HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-01-TOUR2-min
Town of Lexington
Tourism Committee
Dawn McKenna, Chair (781) 862-0500 ext 84585
Minutes
Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Parker Room (Lower level Town Office Building)
Members Present: Kerry Brandin, Margaret Coppe, Bebe Fallick, Jon Himmel, Trisha Kennealy, Dawn McKenna,
Wim Nijenberg
Staff Present: Megan Zammuto
Center Committee Liaison: Fred Johnson
Members Absent: Marsha Baker, Leeying Wu
1)AAA Marketplace
The committee discussed the upcoming AAA market place in Foxborough. Members discussed the volunteer
schedule, the materials that will be distributed, and the market at the trade show.
2)Website Upgrade
The committee discussed the tourism webpages. Concerns included the municipal look and feel of the website, the
quality of photos, and other design elements. The committee asked if “Directions” could be moved to the header.
Members expressed frustration that all feedback was not considered in the design of the site. Committee members
asked for the cost of each design element that was discussed at prior meetings. Dawn wanted staff to look into
bringing online ticketing for the Liberty Ride onto the original tourlexington website temporarily. The committee did
not feel that the product was appropriate to launch, and the launch date should be delayed. The Committee asked that
prior to implementation, the following questions be asked:
1.What is the impediment to implementing the changes the committee requested?
2.If the problem is cost, what is the amount necessary to make the changes?
3.Could the online ticketing be made workable on the present site temporarily since it was a
link to the vendor website?
3)Tourism Operations – Staff Updates
Megan Zammuto updated the committee on tourism operations, including the printing of the Visitors Guide and Map,
and the progress with implementing online ticketing. Megan discussed the website upgrade and reminded the
committee about the benefits including a site that is mobile responsive with google translate capabilities. The site can
also be updated with fresh content by Megan at any time.
4)Visitors Center Project
Dawn updated the Committee on the meetings with the Appropriation Committee, Capital Expenditure Committee,
and the Board of Selectmen. The Board agreed that it was time to take the Visitor Center off of hold and offered to
meet with two members of the Board, two members of the Committee, and the Town Manager and other staff to
figure out what we needed going forward. Jon Himmel offered to be the second Tourism Committee representative to
the meeting. Based on the feedback to date it was suggested that we take construction dollars off the table for this
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year’s Town Meeting, but rather to figure out what was left in the appropriation and determine what level of design
we might request. The plan is to ensure sufficient design to allow a shovel in the ground by September 2018.
Upon Motion duly made and seconded, it was voted unanimously to not request construction dollars for the Visitors
Center project.
5)Minutes
Draft minutes were distributed for the meeting of February 8, 2017. Voting on the minutes was deferred to allow the
Committee time to review the draft.
6)Updates and Miscellaneous
The Board of Selectmen has decided to defer the request for funding of the Center Streetscape Project to a future
Town Meeting. Margaret Coppe gave some information about projects that Freedom’s Way is undertaking and
suggested the Town might better connect with these opportunities. Further discussion will take place at a future
meeting.
Documents Available: Appropriation for Visitors Center Citizens Article, Tourism Committee Selectmen Presentation
Slides
Adjourned at approximately 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Megan J. Zammuto
Approved, March 22, 2017