Town of
Provincetown
Visitor
Services Board
Meeting
Minutes of
Tuesday,
October 3, 2006
Chairman Lynne Davies convened the meeting at 10:08 AM noting the following
attendees:
Members Present: Lynne
Davies, Chairman; Kathleen Fitzgerald;
Laurel Guadazno; Michael Peregon; Mick Rudd (departed at 11:15 AM) and
Hersh Schwartz
Excused Absence: Peter Bez.
Other attendees: Bill Schneider, Administrative Director of
Tourism; David Gardner, Administrative Assistant II.
Sandy Turner, Deputy
Director, DPW; Don Knuuttila, Executive Director, Provincetown Business Guild;
and Candice Collins-Boden, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce
Lynne
Davies introduced the agenda item and invited Sandy Turner to discuss the
municipal portion of the Tourism Fund Budget.
Chair Davies expressed her
concerns regarding the Town’s operation and maintenance of the Town’s
infrastructure.
Various members of the VSB commented about the
importance of the Tourism Fund investment into the Town’s infrastructure to
improve the overall visitor experience.
Funds should continue to be invested for improvements, including the
waterfront park, customer service training, new or additional bathrooms
available, art installations and perhaps even beach cleanup.
Ms.
Turner stated the DPW has serious constraints and limitations in meeting
additional obligations. The budget has
been level-funded, and the department has difficulty meeting the basic demands. Contracting the services out has traditionally
not been an option because the town has had difficulty finding vendors to
respond to the bid requests. DPW has
repeatedly asked for additional manpower through the budget process and has
been denied year after year. Even when
volunteers or contacted services are available, DPW needs to provide support
and equipment which strains the department’s limited resources.
Ms.
Turner indicated that trash barrels are strategically placed throughout town,
primarily on Town property, to avoid property owner complaints. Staffing deficiencies often prevent DPW from
doing even third barrel pickup on some weekends. At one time, the Town did clean the beaches, but current staffing
doesn’t allow for this service to be provided.
Mr.
Rudd expressed the need to have a conversation on a grander scale with the
Administration and the BOS. Instead of
constantly debating how the $35,000 line item within the municipal budget gets
spent, we need to discuss how the 55% of the tourism room tax that doesn’t go
to the Tourism Fund gets spent. Perhaps
a visitor industry summit could be considered to raise the level of
conversation regarding the budget process and the funding priorities of the
town.
In
closing, Ms. Turner reiterated there is a cost factor and resource factor
involved in every additional request made to the DPW. The budget is not adequate to fund the numerous demands and
unforeseen needs of the department.
Every time additional demands are placed on DPW, the ability of the
department to meet its every day operational responsibilities becomes
compromised.
Ms.
Davies commented that a summit should be held to discuss the overall budget
process in relation to the demands of the visitor service industry on the
maintenance of Town property.
Discussions with the EDC, FinCom, Chamber, PBG, Town Manager, DPW and
BOS should proceed. The VSB should
independently investigate the use of the sheriff department’s correctional
resources as a means of relieving pressures on the DPW to do routine
maintenance on town property.
Correctional workers might be tapped as labor to do beach cleanup, or
trash pickup, lawn mowing. The VSB
should also look into the small pole-mounted trash cans that are found on the
east end and obtain and distribute them in areas of Town where trash cans are
needed.
In
closing, Ms. Davies stated the VSB is seeking to know what the demands of the
DPW are in order to help them in getting the proper resources necessary to meet
their obligations. The VSB will support
the DPW during the budget process to get the necessary staffing and funding for
operational expenses. The whole budget
process needs to be reexamined to reassess the priorities within town.
Eric Dray, Chair,
Historical Commission; Cherie Mittenthal, Chair, Cultural Council;
James
Mack, Chair, Beautification Committee; Don
Knuuttila, Executive Director, Provincetown Business Guild; and Candice
Collins-Boden, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce joined the meeting.
Ms.
Davies gave a brief overview, stating at Town Meeting in 2003, $67,500 was
approved for a Historic Walking Trail.
At the same time additional money was approved for an AIDS Memorial and
Art in Public Places. The VSB would like to move forward on planning for the
Historic Walking Trail.
Michelle
Jarusiewicz is looking at Adams Grant funding in order to find a project
manager to define the scope and execute the project.
Ms.
Collins-Boden asked about the ICON Group, who is coordinating with the Adams
Grant on the streetscape plan for Commercial Street. Are we working with that planning and how is the historic walking
trail tied in to the streetscape planning?
Mr.
Dray stated the Historical Commission has a historical inventory of the town,
although much of it is incomplete.
Ms.
Davies stated the town needs a consultant to ultimately complete the survey and
incorporate the town’s historical archives.
Mr.
Dray confirmed that the architectural inventory is mostly complete. The art history inventory is in
progress.
Mr.
Knuuttila stated the walking trail should be designed with the visitor in
mind. What the visitor is looking for
should be considered.
Next
steps include the Adams Grant Task Force/ICON meeting regarding the streetscape
project. WiFi should be considered
along the way. Money should be set
aside for a project manager to execute the project.
