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, Nancy Schukat, Phil Dahm and Bill Mrazek Ex-Officio Members: Yvonne Invergo - Lombard Chamber of Commerce; Beth Marchetti - DuPage Convention & Visitors' Bureau; Yorktown Merchants' Association - Todd Hiepler; Neil Degari - Embassy Suites; M. Jimenez - 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; Nick Hefner - Towne Place Suites; Mike Feigenbaum - The Westin Hotel Tuesday, February 7, 2017 7:00 PM Village Hall, Community Room 1.0 Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Fugiel at 7:01p.m. Yvonne Invergo of the Lombard Chamber of Commerce led the committee in the Pledge of Allegiance. 2.0 Roll Call Present 7 - Mike Fugiel, Marguerite Micken, Jill Payne, Joe Orsolini, Lori Solyom, Nancy Schukat, and William Mrazek Absent 1 - Phil Dahm Also Present: Yvonne Invergo, Lombard Chamber of Commerce, Sarah Richardt, Lombard Historical Society, Bob Biddle, Glenbard Boosters, Beth Marchetti, DuPage Convention and Visitors Bureau, Lynn Magnavite and Chris Chowela, Lombard Town Centre 3.0 Public Participation None. Village of Lombard Page 1 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes February 7, 2017 4.0 Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Nancy Schukat, seconded by Marguerite Micken, to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2017, Community Promotion and Tourism committee meeting. The minutes were approved as read by a unanimous vote. 5.0 Old Business None. 6.0 New Business 170011 Local Tourism Grant Application 2017 - Glenbard East Boosters Ale Fest Grant request from the Glenbard East High School Boosters in the amount of $10,000 from Hotel/Motel funds for costs associated with the 4th Annual Ale Fest to be held June 10, 2017 on West Parkside at Lilacia Park. Sarah Richardt, Compliance chair for Booster events and Bob Biddle of the Glenbard East Boosters committee were present to represent the Ale Fest grant application. The Ale Fest Event, along with the Red and Black Ball are the primary fundraisers for the Glenbard East Boosters. The Boosters are committed to funding the turf field installed at Glenbard East. This will be the fourth year the Glenbard East Boosters has hosted the Ale Fest event. The event is largely unchanged from last year. Committee member Lori Solyom asked which radio station the committee is working with? The Boosters are deciding between working with a radio station or hiring live musicians. The cost of bringing in a radio station will be a factor. Committee member Joe Orsolini asked about what expenses are requested to fund beyond municipal services. The services are fencing, logistical costs and overhead, as well as the tent rentals. It was noted that this grant doesn’t cover alcohol cost. Joe Orsolini asked whether the services can be covered by ticket sales. Sarah Richardt responded that yes the receipts can cover the costs, but it would then produce less profit. Lori Solyom asked what the expected profit is and Sarah responded 30K. The Boosters bond payment is $38,000 each year and that is what we are trying to cover each year. New committee member Bill Mrazek made note that there has been no history of arrests or problems with the event. Joe Orsolini inquired Village of Lombard Page 2 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes February 7, 2017 about hotel stays and out of town tourism. Sarah stated that the event works with hotels and has a shuttle. Many others travel in or use Uber. Sarah Richardt commented that this event is one of the largest nights for downtown businesses because this event ends at 5, followed by Lombard Cruise Nights and is heavily attended by attendees who stay in the Village and patronize the local businesses. Lori Solyom noted that the event came in under budget last year, which is great. We were looking at an example of a brand new event when we first heard about it and now it’s grown into something. Maybe two years from now, you won’t even need our grant. Chairperson Fugiel noted, “For the record I am on the committee and this will be my last year; I will not be voting on the item when it goes to the Board of Trustees.” A motion to approve the grant as requested was made by Lori Solyom, seconded by Jill Payne. The Glenbard East Boosters 2017 Ale Fest Local Tourism Grant for $10,000 was approved by unanimous vote. 170028 Local Tourism Grant Application 2017 - Through Darkness to Light Exhibit Grant request from the Lombard Historical Society in the amount of $510 from Hotel/Motel funds for expenses supporting a new exhibit. The grant supports expenses such as exhibit supplies, framing, shipping and books. The event will take place February 2 through March 15, 2017 with a reception to be held on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Sarah Richardt represented the Historical Society’s grant application review. The LHS is excited to present this new event, a small exhibit. The LHS approached the artist, Jeanine Michna-Bales, whose cost is $3,000 to bring the artwork in. Because the cost was too much for the society, the LHS will share the exhibit with the Evanston Historical Society. The two groups will share the cost of airfare and hotel expenses for the artist. Because the LHS is an Underground Railroad site and because part of her collection is of the Underground Railroad topic, she agreed to share the artwork. She is a national artist featured in O magazine as one of Oprah’s favorite things for Black History Month. The Exhibit has already opened and the artist will give a presentation on February 22nd. One hotel stay is the artist at the Westin. There is a full tour bus of 60 people coming in to come in from Evanston. Sarah also booked a school group. The Evanston group will all be having lunch in Lombard. The society is targeting to a Chicago audience but bringing in visitors from outside the area. Lori Solyom Village of Lombard Page 3 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes February 7, 2017 noted that this is the smallest grant we have given. Sarah commented that LHS has a small budget for all our speakers for the year and that this one speaker would deplete the whole budget. Committee member Marguerite Micken asked if there is there something else for black history month. Sarah replied that the LHS does other programs but this goes to our mission and we are focusing on this event for this year. A motion to approve the grant as requested was made by Joe Orsolini, seconded by Nancy Schukat. The Lombard Historical Society 2017 Through Darkness to Light Exhibit Local Tourism Grant for $510 was approved by unanimous vote. 170012 Local Tourism Grant Application 2017 - Lombard Historical Society Civil War Reenactment Grant request from the Lombard Historical Society in the amount of $8,600, from Hotel/Motel funds, to cover costs of the event. The costs include entertainment, supplies, logistics and advertising. The event will take place July 21-23, 2017, at Four Seasons Park. Sarah Richardt represented the Lombard Historical Societies request for funding for the Multi-year Civil War Re-enactment Event. The event takes place on park district property and no city services are needed. Last year the Lombard Fire Department ended up involved because of terrible weather conditions, but this was not a normal occurrence. This is the 7th year of this program. People come to Lombard from Missouri, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Michigan and all but one third stay in the park. Tracking the number of hotel stay is difficult. The LHS does book a block of rooms but they some attendees make other arrangements. Last year, hotel stays were up because the weather was 105 degrees. The Lombard Fire Department forced everyone to leave the park due to severe weather and a potential tornado. Marguerite Micken noted that the committee does not need exact numbers when we know that people will stay. Joe Orsolini asked if just the family or reenactors staying in hotels? Sarah responded that the majority are reenactors. Many of them do this all the time and don’t want to stay in the park. The unit of Stanford’s battery also is local and many of them get together in a hotel socially. Beth Marchetti asked if they pay to stay in a tent and register. Sarah responded that no, the food vendors do contribute, but not the people that stay. They are required to register with the LHS for forms, but not payment. Registration is required to receive their free dinner. Chairperson Fugiel commented that he can attest that these people are also eating around town as the restaurants get busy and you can see that they are from the event. Bill Mrazek asked for the number of attendees. Sarah thought there are about 250 reenactors and 2-3,000 total visitors. Lori Solyom commented that she has attended these Village of Lombard Page 4 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes February 7, 2017 types of events and she feels this is one of the best. Sarah Richardt noted that they get great feedback. Sarah also added that will have a band coming in as well. A motion to approve the grant as requested was made by Joe Orsolini, seconded by Jill Payne. The Lombard Historical Society 2017 Civil War Re-enactment Local Tourism Grant in the amount of $8,600, was approved by unanimous vote. 170013 Local Tourism Grant Application 2017 - Lombard Town Centre Spooktacular Grant request from the Lombard Town Centre for funding from Hotel/Motel funds, for costs associated with the Spooktacular event. The grant supports services from the Village Lombard Police and Public Works departments, the cost of barricades, generators, the Park District stage and port-o-lets from Waste Management. The event is scheduled to take place October 14, 2017, in Downtown Lombard. Lynn Magnavite and Chris Chowela (Exec director and president) represented Lombard Town Centre. They explained that the Spooktacular Fall Festival is the LTC signature event. Spooktacular started as a fall and Halloween event. Initially was just trick or treating and morphed into having more events. The event lasts four hours, between 12 and 4:00 pm, on Sunday afternoon. The event has become very popular; it’s one of the only fall festivals in the area. The timing in the middle of October works well too. The Festival brings people and attention to downtown businesses. The event is a good draw for local families but also attracts people from outside of the area. This year, we are extending the event into a 9-10 hour event from 11-9:00 pm and also plan to include an adult component. The event will still be family friendly games and activities but also adding live