Board of County Commissioners
Tourist Development Council
Gadsden County, Florida
AGENDA & NOTES
Special Meeting
February 10, 2014
3:00 p.m.
Present:
Lee Garner, Chair of TDC, City of Chattahoochee Manager and Tax Collector
Matt Thro, Vice – Chair of TDC, H & H Furniture
Jeff DuBree, Sportsman’s Lodge, Bed Tax Collector Lake Talquin
David Knight, Midway Councilman
Keith Dowdell, City of Quincy Commissioner
Peter Patel, Hotel Industry (arrived late)
Brenda Holt, BOCC
Clarence Jackson, City of Gretna (arrived late)
Sonya Burns, TDC Administrator
Mary Kelly, Legacy Marketing
Terry Kelly, Legacy Marketing
Allara Gutcher, Planning Director
Beryl Wood, Deputy Clerk
Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call (Beryl Wood, Deputy Clerk) as noted above.
Amendments and Approval of Agenda
Approval of Agenda
Add - $5,000 to each town for events – funding for Cities (Holt/Dowdell 6-0 as item #8)
1. Approval of Meeting Minutes (November 18, 2013 & Continuation) (Lee Garner, TDC Chairman - Knight/Holt 6-0 (approved)
2. New Appointee Introduction/Welcome (Comm. Brenda A. Holt) (Lee Garner, TDC Chairman)
Welcomed Mrs. Brenda Holt to the TDC Commission.
3. Budget Update/Discussion (Jeff Price, Budget Analyst)
Mr. Price highlighted revenue. He said the major expense for the month was the $25,000 for the video, billboards and advertisements. He said one thing they did change and it was a request from Finance to move budget money in the amount $6,000 from promotional activities to other Contractual. The reason for the move was in the Legacy contract is a line item $6,000 markup and so Finance believes it should be under other Contractual.
Mr. Jackson and Patel arrived at this juncture of the meeting.
Mr. Dowdell asked what constitutes markup.
Mr. Price said they would need to explain what they mean by markup.
Mr. Kelly said it could be individual things that they may do like upgrades to software, etc. if we have to purchase in order to install it. We show the actual purchase of it separate invoice for the markup that ties it back to us. It could be anything they may have to have to facilitate to keep the ball moving.
Mrs. Kelly commented it also including graphic design charges, things there is no way to give an amount in advance or for media that doesn’t recognize agency commission.
Mrs. Holt asked what the original contract was for.
Mrs. Kelly said the $6,000 is in the contract with Legacy, Finance Department just wanted it moved from one line to another.
Mr. Dowdell inquired about the markups.
Mrs. Kelly responded this aren’t there charges it’s more like the Go Daddy charges, Ron Sachs had the hosting with Go Daddy before, that ended. When we came on board we find out the website was not working, because those fees had not been paid. She explained those were the kind of things, it’s not equipment for them it is stuff that belongs to the County that need s to be taking care of.
Mr. Dowdell inquired would it come back for their approval.
Mrs. Gutcher said it’s just a request by Finance as a reclassification. The word markup is a technical term.
Mr. Price clarified Finance wanted the markup to be in the same category as the $24,000 for Legacy. The whole contract is under other contractual services now.
Mr. Garner asked Mr. Kelly about payments had they been paid what they are due now. He asked had it all been worked other than the current month. “Are we still having billing problems is what I’m asking.”
Mr. Kelly said most of it has been done.
He asked, you aren’t complaining for us not getting paid.
Mr. Kelly replied we aren’t complaining. “We aren’t complaining period.”
Mrs. Holt said those invoices need to come back, they should be attached when you vote on something, that way you know what you’re voting for.
Mr. Thro reiterated that the $6,000 was taken from one part of the budget placed in another part not that they were increasing the total budget to $30,000.
4. Legacy Marketing, Inc. Update/Report (Matt Thro, TDC Vice-Chairman)
(Mary and Terry Kelly, Legacy Marketing, Inc.)
Mr. Garner thanked Legacy Marketing for coming out to Chattahoochee for the Smooches 5K Race on Saturday, February 7, 2014.
Mrs. Kelly provided video power point for the Tactical Marketing Plan. She detailed the Budget Plan.
§ Video Production $40,000 approved
§ Create Mobile $7,850
§ Tri-Fold Brochure $2,600 as needed
§ Poster $1,250 as needed
§ Page Creations $2,000 monthly
§ Newsletter Distribution $250 monthly
§ Pre-Roll Video per mo – varies as needed
Mrs. Holt questioned the Kiosk. She was speaking about informational kiosk, message board.
