HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-11-10-TOUR2-minPresent: Susan Bennett, Mary Jo Bohart, Derry Brandin, Carla Fortrnann, Dawn
McKenna,, Joanne Myers, Paul D' Shaughnessy, John Patrick Staff: Masha Traber
Absent: Bebe Fallick, John Ott, Lou Sideris
The meeting convened at 4 PM in Room I I I of the Town Office Building.
Minutes — Upon motion drily made and seconded, the minutes of the June 2, October
6 and October 30 (Antony Group) meetings were reviewed and approved with minor
corrections.
Information Sign for Battle Green
• Christopher Bing reviewed possibilities for this sign.
• It was suggested that a template the same size as the proposed sign be taken on
site for all involved to look at to truly understand the impact of the sign.
• It was also recommended that others who have an interest in the signage be
brought into the process
Update on Activities
• The Tenth Regiment is planning to re -enact the Tower Park Battle again the
Saturday before Patriot's Day. It was a huge success last year.
• The Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for the holiday shopper's night on
Friday, December 5. The Lexington Symphony will be presenting a pops concert
at 8 PM that evening.
• The National Heritage Museum reported on the on -going Lowell Lecture Series
on immigration.
• The Historical Society is making good progress on the Hancock - Clarke House
restoration, holding Elderhostel programs, and beginning its planning for the next
season, including using the Depot as a tourist venue.
Battle Green Master Plan
• Selectmen have designated the Tourism. Committee to take the lead on this.
• The importance of involving all stakeholders was stressed. Susan and Joanne
expressed interest in working on this and will work with Dawn to recommend a
master planning process to the Committee for their approval.
• Susan mentioned that a substantial amount of work has already been done on the
Battle green, including aground- penetrating radar study. Bill Poole of the
Lexington Minutemen is very conversant with this.
Antony, France Reunion
• There was an initial meeting on October 30 for interested parties.
0 There is interest in a reunion with our sister city in France
• A visit from Lexington to Antony is possible fall 2009, with a return visit by our
French "sisters" in April 2010.
• The group would like to propose naming something in Lexington after Antony, as
reciprocity for their recognition of Lexington in their city.
• John Patrick offered to facilitate arrangements during one of his visits to France.
FY 10 Budget and Motel Sales Tax
• Mary Jo presented how some other cities have used revenue from the hotel sales
tax to further tourism activities.
• Dawn has met with the Town Manager Carl Valente and the Selectmen regarding
the Committee's interest in requesting use of the revenue from this tax.
• The Tourism Committee, at voted at the October meeting to place a separate
warrant article requesting that hotel sale tax revenues be allocated for tourism.
activities. Based on that vote, Bebe prepared a request to the Selectmen to include
a warrant article for the Committee's signature. The Committee then signed the
request to the Selectmen, as well as a citizens article she had prepared in the event
the Selectmen would not insert the article on our behalf.
• Susan chose not to sign the letter, stating her concerns that the budget request go
through the normal budgeting process. She believes that the committee should
not be pursuing the funding until it has a clear plan and budget for the items that
would be paid for through the tax. Dawn explained that this request is going
through the normal process and that we were preparing a program improvement
request to be presented to the Selectmen, along with our budget request. She
further explained that part of the reason for requesting a separate article is that it
was a mechanism to preserve the funding since as a separate article, the funding
stays available until spent and does not revert to the general fund at year end.
• Items that a Tourism budget could pay for include: branding campaign, targeted
ads, common tourism advertising, a second trolley. Upon motion duly made and
seconded, the committee voted to pursue a warrant article requesting 25% of the
hotel tax incremental growth in FY 09 to fund tourism program improvements.
Walking Four Brochure
• It was agreed in principle to develop a walking map of Lexington that could be
printed and used by all if funds are available.
• Samples of prior brochures where brought to the meeting.
■ To be discussed further at January meeting.
Sunday Bus Service
• we need to document for MBTA the problem of people being stranded in
Lexington on Sundays.
• There was broad support among those present for advocating for Sunday service.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at approximately
6 0o p.m.
Submitted by Susan Bennett and Paul O' Shaughnessy