Door County Tourism Zone Commission : Meeting Minutes

Home Page: Meeting Minutes

September 18, 2008 Door County Tourism Zone Commission Meeting

DOOR COUNTY TOURISM ZONE COMMISSION
MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
Washington Island Town Hall

ACTION ITEMS:
Boston moved and Stayton seconded to approve the August 21 Training Meeting Minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously.

Coulson moved and Boston seconded to approve the August 21 TZC Meeting Minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved and Goss seconded to approve the financial reports and bills to be paid. Motion passed unanimously.

Present: Mary Boston, Andy Coulson, Nancy Goss, Jeff Larson, LittleBit LeClair, Bryan Nelson, Richard Skare, Carol Stayton, Chuck Tice, and Bill Weddig
Excused: Bob Kufrin, Amy McClelland, Craig Neddersen, Nora Zacek
Also Present: William Vande Castle, Esq., Commission attorney; Kathy Kirkland, TZC Administrative Assistant
Audience: Bonnie Munao and Kim Hansen (Permit Holder).

Call to Order: Vice-Chair Tice called the meeting to order at 8:56 a.m. Coulson moved and Nelson seconded to approve the agenda. There is no representative for Door County Visitor Bureau (DCVB) today. Vande Castle will report. All ayes.

Previous Minutes: August 21 Training Session: Boston moved to approve and Stayton seconded. Nelson was listed as present but was not. Other changes: Bottom of first paragraph the date should be April 12. On pg 2, previous director Karen Raymore resigned. On pg. 6, Intergovernmental Agreement expires in 2011, not 2012. Line 5 on pg. 2, add �state sales tax.� Line 19, should be �following a corporate business plan would not be the same for government entities.� Line 22: word �business� should be �confidential information.� Line 36, middle �revealed that other communities.� Pg. 6, line 16, should be �Did expect some municipalities to exceed the limit.� Pg. 7, line 26, Tice moved to adjourn and Larson seconded. Boston withdrew her motion and moved to approve with corrections; Stayton seconded. All ayes. Jeff Larson joined the meeting.

Minutes of August 22, General Meeting: Coulson moved and Boston seconded to approve. All agreed the meeting location should be at the top of the minutes. Pg. 10, line 26, should be �anyone challenged Sturgeon Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau. Pg. 8, line 21: Instead of Starr it was Jim Sarkes who was then an at-large Commissioner who appeared with Bryan Nelson. Pg. 11, line 26, �since he felt there has been adequate time.� Coulson withdrew his motion and moved to approve with corrections; Boston seconded. All ayes.

Vande Castle Report
Vande Castle stated that Sand Bay is fully paid up now. There are still some stragglers out there. He dealt with one yesterday, sent another letter as well. One person claimed they sold the property but there�s no record of it. Kirkland said we go by the Real Estate records, and the records online still reflected that he owned the property; Vande Castle asked for proof of sale. Vande Castle said the big money carryovers have been taken care of. Tice asked if late-permit holders are being asked for past payments. Vande Castle said the push is to get them onboard and then try to recoup part of what they should�ve paid. Weddig said there is an investigator; Kirkland said he hasn�t been used yet. Vande Castle added that he sent Kirkland a page for the website that is a �municipal disclaimer� typical for websites that we make no warranties as to accuracy because some information on the site is third- or fourth-party sources. No representative as to accuracy.

Non-Zone Municipalities
Tice said the last Sturgeon Bay meeting was a closed session, but it does look like the Sturgeon Bay and the Tourism Zone Commission have come to an agreement for Sturgeon Bay to join by the end of the year, which would alleviate the problem of not being able to use the DCVB website, information, and advertising. Kufrin had said that Vande Castle he may be involved soon and is been updated. Next month, we�ll have a more complete report. Vande Castle called for a closed session at October�s meeting to define strategy. Tice said may call for a special meeting for Sturgeon Bay.

Nelson said Jon Jarosh made a presentation to Brussels last week, and they will vote on whether to join at next month�s meeting; they are leaning toward it. Two from Union were observing. Forestville is also interested, as per Kirkland.

Tice said the Town of Sturgeon Bay is reconsidering, and if they haven�t done so yet, will request someone to come to their meeting to explain. Kufrin requested that our Bylaws, Agreements, and standard ordinance template be sent to non-Zone municipalities; Kirkland sent them two weeks ago.

Door County Visitor Bureau Report
Tice asked if anyone had questions about the DCVB written report. Larson noted another travel writer�s press tour October 19-21, another December 11-14 holiday shopping press tour. Stayton asked if eBrains going to be at the October meeting; Kirkland confirmed that they will; not sure about Geiger yet. Tice said Commissioners should think up questions for eBrains, the DCVB, and possibly Geiger, pass them to Kirkland and on to the DCVB so they can be prepared to answer at the meeting.

Kerber Rose Report
Dianne Lensert could not attend the meeting but sent reports. Looking at occupancy numbers, unadjusted numbers, Tice said that due to the late pays, the numbers will always be fluid and not final. There�s a lag in collections; takes the accountants 15 to 20 days to input. Vande Castle said it�ll probably never totally catch up; penalties, interest, always a rolling number, so it�s just a snapshot in time. Stayton affirmed that Washington�s numbers change drastically in a few days.

Nelson said Coulson, Kufrin, Neddersen, Dianne met on the Financial Committee on September 10. We have to give Lensert some kind of policy to finalize numbers. Her estimate is the best date would be February to close out the year and have some data. It�s not just finances; we need stats for marketing. Year to year, we need a static date so we can compare apples to apples. Tice noted that available rooms and occupancy are not much different from July 2008 to July 2007.

