Tourism Commission

Tourism Commission Minutes City of Bellingham, Washington Tuesday 3:30 PM March 26, 2024 City Council Boardroom https://meetings.cob.org -Call to Order The Tourism Commission meeting was called to order by the Chair at 3:30 PM. 1. Introductions Present: Peter Frazier (Chair), Christine Jenkins, Kelly Hart, Marc Blake, Matt Lesinski, Nicky Kelly, Sara Holliday, Stephanie Morrell, Todd Elsworth, Dylan Deane-Boyle (ex-officio), and Patricia Leach (ex-officio) Absent: Craig Jewell, Kevin Coleman, Hollie Huthman (Council Representative), City Staff/Other Panelists: Tara Sundin and Fiona Starr, PCDD; John Purdie, Mount Baker Theatre; 2. Approval of minutes from previous meeting The minutes from February 27, 2024 were approved. Agenda Items Public Meeting 1. Downtown Placemaking & Activation Project p. 2 Tara Sundin presented the item. She explained the rationale for the three-year funding recommendation (250,000/year). She shared the next step options and some of the benefits that could be realized by this project. Tara mentioned that for the first year (at least), there would be an additional 100,000.00 from the general fund that would compliment this funding. There was a clarification made that the RFP that was discussed at the February meeting would be separate from this project. There was concern expressed by some of the members, that a precedence is being set by allowing a single area of the town set apart for funding. One option could be to allow the emphasis to be on downtown this round and open up in future. There were a couple of questions asked by members and addressed by staff: • Where the funding is coming from. • What category of the RCW does the funding fall under? • Would this RFP be a new category for proposals to come forward on. • Is the call for things to be on City or private owned properties. • Why is the focus solely for Downtown? Tara responded that the emphasis is on downtown verses the city as a whole because the community has shared a lot of concerns and comments for this area. She shared the rationale for the amount that was chosen. She talked about why the commitment from the City is important, and how the funds could be used (i.e. support special events).  Motion: Matt Lesinski / Todd Elsworth moved to direct staff to write an RFP and bring it back to the group for consideration. VOTE: ALL AYES 2. Election of Tourism Board Officers and LTAC Members p. 5 Nominations and voting for the Chair and Vice Chair, and LTAC members resulted as follows: • Chair: Peter Frazier was nominated and accepted. Motion: Marc Blake / Sara Holliday moved to appoint Peter Frazier as Chair for 2024. VOTE: ALL AYES • Vice-Chair: Marc Blake was nominated and accepted. Nick Kelly was nominated and did not accept at this time due to the length of time he has been a member. MOTION: Todd Elsworth / Christine Jenkins moved to appoint Marc Blake as Vice- Chair for 2024. VOTE: ALL AYES • There was a discussion about 2024 LTAC membership and the following members were appointed by a unanimous vote: o Hollie Huthman (Chair) o Stephanie Morrell o Christine Jenkins o Sara Holliday o Matt Lesinski o Nick Kelly o Marc Blake Other Business 1. Public Comment Period 2. For the Good of the Order, Legislative Issues, and Announcements There were brief comments shared about: • Different trends related to hotels • AirBnBs, • Tourism Stats • Event Ticket Sales Dylan provided a brief update on what is being done related to the World Cup. Minutes prepared by: ____________________________________________ Heather Aven, Recording Secretary Minutes edited by both staff and Tourism Commission members.