Transient Lodging Tax Committee Minutes
January 30, 2020
Baker City Hall
Meeting called to order @ 9:00 am
Members Present: Kathy Reedy, Loran Joseph, Chelsea Judy, Karen Owen, Lea Gettle, Tori Thatcher and Buell Gonzales
Guest Present: Rob Thomas, Jerry Peacock, Stacy Delong, Shelly Cutler, Jeff Nelson, Sam O’Conner, Fred Warner, Courtney Benson, Timothy Bishop, and Shelly Christensen
Approve Minutes:
Meeting minutes from December 12, 2019 were reviewed. Loran moved that the minutes be approved and Kathy seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Approve Agenda:
Loran moved that the agenda be approved. Chelsea seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Grant Requests:
Thomas Angus/Harrell Hereford Bull Event – Rob Thomas
This event will be held March 1st – 3rd This year marks the 13th year for this event. The two ranches host hundreds of ranchers from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and California resulting in 40 overnight stays. TLT grant funds will be used to advertise the event and help defray the cost of the Cowboy Gathering. Loran moved to award the $2,000 grant request, Buell seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Marketing Update: Timothy
Timothy was excited to share that Baker County had four nominations for this years’ Oregon Festivals and Events Ovation Awards. Winners will be announced at the Oregon Festivals and Events Conference February 27-29 in Bend. Timothy asked the Committee to approve use of funds budgeted for Small Business and Partner Training to offer registration scholarships for awardees to attend the conference. Loran moved to approve use of budgeted funds, Karen seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Baker County had several EOVA grant applications that will be awarded a significant portion of their requested amounts. Timothy was unable to share the names of those who received awards but said they will be publicly announced after January 31st. This grant process was extremely competitive with $83,000 funds available and $322,000 applications. Lea shared her experience of sitting on the selection committee. She expressed how very proud she was of Baker and Union Counties and congratulated Timothy for all the help he gave to the grant applicants. Timothy indicated they would be focusing on training for grant writing.
Rick and Kathy Danser from PNW Backstories were here in coordination trip with Union and Wallowa counties. This visit will provide video posts that will be shared. Another travel writer will be coming February 3rd and in May Priscilla Willis will be here focusing on local beer, wine and spirits between Boise and Walla Walla.
The Marketing Committee is moving forward with the application for a Travel Oregon Medium Grant to develop a wayfinding, interpretation and recreation access signage plan for the Elkhorn Scenic Byway. They have met with USFS and ODOT regarding serving on a grant steering committee. Timothy would also like Chelsea to serve on the committee along with a representative from the three County road departments.
Travel Oregon has invited the Marketing Committee to submit a proposal for a Travel Oregon Rural Tourism Studio. Their proposal was accepted and they were asked to submit a formal application. This will focus on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway and Union County will be the lead applicant with the marketing committee playing a major supporting role representing the Baker County portion of the byway/three county destination.
Upcoming trade shows include Boise Outdoor Expo, March 5th-7th and Go West Summit in Portland March 23rd – 26th. Three delegates from Baker County will be attending Go West Summit with the help of TLT and Travel Oregon scholarships.
Lea asked when the Marketing Committee plans to have the proposal for the Travel Oregon medium size grant submitted. Timothy said he plans to get the steering committee together in early February to draft the proposal and the formal proposal ready by mid-March. Once that is done they will present it to the TLTC for final approval.
Visitor Services Update: Shelly
Semi-Annual Visitors Services Report
Shelly shared her semi-annual Visitors Services report which compared 2018-2019 visitors, phone calls, materials distributed and Miners Jubilee results. Shelly pointed out the increase in walk-in visitors and attributed that to the new signage. Visitor information phone calls were also up. She shared her concern with lack of communication with EOVA. Lea asked if she had good communication with the DMO, Timothy. She said communication with Timothy is stellar but not directly with EOVA. She indicated she has not been informed of the new structure of communication. Materials distributed also saw an increase in 2019. The Jubilee attendance was tracked and also vendor numbers. Shelly shared the Chamber paid to have the park mapped so space locations and sizes are more accurate. Lea asked if Shelly had social media data and website analytics. Shelly said she can get that to the Committee. She will send it to Shelly at the County for distribution to the Committee. Shelly said the results are astronomical and very detailed.
