Okaloosa County BOCC — April 24, 2014 — reading text

reports (accounting of how funds used) until end of fiscal year (November), that would not help with any concerns in beginning of year. Ms. Hoshihara suggested a quarterly report can be received, if necessary. She further added that they submitted April’s budget that show how those funds will be used. Mr. Dixon cautioned that a quarterly report would not reflect anything being done during the winter, but that spring break would show a little spent and the summer would start showing the most spent. Mr. Rigdon agreed that he would also like to see a report on what can or can’t be done regarding spending this money and needed further explanation regarding the data presented. Mr. Peterson referred Mr. Rigdon to the “Expenses By Level of Tourist Development Tax Restriction” section in the packet that explains the Percentage amounts. He added that the lifeguard issue continues to be an argument across the State and findings are still at the Review Board of the Attorney General. Ms. Hoshihara agreed to provide a bullet item report to the TDC of what the Board has approved. She stated that generally as to all five (5) pennies the statute specifies what each can be used for, adding that the Council has recommended and the board has approved a tourist development plan which goes into more specifics for each of those pennies. The Ordinance is several pages long and Ms. Hoshihara has offered to provide a bullet point list that will summarize those things for the next TDC meeting. Mr. Guidry expressed concern that this issue with the report has been constantly changing with a lot of gray areas in the report. Ms. Hoshihara stated that all of these funds are to be used to promote tourism and clarified it is a legislative determination made by the local governing body, in this case the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. Rigdon was also concerned about security on beaches, and wanted to know what the TDC can and can’t do. c. Expenditure Transaction Analysis • 1st percentage – Dept 1175 Beaches & Parks • 2nd percentage – Dept 1152 Administration • 3rd percentage – Dept 1172 Convention Center Promotions Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department Page 6 of 16 March 27, 2014 Packet Pg. 8  1.a • 3rd percentage – Dept 1173 Convention Center Promotions • 3rd percentage – Dept 1174 Convention Center Operations Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Mar 27, 2014 2:00 PM (Consider Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council Meeting Minutes (Dale • 3rd percentage – Dept 1177 Convention Center Maintenance • 4th percentage – Dept 1179 Convention Center Capital • 5th percentage – Dept 1151 Tourism Promotion Ms. Dunworth continued her report by stating Florida Statutes require “expenditures which the council believes to be unauthorized shall be reported to the county governing board and the department of revenue.” In order to provide the best info possible to assist in identifying any unauthorized transactions, Ms. Dunworth printed the expenditure transaction analysis from the County’s accounting system as it is one of the most comprehensive reports available. The attached report for the period 10/01/13 thru 03/18/14 is to bring everyone up-to-date and moving forward will provide it monthly in arrears. She will show the full month of March at the April meeting in order to be in compliance with State Statute, as the Auditor General had mentioned. Mr. Guidry stated that there is no way to review this info in this meeting and wanted time to review before the meeting. Ms. Dunworth replied that an email including the packet information was sent and also posted on the website. Ms. Hoshihara stated he was right to raise concerns and if anything is of concern on this report, any Council member can raise the concern at the April meeting. Mr. Peterson confirmed that this info is in the general ledger and confirmed it has gone through multiple reviews, and is how we can review the expenditures. Further discussion regarding the report continued. Ms. Joyce asked Ms. Dunworth if the BP funds deadline has been met. Ms. Dunworth replied it is in process for payment. Mr. Peterson asked Ms. Hoshihara if the TDC is responsible for looking at any of the RESTORE Act monies. She stated there is a RESTORE Act Advisory Council that has been established to review proposed projects and makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The staff member, Jim Trifilio, added that there is not a process established yet on how County sponsored projects would go before that Okaloosa RESTORE Act Council. They are still in the process of developing a matrix that suggested projects will be filtered through, and then that Council would make recommendations to the Board for final approval. Mr. Peterson confirmed with Mr. Schroeder that if TDC comes up with an idea of how to use RESTORE Act monies and comes up with a plan to present before the Board of County Commissioners and they can move forward with it. In regards to projects submitted by the tourism industry, Mr. Schroeder added that the grading system will Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department Page 7 of 16 March 27, 2014 Packet Pg. 9  1.a likely give more credit to environmentally related projects rather than tourist related projects, although he is not clear on how much more credit. Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Mar 27, 2014 2:00 PM (Consider Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council Meeting Minutes (Dale Mr. Dixon asked if we had a lawsuit with BP for any loss. Mr. Schroeder answered no. Mr. Trifilio added that RESTORE Act dollars are not available yet, as a settlement or judgment in the BP trial is waiting. However, there are criminal fines that were assessed against BP that are actually available now which is being filtered through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (over $1B). Ms. Hoshihara suggested that if the TDC has any recommendations in terms of projects, usually she will make a recommendation and work with staff to supply additional information to present that recommendation to the Board. Motion to Approve Financial Update as Provided RESULT: MOTION APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Dixon SECONDER: Rigdon AYES: Empson, Gossom, Guidry, Rice, Peterson, Joyce IV. Convention Center Update (Bill Leaman) a. Conceptual Drawings/Rendering Mr. Leaman’s presentation included conceptual drawings of the work that was started in the back of the Convention Center. Completion will be about April 20. The small building on the drawing on page 117 will be called Bayview Plaza and provide electricity, water, and audio services. Full architectural drawings are available of the porte coches located on the main entrance, parking garage, and south entrance to keep people dry when raining. This is a service option that was included in the budget this year for $1M and approved by the County Commissioners last year. Mr. Leaman continued presenting drawings of the expansion on the back of the building that will add about 2400sf to the Ballroom, adding there will be outdoor restrooms with storage areas for the outdoor pad and another fenced storage area for outdoor equipment. Another conceptual drawing included a walkover over Hwy. 98, which will be located between the Sheraton and the new Holiday Inn Resort presently being built. The next drawing displayed the parking structure that is on the east and north side of parking lot right now with the same type of walkover to enter the building from the parking structure. A drawing picturing the final completion of the expansion was included in the presentation. Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department Page 8 of 16 March 27, 2014 Packet Pg. 10  1.a Mr. Dixon recommended a beach scene be drawn on conceptual drawings and fishing Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Mar 27, 2014 2:00 PM (Consider Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council Meeting Minutes (Dale murals on walkovers. Mr. Peterson asked if there had been studies on walkovers. Mr. Leaman replied that studies have been done to make sure walkovers are worthwhile. Mr. Peterson also asked that if placed between the two hotels, will there be parking for others than the hotel customers, and is concerned about how many people we are accommodating to spend that kind of money. Mr. Leaman stated that this kind of study (going through the Public Works Engineering and DOT) has not been done. Ms. Joyce commented about a concern of the Okaloosa Island hotels and Convention Center regarding a need for additional heads and beds during the off season, and wanted to partner with the Convention Center so that when they bring in city-wide events, we are all benefiting.