: Meeting minutes from September 20th and minutes from the September 28th Work Session were reviewed. Brian moved to approve the minutes as presented. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Grant Requests: None
Grant Presentation:
Chautauqua Music Festival – Sara Artley
Sara reported the first time music festival event was very successful. The $5,000 TLT grant funds were used almost exclusively to purchase radio ads for the event. There were 400-425 tickets sold for the event. The feedback that she received from attendees, vendors and talent was very good. The net profit from the event will be used as a deposit for next years’ talent. There were 22 vendors this year and she hopes to have 30 next year. She also hopes to add a basket weaving workshop and cowboy poetry next year. Attendees came from the Treasure Valley, Eastern Oregon, Walla Walla and the Tri Cities area. Brian asked if the event has the space to grow. Sara shared the space for the event is large and has plenty of room for growth. The sound production crew also agreed the event could grow substantially. Artists she is hoping to book for next year include; Kristen Harris, Trailer Hitch, Growling Old Men, and Slap Jack Casualty. 2023 event dates are May 19th, 20th and 21st.
Visitor Services Update – Shelly Cutler
Shelly provided the Committee with her September report indicating the Center saw 138 travelers passing through. Fifty-seven travelers were seeking lodging. One hundred forty-two travelers requested County information. Fifty-three requested City information. The Center mailed nine Visitor Packets. No Relocation Packet were mailed. The Center received 86 visitor phone calls. Shelly also provided demographics of travelers. Numbers trended down for the month of September due to kids going back to school. Retiree travel is trending up in October.
Shelly’s resignation from the Chamber and Visitors Center is effective October 28th. To date they have not received any qualified applicants for her position. Mandy and Tyler serve on the interview committee. She has agreed to work on Fridays to facilitate administration until the position is filled. The Center will continue with winter hours of Monday – Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. Possibly a BCU Board member will present the monthly Visitors Center reports to the TLTC. Shelly indicated the Main Street Christmas Parade, 2023 Miners Jubilee and Chamber Banquet are scheduled.
The Chamber has acquired the Rotary Club wagon, which will placed on the Chamber property. There are no available contractors to hang the new sign. Christina Witham indicated the sign has to be hung on the building by a contractor for liability reasons.
Second Quarter Performance Review
Tyler explained that the performance review for BCU was written into the contract. The Committee agreed a written step-by-step review is not needed. Shelly reported they have been working to improve the building appearance, visitor’s experience and parking area. The Center staff is good and goals are being met. She stressed how much better communication is with the Marketing Director sharing office space at the Center. These changes have made the job better. The Visitors Center budget is right on target.
EDC Update: Bryan Tweit
Bryan reported that there were an additional 80 jobs listed in the past month bringing the total number of openings to over 210 in Baker County. The veterans’ housing project has been on hold until the project in La Grande is complete. With the addition of the new thrift store on Main Street, he has seen lots of traffic. There was discussion about the new Maverik station that will be built off I84 across from the ODOT building. The new event center land will be paid off with the new funding received and the needs and feasibility study is going super well. The land down payment money that was taken from EDC funds, derived from lodging tax funds, will be returned to EDC to be used as matching funds on grants for the building. Tyler referred to this as a “shovel ready” plan. Jessica Hobson questioned lodging capacity with the new event center. Bryan indicated new or improved lodging establishments will come. Jessica pointed out with the new Maverik station right off the freeway downtown traffic may drop. Bryan explained the right, right location design and Shelly Cutler suggested the Committee put money into wayfinding for downtown.
Hells Canyon Update: Becky Kaaen
None
Tourism Marketing: Jessica Hobson
Jessica shared what she has been boosting for the month of September; Artists Tour, Taste of Baker, Reg Jr High Rodeo, Oktoberfest, Churchill Haunted Studios and Ison House Escape. In the last 28 days, Travel Baker County’s Facebook has received 149 new likes, which brings her to 13,997. Jessica’s goal is to have 15,000 by year-end. She has prescheduled posts for Facebook and Instagram so a new post is added each day. She will focus on shopping local for the month of November. Brian suggested Jessica talk with participants of First Friday so she can get their featured artists in order to promote before the event. Jessica will tag the location and post a picture to promote First Friday. Tyler suggested Jessica look into Hootsuite to schedule posts.
Buell asked Jessica for a document with a QRV code that he could share with teams prior to sporting events that would take them to the website. She will generate a QRV code and get it to Buell to include in programs.
Jessica shared advertising she did in Go! Magazine for Taste of Baker and Artist Tours. She also did a full-page ad in The Entertainer listing events for the month of October.
She met with Lynn Weems, Director of the Baker Heritage Museum. The Museum will close October 29th and reopen in the Spring. Jessica asked if she could take photos of the change of exhibits in order to peak interest throughout the winter.
Jessica reported to the Committee that she contacted Oregon Media regarding the Baker County Visitor’s Guide. The cost for them to create and publish the Guide would be approximately $50,000 with a nine to twelve month turnaround. An alternative would be to continue to use Eastern Oregon Media but beef up the quality of the existing guide. Tyler addressed the TLT dollars used to subsidize ads and the need to have strict guidelines that the dollars be applied toward tourism ads only.
Jessica has also been in contact with DirtyFreeHub and would like to coop with other counties and possibly EOVA to create a booklet of biking trails in Eastern Oregon that includes QRV codes. Travel Oregon grant funding may be available. She will reach out to Brian Cimmiyotti who organizes the Baker City Cycling Classic to see if he would also like to partner in this project. The Committee is in support of that idea.
Mandy met with Commissioner Mark Bennett. He is working with the governor to obtain funding to expand agri-tourism. This is a tourism area that needs to be expanded in Baker County. The Geiser has created an agri-tourism program for visitors called a Grand Ranch Experience. Tyler pointed out that the Marketing Budget has $10,000 allocated to Ag Tourism/Culinary.
The Committee asked Jessica if she would like a review on a quarterly basis. Jessica felt her monthly reports and the Committee’s feedback during monthly meetings was adequate and did not feel there is a need for quarterly reviews.
Financial Reports: Shelly Christensen
Shelly Christensen reported there is not much change to the financial reports this month. The revenue graph now show current fiscal year 2022-23. Third quarter reports are being filed but not past due until October 31st. Granicus Host, who provide services for lodging tax collection, contacted Shelly. They offered a free consultation. The Committee encouraged her to participate in a free consultation and report back to the Committee at the November meeting.
Recommendation to Commissioners to fill vacancies
Brian moved to recommend Sheryl Brandt fill Toni Thompson’s vacancy with a term expiration of August 1, 2023. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried. Brian moved to recommend Alysia Bowers to fill the other vacancy with a term expiration date of August 1, 2025. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Review Grant application changes and suggestions from Work Session
Tyler moved the changes made to the grant application form during the Work Session be accepted. Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Approve reallocation of grant funding from Work Session
Mandy moved that the reallocation of $10,000 to event grant funding from Recruitment Bonus at $6,900 and $3,100 from Logo Brand Development be approved. Brian seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Citizen Participation:
Matthew shared that he visited with vendors and merchants and they were all pretty satisfied with summer tourism events.
Staff Comments: None
Committee Comments:
There was discussion about road construction around town.
Next Meeting:
November 17, 2022 @ 9:00
Meeting adjourned at 11:39
Respectfully Submitted: Shelly Christensen