Economic Opportunities Analysis
Shelly shared this with the Baker City Leadership Group. She gave a brief overview of the report. The report has not been adopted yet and is still in the works. Lea expressed her concern that for a report that focused so much on tourism she was disappointed that a representative from tourism was not invited to the table.
Requests for Proposal Review:
Lea indicated the Committee would make a recommendation to the Commissioners for approval. Upon approval from the Commissioners a Professional Services Agreement will be drawn up and signed by the Commissioners.
Baker County Tourism and Marketing Services:
The RFP for Baker County Tourism and Marketing Services received one proposal submitted by Timothy Bishop. Lea asked for questions or comments. Loran asked Timothy to highlight any changes from this proposal to his prior proposal. Timothy indicated that the position has changed significantly in the last two or three years in regard to being much more actively engaged in product development. He anticipates spending a lot more time on the higher level, strategic, process driven initiatives. Timothy talked about the dramatic changes in the last five years. Loran moved that the proposal from Timothy Bishop for Baker County Tourism Marketing Services be recommended by the Committee to the Board of Commissioners. Kathy seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Baker County Visitors Services:
Lea asked Chelsea Judy to join the audience and be recused from Committee decision due to a conflict of interest. Two proposals were received for the Baker County Visitors Services RFP, one from Baker County Unlimited and the other from Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort. Lea asked Shelly Cutler if there were any changes to current practices in her proposal and if she had anything that she would like to add. She declined. Lea then opened up the floor for Committee members to ask applicants questions about their proposals. Committee discussion followed. Buell indicated that he did not have enough information to make a decision. Loran recommended the Committee continue with the remaining agenda to give Buell enough time to make a few phone calls to get needed information.
Buell returned to the meeting and heard citizen participation. Based on cost savings and expanded hours Loran moved to recommend to the Baker County Commissioners that they engage in a contract with Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort for Baker County Visitors Services. Tori seconded the motion. Four members in favor, one abstained (Chelsea Judy) and one opposed (Kathy Reedy). Motion carried. Lea indicated the Committee will pass the recommendation on to the Board of Commissioners for approval.
Financial Reports: Fourth quarter payments have been recorded. Not all houses have paid at this time and late notices will go out next week.
Strategic Planning Update:
Branding update, Chelsea and Tori indicated they did not receive any feedback on the creative brief. Because both Tori and Chelsea will be on leave at the same time they are looking for someone to take the lead. Due to budget constraints the high and medium priorities of the Strategic Plan could not be done in 2019. However, the rebranding and wayfinding grant application that the Marketing Committee is applying for is a major part of the Strategic Plan. Chelsea asked Timothy if the Marketing Committee could go over the creative brief.
EDC Update:
Karen reported that the EDC is working on a RFP for an economic need assessment, interim position (6 months to a year) to assess the duties of Economic Development prior to hiring an Economic Developer.
Bylaws Update:
Lea indicated that the Bylaws need final approval. She will review the suggested changes she received from staff. She also noted that the bylaws refer to a Vice Chair position which the Committee needs to appoint.
Citizen’s Participation:
Jerry Peacock expressed his concern with the RFP process and the competition knowing the budget of the other applicant. He also shared his view of the importance of location of the existing Visitors Center/Chamber of Commerce. He also suggested the answer may be tweaking the current contract to meet the Committee’s needs. Jeff Nelson shared that the Visit Baker website is the #1 website hit when searching on the internet. He shared his concern with inside knowledge of the RFP and location. Lea pointed out that the Visitors Services budget is public knowledge and is on the Baker County website.
Staff Comments:
Shelly asked for Committee approval to refund overpaid taxes in the amount of $1,928.03 to a lodging establishment that inadvertently reported revenue on on-line bookings for 2019. Loran moved to refund the overpayment and Karen seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Timothy shared the new Oregon Festivals Guide. The full page ad was purchased and due to a change of publisher mid printing got additional advertising in the calendar of events for no extra cost. Baker County events made up 80% of the Eastern Oregon calendar.
Timothy also shared a copy of the Japanese Globetrotter magazine which is a driving guide to the US. The Oregon map show travel from Portland to the Baker City/Haines area.
Committee Comments:
Loran pointed out that if the Board of Commissioners award the RFP to Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort as recommended Chelsea will resign her position on the Committee.
Lea shared her excitement in the completion of the OTEC VR project. She will share links with the Committee.
Next Meeting:
February 20, 2020 @ 9:00 am
Meeting adjourned at 10:25
Respectfully Submitted:
Shelly Christensen