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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-14-10 Draft Tourism Business Improvement District Minutes DRAFT Tourism Business Improvement District Minutes of Meeting, April 14, 2010, Noon City Building, Bozeman Montana Present: Board Members: Andrew Ash, Lynn Bendz (sec), Tim Kuhlman, Mark Jones (chairman), Carl Solvie, Tom Stenzel (treasurer), Steve Sparks Advisory Board Members: Dan Rust with Kevin Black, Melanie Stocks, Dan Martin, Chris Nauman City Commission Liason: Chris Mehl Public: Larry Lambert and Justin Futral (Super 8 Bozeman), Anita Dobrenski (Days Inn) Mark Jones announced that the minutes from the March 10 meeting would not be read or approved until our next meeting. Daryl Schiem was not able to be here today and he took the notes for that meeting. Meeting opened for public comment. Larry Lambert spoke about how he felt our meeting procedures inadvertently minimized input from the public. He said that public comment was not asked for until after a motion had been discussed by board members and a vote was imminent. Many people offered comments then about Roberts Rules of Order, their own experience with meetings, and comments about Larry’s observation. We all agreed that an open and transparent decision process is the TBID boards’ goal. Mark Jones reiterated his aim of not excluding anyone’s ideas while conducting the meeting. Larry Lambert also mentioned that special meetings of the TBID can be called with 2 days of public notice. He then elaborated on the concern that if 3 oe more members of the TBID board attended a Bozeman Hotel/Motel meeting, that would constitute a quorum and official minutes would have to be taken. However, the city clerk said that as long as the meeting times and places were posted in advance, then that requirement of minutes would not be implemented. Larry then asked why the minutes of the recent TBID board meetings had not been posted on the Bozeman City website. Chris Mehl said he would look into that item. Larry then passed out copies of his work on the proposed tax structure for hotels/motels in Bozeman. In avoiding an illegal percentage basis, we are going to try to implement a 6 tiered tax method based upon the average ADR (average daily rental) of each hotel. Larry would have the rate start at $1 per room night for hotels whose ADR is under $50.01 , and tops out at $2.50 per night at hotels whose ADR is over $100.01. Larry asked if he could volunteer to be on the committee investigating the process of changing the tax collection system, and there was agreement that he could become involved. That committee now has Daryl Schiem, Steve Sparks, and Lynn Bendz. Justin Futral said that the immediate concern of the TBID board should be in getting a bid ready for the College National Finals Rodeo. Bozeman lost that tournament several years ago over tobacco issues. It was mentioned by a couple knowledgeable people that those issues still exist and that the odds of getting the rodeo back could be daunting. Mark Jones announced a special meeting to deal with the issues of getting the CNFR bid ready. That meeting is scheduled for 4/23/10 at noon at the Chamber building. Mark Jones said that the position for our salesperson had been listed with LC Staffing. The salary was to be $40,000 to $50,000. The job description has yet to be drafted, but Mark Jones and Daryl Schiem are putting one together. Will there be incentives or a commission paid to this person? Several comments confirmed that to be a desirable goal and that will be incorporated when feasible. Tim Kuhlman reported on his efforts to incorporate a unique marketing plan for our Bozeman TBID. He borrowed ideas from the Billings TBID but also added some needed benchmarks for measurement purposes for our new director of sales. Much discussion and comments followed Tim’s presentation. Larry Lambert asked that Tim attend the next hotel/motel meeting to ask for input from all the owners/managers. Tim agreed to be at the next meeting May 5. Dan Rust of the Tournament Committee introduced Kevin Black. Kevin works on the committee and helped formulate all the bids for the upcoming 2010-2012 school sports year. Bids were made on basketball,, volleyball, and wrestling. Kevin said that if we won every bid--which is highly unlikely--our financial hit would be $67,200. He also questioned us about making a bid for the softball 2011 tournament as that contest was not awarded to anyone yet. Did we want it?? Lots of volunteers would be needed. He will try to get more information about their needs and we will discuss it at the next TBID meeting. Motion to adjourn at 1:20pm by Andrew Ash, seconded by Carl Solvie, all approved.