Mr. Garner said it wasn’t just feasible at the moment and they only had to RFP’s.
Mrs. Holt asked about Facebook.
Mrs. Kelly said their other facets of social media, she said with Facebook they have to like you.
Discussion occurred for the Board.
Pamela Medley, Chattahoochee, discussed different a book/publications that you can list events/happenings or what to do in County.
Peter Patel inquired about link that you could make funds. He discussed linking hotels.
Mr. Jackson asked have we put books/brochures in hotels outside county promoting
Gadsden.
Mr. Garner said River Way South attempted it. All hotels or any bed taxes should be linked as courtesy.
Mr. Kelly said they need approval. Website they can link to hotels that have websites. No funding is needed for this.
Mr. DuBree suggested putting letter together for hotels to get updated information.
Mrs. Kelly suggested the letter come from the TDC as official letter.
Mr. Garner said if they sent him info they are looking for he would draft letter.
Motion: DuBree/Holt 8-0 approval / That they send a official letter all bed tax collectors to ascertain the correct info to link to website.
Mrs. Kelly said they would like approval of the budget and the most important thing is the mobile app.
Mr. Kelly discussed mobile app and they have prepared the grant it would be $2,500 of the $7,850 it would be reduced by the much providing they approve it.
Motion: Dowdell/Holt 8-0 - approval of tactical Marketing plan and on components that state as needed and let if come back before the Board before publishing.
§ Video Production $40,000 approved
§ Create Mobile $7,850
§ Tri-Fold Brochure $2,600 as needed
§ Poster $1,250 as needed
§ Page Creations $2,000 monthly
§ Newsletter Distribution $250 monthly
§ Pre-Roll Video per mo – varies as needed
Comments from Dowdell, Patel, Thro and Holt were entertained.
Mr. Thro said everyone is agreement with video. We are giving you the funds to promote the target marketing come back to us and show video.
Mrs. Kelly stated long video on website and target asset videos(video pre-roll). We try to maximize the dollars by keeping cost down.
Mr. Garner approve Budget in Tactical Marketing Plan
Mr. Jackson asked who determines as needed.
Mrs. Holt asked that videos be sent to their emails.
Mr. Kelly said they would produce on assets the videos.
Mr. Thro -Tri-fold we would see before it went out. Posters would come back; pre-roll video.
Mr. DuBree asked where would money come from out of the budget.
Mr. Price said they have $270,000 in Reserve.
Mr. Dowdell said they have to come back before the Board for final approval.
Mr. Thro asked what about timeline.
Mrs. Kelly said they needed to understand the timeline, that’s more than one shooting, more than one camera. It’s really not cost effective. We need to get paid within 30-45 days if the meetings are 60 days apart and we shoot at the beginning of that 60 days by the time we come here that’s 60 days then another 30 days before we get paid then we are floating money for 90 days.
Mr. Jackson said that can be solved by calling the special meetings for approval.
Mr. Garner asked how far out do you have to advertise.
Mrs. Burns said 5 days out for advertisement of meetings.
Mrs. Kelly said they really enjoy what they are doing for the County.
Mr. Garner said they have already voted on the plan, go ahead and work it and when you get to the point you need our approval for something so you can get paid, we can call a special meeting.
Mrs. Gutcher advised them to go ahead and do motion on which parade.
Motion:
Jackson/Dowdell - Entertain motion to proceed with the tactical marketing plan with proof, payment and provided documentation. 8-0
Mr. Dowdell asked that Mrs. Kelly contact Mr. Jim Sutherland on happenings in the county.
Holt/Dowdell – for Legacy to video tape Parade (Black History) located in the City of Quincy on February 22, 2014. 8-0
5. VISITFLORIDA Grant Opportunity (Mary and Terry Kelly, Legacy Marketing, Inc.)
Mrs. Kelly briefly discussed the 2014-2015 VISIT FLORIDA grant application period is now open. The deadline to submit application is by 5 p.m. EST on February 18, 2014.
Mr. Gutcher said as far as the grant the only thing they needed was permission.
Mr. Garner said that was a given.
Consensus of the Board was that Legacy applies for the grant in TDC behalf to benefit marketing for the county.
6. Visioning Session (Moderator)(Allara Gutcher, Director of Planning and Community
Development)
Mrs. Gutcher said the Strategic Plan is 5 years old we need to go through and make sure we are all on the same page and see what we need to update. She said they would like to hire a Moderator to help with the process. She commented it might take from 60-90 days. Cost would be around $2-3,000.
