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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-17 Tourism Commission Minutes MINUTES TOURISM COMMISSION RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI Monday, November 17, 2008 6:00 p.m. 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, on November 17, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. Chair Jason Rule called the meeting to order. Answering roll call were Deana Winter, Jerry Pietsch, Dirk van der Linde and Jason Rule. Randy Rose was absent. Also present were Mayor Kathy Rose, Meredith Hauck, Communications and External Affairs Coordinator, and Jane Henry, Executive Administration Assistant. Motion to approve Minutes of October 20, Dirk van der Linde made a motion to approve the minutes of October 2008 20, 2008, and Deana Winter seconded. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Car Show Presentation Meredith Hauck, Communications/External Affairs Coordinator, introduced Deron McGraw and Bob Snyder, members of the High Performance Auto Club who were on hand to make a presentation requesting money for the event they would like to hold in E.H. Young Park during the summer of 2009. Snyder gave the presentation and told the commission that they were excited about E.H. Young Park saying that it would be an excellent venue for their event. Snyder said the club is asking for $4,000 to offset the cost of rent, port- a-potties, and the security required by the City. He added that the event is free but that vehicle entrants pay a registration fee. They are self-supporting with $20 membership fees and T-shirt sales. HPAC is a 25 year old organization created for the promotion of the preservation of Chrysler product vehicles. They average over 150 vehicles in each show and support over 50 swap sites. Depending on the weather, they expect to draw between 500 and 1000 spectators each day of the two- day event. The club will sell T-shirts and other items. Vendors will dispense food and drink. Winter asked if the Tourism Commission would be responsible for finding the vendors. Snyder replied that the club will do this and propose to start by calling the Riverside Chamber of Commerce. He said they would like to have an ongoing relationship with the city, if the event goes well. Pietsch asked if the club has repeat vendors and McGraw said they have one main food vendor. Pietsch also asked about regional advertising. McGraw said they advertise to clubs in Wichita, Springfield, Omaha and Des Moines. They draw overnight interest if they have a specific interest person or feature vehicle. The dates they are considering, June 26-28, would not conflict with any events planned around fireworks. Rule questioned the security requirements and asked if the club has to use Riverside Public Safety for security and Hauck said that is the case. Tourism Commission Minutes 11/17/08 Page 1 Mayor Rose asked if they offer assistance parking cars. Snyder said they do and Hauck said the event will not close the park. Pietsch made a motion to support the event and grant their request for funding in the amount of $4,000. Winter seconded. All voted in favor and the motion passed. Tourism Fund Update Hauck reported there have been no changes in the tourism fund since the previous commission report at the meeting in October. Tourism Enhancement Grant Committee Grant Committee Co-Chair Deana Winter presented the grant requests FY09 Funding Recommendations of four organizations, i.e., Bell Road Barn Players, Platte County Arts Council Children’s Theatre, Kansas City Scottish Highland Games, and Northland Symphony Orchestra’s April Concert, and the committee’s recommendations for funding. If the committee’s recommendations are approved by the Tourism Commission and Board of Alderman, it would be a $37,700 expenditure from the grant portion of the Tourism Fund. Mayor Rose reminded the board of its mission and cautioned them that it is not their focus to bring events into the City. She added that the commission should not get caught up in not spending the tourism money because they are waiting on a big event that may or may not come. One event that the commission does favor initiating would be a celebration of the fireworks season. Hauck said she had spoken with Red X owner Zeke Young and he indicated that the fireworks vendors would sponsor the event. Bell Road Barn Players - The Bell Road Barn Players requested funds to cover the production of The Producers, which will be held at Park Hill South High School July 9 through July 20. The production will feature eight performances, each of which is expected to draw 200-300 people. Additionally, more than 30 cast and crew members will be involved with the production. Bell Road Barn Players, although once located in Riverside, have been performing at Park University for the past 13 years. Winter said that it is great to have the Players back in Riverside and the committee recommends funding their request even though the venue for the production, Park