Tice asked for discussion for estimated room tax collection amount for 2009. Nelson said the Finance Committee looked at the numbers and said we could promise the DCVB a 4% increase, and it was Jack�s job to be conservative. The Finance Committee projected a Room Tax income of $2,550,000 in 2009, so 66% for the DCVB budget, 4% for TZC administration. Tice said we have $1,376,049 in tax collections YTD; Nelson reminded that�s through July and unadjusted, there are big months coming. Nelson mentioned Blacksmith Inn had the best single month ever in August; anecdotally, that�s been true around the county. Any other questions for finances? Nelson felt as the financial report shouldn�t be called �Profit & Loss�; it should be �Income & Expense.� Tice said that they do keep it Profit & Loss in government.

Administrative Assistant Report
Kirkland gave a report on new additions and a same number of Removed properties due to new owners or long-term rentals. Regarding the new Internet site (www.doorcountytourismzone.com), it�s up and running. She asked for any comments, suggestions. There�s a click-thru for Permit Holders to pay on their normal log-in page. Tice said after all the minutes, etc. are uploaded, Sister Bay�s Intranet should be just a click-thru to the new site.

Tice asked Kirkland to condense minutes to just salient information. If people want to know more detailed information, we archive voice recordings for seven years, LeClair stated, so they can listen to those.
Kirkland will be sending occasional reports to municipality clerks and asked that each municipality sign off that they�re accurate. One municipality did find a lodging facility that was assigned to them when it really was in another municipality. That happened early on and the financials can be worked out.

Audience Comments
Hansen asked if Washington gets a report monthly; yes, all do. She stated that 50% of the Room Tax is supposed to go to the Chamber, but the Town of Washington hasn�t released any money this year. Tice said the municipality may do anything they wish with the 30%; Goss spoke for Ephraim as treasurer: the Village now gives the Ephraim Business Council 50). Tice said if Washington passed the Room Tax an ordinance and stated the Chamber�s cut, then it�s law and it should be paid. Munao said it was done at an annual town meeting as a motion and approved by the citizens. Goss suggested consulting an attorney. Vande Castle said there are lag times, but they shouldn�t just rely on the town resolution; they Chamber should enter into a written agreement with the town that the split is such-and-such and work out the timing of when payments are made. Enforcement is easier with a written agreement.

Munao asked at what point do you realize our efforts are going to work with the Room Tax? Tice said it�s harder because don�t have previous information; we had a short year in 2007, then winter, 2008 is first full year, so by 2009 numbers should be making sense year to year. Goss said it�s not static comparison� gas prices affect, people were traveling more last year. If numbers aren�t there, doesn�t mean it�s not working; other factors come into it. Tice said when state numbers are compared to ours, if the state is down 30% and we�re down just 20%, that�s a positive sign. Larson said the Room Tax is working; the collections are making a difference. Is marketing working? That�s a different question. We have to track marketing. Tice explained the lag from the time money was given to get writers up here until the writers visit, then write. Some have yet to be printed. Tice believes 2009 should start showing a difference over 2008. Weddig further noted that money collected in August is not dispersed until October, so last year�s marketing money wasn�t applied until this year.

Nelson explained we have to review and pass on the DCVB annual marketing budget. Stayton said when we meet with eBrains and Geiger, we�ll compare what they promised with what was delivered. Washington Island has had day traffic and there may be lodging not captured yet, but all the marketing tools are presenting most of Door County as an overnight destination but representing Washington Island as a day trip. There was discussion about Washington Island�s image and how it could be better presented. Stayton was unhappy with some of the blogs they�re counting because they�re amateurish. Unfortunately, we don�t have control over writers� content. But we must be accurate about the Geiger price: If it�s $300,000 contract and there are almost $300,000 in freebies, then that�s a $600,000 contract. Stayton doesn�t feel Geiger should be negotiating with the writers; the DCVB should look out for that. Stayton felt there should be controls with contracts in general; Fox 11 had to do the invoicing process but Jarosh should handle it. Tice said we have considerable questions for Geiger.

Approving Reports and Payables plus Receipts to Date: Tice asked if there were any questions? Nelson moved, Goss seconded to approve bills. All ayes.

Old Business
Vande Castle reiterated the need to keep records for e-mail purposes, as well as BlackBerrys and other devices such as iPhones, texting. They�re all subject to public records laws. It�s appropriate for the Commission to adopt an e-mail policy; how long keep them, manage in own files? At a recent Municipal Attorney�s Conference in Sturgeon Bay, they asked attorneys how many still send paper memos; only 2 out of 400, it�s all done by e-mail. Tice asked if there�s a model ordinance; Vande Castle said the League of Municipalities has one. He said you basically can�t destroy records for seven years. When you leave your service to the Commission, you should surrender all correspondence to the person who�s taking over for you (private communications or e-mail directed to you; general items are saved in the office). Tice said anything through the Commission and e-mails have been saved. If it goes from member to member, that�s hard to track. Weddig said it�s especially important for hiring, firing, etc. Vande Castle said don�t need hard copies; use either a disk or flash drive, have a separate file for each Commission. If you get a public records request demand, it�s easier to download the file rather than go through paper copies. If you keep it separate, better because otherwise someone can ask that you turn over your computer, even if private files are on there. Coulson asked when computers get old, what�s responsibility? Vande Castle recommended keep separate disk of e-mails, etc. If a computer crashes, that is an issue. Some have IT offices; you should download everything and have the computer scrubbed before it�s scrapped. There are services to scrub computers. Vande Castle said when someone�s suing a municipality, records are the first thing they ask for.
Tice asked for other questions or concerns? Coulson moved and Stayton seconded to adjourn. All ayes. Tice adjourned the meeting at 10:35 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Kirkland
Administrative Assistant

View all from: 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007