PARC (Parks, Arts, Recreation, Culture) Committee

Parc Tax Advisory Board March 8, 2023 Minutes Attendees Scott Okelberry Karen Schaack Cherylyn Egner Hugh Johnson Katie Sorensen Spencer Stevens Brandon Smith Kimberlie Paulson Reggie Walker Camden Bird Clark Taylor The meeting began at 5:30. Brian Thompson was excused for a family loss and condolences were expressed. Minutes from Febrary 22, 2023 were approved by Brandon Smith. A second motion was made by Kimberlie Paulson and the motion passed. Binders with all applications were passed out. Camden presented a draft schedule for the presentations for the next two weeks. Sheet with the overview of projects as well as total funds requested and the amount to work with this year was also handed out and reviewed. Just shy of $1.4 million is the amount to allocate this year and just over $2.4 million was requested. The Art Dye Park Bond is already deducted from both of those amounts. Two specific applications (Fox Hollow Golf & Timpanogos Chamber Music) are missing the organization info and project info respectively. They were discussed and if they should be disqualified or not. It was decided that Camden would reach out and have them submit the missing info and we will still consider their applications. Scott Okelberry asked if anyone had any information regarding Regalo Theater Company as they’re new and unfamiliar to the Parc board and submitted 12 various projects. A discussion regarding assessing and allocation among competition and similar projects and how we might proceed was had. There are now a number of organizations doing very similar projects. Question was posed ‘Is it better to spread the funds out a little to all or make more direct decisions to one org or another?’ Little is known about Regalo Theater Company. They are new and Dusty Pine and his wife (who own Chick-fil-a) are the owners. Reggie stated they have done three previous productions all of which took place at Skyridge High. Cherylyn Egner stated there are no glaring or obvious issues right away on any of the project applications that would disqualify or be a major issue. She did state she has a number of questions that will need to be clarified during the presentations in the next two weeks. She said there seems to be some administrative costs which look like salaries that are tucked in to projects that we should keep in mind to question. Also one project that lists prize money in their application and they would need to fund that with something other than parc funds. Hugh Johnson mentioned that Alpine Community Theater (ACT) called him looking for an advocate even though they were not based in American Fork and would not be presenting their production in American Fork. Live American Fork was also discussed as a new organization this year and the overlap/duplication with Harrington Center in their holiday market project. We discussed the increased competition this year once more and discussed using impact on the city as a measuring stick as well as the importance of the venue being in American Fork. The difficulty of relying on and the inability to schedule very far in advance with the school district venues is a challenge and unreliable option for organizations as far as planning their projects. Lehi city just began a parc tax and have used the same parc logo as Am Fork. No action is required. Clark Taylor gave the reminder that this is a collaborative effort and a reminder that we can reach out to each other directly in between meetings to ask questions as we look over all the organizations and projects. Board Assignments Scott Okelberry will be out of town next week and Brandon Smith will plan to fill in for him in conducting the meeting. Camden Bird will send out the excel form this week for us to begin filling in our recommendations and so we can use it as a tool to put in questions as we go through the various applications. Karen Schaack motioned to adjourn the meeting. Kimberlie Paulson seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.