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TDC Minutes 02/28/2005 R February 28, 2005 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Naples, Florida, February 28, 2005 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Tourism Development Council, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 PM in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Commissioner Fred W. Coyle John Sorey III Robert Dictor Kevin Durkin- resigned Douglas House- unexcused absence Murray Hendel Susan Becker E. Glenn Tucker David Loving ALSO PRESENT: Jack Wert, Director of Tourism Ron Hovell, Coastal Proj ects Manager Page 1 ---.- ..¥......,.._,.~~ , -. 02-28-05Agenda Page 1 of 1 MEETING AGENDA & NOTICE COLLIER COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCil Monday, February 28, 2005, 9:00 A.M. - Noon . Collier County Government Center, Administration Bldg. F, 3rd Floor 3301 East Tamiami Trail, Naples, Florida 34112 I. Call to Order II. Roll Call III. Changes and Approval of Agenda IV. Approval of TDC Minutes for January 24, 2005 V. Staff Reports 1. Director's Report - Jack Wert 2. Sales Manager Report - Debi DeBenedetto 3. P.R. Manager Report - JoNell Modys 4. Film Coordinator Report - Maggie McCarty 5. Inquiry Reports - Jack Wert a. Phase V - Fulfillment & Call Summary b. Search Engine Report c. Golf Pack - Golf Inquiries 6. Paradise Advertising & Marketing - Cedar Hames VI. Old Business _ 1. County/City of Naples Beach Renourishment Update 2. Hideaway Beach Renourishment/Shorebird Monitoring Proposal 3. Marco South Beach Renourishment/Caxambas Pass Dredging Update 4. Wiggins Pass Construction Contract Quanity Update VII. New Business 1. Naples Botanical Garden Interim Status Report 2. Category Band C Grant Applications s. Category B Grant Application b. Category C Grant Application 3. Tourism Luncheon in May - Verbal 4. Staff Needs for 2005-2006 5. Vanderbilt Beach Parking Garage Cost Increase and Financing 6. Tigertail-Sand Dollar Island Boardwalk Project - Information Only VIII. Miscellaneous IX. Announcements X. Audience Input & Discussion XI. Council Discussion XII. Next Meeting Date/Location - March 28, 2005 Government Center Administration Bldg. F, 3rd Floor XIII. Adjournment All interested parties are invited to attend, and to register to speak and to submit their objections, if any, in writing, to the board prior to the meeting if applicable. For more information, please contact Jack Wert at (239) 403-2402. If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Collier County Facilities Management Department located at 3301 East Tamiami Trail, Naples, FL 34112, (239) 774-8380. Public comments will be limited to 5 minutes unless the Chairman grants permission for additional time. Collier County Ordinance No. 99-22 requires that all lobbyists shall, before engaging in any lobbying activities (including, but not limited to, addressing the Board of County Commissioners) before the Board of County Commissioners and its advisory boards, register with the Clerk to the Board at the Board Minutes and Records Department. http://www.colliergov.netltdc/02-28-05Agenda.htm 2/24/2005 February 28, 2005 I. Meeting was called to order by Chairman Fred Coyle at 9:02 AM. II. Roll Call All in attendance with the exception of Kevin Durkin who resigned, John Sorey III who had to attend another meeting but came in late, and Doug House who was unexcused. III. Change and Approval of Agenda: Mr. Tucker moved to approve. Second by Ms Becker. Carried unanimously. IV. Approval ofTDC Minutes for January 24, 2005 Ms. Becker moved to approve. Second by Mr. Tucker. Carried unanimously. V. Staff Reports 1. Directors Report - Jack Wert Next week I will be traveling to Berlin for the ITB. I will also be going to Washington to be a representative at the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. I will also be attending a trade show for meeting planners. Then, I will be going to Tallahassee to a meeting with our legislators. The County Commission did support the TDC recommendation to support moving forward with some ordinance changes. The TDC had recommended a change in the funding mechanism for the museums by collapsing category C into one category. The recommendation was not supported by the Commission. It was suggested to move some of the funding from the non-county owned museums into the county owned museums. The tourist tax collection for January is up 23% over a year ago. We are showing access funds of $217,000.00 over the revenue projections. The season is going really well. When hotel rooms are booked on-line there is a loss of tax. Our web site is important and has had a good response from the redesign. Miles Media Group which also publishes our visitor guild is being looked at to care for the web site. 2. Sales Manager Report - Debi DeBenedetto Leads are being generated and followed up on. I met with motor coach operators. Leads are being generated from the web site. There are promotional programs running. I took a business and professional writing class provided by the County. I completed two proposals to host the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. This could only be hosted by the largest hotel, the Marco Island Marriott. The partners that are working with the CVB are really getting a lot of business out of this. Page 2 February 28, 2005 3. P.R. manager Report - JoN ell Modys I have attended two market media missions. In February, I attended Visit Florida Washington DC Travel Media Reception. I was able to meet with some great contacts. We have had a lot of media visits at this time. I assisted the media for the Travel Channel for an upcoming program called, "Florida's Gulf Coast". I have been assisting contacts for Germany. I have assisted around 15 journalists and am working on itineraries for 4-5 more. This is a good thing because the stories will hit in April or May. Yesterday we