Okaloosa County BOCC — January 8, 2013 — TDD Amended OP Manual - redline 2-15 — reading text

action taken at such meetings, and items presented during public participation periods. The Council shall abide by Florida Statutes in regard to minutes and public participation. In addition, an audio-recording of each meeting shall be made and retained as a public record. A.750 NOTICE TO PUBLIC Information about the times and places of all Council meetings shall be provided in conformance with the requirements of Florida Statutes. 12 B.000 STANDING COMMITTEES The only standing committee serving the Council shall be the Marketing Committee. From time to time the Council may establish ad hoc committee(s) for a specified task(s). A.750 AMENDMENT OF THE OPERATIONS AND PROCEDURES MANUAL The Operations and Procedures Manual may be amended from time to time by the Board. The Council may provide suggestions to the Board as to proposed modifications. B.000 ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO FINANCIAL REVIEW BY THE TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL B.100 GENERAL Tourist Development Trust Funds may be budgeted by the Board for the following purposes, including but not limited to: 1) TOURISM PROMOTION: Development and maintenance of quality advertising, sales, marketing and public relations initiatives for the sub- district which presents a consistent and positive brand for the area; production of informational/promotional materials and systems, including publications, that it shall determine to be necessary or appropriate for the promotion of the special taxing district, and for local notification of projects as deemed necessary; support for a variety of special events to further the development of year round business, with special emphasis on the shoulder seasons, and bolster image and name recognition for the sub- district; and continual maintenance efforts to keep the beaches, waterways, accessways and other tourist destination facilities within the sub-district clean, attractive and safe for public usage. 2) EMERALD COAST FILM COMMISSION: Operation and function of the Emerald Coast Film Commission to supply staffing requirements, materials, information, photos and guides to potential members of the film, photography and television industry to enhance the sub-district by increasing the economic impact by bringing in film and production companies, which will increase employment of our area’s citizens and establish our area as an entertainment ready community. 3) OFFICIAL VISITOR/WELCOME-INFORMATION CENTER: Operation and function of the Official Visitor/Welcome-Information Center to supply materials, information, and guidance to the visiting public to the sub- district to a) unify the taxing district’s local promotion of the tourism 13  business, b) provide information to visitors and provide information and c) to maintain a record of number of visitors and their demographics. 4) EMERALD COAST CONVENTION CENTER: Operation and function of the Emerald Coast Convention Center, to supply staffing requirements, materials, information, supplies, meeting facilities, operations of the center to include water, sewer, electricity, landscaping, meeting requirements of the public to enhance the area taxing district by providing a venue for cultural, educational, sport and entertainment events which will be a positive draw for visitors and establish our area as a group/convention/motorcoach area. 5) PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT: Maintenance and improvement of the beaches and water of the Gulf of Mexico, the Choctawhatchee Bay and other tourist destination facilities, including the improvement of public access to and use of these assets, including recreational facilities within the sub-district are essential to the preservation and improvement of the very foundation of the economy that the County is promoting. 6) ADMINISTRATION: Administration of the tourism tax revenues shall be through local administration by the Director of the Tourist Development Department under the direction of the County Administrator. Administration of the revenue collection process shall be carried out under a subcontract with the Okaloosa County Clerk of Court pursuant to Okaloosa County Ordinance 92-08 as amended. 7) RESERVE/EMERGENCY OPERATIONS: Maintenance of a reserve fund for the purpose of supplementing standard promotional functions, product improvement areas, beach maintenance efforts and for restoration of the county’s beach improvements in the aftermath of a major disaster which impacts sub-district coastal areas. PURPOSE 1) The general purpose of standing committees will be to provide information to the Council on specific areas or items of interest to the Council and to assist the Council in the implementation of County Tourist Development Plan. Committee recommendations will have no binding authority upon the Council or the County. The Marketing committee shall provide some or all of the following specific services to the Council at the request of the Council: a. Review and monitoring of the creative content of the area’s tourism marketing program. b. Local tourism industry input to the Council or Department staff providing marketing services as well as the contracted tourism advertising and/or public relations consultants. 