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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCHOCVB Board Meeting Minutes 061621 DocuSign Envelope ID:A5C43050-883B-4209-B5DE-5EABBCF50A2E For Approval August 18, 2021 Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Virtual Board of Directors Meeting June 16, 2021 Board Members Present: Pam Hemminger, Manish Atma,Tanya Moore, Kayla Dempsey, Mark Bell, Lydia Lavelle, Beverly Jo Payne, Daniel Mayer, Spring Council,Jon Hartman-Brown, Matt Gladdek, and Sally Greene. Not Present: Aubrey Williams, Anthony Carey, and Mark Sherburne. Staff Attendance: Travis Myren, Steve Brantley, Laurie Paolicelli, Marlene Barbera, Patty Griffin, Susan Rice, Leslie Wilcox, and Katie Murray. Also present: Jon Parker,Jessica Herrschaft, and Glen Fellman -Clean Inc. Barbara Foushee, Mayor Pro Tem,Town of Carrboro. Call to Order Laurie Paolicelli called the meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. Approval of Minutes Laurie Paolicelli requested a motion to approve the May 19, 2021 minutes. Pam Hemminger so moved and Barbara Foushee seconded the motion. With all members in favor,the minutes were approved as submitted. Executive Director's Report The lodging industry and the associated occupancy tax revenue is starting to recover and we have had some full weekends. There are operating challenges at full occupancy due to the labor shortage. The Visitors Bureau is working with Matt Gladdek of Downtown Partnership, NC Works and the County's Social Service office to host job fairs in July. We are working to get news out weekly with our various communication tools like Orange Slices and social media. Our current focus is on the visitor market in the rest of the state, Virginia and South Carolina. Presentations Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager,Orange County Government. Budget and American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Funds presentation Glen Fellman,Clean Design. Campaign Refresh and Work in Progress Presentation DocuSign Envelope ID:A5C43050-883B-4209-B5DE-5EABBCF50A2E New Business/ Roundtable • Katie Murray—Program Coordinator, Orange County Arts Commission - The Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved Katie's grants proposal, Restart the Arts Grants,from ARPA funds during their meeting last night. Katie believes Orange County will be the first county in North Carolina to allocate some of the ARPA funds to the arts. - We just sent out the final round of relief grants for the Orange County Art Support Fund. This was the relief program that we set up back in March of last year. In total, we gave out $134,150 through 175 grants. The bulk of these grants were to individuals in the Orange County community. Creative Industry workers of all types. We were also able to provide 16 grants to our non-profit arts organizations. While this was the final round and we will be ending this program, it has made us realize that there is a need for some sort of similar fund going forward: An emergency fund for crisis. Our board is talking about what that is going to look like going forward. Katie thanked Dan and the ArtsCenter because the ArtsCenter was the fiscal manager of that fund over the last year and it has helped the Arts Commission process the donations and get the checks out. - At the end of May,the Arts Commission moved into a new space at the Eno Mill. Based on the success of our artist studios that opened last year, the commissioners approved this new space. It will allow us to have a larger office and a conference room as well as class space, which is a really big need in Hillsborough. We will also have a gallery that can double as a small event space. We will have five offices that we a hoping to make available to local arts organizations that have either lost space over this last year or are wanting to expand into Hillsborough. The Mill is a fabulous partner and they are making this space affordable for us so we are able to extend that to other organizations. - A new event,Art on the Hill, has been in the works for two years. It is a massive, public art festival happening throughout the month of July 2022. This is closely being modeled after ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI. The big difference being,we are financially supporting all the participating artists. It will be held in the downtowns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough. We have fourteen community organizations on-board. I've applied for support through the National Endowment for the Arts and Mary Duke Biddle foundation. Many of you have allocated resources and I am looking for other funding sources. • Mayor Pam Hemminger—Town of Chapel Hill - We are poised to approve the new Putt Putt Fun Center in North Chapel Hill. - We are also poised to approve the final vote on the new parking deck. Demolition is scheduled to start the first week of July. - On the docket tonight is the Aura proposal on the corner of MLK and Estes. - The Estes Drive Connectivity Proiect begins in July and it will take over a year. Estes Drive will be limited to one-way traffic only. - I40 widening from 15-501 all the way to the 85 merge is slated to start this September. - The Town of Chapel Hill plans to return to in-person meetings in September. • Matt Gladdek—Executive Director, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership - Unfortunately, we lost Crooks Corner. We are working on a way to possibly save Crooks Corner in some way, shape, or form. - Brandwein's Bagels just announced they bought their building and are expanding into the next building next door. This is a great example of the investment coming from local businesses. - Big Belly Que is quietly coming out that they will relocate from Blue Dogwood Public Market to the white house behind Al's Burger Shack on N. Roberson St. 2 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting June 16 , 2021 DocuSign Envelope ID:A5C43050-883B-4209-B5DE-5EABBCF50A2E - Roots Natural Kitchen is moving into the old B. Good