Mr. Garner asked that she contact the Institute of Government, Florida State they could probably do it cheaper. Jeff Hendry is the person she should ask for. Other schools to contact would be the University of Florida and Florida A& M University.
Mr. Thro suggested Jay Revell who works for City of Tallahassee.
7. TDC Items of Discussion
a. Strategic Plan
b. Funding Cycles and Application/Approval Process
Mr. DuBree discussed funding cycles and application.
Mrs. Holt said they should application should be accepted each quarter. She then referenced in the application on bullet #3 Organizations are encouraged to become self-sufficient. She suggested visiting municipalities to let people know we exist. She suggested workshop.
Mr. DuBree said they use the web and workshops to educate people.
Mr. Knight suggested they are all on one accord.
Mr. Dowdell asked that they(Sonya & Allara) have policy and procedures placed together.
Mr. Garner suggested March 3, 2014 @ 3:30 for working session workshop. (grants and strategic plan changes & municipalities each getting $5,000. Verify that Mrs. McClendon Finance Director) can come to this meeting.
8. Funding for Cities at $5,000 each
Mrs. Holt said she was trying to generate funds for the towns and cities. In order to spur activity as far as getting grant money out there. Whether it is marketing, grants or both. Once they know they are getting funding they can plan activity at least one. They would be able to sell the program to their town or city communities in order to get funding and they must abide by same rules and regulations.
Mr. Thro clarified she wanted to give funds to the towns and cities.
She responded yes. It was up to the Board how they wanted to do the dispersing.
Mr. Garner directed Sonya on the Workshop schedule for March 3rd to add an additional agenda item. One to discuss grant and Strategic Plan changes and the other to look at funding for cities/towns.
Mrs. Gutcher said she would like the Finance Director to be present at this meeting to verify this is possible.
Awards and Presentations
There were no awards and presentations.
Marketing and Funding Request
There were no marketing or funding request.
Staff Reports and Updates
Allara Gutcher, Director of Planning and Community Development
Sonya Burns, TDC Administrative Services Assistant, II
Public Comments and Concerns on Non-Agenda Items (3 minute limit)
Mr. Garner said there was an email going around between Havana Merchants and asked had the issue been resolved.
Bob Lauthier, representing Havana Merchants Association, he said there has been some confusion, but basically they were approved last year for marketing funds in the amount of $6,000 for various events. He said he made invoices for $3,500 in December for Pumpkin Fest, which took place in October. He said it took that long to receive bills and cancelled checks, things he normally submits. One of the things asked was to supply a contract because Legacy Marketing does the marketing for Havana. “We have not contract with Legacy.” He said basically Mary and Terry attend a lot of their meetings and what they do with them is say we want to spend x amount on advertising and we need to have so much going out a 150 mile radius, so much on social media, so much local and so. Legacy takes the dollar amount and puts together a program and basically we approve it. They way their marketing dollars were always set up with TDC it just feel in line with that. All we had to do is show we paid Legacy a certain amount of money and that it fell over the 150 mile radius which was a major criterion, we would get a check. He stated this time they were asked to supply a contract, which we don’t have, we have never had a contract. He stated they have worked with them at least 4 or 5 years. Today he said he was asked to supply a list of the merchants that are actually members of the Association. That’s something that has never been a problem before. He said they have 25 -30 paying members, so that part is done. I still can’t get funded because I don’t have a contract with Legacy. He said with all his understanding with marketing that was never a requirement before. He said he just wanted clarification, because next week he would probably be submitting for an additional amount of the $6,000 for the Lawn Mower Parade. He asked what he needs to move forward to get this paid. We asked to provide contract. Asked for a list of merchants. Never has been a problem.
Mr. Garner said it was in the budget for $3,000 for the Pumpkin Fest.
Mrs. Burns stated he supplied the necessary documentation for reimbursement, but the Finance Department is asking for additional information. She commented she copied, Mr. Thro, Terry and Matt on the email about the information Finance is requesting not the County. They will not pay invoice until they have required documentation.
Mr. Lauthier said he can’t give them a contract he doesn’t have.
Mr. Garner said he would meet with the Clerk or Finance Director.
Mrs. Burns read email into record from Finance Director.
Mr. Knight pointed out he could see the problem.
Mr. Patel said it sounded like a conflict of interest.
Mrs. Burns then read Mr. Thro’s response to Finance’s email.
Mr. Dowdell asked for clarification, Legacy Marketing has already been paid.
Mrs. Burns commented they receive $2,000 a month to market the county.
Mr. Dowdell asked Legacy Marketing did they advertise for Havana Merchants.
