Okaloosa County BOCC — April 24, 2014 — Minutes — reading text

amended budgets do not equal the adopted budgets due to an error in her formula, which she will correct before this report is presented to the BCC on May 6th for their quarterly update. Joe Guidry asked Ms. Dunworth if $13.4M is forecasting a downturn. Ms Dunworth correctly stated she is forecasting an increase based on the budget-to-actual comparison and not what was collected in 2013. She further explained that this revpar information is only a benchmark for this year and is based on the tax collector’s reports. Mr. Schroeder asked Mr. Peterson if the revpar information was of interest to him. Mr. Peterson replied that he is interested in this information. Ms. Joyce agreed that revpar info gives the true story of comparisons. Commissioner Windes asked each speaker to state the specific page number of the item discussed in the meeting for ease of following along. Ms. Dunworth continued with reporting on the Expenditure Transaction Analysis data and stated this is provided to assist the TDC in identifying possibly unauthorized expenditures. Mr. Peterson asked Ms. Dunworth if we have insurance on the Welcome Center and Emerald Coast Convention Center facilities. She replied that she has contacted Risk Management requesting the backup detail for how those figures are arrived at in the budget. Thom Gossom added that he did not see anything in the report that related to lifeguards and safety issues discussed in previous meetings. Mr. Peterson stated that data on lifeguards is in the Second Penny section of this report. He explained the Destin Fire District was given $500K for lifeguards and they are required to give exact accounting of spending this money based on the State statutes. He further stated that the County received $500K for lifeguards and will verify if the money was actually spent on lifeguards and if they have used all of it. Motion to Approve Financial Update as Provided RESULT: MOTION APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Rice SECONDER: Empson, Rigdon AYES: Gossom, Guidry, Windes, Peterson, Dixon, Joyce Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department Page 5 of 12 April 24, 2014  IV. Convention Center Update (Bill Leaman) a. Bayview Plaza Grand Opening Update. Bill Leaman announced that there will be a grand opening of the Bayview Plaza on Monday, June 9, 5pm – 9pm and invitations are extended to out of town/potential customers and local/potential customers, as well as extending invitations to the Chambers and local businesses. Mr. Leaman added that there will be a trade show, entertainment, banquet area, and an area to educate clients and famtour members of the overall complex. b. Porte Cochere Update Mr. Leaman reported that architectural drawings and bid spec construction documents are available of the Porte Cochere. He stated that the old Genesis contract is due to close in the upcoming BOCC meeting and a task order issued for final bid specs by the time this project is completed. He will be requesting permission to bid on the approved Porte Cochere. V. Marketing Update (Kendra Moore-Nixon) a. Industry Partner Strategic Marketing Plan Follow up Kendra Moore-Nixon announced exciting news about the progress of the promotional marketing ads. A follow-up industry partner meeting will be scheduled in May. Ms. Moore-Nixon will send an email when a date for the follow up meeting is determined. b. Ad Agency Last Minute Deals – Peter Mayer TO 136 Kendra Moore-Nixon informed the TDC about a task order generated to the BCC for an opportunity to advertise in the Visit Florida Meeting magazine, targeting meeting planners, and also some Google online keyword advertising targeting people who are booking their summer travel. c. Agency Update (Peter Mayer) - Presentation National Travel and Tourism Week 2014. May 3 – 11 Ellen Kempner continued with a discussion about the “ #emeraldcoasting ad “ and how it extends out to the group and meeting audience (samples are included in the packet). Michelle Clarke reported on the progress of the social media advertisement, specifically “Instagram launch” on EmeraldCoastFLA, and provided some results of the posts from the viewers using #emeraldcoasting. She also included information on the top “Facebook” posts in April. Ms. Clarke shared some social results: Twitter followers – approx. 5,000, Instagram followers – 216, Facebook followers – 453. Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department Page 6 of 12 April 24, 2014  Ms. Kempner added that she and Ms. Clarke would be available after the meeting to help anyone with the Instagram tutorial. Ms. Kempner, working with the CVB, listed some of the highlights of promoting why tourism matters to the Emerald Coast community. • Provide public relations support to leverage importance of tourism’s impact to the Emerald Coast community. • Spotlight a variety of Emerald Coast tourism employees who positively represent the tourism industry. - Ms. Kempner added she would send TDC board members an updated Emerald Coast post today and requested a quick response on nomination of co-workers who exemplify the best of tourism in our community. - The Peter Mayer Agency and CVB would make a selection and profile them through social media. - A social media scavenger hunt was created to raise awareness of National Travel and Tourism Week and reinforce #emeraldcoasting. Several winners selected will receive a #emeraldcoasting t-shirt. A sample recording of a TV commercial ad running for the summer was heard and several sample magazine and online ads are included in the meeting packet. Ms. Kempner concluded with listing the future items in progress: Television shoot – actual viewing of commercials Strategic Marketing plan for next fiscal year May Social Media calendar National Tourism Week Opening of Bayview Plaza at Convention Center Flagler Award entries Branded “#emeraldcoasting” collateral pieces Press Kit Ongoing Visitor Profile Research April’s Emerald Coast Post Summer Facebook Sweepstakes VI. Old Business (Dale Peterson) No discussion. VII. New Business (Dale Peterson) a. Western Destin Beach Restoration MSBU Ordinance Repeal Mr. Schroeder reported on the research of the impact of the MSBU rescission (or rescinding) and provided a copy of the Tourist Development Department Memorandum referencing the MSBU Ordinance Repeal (Tab 7, Page 99 in packet). He further Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department Page 7 of 12 April 24, 2014  explained the payments out of the MSBU would come from First Penny (referring to Financial Report in Tab 3) and stated the assumption of the MSBU into next year’s budget would take the place of the some or all of the capital improvements listed or it would have to be taken from reserves. Mr. Schroeder stated if the Ordinance (Page 100) introduced to the County Commission next week is passed, it would establish a resolution to address the repealing of assessment at the public hearing of the following board meeting and would not repeal or remove the actual collection of the MSBU tax. He encouraged (the members) to attend the board meeting. Mr. Peterson asked if a repeal of the MSBU on the beach would set a precedence for other MSBU’s in the Counties being repealed. Mr. Peterson also asked if eliminating some capital improvement projects will deplete beach restoration reserves within three to four years. He is concerned where the money is coming from and how this affects tourism. Commissioner Windes asked Mr. Schroeder if it was possible to leverage the anticipated reserves in a bond issue. Mr. Schroeder asked Mr. Trifilio if he had experience in this area and he responded with reference to the First Penny that nothing can be bonded because it had already been pledged against the Western Destin note, unless trying to refinance. Commissioner Windes stated this Penny can only be used for beach restoration and Mr. Trifilio confirmed this is the way the present Ordinance is written. Commissioner Windes asked Lynn Hoshihara, TDD Attorney, if the Ordinances were rearranged, would there be a substantial gain if transferring money from the First Penny to another Penny, adding his concern about depletion of the reserves. Ms. Hoshihara responded by stating the current Pennies would need to be re-written and suggested to think of categorizing these expenses into more than one Penny. Commissioner Windes asked Ms. Hoshihara to research this matter and she agreed. Ms. Dunworth addressed Commissioner Windes’ concerns relating to Mr. Peterson’s previous comment about the depletion of reserves in “three to four years” by explaining the budget report in more detail. She added if the current level of budgeted capital expenditures is funded from reserves, the reserves would be depleted. Ms. Hoshihara, referring to the TDC Ordinance, stated the first Three Pennies can be used for beach restoration. Rachel Joyce, General Manager/Hampton Inn, commented that reallocating the funds would negatively affect other items and moving funds around would not change the total of budgeted items. Mr. Gossom questioned the