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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-06-16 Tourism PacketCITY OF CLINE MISSOURI Upstream from ordinary. TOURISM COMMISSION MEETING RIVERSIDE CITY HALL 2950 NW VIVION ROAD RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI 64150 TENTATIVE AGENDA JUNE 16, 2014 6:00 P.M. 1. Cali to order 2. Roll call 3. Motion to approve minutes from April 8, 2014 4. FY 2013-2014 and FY 2014-2015 Tourism Fund Budget Update 5. Tourism Grant Overview and FY 2014-2015 Schedule 6. History Project Update 7, Adjournment Meredith Hauck Director of Administration Posted 06-09-2014 at 4:00 p.m. TOURISM COMMISSION RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI, Monday, April 14, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. At 6:00 p.m. on April 14, 2014, 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 was Jason Rule, Jerry Pietsch, and Jennifer Goering. Alderman Aaron Thatcher, Meredith Hauck, Director of Administration and Stacey Rasco, Executive Assistant (recorder) were also present. Motion to Approve Minutes Commissioner Goering made a motion to approve the minutes from February 10, 2014. Commissioner Rule seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion passed. FY 2013-2014 Tourism No report. Fund Budget Update 2014 Funded Projects Review Ms. Hauck reported that after approval of Tourism sponsorships, letters of understanding were sent out to each event requestor. Ms. Hauck has received letters back from everyone except the Midwest Truck Show Nationals event coordinators. They originally asked for $10,000. The commission allotted $5000 with a request for more information. For budgeting purposes we need this closed out by June 30`h. They have been given a deadline ofJune 15{ Commissioner Pietsch will make contact with that vendor this week. Further updates: • Northland Ethnic Fest was successful and a final report will be coming soon. • Team Shakespeare will be held over Memorial Day weekend. Ms. Hauck will send out a reminder this week. • Highland Games will be the first weekend in June and all seems to be going well there. • Have not heard an update on Riverfest. Will have by the June meeting with details of the event. It was asked if they have a planning committee. Ms. Hauck noted that there are two city employees among a group of about 10 who form the planning committee. They have contracted with O'Neill and are working closely with them. The Tourism Commission gave the Riverfest committee $100,000 to use for Riverfest with three standing conditions: o 7,500 attendees o No parking issues o A marketing "buzz" about the event Metro -wide There has been no other contact about any other events for 2014. We have received a few calls for people looking for funding for 2015. Funding Request— Riverside History Project It was noted that the $35,000 remaining in the budget will roll over to next year if not utilized. If it is requested to be used, it would require Board of Alderman approval. Budget will remain the same at $175,000 for the next budget year, 2015. Ms. Hauck asked the Commission to consider funding a Riverside History Project that would start with documenting community stories and building a library of history for the future. The best media would be video and interviews. With the city preparing to enter into a partnership with Lynchpin this would be a great project to incorporate at the same time. Lynchpin created the branding for the city and our trail signs so they are very familiar with our city. We could potentially compile 5-7 minute YouTube videos for approximately $25,000. The interviews would be more time intensive and editing would drive up the cost. Once completed, we would like to incorporate into a city social media campaign and then look at what other possibilities there are that we could do with the information. The Mayor would like to put together a history book of the city. We could use this for welcoming new residents to the city. Commissioner Goering suggested that we do a short clip on the website with some of these interviews, etc. Commissioner Rule voiced concern that this is not going to have the impact we are looking for. The website is not viewed by many and with there being a free Facebook Riverside page; it's not going to be an easy task to bring certain elements to the public eye. The challenge is gathering the information so that we can develop an archive of our own here at the city. Would there be some interest in funding the collection of this information with possibly a summer intern? If we hire an intern for 30 hrs a week for 12 weeks $5000 would provide the staff and the camera that we would need to purchase. Commissioner Rule made a motion to approve $5,000 in funding for the Riverside History Project. Commissioner Pietsch seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The motion passed. Adjournment — 6:20 p.m. Commission was adjourned. FY 2013-2014 Tourism Fund Fund Overview Fund Overview Reserve Fund $10Q000 Fund Balance $323,886 2013-2014 Budget $175,000 Details`I Approved Projects Project Budget 2014 Northland Ethnic Fest $2,000 History Intern $5,000 2014 Midwest All Truck Nationals $5,000 2014 Operation Upstream $5,000 2014 Team Shakespeare $10,000 2014 Highland Games $17,500 2014 Riverside Riverfest $100,000 Total Approved $144,500 Total Available $30,500 Italicized = not approved Updated 06/09/2014 CITY OF Riv�.JQ� MISSOURI MISSOURI Upstream from ordinary. REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: TOURISM ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS - DRAFT