Further creative development of the second VNR
proposed by FOCUS Communications continued last week. The proposed concept will include a historical overview of Provincetown,
featuring stories told with narration and illustrated by overlays of still
photographs and artifacts, highlighting the rich and steeped history of
Provincetown as a whaling and fishing port, birthplace of American theatre and
a community that embraces diversity.
Montage footage featuring the beauty of fall in Provincetown will
accompany footage of the Rose Dorothea replica, Lipton Cup and history
preservation project, showcasing the annual lighting of the Pilgrim Monument on
November 22nd.
MOTION: Move to approve funding the proposed VNR as
submitted by FOCUS Communications on September 20, 2006 not to exceed $5,500
from the FY07 marketing budget.
MOTION: Michael Peregon;
Seconded: Kathleen Fitzgerald;
Yea: 5; Nay: 0; Abstain: 0
A press release is being finalized and will be
issued this week regarding the cross-promotional initiative with Amtrak and
Cape Air to help induce traffic from other key markets to Boston and
Provincetown. The pilot phase of this
initiative will be implemented through December 11th and resume with
additional partnerships with Bay State Cruise Company and Boston Harbor Cruises
once fast-ferry service resumes in May 2007.
The
contract with Panorama Magazine expires in December
2006. The ADT has
negotiated a contract renewal with Panorama for 16 one-half page
four-color ads at the rate of $606.25 per insertion. This negotiated rate is a significant discount from the regular
rate of $1,445 per insertion. With a
circulation of 33,000, this bi-weekly publication is distributed to hotels
throughout Boston, Cambridge and Logan International Airport. Included with this proposal are two
complimentary issues and a feature story (similar to the extensive coverage we
received in the July 31st – August 13th edition of Panorama).
MOTION: Move to approve the purchase of 16 one-half
page four-color ads in Panorama Magazine during 2007 at the rate of $606.25 per
insertion to be paid from the FY07 marketing budget.
MOTION:
Michael Peregon; Seconded: Hersh
Schwartz; Yea: 5 ; Nay: 0; Abstain:
0
The
contract with Boston Spirit Magazine expires with the publication of the
February-March 2007 edition. The ADT
has negotiated a two-year contract renewal for 12 one-half page four-color
advertisements to appear in Boston Spirit Magazine at the average rate of
$1,375 per insertion. This negotiated rate is a significant discount from the regular
rate of $2,250 per insertion.
Boston Spirit Magazine is a luxury magazine geared towards a GLBT
audience in the greater Boston area.
The magazine is published bi-monthly to a growing circulation of
20,000. The demographics include an
average age of 39-year-olds (60% men and 40% women). The editorial content is sharp and cutting edge, and no
syndicated editorials appear in this publication.
MOTION: Move to approve the purchase of 12 one-half
page four-color ads in Boston Spirit Magazine at the average rate of $1,375 per
insertion, to be paid from the FY07 and FY08 marketing budget.
MOTION:
Hersh Schwartz; Seconded: Kathleen Fitzgerald; Yea: 5 ; Nay: 0;
Abstain: 0
The 2007 Calendar of Events is being
developed and will go to the printer on October 16th. A reminder email will be sent this week to event organizers and
shareholders requesting they provide information. Cross promotion at the seven consumer trade and industry travel
expos scheduled during the next seven months will also be solicited in this
communication.
The ADT met with our graphics designer last
week to develop the concept for a new PTO brochure. The brochure will not exceed 20 pages, will include an
introductory welcome letter from the Office of Tourism, a variety of compelling
photos to showcase the four seasons, arts, culture and history of Provincetown,
quotes from journalists and travel writers and a map of Provincetown (which
could be pulled out from the brochure).
Inserted into the brochure will be the current calendar of events and an
updated page listing attractions, hours of operation and website
addresses. The ADT received two quotes for printing of this project: $10,875 for 25,000 copies, and $12,187 for
30,000 copies.
MOTION: Move to approve the printing of 30,000
copies of the new Tourism Office brochure for a cost not to exceed $12,187, to
be paid from the FY07 marketing budget.
MOTION:
Michael Peregon; Seconded: Kathleen Fitzgerald; Yea: 5 ; Nay: 0;
Abstain: 0
The
ADT advised the garage door is in disrepair, presents a safety hazard and need
to be replaced. He presented a cost
estimate to replace and install a new door at a cost not to exceed $1,200.
MOTION: Move to approve the replacement of the
garage door in the former Fire House No. 3 not to exceed $1,200, to be paid
from the FY06 Coordination and Support budget, which will be reimbursed from
the future rental fees received from the former Fire House No. 3.
MOTION:
Michael Peregon; Seconded: Kathleen Fitzgerald; Yea: 5;
Nay: 0; Abstain: 0
MOTION: Move
to approve the minutes of the September 20, 2006 VSB meeting as
submitted.
MOTION: Michael
Peregon; Seconded: Laurel
Guadazno; Yea: 4; Nay: 0;
Abstain: 1 HS
The
ADT provided a brief update regarding his recent meeting with Provincetown
Police Department’s Staff Sergeant.
The
meeting was adjourned at 12:40 pm.