LART) Citizen’S Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, April 11, 2019, 3:00 – 4:00 P.M
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AGENDA Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART) Citizen’s Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, April 11, 2019, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. City Hall, Pikes Peak Conference Room, 2nd floor 107 N. Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs, 80903 1. Call to Order/Introductions 2. Public Comments (for items not on the agenda) 3. Approval of the minutes from February 14, 2019 4. LART Fund Balance Update - Finance 5. Consideration of Off-Cycle Applications for 2019 LART Funding a. Colorado Springs International Dragon Boat Festival / United States Dragon Boat Federation National Championships b. Colorado Springs World Affairs Council c. PikeRide Bike Share 6. Supplemental request for St. Patrick’s Day Parade 7. Request for Colorado Springs Youth Sports/Adrenaline Lacrosse Western Showcase and Shootout 8. IRONMAN Colorado Springs MTB application - 2020 9. Member announcements 10. Adjournment Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART) Citizen’s Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, February 14, 2019, 3:00 – 4:00 PM City Hall, Pikes Peak Conference Room, 2nd floor 107 N. Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs, 80903 Committee members present: Laurel Prud’homme / Doug Price / Daniel Kammerer / Doug Martin / PK Knickerbocker / Fred Veitch / Mina Liebert / Dani Barger / Tom Strand / Jill Gaebler / Madelin Montoya and Benjamin Partin (Youth Ambassadors) City staff members present: Charae McDaniel / Chris Wheeler / Rebecca Greenberg / Carly Hoff / Blake Zink 1) Call to order – Chair Laurel Prud’homme called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. Newly- appointed members were introduced: Dani Barger, PK Knickerbocker, and Doug Price. 2) Public comments – There were none. 3) Approval of the minutes from the December 13, 2018 – Doug Martin made a motion, seconded by PK Knickerbocker, to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously. 4) Certificates of Appreciation for Kathleen Fox Collins and Fred Veitch – The Committee offered comments of appreciation for both Kathleen Fox Collins and Fred Veitch for their many years of dedicated service to the City. A certificate of appreciation was presented. 5) Election of Officers – Mina Liebert made a motion, seconded by Doug Martin, to elect Laurel Prud’homme as Chair, Jack Damioli as Vice-Chair, and Doug Martin as Secretary. The motion carried unanimously. 6) Discussion: Branding/Education Campaign – The members held a discussion on the effort to educate the public on the purpose and use of the local LART tax fund. They discussed the creation of a logo, website presence, and signage for various projects funded by LART. A special meeting would be scheduled in March to allow the members to discuss the topics in more detail. 7) Discussion: Tough Mudder – The committee reviewed the reasons why the event organizer withdrew his 2019 application and discussed the specific venue needs for an event of that scale. 8) LART Off-Cycle Application Policy – March 14, 2019 – Applications were due by March 1 and would be distributed prior to the March meeting for review. 9) Member Announcements – Doug Price stated that the LART tax collected at the end of December 2018 was up by 21.4 percent over 2017. It was a record year, with a total over $7 million collected. 10) Adjournment – 4:18 p.m. 2019 LART Funding Application Colorado Springs International Dragon Boat Festival & United States Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew National Championships Summary: The 4th Annual Colorado Springs International Dragon Boat Festival & United States Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew National Championships on Prospect Lake at Memorial Park will take place on August 24th and 25th, 2019. As part of the Major League Dragon Boat (MLDB) Series, the 4th edition will continue to build on its’ successful past, positioning it as a world-class event experience. It will also launch the event and community to the fore-front of the national dragon boat community, as the event will also play host to the USDBF Club Crew National Championships. The Championships will attract the best dragon boaters from across the United States as they vie for the right to represent the USA at the 2020 World Championships. This will further impact the community, as the event will grow from one to two days. To date, there are registered teams from California, Washington, Nevada, Florida, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. This inclusive, community-building event will provide both a family-friendly experience for the local community and attract spectators and participants from outside the greater Colorado Springs, driving a positive economic impact for the region. Dragon boat festivals throughout North America create a positive cultural, health and economic impact on the local community. Furthermore, festivals generally have a charitable partner; raising as much as $500,000 for the cause. The events are inclusive, family-friendly and have a very low impact on