Community Promotion & Tourism

Village Hall Village of Lombard 255 East Wilson Ave. Lombard, IL 60148 villageoflombard.org Minutes Community Promotion & Tourism Trustee Mike Fugiel, Chairperson, Trustee Bill Johnston, Alternate Chairperson, Jill Payne, Marguerite Micken, Joe Orsolini, Lori Solyom and Nancy Schukat Ex-Officio Members: Yvonne Invergo - Lombard Chamber of Commerce; Beth Marchetti - DuPage Convention & Visitors' Bureau; Yorktown Merchants' Association - Todd Hiepler; Mary Eckhoff - Embassy Suites; Brian Flood - Extended Stay Deluxe; Randy Kline - Stay Inn; Nilesh Pandey - Hyatt Place; Karen Borris - Marriott Fairfield Inn; Homestead Village; Frank Balisteri - Comfort Suites; Cynthia Ivey - Marriott Residence Inn; Josh Dieker - Towne Place Suites; Mike Feigenbaum - The Westin Hotel Tuesday, August 18, 2015 7:00 PM Manager's Conference Room 1.0 Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance Newly appointed Chairperson Mike Fugiel called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Newly appointed Committee Member, Nancy Schukat, led the committee in the Pledge of Allegiance. 2.0 Roll Call Present 6 - Trustee Mike Fugiel, Marguerite Micken, Jill Payne, Joe Orsolini, Lori Solyom, and Nancy Schukat Also Present: - Yvonne Invergo, Lombard Chamber of Commerce , Beth Marchetti, Dupage Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mike Feigenbaum, General Manager, Westin Hotel and Nicole Aranas, Assistant Village Manager 3.0 Public Participation None. 4.0 Approval of Minutes Village of Lombard Page 1 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes August 18, 2015 A motion to approve the minutes of the January 20, 2015 and February 10, 2015 meetings, was made by Lori Solyom, seconded by Joe Orsolini. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote. 5.0 Old Business The February meeting ended with the idea to discuss a grant seekers workshop. Committee Member Lori Solyom distributed a copy of a proposal for a proposed workshop for applicants seeking a grant. Lori stated that based upon the applications received last year, it appears that there is a need for more pre-education. While the committee does not need to make a decision tonight, she wanted to reintroduce the topic for future discussion. Chairperson Mike Fugiel asked the committee to review the documents and we can discuss future action at the next meeting. 6.0 New Business 150374 2016 Hotel/Motel Tax Budget Review of the budget. Assistant Village Manager, Nicole Aranas, provided an overview of the proposed 2016 Hotel Motel Tax budget. Lori asked for an explanation of the reduction for Constituent Communication in the 2016 budget. Nicole explained that there were previously funds in the budget for the potential purchase of an app or service request system. Funds from the budget have been used to create a template for the weekly e-news communication piece and the updated website. The committee previously stated concerns regarding the value of a downloaded app relative to the cost of implementation and questioned whether the usage of the app would justify the proposed cost. Accordingly, the budget for 2016 was reduced by $20,000 to eliminate the proposed expenditures for an app. Yvonne Invergo stated that the Lombard Chamber of Commerce will not be having their business expo this year at Yorktown and will not use the funds in 2015 or 2016. Chairperson Mike Fugiel stated that the budget should be revised to reflect the actual grants awarded for 2015. Additionally, the funds for the Chamber business expo grant should be reallocated to misc. grants. Committee Member Joe Orsolini asked what the Village’s fiscal year is. Nicole Aranas responded that the fiscal year is the calendar year beginning January 2016. Village of Lombard Page 2 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes August 18, 2015 Lori Solyom inquired about a note regarding $500 of expenditures in the spreadsheet. Nicole Aranas responded that the funds reflected $500 of expenditures that were transferred from the Hotel Motel Tax Fund to the TIF fund. 150375 2016 Local Tourism Grant Program Discussion of the 2016 Program. Nicole Aranas let the committee know that there would be discussion at the next meeting regarding the 2016 Local Tourism Grant Program and asked if there were any suggestions or revisions that the Committee would like to see made to the call for applications, the process or the applications. Chairperson Mike Fugiel stated that previously, the Taste of Lombard did an excellent job of sharing information on where revenues had been distributed to organizations to benefit the community and detailing partnerships with other local organizations. The information that was provided demonstrated the benefit of the event to the community and clearly indicated where money was going. For 2016, Chairperson Mike Fugiel suggested the application should be reflected to ask applicants to detail where money from the events will be going, how it will be reinvested to benefit the community and where they are partnering with other local agencies or causes. Committee Member Marguerite Micken stated that while we might get that information from elsewhere in the application or from the presentation, it would be good to formally request it as part of the application. Chairperson Mike Fugiel also stated that the application should be revised to reflect the true cost of the public services and operations. Lori Solyom asked that aside from the Chamber Expo and Barbeque and Blues Fest, what might the committee expect to be different next year? Nicole shared that the Historical Society has indicated that they may not request funds for Lilac Time advertising in the same publication as 2015 for 2016. Chairperson Mike Fugiel added that the work of the Lombard Pride Committee may also lead to additional requests for funding. 