The Jefferson city council at its April 14 meeting received a recommendation from a special task force in support of the Greene County Chamber’s efforts to promote tourism, but responded with more questions and no answer about the future use of hotel/motel tax revenues.
Angie Pedersen, chair of the Chamber’s tourism committee, reported to the council on the work of a task force called together three months ago to determine whether it should be the Chamber or some other group to promote tourism. The task force met in February and March in order to meet a 90-day deadline for forming a recommendation.
The task force made the following recommendation to the council: “The Greene County Chamber is equipped and qualified to promote tourism in Greene County. The task force recommends that the city council affirm, in writing, the use of hotel/motel tax proceeds to include payment for property insurance, utilities, and principal and interest for the Welcome Center located at 201 E. Lincoln Way, in support of the Greene County tourism industry, for a time of at least three years, with the re-evaluation of principal and interest payments after three years. The Chamber will conduct a concerted effort to raise capital funds over that time.”
Persons present at either one or both of the meetings were council members Gary Von Ahsen and Lisa Jaskey, mayor Craig Berry, Bob and Joyce Ausberger of the Lincoln Highway Association, Peg Raney and Pat Richards of the Bell Tower Community Foundation, Deb McGinn of Jefferson Matters: Main Street, Roger Aegerter of the Thomas Jefferson Gardens, Ces Brunow of the Greene County Historical Society, Chamber president Omega Sang, Chamber past president Ben Yoder, and Chamber board members John Brunow, Nick Foster and Tori Riley. Pedersen moderated the meetings.
At the council meeting, Berry asked about fundraising. Sang answered that fundraising letters were mailed in December, but because of questions about the council’s support of the Chamber, the effort stalled. “I think the community is waiting to find out if all parties can agree to move forward, and how so. Once we have some of those decisions made, so the community can be confident as well as ourselves, that effort will be revamped and begin again with the hopes of having the project paid in full at the end of that three year time frame,” Sang answered.
Jaskey then asked for an exact amount of what has been raised to date. Sang did not have that figure available.
The council has for more than a decade reimbursed the Chamber for expenses related to tourism without question. At the council’s March 9 meeting, after the February task force meeting attended by Berry, the mayor appointed a committee to formulate criteria for use of the hotel/motel tax funds.
The committee has met once. “No decisions have been made. I think that committee needs to complete that work to report back to the whole council before we can say anything. Part of your summary is that you want in writing the use of hotel/motel money for this, but we haven’t decided what that’s going to look like,” Jaskey said.
The committee had not yet set a date for another meeting as of Tuesday night.
Jaskey also said she wanted more information about how the Chamber would promote tourism. “The recommendation just says the Chamber is equipped to do it, but there’s no definition of how you’re going to do that. I think that’s something missing,” Jaskey said.
Jaskey said the committee needs to continue its work. “I want to see this whole thing. I really appreciate there’s dialog opening between us, and I look forward to us having a collaborative relationship. That’s the goal. That’s where we’re heading,” she said.
“We just want a time line from you,” Pedersen said. “We got a recommendation to you when we said we would.”
Harry Ahrenholtz asked how much money would be involved in guaranteeing the construction loan and expenses as named in the recommendation. Sang did not have that figure available Tuesday. Yoder, in a draft budget presented to the council in December, estimated principal and interest payments of $12,300 per year and insurance and utilities totaling $5,100.
City administrator Mike Palmer asked about the Chamber’s job description for a tourism director, as that position was mentioned in task force meeting notes provided to the council. Sang offered to provide the job description prepared by the Chamber. Von Ahsen said that information about how the Chamber would move forward in promoting tourism would be “the next logical step.”
Sang explained that she and Chamber board treasurer Nikki Uebel have written a job description for tourism director that has been approved by the Chamber board.
“Are you okay with that?” Von Ahsen asked Palmer. “We talked the other day about that. Should there be more input from other sources on that?”
“I think when we see the job description, as the funders, we have to be comfortable with that,” Palmer said.
Sang answered, “As the position that would be managed by the Chamber and the board, we have developed the job description, which I feel that does fall into our bucket as that will be our employee. The dialog is open and we want your input. We want it to fit your guidelines for hotel/motel tax payment.”
Jaskey also asked for more financial statements from the Chamber, as promised by Yoder. The council was given the financial statement for 2014. Jaskey was asking for the first quarter 2015 statement, which Sang agreed to provide.
The council in January verbally agreed to reimbursing the Chamber for the Welcome Center payments. Berry said then, “So, as far as I’m concerned, if they send us a bill and it’s for the building, it’s for tourism.” When requested for a written statement to that effect, needed to secure the construction loan, Berry declined.
Meanwhile, without written assurance that the principal and interest will be covered until fundraising is more productive, the Chamber has been unable to obtain financing for the Welcome Center and no work is being done on the interior. The Chamber received a Greene County Community Foundation grant of about $14,000 in 2014 and assumed $60,000 in debt to complete exterior work last summer, prior to the extensive landscape and planting work at the Thomas Jefferson Gardens.
For earlier GreeneCountyNewsOnline posts about discussions between the city council and the Chamber about use of hotel/motel tax proceeds, click here: Dec. 14 , Jan. 14, or March 11