music and alcohol. Because we are extending the time of the event we are going to change the day from Sunday to Saturday so that businesses that are not open late on Sunday can participate LTC is requesting more money this year to cover infrastructure and safety costs. Police presence will be increased. LTC will also need additional barricades, and additional tables and chairs for people to enjoy beverages. Additional portlets and trash receptacles will also be needed. The Village service cost is $9,300, primarily for Police and Public Works employees. The remainder $18,650 includes port-o-lets, tables and chairs and other rentals. Expenses for the event are increasing but LTC will also be increasing its sponsorship packages. We are increasing the funding levels available for sponsors. Village of Lombard Page 5 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes February 7, 2017 Lynne Magnavite noted that she has been to every spooktacular event. It is exciting and there are families and others enjoying the downtown. Through a survey of our businesses it was noted that 2016 was the best year they ever had. Chairperson Fugiel commented that the change from last year to this year, would net $2,000 to the group. Lynne responded that In-kind donations would be increased. There was additional discussion on funding. LTC showed $9,900 in net revenues in 2016. Yvonne Invergo inquired as to how much revenue would be expected in 2017 with the requested changes to the event. Lynne stated that there was omission in the grant relative to wristband revenues. LTC used to charge a $1 wristband fee for kids. This year they plan to charge a $5-$10 fee to include adults with a $10 max per family; the amount has not been finalized. Revenue for the children’s wrist bands was $2000 last year. This year LTC plans to bring in $6,000-$10,000 with an entrance fee for adults. The area for adults will be controlled. LTC is looking to use Lou Dog events that did Ale Fest. Bill Mrazek asked about the liquor license and who will be selling? The businesses do not want to set up as vendors at the event and would prefer to sell within their establishments. Chris Chowela stated the first priority is to bring people into the event. The second is to raise money as a fundraiser. LTC has talked to the businesses to help determine how the event would be run. Businesses don’t want the disruption and don’t want to have lines or booths. We need to find a way to have our attendee’s get their drinks but also not compete with businesses. Joe Orsolini asked if the event is for kids? Chris Chowela replied that they still plan to have trick or treating and other kid’s games, but adults will have an option to get a drink. It is not mainly a drinking event. The event will include pumpkin carving in the evening. Marguerite Micken asked how they plan to get the kids and adults together. Lynne responded they initially wanted to have a zone for kids and a children’s game area that it would get smaller throughout the day. Joe Orsolini commented that he is not comfortable with the concept and questioned the gross revenues for 2016. Lynne replied that the grant did not reflect the wristband fees. The request was missing $20,000 for adults and $2,300, for a possible net of $25,000 - 28,000. Sponsorships would be 20,000 this year. Lori Solyom suggested LTC should come back with more numbers. Chairperson Fugiel asked LTC to go back and look at the numbers so that you can show that there is a significant increase. Bill Mrazek asked what you get with the wristband. Lynne replied that attendees get games, candies and it’s a great value. Yvonne Invergo questioned what would be the staging? Lynne replied barricades would be set up, as well as the stage. Bill Mrazek asked if Village of Lombard Page 6 Community Promotion & Tourism Minutes February 7, 2017 LTC has a contract with Lou Dog? The response was not yet. Joe Orsolini asked if the cost of Lou Dog should be on the application? Chris replied Lou Dog is going to be paid out of the overall LTC budget, not the grant. Lynne added that LTC was approached by the Village about an event. LTC wanted to add this to our existing event because they are unable to put on an event in the summer. A motion was made by Nancy Schukat, seconded by Jill Payne, to table the approval the Lombard Town Centre 2017 Local Tourism Grant application. The motion passed by unanimous vote. 7.0 Other Business Nicole Aranas provided an overview of the 2018 budget preparation. She reviewed the long range plan for the 2017 budget and the current status of the 2018 budget planning process. The Community Promotions and Tourism Committee reviewed several proposed changes and transfers within the Hotel Motel Tax budget for 2017 but for 2018 there are no substantive issues to review as part of the 2018 budget. The Finance Committee is still recommending that each new revenue dollar spent will be matched by a dollar expenditure cut. Committees will review proposed changes in February and March and the Finance Committee will review in March with a Village Board meeting in April. 8.0 Information Only None. 9.0 Adjournment A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Marguerite Micken, seconded by Jill Payne, at 8:04 p.m. The motion was unanimously approved. Village of Lombard Page 7