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Home My WebLink About02. VEAC 04-10-18 Minutes FINALVail Economic Advisory Council April 10, 2018 - 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM MEETING MINUTES ______________________________________________________________ Packet Materials Link: https://bit.ly/2q64c5e VEAC Members Present: Rayla Kundolf, Mark Gordon, Matt Ivy, Kim Newbury-Rediker, Bob Boselli, Mike Ortiz, Jean Alexander, Alison Wadey, Travis Coggin, Mike Glass, Mike Lange Town of Vail Staff Present: Mia Vlaar, Economic Development Director, Laura Waniuk - Event Liaison Specialist, Kathleen Halloran – Finance Director, Greg Clifton – Town Manager, Greg Hall – Public Works Director Others Present: Financial Update, Kathleen Halloran (5 minutes) • Upon receipt of all sales tax returns, February collections are estimated to up 0.5% from last year and up 0.5% compared to budget. • Use Tax collections through March 28 total $197,618 compared to $147,967 from this time last year. The annual budget totals $1,975,900. • Pass sales from November through March 28 total $1,230,728 up 22.2% from prior winter season. The significant increase in pass sales was largely due to the purchase of blue passes by Vail Health due to loss of parking during construction. • RETT collections through March 28 total $1,036,110 down 14.2% from this time last year. The annual 2018 RETT budget totals $6.1 million. Destimetrics Reporting - Follow Up, Mia Vlaar, (5 minutes) There was some confusion around looking at reports as apples to apples with the additional of Talisa. Additional reports are in the packet for further review. ADR is still holding quite strong. July on the books is not showing a lot of early reservations yet. During the summer when there are a lot of sports tournaments, Vail is at almost 95% occupancy on the weekends. Ortiz suggested that maybe a Disney sporting tournament model, where there is a requirement for players to stay in specific hotels or a waiver is required. Wadey said that there are some issues with sports tournaments using the Summer Parking Update, Greg Hall (10 minutes) Parking task force looked into the summer parking program. Hall discussed the fact that there are many cars staying overnight, during events there are almost 600 cars in the garage VEAC Minutes April 10, 2018 overnight. All the employee parking passes will be enabled for the summer and value cards will be turned on and they will be charged a $25 fee. Pink passes did not get turned on because they don’t have access to the garage in the winter. Email went out to 1000 pass holders. Hall passed out an exempt lodging parking map. Imhoff mentioned that there are probably 800 overnight cars parked during GoPro Mountain Games. The consistent message is really important; the parking office is trying to get the message out early to lodges, etc. Wadey suggested putting an ad in the paper before the season ends so employees can understand what’s happening in the summer. There is lots of construction going on this summer, so the town is working on how to manage parking for construction workers, village workers and guests. Boselli asked about bussing people in from the outside and that’s been suggested by the town, but it’s hard to enforce. There’s a lot of positive messaging and encouragement out there around parking. Boselli said he applauds the task force for deciding on charging for overnight parking. Newbury-Rediker says that they tell guests to only bring one car. With regard to short term rentals, parking vouchers are available if the short term rental location is licensed by the town. Homework: Materials Distributed for Future Discussion Neighboring Businesses Report Form, (5 minutes) Vlaar requested for the members to bring back reports to the next meeting. Economic Development Plan (5 minutes) Vlaar asked for the group to review and make notes. The plan date is 2008 and it’s due for an update. Town Manager’s Report, Greg Clifton (10 minutes) • As you go through the strategic plan, look at the goals. One of the topics he called out was a “year round” economy. He would like to see a bigger picture approach; the summers are saving the town. Couple that with discussion of events and weddings. • Vail Health is one example of diversifying the economy. • Parking is very important and the revenue summary helped inform some of the decisions by the parking task force. • The demographic in the summer is different than the winter, they may not be staying overnight in hotels. • Met with CML contact and discussed the annual mid-week conference with 1000 people. They are going to go elsewhere, spreading out around the state. Clifton doesn’t