The City of Riverside, Missouri is soliciting requests for proposals to sponsor projects that will expand and enhance the tourism industry within the City in 2015. Project Description: Activities and expenditures which will be considered eligible for sponsorship include, but are not limited to, advertising, publicizing, or otherwise distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists; developing strategies to expand tourism; operation tourism promotion agencies; and special events and festivals designed to attract tourists. The expected outcome of such promotion and enhancement of tourism is to: - Increase: o the number of first-time visitors to Riverside o the number of return trips of current visitors o the length of visitor stays - Increase economic activity within the City of Riverside Expand the public's awareness of Riverside's unique history, events, activities, and amenities. Proposal Information: Each application is to develop and outline one project that meets these requirements and provides a tourism benefit to the City of Riverside (as outlined above) in 2015. The specific amount of the applicant's proposal is open, to be defined by the applicant. As a recommendation, the applicant may wish to define alternate levels of funding, indicating as their first priority maximum amount desired, and, as a second priority, the minimum acceptable amount. Some definition of the differences in the level of services and/or benefit provided to the City to be provided under the two priorities should be included. The establishment of alternate funding levels will allow the City some latitude in approving projects reviewed without the necessity of rejecting one or more projects due to a potential lack of funds. RFP Schedule: The following is the anticipated RFP schedule. Specific dates may be adjusted to meet unexpected circumstances. RFP Due November 25, 2014 at 12 p.m. Tourism Commission Review By January 27, 2015 Award Notices Mailed By January 30, 2015 Project to be Completed by December 31, 2015 Funds not expended by December 31, 2015 will be forfeited. Selection Process: Each application will be reviewed based upon several criteria: effectiveness of proposed project in meeting the expected outcomes, past performance, benefit to the City, need, and funding requirements. The City may request that applicants make an oral presentation in order to fully understand the proposed project. The Tourism Commission will make the final decision based on majority vote. Other Information: This Request for Proposals does not commit the City of Riverside to award any funds, to pay costs incurred in the preparation of any proposal nor to procure or pay for any service. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to request clarification, to enter into an agreement, and to waive any specifications or technicalities for any reason whatsoever. All contractual agreements shall be subject to, governed by and construed according to the laws, ordinances, rules, regulations and orders of the City, County, State, Federal government or any other public bodies which apply to the work performed under this agreement. Proposal Submittal: Deliver one (1) copy of the completed proposal document and any additional attachments by November 25, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. to: Meredith Hauck, Director of Administration City of Riverside, Missouri 2950 NW Vivion Road Riverside, MO 64150 (816) 372-9023 mhauck@riversidemo.com CITY OF RIVERSI MISSOURI Tourism Commission Funding Guidelines Adopted by the Tourism Commission June 10, 2013 1. Background a. Tourism Tax Fund The enabling legislation for Riverside's bed tax specifies what a bed tax is and how it shall be levied. But the legislation is not specific on how funds will be used; only specifying that, "There is a separate Tourism Tax Fund Commission into which all tourism tax revenues shall be deposited and from which only eligible expenditures for promoting tourism shall be made." From State Statute RSMo 67.1363: "The revenue received from the tax shall be deposited in a special fund and used solely to promote tourism. b. Tourism Tax Commission Upon adoption of the tourism sales tax, there shall be established a Tourism Tax Fund Commission to consist of five members appointed by the governing body of the city. Of these members, one shall be a representative of the hotel and motel industry and two shall be active in the tourism industry; the remaining members of the commission will be members of local general business interests of the city. All members shall be residents of Platte County. One member of the Board of Aldermen shall serve as liaison in a non-voting capacity. Members of the Tourism Commission will be appointed for a term of three years and may serve no more than two consecutive terms. The members will serve without compensation. c. Conflict of Interest All members, including those who are active in the tourism industry, hotel/motel industry and local business, must at the time proposals for funding are being judged indicate if they have a conflict of interest in regard to any of the proposals. It is the member's responsibility to point out any conflict or potential conflict of interest that is occurring or may occur. If the conflict of interest does occur, the conflicted members must excuse themselves from the area of discussion until the comment period is completed. Conflicted members may not comment or vote on the proposal. 