Hill South High School, does not encourage attendees to come through the main area of Riverside in conjunction with the performances. Platte County Arts Council Children’s Theatre - The Children’s Theatre is a free summer program that runs 6 to 8 weeks during the summer and is open to all school age children. The kids have the opportunity to experience all aspects of putting on a performance. The number of children participating has increased each year – from 26 in 2006 to 48 in 2008. Additionally, approximately 240 people attended the performances in 2008. TEGC recommends funding the entire request of $10,000 to help offset the approximately $6,425 in Community Center rental fees. The committee will encourage the applicant to advertise the event to a broader audience in hopes of bringing more metro area residents to the performances. Tourism Commission Minutes 11/17/08 Page 2 Kansas City Scottish Highland Games - The Kansas City Scottish Highland Games has been hosted in Riverside at EH Young Park since 2006. Competitors and guests have traveled from more than 20 states to attend the games. Expected attendance is between 7,500 to 10,000 for this three-day event, which occurs in June. As specified in the contract recently approved by the Board of Aldermen for the 2009 games, the Tourism Commission and City staff will work with the games to more accurately count attendance and other key performance indicators during the games. The Tourism Commission awarded the Highland Games $7,500 from the short-term portion of the Tourism Fund for the 2009 games and encouraged them to apply for a grant to receive additional funds. TGEC feels that this event has the ability and appeal to draw more people from a broader area to the City of Riverside. In addition to a more accurate attendance count, future applications will have to furnish much stronger financial accountability. Hauck added that the Games are under new leadership and Rose said they bring good people to the City and that it is a good family event. Northland Symphony Orchestra – The Northland Symphony is requesting $7,700 to augment the funding for their April concert, the fourth concert of their season. The concert will feature the High School Competition Winner and will take place at Park Hill South High School. TGEC recommends funding this request but in the future, the Symphony will only be funded with grant money and TGEC would like to be involved in each of the four concerts in Riverside. Rose said she wants them to do a better job of marketing Riverside. Rule pointed out that, based on their attendance figures, tourism grant funds would be paying as much as $22 for each attendee and most of the people are coming to watch a family member perform. Also, he added that we would be paying for people and not facilities as we are with the other grant applicants. Rule asked for a motion for each of the grant requests. Deana Winter made a motion to fund the Bell Road Barn Players request for a $10,000 grant and Dirk van der Linde seconded. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Winter moved and Pietsch seconded approval of the $10,000 grant request for Platte County Arts Council Children’s Theatre. All voted in favor. Motion was approved. Winter moved and van der Linde seconded the motion to approve the funding request of $10,000 by Kansas City Scottish Highland Games. All voted in favor. Motion was approved. Pietsch moved and Winter seconded the motion to approve Northland Symphony Orchestra’s $7,700 request to fund the April concert. All voted against. Motion failed. Tourism Commission Minutes 11/17/08 Page 3 Hauck said the grant recommendations would be presented to the nd Board of Aldermen at the December 2 regular session. She asked that Winter be at the meeting to present the tourism commission’s recommendations and encouraged other commission members to attend as well, if possible. Fireworks Event Proposal Hauck reported that this event is still in the planning stages. She will bring the proposal and corresponding numbers to the next commission meeting. Funding Request – Red X Clydesdales Hauck reported that Red X owner Zeke Young had requested a contribution to help with their expenses for bringing the Clydesdales to Riverside earlier in the year. The commission felt it should not be funding an event retroactively but going forward they want to be involved. Rule said that funding an event for a business is dangerous because it opens the commission to future problems with requests. Hauck advised the commission that she would respond to Young recognizing the partnership and expressing interest in becoming a partner in future events while pointing out that the tourism fund commission was not appointed until after the Clydesdale event. Adjournment Rule made a motion to adjourn until its next meeting on December 8 and Winter seconded. All voted in favor. Motion passed. ______________________________ Jane Henry Executive Administration Assistant Tourism Commission Minutes 11/17/08 Page 4