Door County Tourism Zone Commission : Meeting Minutes

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February 18, 2010 Door County Tourism Zone Commission Meeting - Minutes

DOOR COUNTY TOURISM ZONE COMMISSION
MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 18, 2010
Gibraltar Fire Station/Fish Creek

ACTION ITEMS:
Weddig moved and Larson seconded to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved and Boston seconded to approve the January 18 minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously.

Larson moved and Coulson seconded to approve the payables. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved and Zacek seconded to form a Nominating Committee comprised of Bill Weddig, Dave Holtz, and Jeff Larson to propose recommended names for Tourism Zone Commission officers. Motion passed unanimously.

Kufrin moved and Boston seconded to close into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin State Statutes, Section 19.85(1)(a)(f) or (g). Motion passed unanimously.

Kufrin moved and Larson seconded to reconvene to open session. Motion passed unanimously by roll call.

Coulson moved and LeClair seconded to authorize Vande Castle to pursue litigation as discussed in closed session. Motion passed unanimously by roll call.

Tice moved to adjourn; Jacobson seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Committee Members Present by Roll Call: Bob Kufrin, Tom Benzshawel, Mary Boston, Richard Briggs, Andy Coulson, Pauline Cyrus, Dave Holtz, Diane Jacobson, Mike Johnson, Jeff Larson, Little Bit LeClair, Bryan Nelson, Chuck Tice (9:20), Bill Weddig, Nora Zacek

Excused: Sandy D�Amico, Paul Flottman, Nancy Goss, Deb Jeanquart, Jennifer Laughlin, Tom Olsen, Sarah Sawyer, Dick Skare, Carol Stayton

Also Present: Jack Moneypenny, Mary Denis, Sally Everhardus/DCVB; Dianne Lensert/Kerber Rose; Bill Vande Castle/Vande Castle, S.C.; Kathy Kirkland/Administrative Assistant

Audience: Myles Dannhausen Jr. & Sr., Jon Hanson/Beach Harbor Resort

Call to Order
Chair Bob Kufrin called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.

Approval of the Agenda
Weddig moved to approve the agenda. Larson seconded. All ayes.

Acceptance of Minutes of January 18, 2010
Nelson noted that pg 1, line 41 should be Peninsula Pulse, not Advocate. On pg 3, line 27, omission of a few words �be held at a date at such place or time as decided by chairperson,� etc. (words missing. Nelson moved to approve the January 18 minutes as amended; Boston seconded. All ayes.

Administrative Assistant�s Report
Kirkland reported on the six properties decided at the January 18 meeting for compliance pursuit: Maple Grove has brought in 2007 reports and a down payment; Kerber Rose is sending her statements for the balance plus legal fees. Vande Castle will become involved again if payment is not made. Jon Hanson had sent a letter to the Commission asking about payment possibilities, stating he was up to date. Kirkland noted that on all four properties, he has still been filing late by a month or two, even though the basic tax is being paid; he is still in arrears on fees/penalties. Of the $28,000 in unpaid taxes still owed (overall), Hanson�s properties and Sand Bay account for 75% of them. Hanson stated he has called Vande Castle and Kufrin to leave messages. Kufrin said that once something is in litigation, he is not prepared to talk to someone already in the court process. Those contacts need to come from attorney. Hanson noted that litigation is complete, yet no one talked to him since about trying to set up a payment plan. Kufrin noted that the Commission did discuss payment plans at the last meeting; no decision has been made on that. The Statute does not include options for payment plans. Weddig reiterated that the issue is clear cut: Tax money was never his and not supposed to be used for anything other than tax. Hanson asked about how we�re handling Sand Bay; it hasn�t gone to court. Kufrin noted that Vande Castle was authorized last month to move ahead with filing suit. Hanson contended that all his correspondence happened before the court; no one ever communicated back. Kufrin will take a look at the correspondence on record and in particular his letter sent last year (March 2009). Commission is planning on writing standard compliance so everyone treated the same way, applied uniformly. Hanson was the first instance of prosecution and others will learn from his experience. Hanson said both the judge and Vande Castle had noted Hanson was getting caught up.

