02-02-11 TBID MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 — 3:00 PM
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Minutes
Board Members Present: Chris Walter, David Ginepra, Janet Clark, Lori Fisher, Arlinna Wolfe and Bryan Scott
Board Members Absent: Gib Bissell
Staff Present: Joe Unterreiner, Diane Medler
Guests Present: Jane Howington
Meeting was called to order by Chris Walters, Chairman of the Board at 3:10 PM.
1. Hear from the public
Jane Howington, City Manager for the City of Kalispell addressed the TBID board to discuss the
Mayor's consideration of a convention/civic center. Ms. Howington addressed concerns the Mayor has
about perceptions, wanted to work with the Kalispell hotels to eliminate any potential conflict with the
goal of complimenting the existing facilities no duplicate. Preliminary plans look at a 1300 seat facility,
possible location at the West Side Tiff property. The group expressed the following concerns: a) hotels
have a hard enough time filling the convention/meeting space already in existence, b) Montana struggles
to get groups due to air schedules and prices, c) concerned that these discussions are happening prior to
a feasibility study being completed, d) we need to educate the community about our current facilities —
our capacity to handle large groups, and d) perhaps there is a stronger need for an event facility vs.
meeting space. The City Manager thanked the board and will relay these comments to the Mayor.
2. Consent Agenda
a. Approve Minutes from the January 5, 2011 Meeting:
Discussion: None
Action: Motion was made by Janet Clark to approve the minutes as written. Motion seconded by
Bryan Scott. Board approved unanimously.
b. TBID financial statement:
Discussion: Bryan noted that the Employee Search item will be moved into Admin section of
the budget and starting with the FY' 12 the budget will be broken out by quarter versus
comparing annual budget to actual to better reflect our cash flow situation.
Action: Motion was made by Janet Clark to approve the financial statements. Motion seconded
by Lori Fisher. Board approved unanimously.
c. Approval of revenue amount to be used in fiscal year 2012 budget:
Discussion: Bryan calculated projected revenue by determining the average number of room
nights sold during 2009 and 2010 and the percentage of that business that generates a TBID
room fee. A range of $260,000 - $275,000 was deemed appropriate. The group agreed to select
a budget amount on the conservative side of the range.
Action: Motion was made by Bryan Scott to approve $267,000 as a projected budget for fiscal
year 2012. Motion was seconded by Lori Fisher. Board approved unanimously.
3. Board Discussions
a. TBID officer meetings: The officers of the TBID board have begun meeting a week prior to the
board meeting to approve the agenda and strive to improve the effectiveness of the monthly
board meetings. The officers confirm the agenda based on any input from board members and
outstanding items discussed at prior meetings; no action is taken by the officers. The group
discussed whether a formal Executive Committee needs to be formed. Board members agreed
that it was important that the board know about the officer meetings, have access to minutes of
those meetings and no action be taken that isn't presented to the full board, but agreed that a
formal committee is not necessary. Minutes of the Dec 2"d, Dec 29th and Jan 28th officer
meetings are included in today's board packet. Moving forward, the date/time of the meeting
and minutes will be posted on a TBID Board web page and be included in the packet.
b. 2011 legislature updates: HB316 and HB317 were discussed. HB316 would reduce the 4%
portion of the bed tax that the state office of tourism, regional tourism offices and CVB, and
other entities receive by 10%. The state general fund would receive an additional $1.8M of
lodging tax funds if the bill is passed. HB317 makes bed tax funding subject to annual review of
the legislature, making it difficult for tourism offices to create multi -year advertising and
promotion campaigns.
CVB Updates — Diane
a. Diane provided a summary of current marketing promotion taking place including the completed
updates on the Visit section of the Kalispell chamber website which provides increased
promotion for the TBID hotels. Upcoming advertising included the Lethbridge Shopper and e-
marketing blast sent out to the KCVB database. Diane pointed out the tracking codes included in
the advertising and asked the hotels to communicate with their front desk staff and track calls
generated by the ads. Diane announced that the RFP was completed and the evaluation
committee selected Partners Creative as the creative agency of record. The contract will be
completed immediately enabling the branding and marketing work to be began as quickly as
possible.
Meeting was adjourned by Chris Walters at 5:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler