Last Wednesday’s City Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting started with the mention that Mike Maloney and Kolin Paulk were absent, and that Brian Weinmann has resigned, leaving seat four open. Applicants for the position must own a business that pays CAPC taxes.
Scott Bardin presented finances for the month and year-to-date. Currently the accounts for the CAPC totals $2,005,470.30 available, which is being reviewed and monitored by the commission. Food and Bverage revenues for April were down eight percent and lodging is down six percent compared to what was budgeted.
Comparing April 2023 to 2024, food and beverage is down 12 percent and lodging 11 percent, with an overall year-to-date comparison showing a 12 percent decrease from this time last year. Bardin pointed out that the Auditorium’s income was $7,238.29, but costs for running it for the month was $10,970.
Bardin directed commissioners to review the list of vendors delinquent in remitting the CAPC tax; two are having liens placed on them and others will receive letters informing them of their need to pay.
Bardin remarked that overall, he thought it was a “healthy” financial report. Chair Chris Clifton asked what the word on the street was from businesses. Commissioner Bradley Tate-Greene said his restaurant is down by seven to eight percent and other restaurant owners are experiencing similar drops.
Clifton said he was hearing similar complaints from people who run lodging businesses, although commissioner David Avanzino piped in that his business hadn’t experienced any loss.
Administrative Manager Danyelle Harris said she’d had several calls asking for the CAPC’s numbers because business holders felt the season was slow. Harris said she has reached out to get analytics done to review how businesses did and mentioned that two other towns in our region had reported lower than last year incomes. She added that on the national level it appears consumers are “playing it safe” mainly because it is an election year.
During public comments Beverly Blankenship thanked commissioners with Carving in the Ozarks t-shirts and let them know that the event was popular even though rained out one day, and said they needed ideas as to where to hold the event next year, since the venue was so crowded. She said she would like commissioners’ input on where to advertise for next year as the Chamber Visitor’s Guide did not seem to help get the word out.
Damon Henke shared that Yards and Yards had been mentioned in Southern Living and that he is creating an app called WayHopper that will help people pull up maps and learn about businesses and events in the area, while also providing maps.
Funding requests started with ESArt Augmented Reality Tours presented by Sandy Martin. It is an app developed two years ago that allows people to scan QR codes on small rock cairns set up around the city to learn about art and history of the town and springs.
Martin asked for $5000 to renew the app, and Bardin said that the city still owed the Arts Council $5000 from the budget and that that could be used, since the commission has a policy to give funds for advertising, not maintaining apps and websites. Commissioners agreed.
Parks and Recreation Executive Director Sam Dudley asked for more funding for maps in the new kiosks and was told by Bardin that there was a fund for that put aside and they would discuss it separately but that there should be the amount he needed, and Dudley said he didn’t want to take funding from someone else who might need it.
Laci Moffitt with Eureka Springs Jeep Jam requested $5000 for the upcoming event, which she mentioned has modified the route so hopefully there will be no traffic issues. The earnings from the event go 100 percent to help injured and disabled veterans.
Coltan Scrivner, who organizes the Zombie Crawl, is putting together the Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival. It will run from October 24 – 26 and has already had 99 submitted horror and thriller films from around the world to be be screened at the Aud using the new film projection equipment.
On Saturday, October 26 after the Zombie Crawl, Scrivner will hold an awards ceremony for the films. He has also received interest from horror writers, paranormal investigators, and other vendors, who would like to set up booths in the Aud for the event. Commissioners agreed to fund the full $5000 for advertising the event.