150376 DuPage Convention and Visitors Bureau Pilot Grant Program Discussion of the program. Beth Marchetti introduced the DCVB pilot program for group booking incentives. The current climate of group bookings is that Chicago and Rosemont have a tax that gives them incentive money to attract group bookings. Additionally there is legislation that might provide State funds for incentives for municipal owned convention centers such as Village of Lombard Page 3 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes August 18, 2015 Schaumburg, Tinley Park, and Quincy. Incentives take away from a level playing field and a lot of meeting planners want to know whether they can get discounts on food and beverage or transportation to incentivize their group booking. As part of the program, the DCVB would put a line item in their budget to incentivize group bookings to each community permitting a quick flow of cash if a small investment will help to win a piece of business in town. While she had wanted to pass something out, her Board hasn’t approved it yet so she will return with a more formal proposal upon approval. Lombard hotels could call with minimum threshold of 150 room nights and they wouldn’t get the money unless they actually bring in the room nights. Ideally the program would start small and could grow to be competitive. Lori Solyom inquired about the similar grant that the committee approved last year for the Westin. Nicole stated that the DCVB and the Village each contributed $500 to attract a national teachers conference with more than 150 room nights generated. Mike Feigenbaum of The Westin Hotel shared examples of possible incentives that have previously been requested including a military reunion group seeking a reception paid for by the hotel, hockey sporting events seeking concessions or a pharmacy group wanting the hotel to offer a yoga program for attendees. Beth Marchetti added that in reviewing requests, the DCVB would look at room nights, the size of the group, the time of the booking and assign points to evaluate requests. Mike Feigenbaum stated that it is not just the hotels that would benefit through this type of incentive program, it is also the local restaurants, shops, etc. and the financial returns on group bookings extend beyond just the hotel tax. DCVB will be bringing the program to the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and will seek to launch the program in the fall. Joe Orsolini asked if we need to add a line item in the budget to be used for a pilot program. Chairperson Mike Fugiel suggested once the committee has something to review, a policy can be prepared so that the Board of Trustees will give the Village Manager authority to use funds from the Hotel Motel Tax Fund for qualified programs without needing to formally bring the request to the Committee or the Village Board. The next step will be to approve a policy giving the Manager spending authorization. No formal action is requested at this time. When DCVB returns with their policy, the Committee will discuss again and take action to approve local policy for immediate expenditures. Marguerite Micken stated that this program is the kind of program that Village of Lombard Page 4 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes August 18, 2015 is in line with the mission of the committee and is a good use of the Hotel Motel Tax Fund to assist in filling hotels and creating incentive tourism. Lori applauded the collaborative approach between the communities and the DCVB and stated that it is good that all the local organizations and the County will be working together. 150377 Municipal Services for Special Events Discussion concerning municipal services for special events. Nicole Aranas advised the committee that the Village is not currently consistent in the way that it processes requests for municipal services such as police, fire and public works for special events held by outside groups and organizations. Certain expenditures are budgeted for annually and others are requested through the Local Tourism Grant Program. Lori Solyom inquired about whether we have a set menu establishing the value of services. Chairperson Mike Fugiel stated that this goes back to the possible grant workshop. The committee can tell applicants that this is now part of the grant process and they can work with the Village prepared their estimates for municipal services. This addition will help the Village be more upfront about the true costs of events that are supported by the Village. Joe Orsolini inquired about whether this would include all in-kind donations or just municipal services. Nicole stated that on the current application is a request for a list of the in-kind services that the organization is receiving but does not specify specifically what municipal services are requested and/or require that the cost of those municipal services be given a dollar value. Chairperson Mike Fugiel stated that including this requirement as part of the grant process will allow the Village to be more up front about what the costs of these events truly are. It also provides that all groups are treated the same way. Joe Orsolini stated that Village services should be listed on the application and given a value, but not sure about whether it is practical to require all other in-kind services be listed. 7.0 Other Business 8.0 Information Only LOMBARD PRIDE COMMITTEE Village of Lombard Page 5 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes August 18, 2015 Update on the status of the committee’s work. Nicole Aranas provided an update on the newly formed Lombard Pride Committee. The ad hoc committee was created by the board to develop recommendations on special events and specifically to discuss a future community event or festival to potentially replace the Taste of Lombard. The Committee has conducted a survey of other area community festivals, has elicited preliminary interest from local community groups on hosting or participating in a future event and is currently working on the development of a request for proposals for formal interest in a new community festival. Joe Orsolini asked if the new group or event would come back before the CPT committee. Chairperson Mike Fugiel stated that any new event or program that would be funded through the Hotel Motel Tax Fund would definitely be back before the committee. 140407 2015 Local Tourism Grant Program Status of the 2015 grant program. Nicole Aranas provided an update on the status of the 2015 Local Tourism Grants. 9.0 Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Nancy Schukat, seconded by Joe Orsolini at 8:07 p.m. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote. Village of Lombard Page 6