14  c. Review and recommendation of advertising and marketing consultants to the Council. d. Review and recommendation to Council on specific tourism marketing proposals presented to the Council by private industry and non-profit organizations. e. Review and make recommendations for special event funding as stipulated in the Special Event Guidelines. B.200 SELECTION AND COMPOSITION 1) Individuals interested in serving on a committee shall submit a brief resume’ consisting of background experience relating to a specific committee’s purpose, general education and business and professional experience. The Director and the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Council will review the qualifications of the potential committee member(s) submitted for consideration and recommend qualified candidates for all open seats on the committee. The Council shall approve all appointments to the Marketing Committee. 2) The Marketing Committee should be balanced as to geographic distribution to reflect equal representation of the distinct geographic areas, age groups, occupation, knowledge of and experience with the Committee’s subject matter and the nature of each member’s interest within the sub-district. It is highly recommended that there is appropriate representation from the lodging industry, attractions/museums, restaurants, retail, and marketing/advertising professionals within the tourist development taxing district. A marketing professional from the Northwest Florida Regional Airport may serve on a committee. It is recommended that a greater percentage of the committee’s make-up be given to the lodging industry. 3) Committee vacancies, which occur during an appointed term, shall be appointed by the Council. B.300 SERVICE AND REMOVAL 1) Committee members will serve for a term of two (2) fiscal years (terms can be longer depending on individual areas of expertise), (October 1 - September 30) from their original appointment. Terms will be staggered to ensure a consistent membership and continuation of Council business and recommendations. This will help foster greater participation and understanding throughout the Council’s sub-district. 15  2) From time-to-time, committee members may be asked to consider an issue coming before their committee in which they have a conflict of interest. The committee members shall publicly disclose their interest and abstain from acting on that issue in the manner described by State law, Section 286.012 and Chapter 112, Florida Statute. Full disclosure must be made in writing within fifteen (15) days after such disclosure. 3) Any committee member shall be subject to removal from the committee if they miss three (3) regular Committee meetings during the period of one fiscal year (Oct 1st - Sept 30th) during their term. Special consideration/leniency will be given for any Acts of God, personal illness/medical, and/or family emergencies. The member will be notified of the potential removal after the third absence and the Council will vote at its next regular meeting whether to recommend removal of that member. B.400 COMMITTEE MANAGEMENT 1) Committee meetings will be scheduled by the Council on an as-needed basis. The Vice Chairman of the Council shall serve as the Chairman of the Marketing committee. The Committee Chairman may schedule a meeting. Written minutes shall be kept of each committee meeting. A written summary of each meeting shall be presented at the next committee meeting for approval by committee members. 2) Written meeting notices will be mailed/faxed and/or e-mailed to all committee members approximately seven to ten (7-10) days in advance with follow-up calls to confirm attendance. A brief description of the purpose, subject, or program of the meeting will be contained in the notification. In order to encourage public participation at the committee level, public notice of all committee meetings will be provided in the same manner as public notices for Council meetings. 3) The quorum for each meeting of a standing committee shall be 50% of the total number of committee members plus one. 4) From time to time, “ad-hoc” committees may be appointed by the Chairman after advice from the Council to fulfill specific Council objectives which need further research and action. 16  CHAPTER TWO: TOURIST DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT C.000 PERSONNEL AND EXPENSES C.100 PERSONNEL MATTERS The Director shall make recommendations with respect to personnel issues and present to the County Administrator and Human Resources Director for final approval. C.200 STATUS OF PERSONNEL C.300 HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES As County employees, Tourist Development Department employees, are governed by Human Resource policies of the County in effect from time-to-time. C.400 TRAVEL PROCEDURES C.410 GENERAL Travel related expense payments and/or reimbursements are governed by County Policies and Procedures applied under the provisions of Section 112.0601, Florida Statutes, as they are for all other County Departments.. However, for certain travel and promotional