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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-02-09 Tourism Commission MinutesTOURISM COMMISSION RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. At 6:00 p.m. on February 9, 2015, the Tourism Commission for the City of Riverside, Missouri, met in the Board of Aldermen Conference Room at City Hall, 2950 NW Vivion Road, Riverside, Missouri. Answering roll call were Commissioners Hope Carriger, Julie Rule, Lori Locke, and Jennifer Goering. City staff members Jackie Carlson and Stacey Rasco (Scribe) were also present. Alderman Aaron Thatcher was absent. Selection of Chairperson Ms. Carlson reviewed the need for a Chairperson as a point of contact person for the Tourism Commission. Commissioner Rule nominated Commissioner Carriger and the vote was unanimous.  Motion to Approve Minutes Commissioner Goering made a motion to approve the minutes from December 8, 2014. Commissioner Locke seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion passed.  2015 Tourism Grant MOW approvals Ms. Carlson presented the 2015 Tourism Funding Allocations & Memorandums of Understanding for review by the Commission. She noted one change from the grant application to the MOU was the Riverside Chamber’s number of events. Because the Chamber received a smaller grant than requested, they asked that the MOU reflect 3 events as opposed to 4 events as noted in the grant application. The Commission reviewed each MOU and Commissioner Goering made a motion to approve all MOU’s. Commissioner Rule seconded the motion. Motion passed. Ms. Carlson will forward the approved MOU’s to each grant recipient this week. It was asked that at the closure of each specific event, each grant recipient supply a copy of receipts with their follow-up report to the Tourism Commission.  Budget Approval Ms. Carlson reported that so far for fiscal year 2014-2015 $86,000 had been collected through January 31, 2015. This amount, coupled with the roughly $386,000 in the tourism account, brings the total tourism funds to $473,000. After checks are issued to the grant recipients the balance will be approximately $300,000. Ms. Carlson reviewed the process for budgeting and allocating tourism dollars. Each year the Board of Alderman budgets the amount for tourism grants. The Commission then allocates the funds as needed or requested. Once the budgeted amounted is depleted, the Commission would need to ask the Board of Aldermen for a budget amendment to obtain additional dollars out of the reserve fund. The City Finance Director has stated that a contingency fund could be included in the budget. This fund would be aside in case a request for money is received following the annual allocation of grant funds by the Tourism Commission. This would give more flexibility to the Commission as a budget amendment request would not need to be presented to the Board of Aldermen. The Commission agreed to have a small contingency amount of $2,000.00 set aside for the upcoming budget year. It was suggested that a listing of events receiving tourism dollars be added to the City’s website. This would allow others to see what events are coming to the community and what the Tourism Commission does for the area.   Budget Approval Ms. Carlson reported that so far for fiscal year 2014-2015 $86,000 had been collected through January 31, 2015. This amount, coupled with the roughly $386,000 in the tourism account, brings the total tourism funds to $473,000. After checks are issued to the grant recipients the balance will be approximately $300,000. Ms. Carlson reviewed the process for budgeting and allocating tourism dollars. Each year the Board of Alderman budgets the amount for tourism grants. The Commission then allocates the funds as needed or requested. Once the budgeted amounted is depleted, the Commission would need to ask the Board of Aldermen for a budget amendment to obtain additional dollars out of the reserve fund. The City Finance Director has stated that a contingency fund could be included in the budget. This fund would be aside in case a request for money is received following the annual allocation of grant funds by the Tourism Commission. This would give more flexibility to the Commission as a budget amendment request would not need to be presented to the Board of Aldermen. The Commission agreed to have a small contingency amount of $2,000.00 set aside for the upcoming budget year. It was suggested that a listing of events receiving tourism dollars be added to the City’s website. This would allow others to see what events are coming to the community and what the Tourism Commission does for the area.  Tourism Commission Meeting Schedule The next Tourism Commission meeting will be on April 13 at 6 p.m. Commissioner Rule suggested that a possible agenda item for the April meeting be strategic planning and discussing big picture ideas for the Tourism Commission.  Adjournment, 6:28p.m. Commission was adjourned by unanimous consent.