HomeMy WebLinkAboutTourism & Fair Committee - Minutes - 2/9/2022
2022-02-09 Minutes
Minutes of the
BAYFIELD COUNTY TOURISM-FAIR COMMITTEE
Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at 4:00 PM
EOC & Remote – via Microsoft Teams
Members Present: Larry Fickbohm, James Crandall, Tom Snilsberg, Mary Dougherty
Members Absent: Charly Ray
Others Present: Mary D. Motiff, Tourism Director; Ursula M. Garrison, Fair Coordinator
I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:09PM by Fickbohm
II. Motion to Approve November 30, 2021, Minutes – (Crandall/Snilsberg) Motion carried.
III. Public Comment: No public comment.
IV. Budget Review: – Motiff went over Budget report reviewing expenses and revenues including three
capital budget items.
V. Discussion on Fair Planning – Contract has been signed with the Carnival. There will not be Bull Riding at
this year’s fair. We are looking into Monster Trucks and some sort of lumberjack show – we plan to spend
no more than 18K on Monster Trucks. We will switch to sponsors after this. The groundskeeper position
has been posted.
a. Carnival - Going forward, the Carnival will start at 4 pm on Thursday. This affects our vendors who will
have to be set up but will not have to open on Thursday.
VI. Discussion on Horse Arena – Motiff had a meeting at the Fairgrounds with various participants, Kathi
Marshall, NWDA; Darla Lahti & Mark Pope, CEZRA; Melissa Tonn, Horse Superintendent; Bob Anderson,
Highway Department and Kevin Susienka. The one critical factor everyone agreed on was controlling the
firmness of the dirt. There was discussion about bringing in clay because the sand is 7 feet deep. Trying
to add a watering system would be the best option rather than replacing the soil or moving the horse
arena. A water storage system would be needed for that water capacity. There is no money in the
budget for this.
VII. Tourism Report from Director – Total requests are up. ATV requests are down slightly this year compared
to last year.
a. Measurable Data Review including Analytics & Sales Tax – January sales taxes are down, but we’re
still in the top 5. Snow arrived later this year in December. We also had several restaurants closed
because they couldn’t keep them staffed. Last year was an incredible year, we were up 19%. We didn’t
promote the area too much because of COVID. We have ARPA money and RFPs must go out for those
projects.
VIII. Future Agenda Items and Next Meeting Date – Next meeting is scheduled for April 13, 2022, at 4 pm.
IX. Adjournment – the meeting was adjourned at 5:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted by:
Ursula M. Garrison
Fair Secretary