the environment and the community. MLDB events have a history of attracting participants from across North America and beyond. The event will serve to position Colorado Springs as a dragon boat destination, thereby driving room nights and a local economic impact. Our historical data as it relates to the growth pattern of our events, demonstrates the event is at or exceeds the average growth for both local and travelling participants. As the event continues to grow, it will become self-sustaining and the impact on the community will increase. Tentative Event Schedule: August 21st – August 23rd: Team Practices at Prospect Lake: GWN staff will work with local teams with practices from 5PM-Sunset. Teams competing in Nationals will begin arriving August 21st, with full days of practices on the 22nd & 23rd. August 24th: Event Day #1 7:00am: Registration Opens 8:15am: Captain’s Meeting 8:30am: First Race (continues every 12 minutes) 9:00am: Vendor Village and Kids Area opens 9:00am: Health & Wellness Village Opens 11:00am: Beer Garden opens Mid-day: Breast Cancer Survivor Flower Ceremony 2:00pm: Live Entertainment starts 4:30pm: Final Race 4:45pm: Awards Ceremony August 25th: Event Day #2 7:00am: Registration Opens 8:15am: Captain’s Meeting 8:30am: First Race (continues every 12 minutes) 9:00am: Vendor Village and Kids Area opens 9:00am: Health & Wellness Village Opens 11:00am: Beer Garden opens Mid-day: Breast Cancer Survivor Flower Ceremony 2:00pm: Live Entertainment starts 4:30pm: Final Race 4:45pm: Awards Ceremony History of Great White North Communications Inc.: As North America's premier dragon boat brand, we're proud to be recognized by the industry as its most experienced event producer. Thanks to an outstanding team and a world-class fleet of equipment, GWN Dragon Boat commands a global reputation for executional excellence. Put simply, we work tirelessly to make every event a success. While this requires a relentless focus on every detail from start to finish, our team never loses sight of our goal: delivering an exceptional experience for our community. This extends to our municipal partners, corporate and brand sponsors, education and charity groups, and participants. We believe that everyone taking part in the dragon boat experience should have fun and be brought closer together from all corners of our community. We promote teamwork, healthy living and opportunities for giving back. We welcome people from all ages and abilities to get outside and try a new way to stay active. GWN annually produces in excess of 40 dragon boat festivals, including the Major League Dragon Boat series, which consists of 10 events across North America including the Colorado Springs International Dragon Boat Festival. Started in 1994, GWN has produced over 800 events including National and World Championships. Out-Of-Town Visitor Marketing Plan: By design, the MLDB Series brings the greater dragon boat community to interesting and unique destinations across North America. Our focus is on developing sport tourism opportunities in the markets we partner with to ensure event growth and sustainability. Over time we have established a steady following of dragon boat teams that travel to our events throughout the country. Existing dragon boat teams tend to travel to one or two events per year. Our strength is the relationship we build with the teams and the world-class standard they have become accustomed to participating at MLDB events. The Event is already benefiting with teams from multiple states and Canada participating in the first few years. Our long-term strategy has been to build our relationship with these teams and become part of their decision-making process. As such our sales team focuses a great deal of time on building these relationships and helping to guide them to MLDB events. As expected, in the first year, there is a buzz surrounding the event and interest is strong from teams across North America. To promote our MLDB Series, teams are provided incentives to participate in multiple MLDB events through our MLDB Rewards program, which provides additional discounts for each new event a team enters in a season. The last stop of the Series in Orlando is billed as the MLDB Championship. Teams winning MLDB events throughout the year receive free entry to the Orlando event. This has proven advantageous as we see teams travelling to additional events in an attempt to win the free entry. To accelerate the growth curve, the 2019 event will host the United States Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew National Championships. With competitive teams focused on qualifying for the 2020 World Championships, we expect to see an increased level of participation. In our experience the National Championships will attract 750 – 1,000 additional athletes from out-of- state to compete. Based on statistics from 2011 – 2017, this will drive approximately 600 – 800 additional room nights. These efforts are complemented by traditional print and online marketing as outlined in our marketing plan. However, while mass marketing within the community can build awareness, it is our experience that the strategies mentioned above are the most effective ways to build out-of- town participation.