Kirkland noted that several municipalities had returned the signed Resolution to change the date of the Annual Meeting: Sevastopol, Baileys Harbor, Ephraim, Clay Banks, Brussels, Town of Egg Harbor, and Sister Bay. She�ll remind the balance.

Report by the Door County Visitor Bureau on Marketing Efforts
Moneypenny revised the numbers for year-end for the Strategic Conversation. All of the changes are a two-sided sheet that he handed out. Moneypenny said that National Tourism Week is May 8�16 of this year. The DCVB will be having a Tourism Breakfast that week at Stone Harbor (date TBD). The Governor�s Council on Tourism will be meeting in Door County that week. Kufrin asked if the DCVB could come up with a Resolution for the municipalities to adopt National Tourism Week; Moneypenny will do so between now and May. The DCVB is having banners made, �Celebrate National Tourism Week,� that will be given to business associations and cleared through local ordinances. Lobby renovation will be completed by Tourism Week.

The member newsletter is going out every two weeks; however, it doesn�t go to residents, and residents don�t understand the workings of the DCVB. They�re going to put together an eight-page brochure, �Primer on Room Tax.� It will show the anatomy of room tax dollar, etc. They�ll print 20,000 and deliver to PO/home mailboxes during National Tourism Week and will probably do this annually. Kufrin liked the brochure to the public; should get a PR award that marketing to a different group. Moneypenny felt it�s a precursor to new Intergovernmental Agreement being signed and will inform the entire county about the room tax results.

Re: the lobby renovation, there are architects, contractors coming to an information meeting next Thursday to listen to the project deadlines and see if they want to bid. They�re trying to hire quality DCVB members to do the work and keep it in the county. The deadline is April 30 to get it all done.

Bill Brown/Glidden Lodge is new DCVB Board chairman. Steve Hellman/Inn at Cedar Crossing is vice-chair and will be chair next year (elections were in October, take seats in January).

Kufrin asked about Community Marketing Fund report from last month: Moneypenny said a couple municipalities had not used all the money or restricted money for use this spring. All indications from municipalities are that everyone liked working with Hill, and Hill thinks it worked well.

Myles Dannhausen commented from the audience that throughout process of room tax, there was substantial public participation. He has been keeping track of minutes. But the Strategic Conversation appeared shortly before approval without much discussion; who�s involved in the forming that? Kufrin said the Strategic Conversation was sent to the Commission three to four weeks prior to the meeting where it�s approved. The Commission does not prepare the Strategic Conversation; we only approve or ask questions on what�s provided to us. Moneypenny said he and his Board start the process in June or July, and then build a draft over the next two or three months, looking at the economy, etc. Their Board gets the Strategic Conversation draft one month prior to the vote. A formal presentation is made to the DCVB Board with goals and challenges, and then the Executive Committee takes those recommendations back to the Board with 30 days to review. It is then sent to the TZC for 30 days, presented at a TZC meeting, voted upon and made public: Dannhausen asked if there�s public opportunity to participate. Kufrin said it needs to go through the DCVB or their Board members. The Tourism Zone meeting to discuss the plan is an open meeting but there have been no public comments on last year�s or this year�s. Moneypenny Board meetings are also open to the public, and the Strategic Conversation is designed with input throughout the year. Coffee with Jack gets lots of comments; he writes all down and puts them in a designated folder.

Mary Denis looked at the report�s goals and percentages of goals. Web stats are up 29% from last January, and unique visits are up 34%. They went to a wedding show in January, talked about Door County as a destination to 300 brides. Tour operators are grateful to have assistance. They talked to 33 bank tour operators and did a post-fam with six operators, who are coming in 2010�2011. They�re still working with the new campaign and slogan; they did a photo shoot this past month. Ads started February 2 and run throughout the spring. Benzshawel asked why we�re ahead of the expected on the website. Denis said the letter asking about ordering the Visitor Guide was sent in January instead of February, and 6,000 were sent out in January, so they�re ahead of the curve. Kufrin noted that anticipating a 25% increase on the website is ambitious. Denis said the actuals from last year are now in the one-page handout. The redesign of the website will include itineraries, etc. so they anticipate people will stay on longer and go to other pages, social networking, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Jon Jarosh said there�s a discrepancy in media marketing impressions vs. AVE because of a mention in a small publication with a large circulation. The DCVB YouTube channel is getting decent traffic, and it will get a facelift as well. A press tour starts today, 12 journalists through Sunday, staying throughout the county. All activities are scheduled. Kufrin asked about last year�s budget for pay-per-clicks at $50,000; is that the same limit on clicks this year? Denis said it�s about the same; it�s a fishing expedition vs. solid leads. Kufrin asked if they�re able to measure the effectiveness. Denis said eBrains tries to track that in their reports. Moneypenny noted that Wisconsin�s gateway visitor centers have been privatized and are receiving grant funding if they do two-tier marketing; there�s a matching grant up to $15,000 for labor costs and brochure racks.