know the exact reasoning. Vail will lose that and we will work to try to get it back. • Alexander said that FBLA will move to Denver in 2019 because it’s complex to have lodging in multiple hotels. • Vlaar stated that the topic of additional conference space needs to be raised again. She also said that Vail Resorts might want to look into mid-week promotions for the Front Range guest. • Vlaar stated that there is a retail plan being discussed by the VLMDAC to target the Front Range. VEAC Minutes April 10, 2018 • Ortiz said that the town should look at the Dobson Arena footprint for further development for conference space, etc. Imhoff said that Dobson Arena is great, but it costs significant investment to enhance the interior look. • Gordon said that there is a population on the other side of Dowd Junction that don’t enjoy coming into Vail. Gordon said he thinks they should feel comfortable coming into Vail. Gordon mentioned that there is a population in Cordillera that is a target market. • Clifton mentioned that there is an article regarding Whistler and there is some overlap with the discussion about Vail and down valley. • Ortiz mentioned converting fields to artificial turf and extending the season; it would save water and be more environmentally friendly. It would also offer the potential for additional tournaments. • Newbury-Rediker mentioned that there are a lot of non-profits who ask for significantly reduced rates. • Vlaar said she would like to see more effort put into drawing down valley population into Vail. Boselli mentioned that the Vail Farmers’ Market is a successful example of bringing people into Vail. • Kundolf asked about the licenses for Short Term Rentals and have they been increasing. Kathleen said that there will be a targeted effort to get more people licensed. There are about 600 licenses right now and about 2500 listings. • Coggin mentioned that an emphasis on big picture thinking with regard to working with Vail Mountain. There is a challenge for Vail Mountain to differentiate itself from the competitors. There is a time now for a strong branded message about how we are providing a better experience. What is the co-branded message? Why do people come to Vail? • Kundolf mentioned that Vail has very little nightlife and that is a topic to consider for guest engagement. We have great restaurants and rooms, but we don’t have nightlife. • Boselli stated that he thinks Vail is ahead of other resorts and it’s time to take it up a notch. • Imhoff discussed updating Gerald R Ford Amphitheatre and the approach to the work on the roof and future technology in terms of lessening environmental impact and energy usage. He spoke about the new digital screen – 22’ x 9.5’ which will be installed early May. The goal is to enhance experience and keeping the GRFA venue as a premium venue. • Clifton mentioned that the new Housing Department has been created and there were lots of great candidates. George Ruther is now the head of the new Housing Department. Now there is another vacancy to fill. That recruitment will span 3-5 months. Citizen Input (5 minutes) NA Other Business (5 minutes) • There are a few groups coming into town in April. Vlaar and Wadey to work together for business notifications of group business to merchants. • Boselli said his retail was strong in March, up around 10%. VEAC Minutes April 10, 2018 • Vlaar asked Imhoff to speak to the Colorado Classic in general terms. Imhoff said that there has never been an event that will lockdown the town as much as this one. The town will mostly likely be closed down from 9am-2:30pm. Clifton said that there is not much room for error in terms of opening the town for exits and entrances. Vlaar stated that there is a lot of information on the Colorado Classic website. • Gordon just finished a deal where the property was purchased with a deed restriction. The process was really smooth and now 2 new bedrooms were added to the program. • Imhoff asked about the additional buildings in the Hotel Talisa and Gordon stated that there is a group from Mexico who would like to tear down the buildings and build a theatre with a small number of seats. Gordon specified that it’s just the CMC building and some of the condos to the west side. • Vlaar discussed the new grocery store opening in Treetops, opening date TBD, but will add a great location for guests. • With regards to Ever Vail, there will be a discussion with the town council and a precursor to decision-making and timeline. The discussion will be held May 1. Citizen Input N/A Adjournment Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 8, Vail Town Council Chambers – 8:00am VEAC Minutes April 10, 2018