TOWN
OF PROVINCETOWN
VISITOR
SERVICES BOARD
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2005
Chairman Lynne Davies convened the
meeting at 10:10 AM noting the following attendees:
VSB members: Lynne Davies, Chairman; Kathleen Fitzgerald; Laurel Guadazno; Michael Peregon; Mick Rudd ; and Hersh Schwartz
Absent VSB member: Peter Bez, Vice Chairman (excused absences)
Other attendees: Bill
Schneider, Administrative Director of Tourism
Recorder: David Gardner
The following are meeting minutes, in
brief:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION: Move to approve the minutes of the November 22, 2005 VSB meeting as amended.
MOTION BY: Laurel Guadazno SECONDED
BY: Hersh Schwartz; Yea 4 Nay 0
Abstain 2 (KF, MP )
TOURISM DIRECTOR’S REPORT
·
1,000th single sex couple interview to occur and a press
release will follow
·
Holiday decorating party to be
held on Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 1:00 PM
·
PR meeting on Friday, December 2, 2005, at 10:00am
·
Reschedule collaborative marketing meeting scheduled for the 8th
to be rescheduled for December 13, 2005 at 10:00 AM.
REVIEW OF GRANT AGREEMENTS
The primary difference
between grant agreements for grant awards under $5,000 and grant awards over
$5,000 is grant awards over $5,000 require the signature of the Board of
Selectmen (BOS). The grant agreements
for grant awards over $5,000 require the submission of Quarterly Activity
Reports.
The VSB agreed not to make any changes
to the two agreements and will revisit the wording in the agreements next year.
REVIEW OF FY07 GRANT APPLICATION
PROCESS
POLICY REGARDING PRE-EVENT DISBURSEMENT
OF GRANT FUNDS
There is currently no policy regarding
disbursement of funds prior to event occurrence. However, typically, funds have been disbursed prior to the event
to reimburse upfront expenses up to 50% of the total grant award.
Creation of a policy would represent a
change of practice and therefore require approval of the BOS.
Mick Rudd suggested the issue be
discussed fully so the pros and cons can be debated. A goal of the VSB grant process should be to create a predictable
environment within the tourist event calendar.
Lynne Davies suggested the issue be
resolved as to whether or not the VSB wants to allow pre-event funding. And if so, how does the Town protect itself,
and what standards and limitations should be applied?
What is the risk? Without an established policy, pre-event
disbursement of grant funds might occur without assurances that the event will
go forward as proposed. The Town could
be at risk of funding an event that didn’t occur without a procedure to recoup
the grant funds issued.
In principle, the VSB could support
pre-event payment of grant funds for startup expenses if:
·
The money is used to
cover only advertising expenses prior to event.
·
The amount not to exceed
50% of the allowed advertising expenses.
MOTION: Move to approve the VSB establish a policy effective with this vote, to allow pre-event funding
of up to 50% of the grant award, for pre-event advertising expenses (as stated
in Section C of the application pertaining to media and web advertising only,
and not intended to support operational expenses) conditioned on the signing of
an agreement which stipulates the repayment of funds should the event not
occur, as described in the application.
MOTION BY: Lynne Davies; SECONDED BY: Michael
Peregon; Yea 6 Nay 0
Abstain 0.
This policy amendment will be included
on the agenda to be presented to the BOS the Grant Applications recommended by
the VSB for FY07.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:27am.