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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-07-14-TOUR2-min Town of Lexington Tourism Committee Dawn McKenna, Chair info@tourlexington.us 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Tourism Committee Minutes Thursday, July 14, 2022 3:30 pm Conducted Remotely Members Present: Marsha Baker, Kerry Brandin, Bebe Fallick, Dawn McKenna, Carol Ward, Elsie Xu Members Absent: Margaret Coppe, Wim Nijenberg Others Present: Doug Lucente (Select Board Liaison), Casey Hagerty (Economic Development Coordinator), John Livsey (Town Engineer), Kien Ho (Beta Group, Inc.), Nate Socha (Beta Group, Inc.) 1) Economic Development Report Operations In June 2022, 9,601 people were welcomed at the Visitors Center, Casey reported. This is approximately 75% of pre-pandemic/temporary location visitation (2017 12,2520; 2018 12,607) and is trending in a great direction. The Battle Green tours were strong as well. Liberty Ride Economic Development is conducting a Liberty Ride survey. There was no formal report available. The Committee felt it would have been helpful to include similar questions from prior surveys for comparison. Marketing FY2022 Marketing funds were fully spent or encumbered. Recent campaigns included ticket watch marketing, and advertising through the Boston Globe, and tour bus markets. The Town is continuing to collaborate with Concord and the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMVCVB), leveraging state and local funds for greater impact. Website Redesign Kathy Santos has been involved with the website previously and is working with staff to help define needs going forward. It is expected that work will begin in mid-September when Kerry Brandin and Elsie Xu will be included. It was recommended by the Committee that Kerry and Elsie be tapped now to help develop the list of needs for a new website. Funding of $25k has been authorized by the Select Board for the website rebuild through the federal American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding. Economic Development (ED) has asked for Board to authorize an additional $25k as the preliminary information received through the RFI process made clear that the amount authorized is insufficient to meet the needs. 2) Liberty Ride ARPA request The Tourism Committee discussed the fact that currently, funding for a new Liberty Ride trolley has been has removed from consideration on the Town Manager list of projects. The trolley is now 12-15 years old and frequently requires repairs. It is only being operated Friday – Monday twice per day. Dawn McKenna stated that having this service keeps visitors spending time and money in Lexington. Following the first year, limiting the days and hours of operations was considered. By analyzing the daily ticket sales, the Committee found that the peak days changed from week to week. Without operating seven days too many riders would have been missed. Even with few or no riders, the Liberty Ride was a marketing tool as it drove the route. The financial analysis showed that meeting and exceeding costs depended on multiple trips per day to be built over time, as was done. Revenues will never meet expenses unless the Liberty Ride operates seven days a week and there are at least 3 tours per day, Dawn added. Dawn also added that the Committee had previously discussed theme-based tours in the offseason. Carol suggested that the trolley could be rented to private groups when not used. 2 Casey Hagerty also pointed out the other items Economic Development was also seeking ARPA funding for other items that had not been supported to date: a new parklet at $75,000; a Tour Services Operator, amount tbd; and to restore $100,000 to the Visitors Center and Liberty Ride Revolving Fund. 3) Battle Green Master Plan Streetscape continued discussion with Engineering John Livsey, Town Engineer, along with Beta Group’s Kien Ho (Project Manager) and Nate Socha (lead Landscape Architect) presented the most recent plan for the Streetscape portion of the Master Plan. Following the June meeting, the team met with Marc Valenti (Department of Public Works Operations Manager in charge of the Battle Green Master Plan Phase II work currently underway), and Dawn to review what items are already part of the Phase II work, and which should be included in the Streetscape Phase. With that clarity, the Committee was asked their opinions on lighting, benches, perimeter walkway material and width on the Battle Green, restoring the grass strip along Bedford Street to match the Mass Ave side, and how the corner should be treated from Clarke Street around to Massachusetts Avenue past Belfry Hill. It was also clarified that the benches had already been taken care of in the Phase II work. Regarding lighting the Tourism Committee discussed the lighting on the Battle Green was to be lower and create a park setting with modest nighttime light. On the sidewalks across from the Battle Green, in front of the houses, taller pedestrian and traffic lighting would be appropriate. There was agreement on most items in the plan. The outstanding issues to be discussed after further design work are lighting fixtures and posts, tour bus parking, benches in front of the Ye Olde Burying Ground, handicapped parking, and the appropriate solution for the electric cabinets under the tree the town lights in December. It is the intention to finish the design work this fall and bid the project late fall. Once