For Recording Stamp Only Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org MINUTES OF WORK SESSION DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015 ___________________________ Present were Commissioners Anthony DeBone and Tammy Baney; Commissioner Alan Unger was out of the office. Also present were Tom Anderson, County Administrator; Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator; Dave Doyle, County Counsel; and, for a portion of the meeting, Anthony Raguine, Community Development; Ed Keith, Forester; Wayne Lowry, Finance; David Givans, Internal Auditor; Dan Despotopulos, Fair & Expo; and ten other citizens, including media representative Ted Shorack of The Bulletin. Chair DeBone opened the meeting at 1:30 p.m. ___________________________ 1. COVA Mid-Year Report. Alana Hughson of COVA introduced COVA board members Penny Bennington of Bennington Properties, David Smith of Tetherow, and Dan Despotopulos. She then gave a PowerPoint presentation and explained the timing of the receipt of revenue and marketing programs. (A copy of the presentation is attached for reference.) She spoke about their marketing efforts outside of Oregon, in particular the Bay Area. They leverage public relations as much as possible, and social media has become an important factor. Consumer contact through web searches and their website receive an increasing amount of exposure. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Page 1 of 11 Pages COVA, private companies and the County all invested in Travel Oregon, which has been heavily leveraged. This is called the 7 Wonders of Oregon, focusing on Smith Rock and a video blog, and Travel Oregon has identified golf, cycling, culinary and winter activities as key features of Central Oregon, along with the development of the wine industry. Some of the photography and voiceovers were contracted locally. Everything COVA develops is made available to its members for further distribution. The additional Oregon room tax has resulted in grants, and part of that gives Central Oregon international exposure. The Central Oregon Air Service Team is working on developing vital links through air travel. The current air carriers are successful and profitable on this route, and there should be additional nonstop service available soon. The airport has asked for additional help in marketing air travel within the state to keep their routes viable.. Visitcentraloregon.com is the only site that represents all of Central Oregon. This helps smaller communities get some digital exposure. Next Stop TV featured Central Oregon as an outdoor enthusiast’s mecca. This program tries to reach people who are in flight on Alaska Airlines, with a thirty- minute show. COVA can use the content for other programs. Central Oregon Gold Trail involves a cooperative effort to market local golf courses and resorts. The private sector contributes so this allows for a lot of exposure. Of the top 100 golf courses in the country, eight are in Oregon, with three in Central Oregon. COVA hopes to connect with the golf demographic as well as the family demographic. These are the primary target audiences. The Pacific Amateur Golf Classic was launched 18 years ago, and it is now the second biggest annual amateur golf event in the country. This is evaluated each year, and it continues to drive a lot of visits and revenue; with 98.3% of the participants indicating they will return. It is the only such tournament in Oregon, but there are similar but smaller golfing events. Sunriver and Mt. Bachelor are the 2015 marketing focus, especially in the non- peak seasons. The campaign started in October and thus far has created great exposure. It helps that there is better snow here this year than in most places. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Page 2 of 11 Pages Other cooperative efforts will be the marathons and biking events. Some articles in the Bible of Bike Tests magazine for cycling resulting from getting the writers here to visit. COVA secured the April 2015 NW Travel Writers’ Conference for Sunriver. Earned media is far above the estimated amount. Social media development needs more attention, so more resources will be dedicated to that. The website needed to go to a new platform, which will make things easier to track. The official Central Oregon welcome center is now in Sunriver and that is working out well. COVA exists due to collaboration. None of this could exist without the partnership with the County. Visit Bend is the best funded such group in the area, as the beneficiary of the Bend TRT. However, while Visit Bend focused on Oregon and Washington, COVA focused on California and international markets. They do not want to duplicate efforts but will expand to new markets as appropriate. Chair DeBone is appreciative that COVA is including the smaller cities. It is important to be regional. Ms. Pennington agreed and said that the Fair & Expo information will be included in Sunriver to get more visitors out to the outlying communities. By big city standards, a day trip to these areas is not a big effort. Chair DeBone asked about the future of air travel. Ms. Hughson said that the airlines were very positive in recent meetings, but it is a volatile industry. The route that is the most questionable is the nonstop to Los Angeles. They are working with American Airlines to get winter packages lined up through them, to and from that area. She said they encourage people to get a rental car when they come here so they can experience more. 2. Forestry Update. Ed Keith, Forester, attended with George Ponte and Kristin Doff of the Oregon Department of Forestry, Carol Bankosky of the BLM, and John Allen of the U.S. Forest Service. Commissioner Baney noted that a lot of the visitor marketing is very dependent on fire events in the summer. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Page 3 of 11 Pages George Ponte introduced Kristin Dodd, the new Forester for the ODF, who was previously the assistant district forester for over five years. He talked about the past fire season, which was very busy, very early, for the State and Central Oregon district. He provided a handout showing a bar graph detailing lightning strikes and deployments during the fire season. It cost $5.8 million for the Two Bulls Fire. They are trying to process, at the Salem level, the grant paperwork through FEMA. All staffing and equipment has to be documented in detail. The ODF accounting system presents problems with this kind of volume. Commissioner Baney said that there needs to be more done at the national level to provide staffing and help with all of this. Mr. Ponte explained that the Two Bulls Fire is still being investigated by the ODF, but this is a slow process as well. It started out with all agencies helping. They are determined to find a responsible party if at all possible. He noted the success of the joint information center, and they plan to use this kind of effort at any future events. People want instant and accurate information. Central Oregon District hosted ten incident management teams, with five fires in Central Oregon. From a fiscal standpoint, they are already overspending their current budget and they hope there are no bad fires early this year. This will have an impact on Central Oregon forest landowners in the coming year due to necessary rate increases to help with the shortfall. The district budget covers the initial attack, and then the State funds come in, which include insurance through Lloyds of London, and contributions from property owners. The State and ODF have blown through these funds quickly the past couple of years. The big question is whether Lloyd’s will continue to insure and what the premium will cost. There is a $20 million deductible. There is hope the legislature will decide on increased funding as well. Ms. Dodd spoke about the forestlands reclassification process, which includes a series of evening public meetings. The group meets about every third week. There will be a lot of interest from the fire districts, and the committee includes a fire chief, various property owners and other agency representatives. The Assessor, Scot Langton, attended as well to explain how property assessments would be impacted. Ed Keith chairs the group and keeps the county engaged. There has been little public attendance but they will probably hear more when the process is more complete. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Page 4 of 11 Pages Chair DeBone asked about timber and grazing exceptions. Ms. Dodd said that irrigated lands are not impacted and are exempt. They are looking at federal lands also, even though those are not assessed. However, federal lands sometimes are sold into private ownership, so those lands need to be classified. They will continue to host local meetings and conduct a few field trips. The process will take a couple of years. Mr. Keith said that doing this reclassification section by section is tedious, but the final product will generate more interest. Mr. Ponte said ODF provides fire service when the rural districts cannot cover it. Cost is determined regarding the value of the acreage and structures. Some districts are concerned about the effect on these lands, and are trying to get this restriction removed so they can assess fully. Mr. Keith said Chief Johnson of Camp Sherman is interested in attending a work session to discuss this. Mr. Ponte said it appears nothing would change in statute for state assessments. Mr.