Door County Tourism Zone Commission : Meeting Minutes

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May 24, 2007 Door County Tourism Zone Commission Meeting

DOOR COUNTY TOURISM ZONE COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
Thursday May 24, 2007
Gibraltar Town Center

Meeting was called to order after 9 am roll call was taken and the following were in attendance:

Paul Georgia- Nasewaupee
Charles Most- Liberty Grove
Patti Taylor- Town of Egg Harbor
Bill Weddig- Town of Gibraltar
Craig Neddersen- Ephraim
Barbara Lautenbach- Jacksonport
Chuck Tice- Sevastopol
Bryan Nelson- Baileys Harbor
Andy Caulson- White Gull Inn
Dianne Lensert- Kerber Rose and Associates
Karen Raymore- Door County Visitors Bureau
Jon Jarosh- Door County Visitors Bureau
Dina Beottcher- Door County Visitors Bureau
Page Funkhauser- Door County Advocate
Bill Casey- Liberty Grove
Karl Stubenvou- FCCA Door County Visitors Bureau
David Eliot- Door County Visitors Bureau
John Lowry- Door County Visitors Bureau
Jerry Zaug � Door County Visitors Bureau

Have been signing permits as quickly as they come in. Appears we are at 381. Diane believes that was the latest update. She also believes that some need packets sent out, there are some that need to come off the list. She figures there is probably close to 200 that have not sent in yet. Everything has been added in pretty much up until this point. We are going to be refining on that this afternoon. Ideally, by that first week in June we will be able to generate a report of Permits issued by municipality with a name as well one�s that have not responded. When Karen is saying 200 are, still out there she means 200 of the applications that were sent out of the beginning listings that were sent out. There were quite a few of people whom she sent packets to who were not on the list and found out they needed to be. She is not sure how many of these went out at this time.

Bob has placed ads in three of the papers. Two ads were placed in the Pulse, 2 in the Door Reminder and 2 in the Saturday Advocate over the next couple of weeks. Basically took notice that was in one of inserts, changed the wording a little bit, message will be in 3x5 box ad on average it will cost us $180.00 for two inserts for all of the papers.

We have new names coming in are we sending them the same letter? Probably need to change the letter to reflect. Need to give them so many days from the time they receive the packet to return, so that it is done in a timely matter. Going to switch it to have 15 days to return it.

One of the things that we talked about in the last two meetings was to have Diane generate a list of all the committed properties along with a list of who did not return their permit. This would go to all the members to review at all the municipal boards. Chuck Tice inquired if we needed to change the letter. It is something that we need to discuss in a future meeting, how threatening do we want to be?

Bob then asked to address the commission and those present, and went on to discuss that this commission has a daunting task to create a unit of government in a very short period of time. He asked that we all work together toward a common goal of marketing the county.

Bob followed up with Maritime Insurance. Bob Kufrin called Dick Sangretti from the league of Wisconsin municipalities to bind our insurance.

No Minutes from Tuesday May 22, 2007 meeting.

There was no Banking Services Meeting that meeting was canceled.

Agenda:

Slightly changing the order of the agenda. Bob has pursued several alternatives on insurance and bonding. It has been distributed to the commission members. Regarding item unable to report. Bob did follow up with Maritime Insurance, Bob submitted an application and they have not been able to find somebody to underwrite the commission. Does not understand why we are such a scary group to them, or why they have not been able to quote us. We are reaching the point where we are going to be collecting money potentially in about 2 weeks we should have people submitting checks to us. Bonding is an important thing to do. Discussion was opened. Bonding and Liability are two different
Policies.

Brian Nelson made a motion and Bill Wedding second the motion to contract with the League of Wisconsin Municipalities as our insurance carrier at a cost of $2,200. All voted in favor yes. This was for Liability Insurance. Bob then called Dick Sangretti to bind the commission with insurance. Bob indicated that we were bound as of 12:01 am.

Jim Sarkis then joined the meeting.

Jim Sarkis indicated that we should get a lawyer. Charlie Most discussed state statutes, and Jim Sarkis indicated that since the commission was under a perceived threat of legal action, that we should get an attorney. Sarkis indicated that we need to get an attorney to referee how we conduct business. This issue was brought up because a threat was made to file a complaint against the commission.

Legal Service Question
Bob had sent out to the members of the municipalities a message asking them if they were interested in nominating their municipal attorney to serve as the commissions legal counsel they should do so. Bob was not contacted by any of the members. He is unsure if there is somebody else out there, besides who has submitted a letter. This issue of legal counsel has been discussed at several meetings. Bob did receive one proposal. There is a potential for other proposals to come forward, and usually that happens after you make a decision. It is on the agenda for today, and also that it is settled today. Charlie�s position is to get an attorney who is independent from these proceedings.

Amended motion made by Brian Nelson seconded by Paul Georgia that Randy Nesbitt be retained as legal counsel thru November 30, 2007 for the commission. In accordance with his engagement letter dated May 23, 2007. All voted in favor yes. The motion carried.

Banking Services
That meeting was canceled, and we need to get this on the agenda. This will be taken care of on Wednesday May 30, 2007 11 AM. A recommendation will be made after Wednesday.

Entity Agreement
Discussions on the Entity Agreement took place. It is the opinion that this is not a set in stone agreement. It was discussed to have this agreement a little tighter a little more detail, our relationship with the Visitor Bureau. Tourism Entity Agreement although it is between the Commission and the Visitor Bureau it was crafted by the municipalities. Discussed several changes that need to be made to the agreement, as well as the language that needs to go in there.

Chuck Tice made a motion to draft a Tourism Zone Entity Agreement. Andy Coulson seconded. All voted in favor yes. Not sure, when meeting will be held or how quickly it will happen. Charlie Most will meet with members of the Visitors Bureau to get this agreement drafted.

Marketing Plan
Discussion on the Marketing Plan took place. There have several changes that have been made. Marketing Objectives(Removed) create a positive awareness and partnership with the bureau (does not fit in this marketing plan).Advertising- Print and Radio advertisement, page 3 this paragraph has been changed due to discussions on Tuesday. Page 4- as was suggested on Tuesday- Karen contacted Greg Swain; he did a sampling of properties to determine a more realistic daily rate. It was a combination of small in large properties, under a $100 over $150.00 just a sampling. Performance Measurements primary performance market share and occupancy, secondary are length of stay, activity performance measures- media contact, web contract, welcome center traffic. Page 19 it re-iterates the projected revenue.

Charlie Most made a motion to approve the marketing budget and Barb Lautenbach seconded the motion to approve the marketing budget as presented. The motion carried. All voted in favor. All yes.

Jim Sarkis indicated that if there are changes to the marketing budget the Bureau needs to come back to us.

Bob Kufrin got a phone call on the bonding. Paul made a motion to approve the bonding and Bryan Nelson seconded to approve the bonding for the commission. The motion carried all voted in favor.

Chuck Tice made a motion to adjourn and Bryan Nelson seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul J. Georgia
Secretary/Treasurer

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