hosted two live radio broadcasts from Marco Island. Local and regional media inquiries have increased. A press release that I issued on Friday about our annual beach tilling program led to a lead story on NBC 2 this morning. It was very positive. There is a listing in your packet of upcoming publicity. March 6th at 9:00 PM will be the show on the Travel Channel for America's Best Beaches. We have another PBS program coming on Americas Heartland. I gave you our download report. We have had a lot of our images downloaded. Our most popular photo (shown on screen) has been downloaded around 35 times, and has been featured in many places. Women's World Magazine is one of the highest circulated magazines in the world, the January 25th issue had "Soak up the Sun in Naples". Mr. Hendel- What is going to be the reaction, publicity wise, when we renourish the beaches, and does anyone suspect that the beaches are not up to snuff? Ms. Modys- Communities who take the time and money to invest in the beaches are seen as doing positive things. 4. Film Coordinator Report - Maggie McCarty Weare up 20% from the last few years with leads and production days. Audi had begun a 2 week shoot. "She" Magazine just finished a shoot and will be coming back in July. "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" will be producing for the next 30 days. They are looking to fill many of the production slots with local hires. We will be hosting an information breakfast in Tallahassee. Included in your packet is a new program called Our Ambassadors Program. I have been asked to speak at the Florida Gulf Coast University Renaissance Academy about movies about the movies. 5. Inquiry Reports - Jack Wert a. Phase V - Fulfillment & Call Summary Jenny Domass- The total responses are a little over 400 from last year. There have been just under 600 responses and requests coming Page 3 February 28, 2005 from the web site. Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, and Ohio, are the top states requesting information. Internationally it is Canada, England, Germany, and France. We went live this month with the vacation clicks. b. Search Engine Report c. Golf Pack - Golf Inquiries Mr. Wert- Our golf wholesaler is showing 28 quotes for business. There is a lot of interest in our Golf Product. We are set up to come up in the search engines. When they click on the site and enter our web site, that is when the charge comes in. This company we are working with assists us in suggestions for our web site. 6. Paradise Advertising & Marketing - Cedar Hames Kerri Durand- E-Blast to opt in to subscribers called Weather Bug will be sent to Chicago and New York. They can book right on this site. The site is changed pretty regularly. MNI Home NetWork goes into upscale SouthWest Florida Publications. Phase 5 gave us a new telephone number 1-800-2- ESCAPE. A post-it note will be stuck right on the ad in MNI executive network; it will be able to be removed to stick somewhere else. Starting tomorrow we will be scouting for the next photo shoot. (Disk dispersed) Mr. Wert- (Brochure dispersed) VI. Old Business Gary McAlpin Coastal Project Manager- 1. County/City of Naples Beach Renourishment Update (Reference to packet information) We are still waiting on the Federal Permit at this time. 2. Hideaway Beach Renourishment/Shorebird Monitoring Proposal Requesting your approval to amend shorebird monitoring which is required; it will cost $11,648.00. Mr. Tucker moved to approve. Second by Mr. Dictor. Carried unanimously. 3. Marco South beach Renourishment/Caxambas Pass Dredging Update Weare in the process of getting the permit. Page 4 February 28, 2005 4. Wiggins Pass Construction Contract Quantity Update Weare looking for approval to modify the contract for an additional 23,518 cubic yards of dredging material. The unit price contract would be $6.00 a yard, we would like to take it to the maximum amount; we will only pay for what is dredged approximately $141,072.00. Mr. Hendel moved to approve. Second by Ms. Becker. Carried unanimously. VII. New Business 1. Naples Botanical Garden Interim Status Report Sondra Quinn- The self guided activities have been successful; we plan on doing a media push. We plan on doing a German version of it. We have a field guild for children and adults. We have started a push for group tours. Weare a little behind due to permitting, but we are trying to open 30 acres of the uplands. The butterfly house will be opening sometime in April. We are marketing weddings especially to the East Coast. The web site has been completed. Our membership has increases 20%. 56% of people are coming from outside of Collier County. John Landers, Economic Research Associates- We were invited to come in to assist in marketing. We talked to major gardens in the State of Florida to see how they run. The folks that are coming are in the top percentage at 58-65 years of age, who have the highest net worth, travel around 4 or more times a year, have several homes and playa lot of golf. Compliments to the web site. There are more Germans coming to this area than all of Florida. An average wedding brings in about 100 people. 2. Category Band C Grant Applications a. Category B Grant Application Mr. Wert- (Reference to information packet) There have only been subtle changes from last year. Two years ago guidelines were set. b. Category C Grant Application Mr. Wert- The only changes were types of expenses. Mr. Hendel- There was an ad in the Naples Daily News asking to vote. Is that an appropriate way to spend money? Mr. Wert- That being a county- owned museum, they can pretty much spend money for any of their operating expenses. It is good that the county museums have been using their funds for promotion. Page 5 February 28, 2005 Mr. Coyle- In your opinion does these criteria change the ability of these types of organizations to get grants? Mr. Wert- The number of applications has gone down because we set the guidelines so that organizations were not applying for events that were not bringing people to the area. Mr. Sorey moved to approve. Second by Ms. Becker. Carried unanimously. 