Discussion on the Current Comparatible Occupancy Numbers for 2009
Lensert noted the updated year-end total of $3,051,000 collected. The colored sheets show the monthly totals. All prior months were rerun and adjusted. The room tax collections ended up at 0.5% down compared to 2008. Each year there are late collections but they�ll be counted separately; these numbers are year-end finals and won�t be adjusted. Kufrin said Moneypenny gets kudos for 0.5% down, which is remarkable. Weddig pointed to the variance in Baileys Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim; they�re up, but some are down like Sister Bay and Village of Egg Harbor. Why such a big discrepancy? Moneypenny said the Mariner in Egg Harbor was barely open. Kufrin looked at the Sister Bay figures re: occupancy, dollar collections, room nights for 2007/2008/2009 and gave them to the SBAA. Commissioners can provide these to individual communities to figure out their own stats. If anyone wants it as Excel spreadsheet, that can be sent out.

Kufrin noted that the Village of Egg Harbor dropped below $300,000, which means it must drop one of its two Commissioners. A letter will go to the Village of Egg Harbor indicating that the number is no longer over $300,000; who will their Commissioner be? There was consensus on sending that letter.

Nelson noted the ADR summary; anecdotally, ADR is up when you�d expect it to be down. So collection was flat but a key figure went up due to marketing. Larson noted that the Town of Egg Harbor was down: group business off 30% at Landmark, which was down overall.

Lensert said that in regard to online filing, Bay Lake has been working on the calculations for late fees; if an online submission is late, it�ll automatically be adding late fee and interest. The only issue is that if someone is filing late but states they�re sending in a check; that will still have to be monitored. Lensert said roughly 40 properties file online and send checks; should we mandate that it all be ACH? Kirkland noted that if we institute credit card and e-check online, it may change that. Kufrin said the Finance Committee will schedule a meeting soon.

The Payables report was presented. Larson moved to approve the payables; Coulson seconded. All ayes. (Johnson left; 10:06 a.m.)

Nominating Committee
Kufrin wants a Nominating Committee for new Tourism Zone officers. He recommends appointment of Bill Weddig, Dave Holtz, and Jeff Larson to comprise the committee to come up with recommended names or nominate themselves. Nelson moved to establish that committee of three. Zacek seconded. All ayes.

Short-Term Compliance Policies
Discussed throughout the meeting.

CLOSED SESSION
Kufrin moved to go into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin State Statutes, Section 19.85(1)(a)(f) or (g) ; Boston seconded. All ayes by roll call: Bob Kufrin, Tom Benzshawel, Mary Boston, Richard Briggs, Andy Coulson, Pauline Cyrus, Diane Jacobson, Jeff Larson, Little Bit LeClair, Bryan Nelson, Chuck Tice, Bill Weddig, Nora Zacek.

Consider a Motion to Reconvene into Open Session
Kufrin moved to reconvene; Larson seconded. All ayes by roll call: Bob Kufrin, Tom Benzshawel, Mary Boston, Richard Briggs, Andy Coulson, Pauline Cyrus, Dave Holtz, Diane Jacobson, Jeff Larson, Little Bit LeClair, Bryan Nelson, Chuck Tice, Bill Weddig, Nora Zacek

Consider a Motion to Take Action, If Required
Coulson moved to authorize Vande Castle to pursue litigation as discussed in closed session. LeClair seconded. All ayes.

Next Month�s Meeting
The March 18 meeting will be held in Jacksonport.

Adjournment
Tice moved to adjourn; Jacobson seconded. All ayes; meeting adjourned at noon.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Kirkland
Administrative Assistant

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