Mrs. Kelly replied they did and supplied the invoices.
Mr. Lauthier said they didn’t use county funds.
Mrs. Holt asked what was used.
Mr. Lauthier said they used the money they paid them and we are looking to get reimbursed a portion of that through their arrangement with TDC.
Mr. Jackson said he thinks he sees what might be the problem; they don’t want to pay them something that they have already been paid to do.
Mr. Garner said Finance has a wrong impression of what Legacy contract is. Legacy is advertising for the County, but they work as separate contractor for the Town of Havana could be conflict of interest, I don’t know. We voted for $3,000 for their Pumpkin Fest, whatever it takes; another vote from the Board to authorize to Clerk of the Court or whatever we need to do to get reimbursed. He said there is some misunderstanding going on somewhere, because they are a private contractor. There is nothing that makes us require that the Town of Havana have a contract with Legacy.
Mr. Jackson pointed out he believed the issue was not with TDC, it’s a Finance issue and Mr. Lauthier should take up with Finance.
Mr. Garner said that’s what they are trying to do, but they are asking for contract that does not exist.
Mr. Lauthier stated they had been dealing with Legacy before the County dealt with Legacy.
Mr. Jackson said there was nothing they could do about the requirements that the Finance department is requesting.
Mr. Thro said we directed other groups to use our coordinators through funds that this Board gave them for advertising, so we hired this firm here is some money to advertise, spend at their direction. He said that has been done and it’s been done on two or three occasions, since the contract happen. Point of clarification its going through Legacy to pay for advertisement from another entity. It was money the Merchants paid that goes WTXL or radio station somewhere else, it’s not like it’s going into.
Mr. Jackson said the agreement that you are making rather right or wrong, you are wasting time talking to this Board, and you need to speak to Finance about the situation. No one with since would vote on this.
Mr. Dowdell said this is about to turn into a legal matter if they paid Legacy Marketing, why can’t they just give them a contract and say they paid it and be done with it.
Mary Kelly said she has worked for them for 10 years, I’m a pass through. I never required Town of Havana to provide contract. If I place media on their behalf in compliance with your Strategic Plan to 7 or 8 different media companies, what I do is all the work and when we get invoice from media companies, we pay the media company we give them the documentation and they write us one check.
Mr. Patel said he understood that, but you also weren’t working for the County then.
Mr. Garner said they approved the expenditure and he would see if he can work it out.
Mr. Dowdell said the question would come, what authority we have to tell a separate entity, that you have to spend the money we approved through Legacy.
Mr. Patel said they need to know what Finance’s requirements are for future references.
Mrs. Gutcher said you are approving the expenditures and Finance is not paying. We need to get Finance here to make smoother process before we make anymore decisions.
Mrs. Holt said that is right that’s a contractual agreement between the two of you. There is a big conflict there, simply because if you’re getting paid to market the county and they are they are paying you to market the county, where do you draw line in the middle. “How much of Havana where you to market anyway, that’s where the fine line is drawn, between government and the private sector.”
Mr. Lauthier said if he submits a bill, because he has already paid them for the lawnmower parade, what if I give you the bill, you write $2,000 out of TDC for them and I pay them the difference.
Mr. DuBree said the misunderstanding is we have hired Legacy to market the county, but nowhere in the contract does it include any buys of media. It’s just a leadership role they play in directing us. What they have done for Havana is went out and brought some media, which has nothing to do with our contract because it has nothing to do with bought media. There is no real conflict there.
Mrs. Holt asked what part of marketing stops at that fine line.
Mr. DuBree said anything that they would have to buy, such as radio ad, newspaper ad or internet, no of that is including in their fee.
Mrs. Holt pointed out the marketing process was messed up, and then you end up with this problem. I asked when I was in the audience, how could you select and give in your budget marketing money when it should have been more competitive and it would have been spread out.
Mr. DuBree left at this juncture of the meeting.
Mr. Garner said he would follow up on this to help evaluate the situation.
Mrs. Burns said she would forward all emails.
Public Comment
Pam Medley, MainStreet, City of Chattahoochee, said she doesn’t want that to happen to Town of Havana to them in Chattahoochee when they come before the Board to receive funding.
Meeting(s)
March 3 , 2014 @ 3:30
March 17, 2014 @ 3:30 P.M.
May 19, 2014 @ 3:30 P.M.
Upcoming Events
Florida Tourism Day 2014 – March 12, 2014
RSVP
Registration closes March 5
Fee:$35 to attend before March 5 $45 on-site registration on March 12
Motion to Adjourn@ 5:58pm