2. Tourism Fund Objectives a. Mission Statement The mission of the Riverside, Missouri Tourism Commission shall be to expand and enhance the tourism industry to make the City of Riverside one of the region's premier destinations through the use of the Tourism Tax Fund Page 2 of 4 b. Goals Through disbursement of Tourism Tax monies, the Riverside, Missouri Tourism Commission will: • Increase ✓ the number of first-time visitors to Riverside ✓ the number of return trips of current visitors ✓ the length of visitor stays • Generate significant research -based return -on -investment for Riverside's residents and businesses • Expand the visiting public's awareness of Riverside's unique history, events, activities and amenities. 3. Available Funding a. Funding Pools The City of Riverside's fiscal year is July 1 -June 30. The City of Riverside will determine the amount of Tourism Tax Funding available for distribution in the upcoming fiscal year no later than June 30 of the current year. b. Unawarded Funds Any Tourism Tax Fund revenue not awarded will be rolled into the Tourism Tax General Fund and may be allocated in future years. c. Reserve Funds 10% of each year's Tourism Tax Fund revenue will be held in escrow as an emergency reserve. The total of reserve funds shall not exceed $100,000. The fund will be utilized to cover outstanding obligations in the event there is a significant decrease in the revenue stream. Reserve funds may also be used to fund projects deemed as exceptional by the Tourism Commission and Board of Aldermen. Reserve funds may be accessed by a vote of the Tourism Commission and subsequent approval by the Board of Aldermen. 4. Applicant Eligibility Eligible applicants must be: • not-for-profit or divisions of government located in the service area • non -religious • non-political organizations Organizations that do not meet the not-for-profit criteria, but feel they have a very exceptional project, may appear before the Riverside Tourism Commission for consideration of funding directly from the Commission without having to indirectly apply for funding through a not-for-profit entity. The request must be submitted in writing and detail why the organization feels the project is so exceptional as to be funded without the umbrella of a not-for-profit entity. In addition, only events that are open to the public will be considered for funding. City of Riverside Tourism Commission Funding Guidelines Adopted by the Tourism Commission June 10, 2013 Page of 5. Funding Process a. Process 1. There shall be one primary funding cycle annually. 2. Applicants can apply for funding up to one calendar year in advance of their event date. 3. All requests for funding will be given equal consideration during each funding cycle. Any projects brought to the Tourism Commission outside of this process are not guaranteed funding consideration. 4. All applications will be evaluated on their own merit annually. All reports from previously funded activities or past activities requesting expansion funding, in addition to new application packets will be reviewed by the Tourism Commission. 5. Applicants may be asked to make a five-minute presentation before one or both bodies concerning project funding. Applicants will be notified at least one week in advance of their presentation time and date. 6. General Application Process Schedule — Dates may be adjusted based on specific circumstances each year. RFP Released October RFP Due November Tourism Commission Review By January Award Notices Mailed January 30 Project to be Completed By December 31 the following year b. Request Components Organizations requesting Tourism funding should submit a letter of request that includes the following information: • Background of organization submitting the request; • Project purpose and description (including budget overview); • Information about how this project meets Tourism goals; and • Request for sponsorship including specific dollar amount requested and details regarding what benefit the City will receive from providing funding. c. Evaluation Applications will be reviewed by the Tourism Commission and evaluated on items such as: • Supports goals of the Tourism Commission • Potential for positive return on investment • Completeness and thoroughness of application, including budget portion In addition, applications will be considered in relation to the other projects that have received funding in that fiscal year in order to promote a diverse offering. City of Riverside Tourism Commission Funding Guidelines Adopted by the Tourism Commission lune 10, 2013 Page 4 of 4 d. Minimum Funding Requests Requests for funding must be a minimum of $500. e. Funding Procedures Once funding has been approved for a project and any required reservation and deposit payments have been paid in full, the City will issue a check to the organization and execute a contract for services. 6. Final Report Projects receiving Tourism Funds must complete a final report and submit it to the Tourism Commission within 60 days of project completion. The report will include the following details: The outcome of the project or event Report on the measures of success (qualitative and quantitative) collected Budget overview If the project will be repeated in the future and if it is anticipated that Tourism Funds will be requested 7. Sponsorship Recognition The City of Riverside must be identified as a sponsor for all projects receiving Tourism Funds. The City reserves to right to request approval on any piece that utilizes the City logo or name in order to preserve the integrity of the City of Riverside brand. City of Riverside Tourism Commission Funding Guidelines Adopted by the Tourism Commission June 10, 2013