Sweetwater County Joint Travel and Tourism Board

March 8, 2017

WWCC Green River Campus, Room 205

Rock Springs, WY 82901

A. Call to Order

1. Allan Wilson called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

B. Roll Call

1. Members Present: Janet Hartford, Allan Wilson (ABSTAINED FROM VOTING), Bridget Renteria, Linda McGovern, Erika Koshar, Kelcie Hammond, Devon Brubaker, Stacy Colvin and Greg Bailey.

2. Members Absent: Mark Lyon and Robert Olguin.

3. Visitors, guests and staff: Jenissa Meredith, Johno Green, Carol Volsey and Traci Ciepiela.

C. Approval of Agenda

1. Janet made a motion to approve the agenda as presented; Greg seconded (motion passed 8-0).

D. Correspondence

1. Allan thanked the board for the balloons he received after his surgery.

E. Approval of Minutes

1. Bridget made a motion to approve the February 8, 2017 minutes as presented; Erika seconded (motion passed 8-0).

F. Secretary-Signing of Minutes

1. Kelcie signed the February 8, 2017 minutes.

G. Payment of Bills

1. Greg made a motion to approve checks #3301 to #3317 and an electronic payment of $3,935.58 to EFTPS for federal taxes and payroll liabilities, in the amount of $52,387.37. Janet seconded (motion passed 8-0). It was also noted that check #3281 from the January bills was voided because it was issued to the incorrect vendor and check #3299 was issued for the same amount with the correct vendor name on it.

H. Chairperson’s Report

1. Allan let the board know that Jenissa did a great job of presenting the annual report to the Green River City Council that took place on Tuesday, March 7th.

I. Vice -Chairperson’s Report

1. Bridget let the board know she signed the paper work for Jenissa’s 457 that will now be handled by LPL Financial.

J. Treasurer’s Report

1. Janet made a deposit of $60,361.90 on February 21, 2017 into the money market account.

K. Director’s Report

1. Committees, Commitments & Attended Meetings

i. Jenissa reported on the meetings she attended this last month which included, SWC directors meeting, WTIC board meetings (Jenissa is board president), Green River CC tourism committee meeting, Lodging Association meetings, Lodging tax board executive meetings, WOT future funding meetings, SWC solar eclipse committee meeting, T&T REACH committee meeting and T&T grant committee meeting.

2. Marketing Campaign

i. Media Plan 2016-17 and PR

a) Jenissa let the board know that the Press trip originally schedule for August has been changed to June. The press trip will focus on mountain biking. We will be getting some video of the mountain biking experience that we can use in future advertising.

3. March E-newsletters

a) The March E-newsletter focused on “Hunt for Dinosaurs in Sweetwater County.”

4. Miscellaneous Projects

i. 2016 Annual Report

a) Jenissa gave annual report presentations to the RS city council on 2/21/17 and the GR city council on 3/7/17.

ii. JPA Amendment

a) The AG response came with additional changes needed. Jenissa let the board know she is having our attorney contact each member of the Joint Powers for direction.

iii. Wyoming Travel Industry Coalition

a) Jenissa is helping plan the 2018 Governor’s Conference.

iv. WOT

a) Jenissa met in Casper to discuss alternative funding on 12/9/16 and will be attending another meeting in Casper on 3/917.

v. T&T Board Retreat

a. The board retreat is scheduled for April 24th. The board retreat committee is meeting March 13th to discuss the agenda.

vi. Summer Quick Guide

a) We are working with Adbay on development of the guide.

vii. Solar Eclipse

a) A committee has been developed to plan events and viewing opportunities in Sweetwater County.

viii. Green River Chamber of Commerce

a) Jenissa met with the committee on 2/14/17 and discussed the John Wesley Powell statue. They are currently looking for grant funding to purchase the statue.

ix. Sweetwater Lodging Association

a) The lodging association met on 3/8/17 at the Holiday Inn Express. Both of the URA’s and the mountain biking club spoke.

b) The next meeting will be 4/13/2017 the Homewood Suites.

a. The quarterly REACH awards will be given out at that meeting.

x. Event Recruitment

a) Green River High School is hosting the state high school speech and debate 2017-18.

b) We are researching for state events.

xi. Flaming Gorge

a) The Flaming Gorge gateway sign grant phase II

a. The map was finished 6/28/2016.

b) The Flaming Gorge tear off map was revised and is now complete.

xii. Board member lunches

a) Jenissa had lunch with Linda McGovern on 2/16/17.

xiii. T&T Staff

a) Jenissa posted a Marketing Assistant position ad on SweetwaterNow 3/8/17. Johno will be leaving his position.

xiv. Marketing Assistant – Johno Green

a) Website

a. Johno went over the website analytics with the board.

b) China Ready

a. Johno attended the China Ready meeting in Casper on 3/7/17.

c) City Beautification

i. Still waiting on WYDOT for approval on the landscaping.

xv. Measurables

a) Jenissa handed out the charts for the Lodging Tax and Occupancy rates.

xvi. Purchases

a) $724 for Water bottles for Speech and Debate.

b) $464 for cell phone card holders

xvii. Linda made a motion to approve the director’s report. Erika seconded. Motion passed (8-0).

L. Grant Hearing

1. There was a consent agenda for $29.935.73 plus a $1,000 marketing bonus for the event grant applications.

M. Old Business

i. N/A

N. New Business

1. Grant Hearing

i. Devon made a motion to approve the consent agenda in the amount $29,935.73 plus a $1,000 marketing bonus. Greg seconded. Motion passed (8-0). The following grants were approved.

a) River Festival : $4,500.00 with a $1,000 marketing bonus(A)

b) American Legion HS Rodeo State Finals: $4,000.00 (S)

c) Southwest WY BMX State Qualifier: $2,500.00 (S)

d) USA West Square Dance Convention: $4,609.48 (A)

e) WWCC Western WY ATIXA Title IX Training: $3,000.00 (S)

f) Butch Cassidy Invitational Figure Skating: $3,000.00 (S)

g) Sweetwater High School Rodeo: $3,000.00 (S)

h) Red Desert Classic Barrel Race: $3,000.00 (A)

i) Race on the Rock Triathlon: $1,326.25 (A)

j) Hairy Horse Show: $1,000.00 (S)

2. Convention Bags

i. Bridget made a motion to approve $2,767.63 for the purchase of yellow convention bags. Janet seconded. Motion passed (8-0).

3. REACH Awards

i. Greg made a motion to approve the full budget of $13,600 for the REACH Awards banquet, $12,000 from the Tourism Week Budget and the difference from Board Discretion. Bridget seconded. Motion passed (8-0).

4. Solar Eclipse

i. Jenissa ask the board to approve funding for a webpage, eclipse glasses and brochure to be purchased for the Solar Eclipse event in the amount of $5,000.00 out of the Board Discretion line item.

a) Janet made a motion to approve the requested $5,000.00. Devon seconded. Motion passed (8-0).

5. HGTV Tiny House Campaign.

i. Jenissa asked the board to approve funding in the amount of $5,000.00 requested by the State Office of Tourism from each of the 4 tiny house destinations.

a) Greg made a motion to approve the $5,000.00 out of Board Discretion for this campaign. Erika seconded. Motion passed (8-0).

O. Adjournment

1. Janet made a motion to adjourn at 6.25 pm. Erika seconded. Motion passed (8-0).

_______________________________________________ _______________

Secretary’s signature Date

Minutes submitted by Carol Volsey