3. Tourism Luncheon in May - Verbal Mr. Wert- This is to celebrate National Tourism Week. May 11th will be our celebration of tourism. It recognizes people with direct contact and those behind the scenes. This year it will be themed with the awards being called the Sand Dollar awards or "The Sandies". Application forms for nominations are being taken now. We contracted with The Naples Beach Hotel for the lunch in the Mangrove Room at 11 :30AM. It will be $22.00 per person for lunch. The trophies cost will be around $1,000. Weare trying to get a sponsor or co-sponsor for the trophy expense. The mailing and drawing will have an overall cost of about $2,800.00. I wanted to bring this cost before the TDC today for a motion to have it move forward. Mr. Sorey moved to approve. Second by Mr. Hendel. Carried unanimously. 4. Staff Needs for 2005-2006 Mr. Wert- The sales and marketing and public relations are in overload. The follow up side is getting neglected due to this. We have a part time person come in through the job bank. We are looking for approval for two new full- time Public Relations Sales persons and a Coastal Systems Manager. Mr. Sorey- With the limited funds, we want to be sure that every dollar we spend is spent in the appropriate way. City of Naples is covering about a third of the beach. Maria Bernal has moved from part-time to full-time. Maybe she could be doing other things. Until I have more information I can not support this direction. Mr. Coyle- A rigorous organization review of responsibilities would be in your best interest. I would like to take this first step before any staff is added. Mr. Tucker- I think expansion in marketing and sales is justified, but it needs to be analyzed. Page 6 February 28,2005 Mr. Coyle- Just as an example; spending time on motor coach operators, I know that generates visitors, but are they visitors who put heads in beds and such. I am suggesting there might be some reviews on the things we are doing right now. Please move forward on some of the analyses we have requested. 5. Vanderbilt Beach Parking Garage Cost Increase and Financing Mr. Hovell- The garage was originally approved in 1997 or 1998 for $3.8 million. It is in this year's budget for $4.6 million. Bids for the project are due by March 8th. We would ideally like to have it up by next tourist season. We are looking at more like an $8.1 million dollar project. Today we have about a million in reserves with a possibility of $600,000.00 being taken out. It is not possible unless we finance. (Reference to overhead and agenda package) We are asking for approval today for an $8.1 million dollar project. Mr. Coyle- With a 5% interest rate, there will be $2 million of interest. Mr. Hovell- The direct cost is $8.1 but including the interest it would be more ofa 10 million dollar project. Mr. Sorey- The County Commissioners would approve the bond issue. It would not be possible to do all the projects set out without it. Mr. Hovell- There are 200 parking spaces for $10 million. Mr. Dictor- Are we charging for the garage? Mr. Hovell- This project is funded from the tourist tax; there is no projection as to what amount of money will be brought in with the use of beach parking tickets and a four dollar charge without a parking ticket. Mr. Hendel- I have a problem with the amount of money being spent. We are financing something at a cost of $2 million while spending $700,000 to bring tourist in. Mr. Sorey- We will not know construction costs until we get the bids. Beach access and parking are one in the same. Weare over capacity for beach access now. Mr. Coyle- I am concerned about the amount of money for the amount of people being put on the beach. Mr. Sorey moved to approve. Second by Mr. Loving. Three for approval Four opposed. Motion fails. Page 7 February 28, 2005 Mr. Sorey- The cost is only the construction cost not the land correct? Mr. Hovell- Yes and the cost is based off of the garages here. 6. Tigertail-Sand Dollar Island Boardwalk Project - Information Only Mr. Wert- The project was for $200,000 to look at ebb and flow of Sand Dollar Island. A boardwalk was one suggestion. We have not received the study back yet. We should look at this next month once it has come through the parks and recreation board for the TDC to look at. Mr. Coyle- How do the members of the Council feel about this project? Mr. Tucker- There has been much talk about this. I don't know how this got passed the TDC. I would like to see it stopped even before the study comes back. Mr. Sorey- We need to conclude this as soon as possible. Mr. Coyle- This project was once approved unanimously. It was during a time when there had been several drownings. But now time has changed the landscaping and it is no longer necessary. Mr. Hendel moved for recommendation that the County Commission abandon the project. Second by Mr. Sorey. Carried unanimously. VIII. Miscellaneous Kevin Durkin had served 5 years and was to get a service pin but he has resigned. IX. Announcements We received a letter from an organization that found the museum a very interesting experience. X. Audience Input & Discussion None XI. Council Discussion Ms. Becker- JoNell Modys did a super job, Thank You. Mr. Coyle- Can we receive packets tabbed or numbered? Page 8 February 28,2005 Mr. Wert- We can't number the pages online. I can send tabbed printed packets to John Sorey, Murray Hendel, Fred Coyle, and David Loving. XII. Next Meeting Date/Location - March 28, 2005 Government Center Administration Bldg. F, 3rd Floor XIII. Adjournment: at 11:14 AM *********** COLLIER COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Chairman, Commissioner Fred W. Coyle Page 9