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Town of Lexington
Tourism Committee
Dawn McKenna, Chair (781) 862-0500 ext 84585
Tourism Committee Minutes
November 12, 2020 3:30 —6:00 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Members Present: Dawn McKenna, Kerry Brandin, Bebe Fallick, Erica McAvoy, Margaret Coppe, Wim
Nij enberg
Staff Present: Casey Hagerty, Sandhya Iyer, Carolyn Kosnoff, Carol Kowalski
Liaisons Present: Jill Hai, Select Board, Fred Johnson- Center Committee
Updates and Miscellaneous
Dawn McKenna reported that Lexington was just named the 92 Best Small City in America.
The doors for the "Go Out Doors"public art installation are up on the Bike Path along Hancock Street.
Dawn McKenna reported that a group of students and residents is working on getting Lexington named as a Bee City.
Katie Johnson works with the Lexington Bee Company closely and sells their products in the Visitors Center.
Dawn McKenna reported that Fox is filming a program called the Unsung Revolutionary War Heroes. Staff is working
with Fox to coordinate on the filming and acquire the B-Roll.
The 250'Anniversary Committee has started meeting with other Towns and is working on getting a dedicated stamp to
commemorate the event.
Stone Building Reuse Feasibility Ad Hoc Committee is starting to meet and will keep the Tourism Committee apprised of
their activities.
A Lexington High School Student, Mikhail Alperovich,presented a website that he built which is dedicated to the
history of the 5 Ships named after the Battle of Lexington. Staff will work with him to incorporate his website into the
Town Website so that it is accessible to everyone.
Visitors Center and Liberty Ride Budget Discussion
Casey Hagerty provides an update on the marketing budget. She explained that the money has been allocated for a
variety of ads including Group Tour Magazine, Bus Tour Magazine, Yankee, and the Greater Boston Website. The
money will also be used for the rebranding.
FY2022 Budget
Casey Hagerty explained that Staff is exploring multiple paths for the next fiscal year. Projections have been
difficult because everything is in flux with COVID.
Carolyn Kosnoff explained that this has been a very difficult year for the Visitors Center and Liberty Ride
operations. The Visitors Center ended Fiscal Year 2020 in a deficit. Fiscal Year 2021 is also operating in a deficit.
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420
Accounts across Town are feeling the effects of COVID. She mentions that Hotel and Meals tax is down 75% in
quarter 4.
Carol Kowalski reported that because of the budget constraints, some operational changes have been made. Under
these operational changes, the Visitors Center will close for the Winter Months. The Visitors Center Manager and
Visitors Center Assistant Manager will be furloughed for January and February. She stated that this was not an easy
decision to make, but this was the responsible decision to make. These months are the slowest in terms of visitorship.
Additionally because of the rising cases of COVID, closing the Visitors Center to the public is the safest decision for
Public Health and Safety. The furloughs are not a reflection of staff whatsoever.
Dawn McKenna expressed displeasure at this decision. She feels that the Tourism Committee should have been
consulted. Other Committee members felt similarly. The Committee was reminded that these are operational changes
and not within the scope of the Tourism Committee.
Staff has committed to keep a virtual presence while the Visitors Center is closed.
Visitors Center Project
The AV project is moving along. Staff is working to coordinate a date for the consultant to come to do the installation.
The Rebranding project will kick off in December.
5:42pm
A motion to adjourn was made and seconded. The motion passed by roll call vote 5-0.
Documents available: Town Manager recruitment essay questions,
Approved: 1/13/2022