space. They are a chain out of Charlottesville, which is still relatively local. - The hotel at the corner of Rosemary and Columbia is moving forward. - Scott Maitland's TOPO Distillery building is being closed on this week. - We are partnering with the town on several Juneteenth events this weekend. This is the first annual Juneteenth celebrated by the town. It is primarily being led by the local NAACP,the Black Business Alliance, and the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. We have five, possibly six, musicians playing on Saturday,Juneteenth. We are excited to be partnering with Carrboro and they are paying for a musician playing in Carrboro. You can see our music lineup for the weekend at DowntownChapelHill.com. - This summer has been surprisingly good for businesses. People are coming downtown on the weekends and businesses are very full. Business is still slow during the week since offices and the university are still working remotely. • Mayor Lydia Lavelle—Town of Carrboro - Weaver Street has reopened its outdoor area. You'll see tables and chairs back outside. - Pizzeria Mercato is reopening for indoor dining later this week. - The Grata Cafe is moving into the old Elmo's location in Carr Mill Mall. - Provence is reworking and reimagining itself as Mosaic Bistro & Pastry. - Food truck rodeo at Carrboro Town Commons on Saturday,Juneteenth. - We are also collaborating with The Town of Chapel Hill on several celebrations of Pride Month. - Pride Food Truck Rodeo and Dance Party at Carrboro Town Commons Thursday,June 24t"from 5:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m. - The 203 Protect continues to move forward. • Mayor Pro Tern Mark Bell—Town of Hillsborough - The town is filling some key finance positions so I don't have the latest figures on taxes but, like the Town of Chapel Hill, things are starting to pick up. - We have several Juneteenth celebrations coming up this weekend in and around Hillsborough including a march from the Margaret Lane Cemetery to the Visitors Center where there will be an event on Sunday. - The 215t" Regulator Remembrance Day event is on Saturday,June 19t"from 6:00 p.m.—7:00 p.m. - The Churton Street History Stroll takes place on June 191" 10:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m. - The Colonial Inn received the Historic District Commission's 2020-2021 Preservation Award last night. The Colonial Inn is one of only two existing antebellum hotels in the state. - Last Fridays is coming up next Friday with a lot of events, food, and beverages to explore in downtown Hillsborough. - There will be a Tarwheels Rally later this fall. - Hog Day is planned for September. More on that to come later. • Beverly Payne—Alliance for Historic Hillsborough - The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough in collaboration with Orange County,the Town of Hillsborough, and the Occaneechi had "Village Work Day". We almost have one but finished. - Orange County Historical Museum hosted a concert on the Old Orange County Courthouse lawn featuring Katherine Whalen and Nick Taylor last Saturday. 3 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting June 16 , 2021 DocuSign Envelope ID:A5C43050-883B-4209-B5DE-5EABBCF50A2E •Tanya Moore— Associate Vice Chancellor, UNC-Chapel Hill - The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is still looking at July 19th as our"go back" date. - We are expecting a very normal fall and full convocation. - One thing we are doing this summer is reviewing what our new community standards will be. At our visitors center, student stores, and other more public facing departments we are having an issue with mask compliance. We still require masks indoors and we are seeing a lot of the public refuse to wear a mask when asked. Tanya mentions this to see if others are having the same experience. Matt Gladdek responded that,from the downtown businesses they are hearing from,they are not enforcing mask compliance because they are running into the same issue and it is just easier for their staff not to be put in that difficult situation. - Orientation is virtual this year and move-in will be more staggered. • Kayla Dempsey— Director of Marketing& Devel, North Carolina School Athletic Association (NCSAA) - The schools are supposed to follow the guidelines from Governor Cooper on mask wearing and other COVID-19 precautions. Anything that is inside a school building, people are required to wear masks. Wrestling is going on right now and Kayla has noticed the fans will wear masks into the building because they are told as they enter they must wear masks but then they take them off as soon as they are inside. Outdoors it is up to the discretion of the school system and the team coach. • Commissioner Sally Greene—Orange County Board of Commissioners - While the county has no independent Juneteenth celebration that we are sponsoring,we certainly are very supportive of all the events going on in and around the county. - We unanimously passed a resolution to throw our endorsement behind the request to name the Pit after James Cates. • Dan Mayer—Executive Director,The ArtsCenter - The ArtsCenter is moving forward we welcome people to come forward with ideas of how we can be more impactful. How do we reach more people in new parts of the community that need our services right now? The arts are a kind of social service for our community and where are the needs and how do we fill those needs? We are in conversation with a lot of other partners and collaborators, both social service and arts related organizations, and we want to partner with all the businesses in town to make sure art is a part of our environment and our lives. Next meeting: Wednesday,August 18tn Meeting adjourned at 9:18 a.m. DocuSigned by: y.DocuSigned b "' FFd Ff:7FA1 F1 f1d77 Minutes reviewed by: Minutes accepted by: Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director Anthony Carey, Chairman 8/18/2021 8/19/2021 Date Date 4 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting June 16 , 2021