the bid is awarded, work would begin after Patriots’ Day 2023. DPW work in progress Phase II work is well underway. There have been some delays while waiting for materials. Work should be completed in August/September. As part of the work three bronze plaques that were currently are flat in the ground, will be set on granite which is angled upwards so that they cannot be walked on and are easier to read. Two of them talk about the flag and flagpole and will be placed at the base of the flagpole. The third one describes the National Landmark designation. Marc Valenti requested that the Committee confirm that the third one was to be set elsewhere on the Battle Green. Following a discussion, the Committee reiterated the intention to place the National Landmark plaque closer to the interpretative rails behind the Minute Man Statue. Dawn will work with Marc to determine the best location. Dawn reported that following the discussion about the plaque discovered at the back of the Minute Man Statue at the June meeting, the marker will be reset and placed in the new landscaping in the same general area once the work on the fountain is complete. According to Marc, rocks dug up during the work on the fountain were used in the new landscaping behind Statue as there were originally on the Battle Green. As part of the work DPW was doing, the landscape area in front of Belfry Hill was trimmed and cleaned to make more attractive. Further discussion about whether the railroad ties and steps should be replaced will be considered per the Streetscape discussion. 4) Minutes Draft minutes prepared by Casey were reviewed, along with corrections submitted via email from Marsha Baker. After discussion, the following motion was moved, seconded, and unanimously voted by role call vote: That the minutes of March 11, 2021, September 9, 2021, and October 21, be approved as corrected. Other minutes will be reviewed at future meetings as received. The Committee is anxious to clear the backlog of minutes to be drafted and approved. 3 5) LexSeeHer Reports The Monuments and Memorials Committee has voted their final report to the Select Board on the proposed LexSeeHer Monument. Their report recommends that “(1) that the concept and design for the proposed “Something is Being Done” monument be approved; (2) that an appropriate site be selected on which to place the proposed monument, as the proposed site is not considered appropriate by this committee.” Dawn indicated that the next step would be a request from the LexSeeHer group at the Select Board meeting. It was Dawn’s understanding that when the Select Board meets, they will hear the request from the proponents, and then take it under advisement. Dawn will reach out to Jill Hai to confirm this and let the Committee know whether another meeting of the Tourism Committee is necessary to meet the Board’s timeline for a decision. 6) Annual Report The text for the Annual Report is due on September 12th for FY2022. The Committee discussed themes that might be appropriate for the report. They included: Visitors Center Ribbon Cutting and reopening; Cultural District Application; Battle Green Master Plan work; LexSeeHer monument discussions, the Lafayette marker. Dawn will draft the report for discussion at our next meeting. 7) Updates and Miscellaneous While there is support from the staff, Dawn is still trying to determine how the proposed Presidents’ panel for inside the Visitors Center and painting/wrapping the electric box behind the Visitors Center can be funded. The National Lions Club Convention will be held in Boston in 2023. Dawn was contacted by Sondra Lucente of the Lexington Lions Club about the possibility of including a visit to Lexington as an option for the attendees. Their international contact has been traveling. More to come on this. LexDoingGood has been rescheduled to Saturday, October 22. This is being sponsored by the Community Endowment of Lexington (CEL) to help promote the non-profits that serve the community. The public will be invited. As a recipient of CEL funding we can have a table at the event, if Committee members are willing to staff the table. Dawn attended the meeting of the Comprehensive Advisory Committee to the Planning Board’s review of the Tourism and Economic Development section of the draft Comprehensive Plan. The draft was primarily focusing on partnerships and did not mention the Tourism Committee’s efforts as a lead partner in developing strategies to encourage tourists to explore. Dawn provided a number of suggested wording changes and the importance of making the visitors-based economy more explicit in the introduction to this section. There was a lot of emphasis on the 250th which Dawn reminded them that while an important celebration that will draw visitors, it was a one-time event in the near-term. As required by Mass law, the plan must include an Economic development element which identifies policies and strategies for the expansion or stabilization of the local economic base and the promotion of employment opportunities. Since the last Comprehensive Plan in 2003, tourism has become a key element of Lexington’s economic strategy. Committee members are encouraged to provide feedback as well. Following the rainout over Memorial Day weekend, Discovery Day has been set for October 8th. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:18 pm Unanimously passed by roll call vote. Respectfully submitted Dawn E. McKenna Approved: November 21, 2022