Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

which is a sister that lives there. And then Gothenburg, we also went to Normandy, France. Got to see a couple of cities there, Duval and Rouen and Mont Saint-Michel, which is the castle type island out in the ocean.

So that was the big stuff that we did this year. That's a beautiful area.

Yeah. They had a World War II jeep driving down the street in one of the little small towns for the reenactment stuff in the museums. That's pretty cool.

There's a serve, I can't remember the town, but in this little town there were four American soldiers that took the town and they died. A more than four of them, but they were joined by the villagers from around the center. And they petitioned the United States Army to protect them there in the city. And they're honored every single year.

They're very serious.

The little small town of Iter in Belgium is where

World War I lines were fought. And every night they have a moment of silence for the fallen soldiers of all the wars. They have a tunnel in the city wall with all the names inscribed of all the fallen soldiers throughout all the wars that have been fought there.

But they do every single night, they do a moment of silence and acknowledgement for them. at American Cemetery at Normandy. They're still adding names.

Yeah.

They remember. All right, well.

It's now after 6 o'clock, so I'll go ahead and get started.

I'll be able to record and share with you guys in a moment. Shouldn't it say that Neil are now recording? I'm sure.

I see an OK button up there.

A really bad Zoom sitcom.

I know, right? No, no, no, no. It's the Brady Bunch. There we go. The Brady Bunch or what is that, Hollywood Squares?

Yeah, I was thinking about it.

All right. Well, welcome, everyone, to the Culture and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board meeting for September 17, 2026. Let me go ahead and see if I can share my screen and share the agenda with the folks out online. Go ahead and do a roll call.

So chair Carly Wright.

Vice chair Anton Cobb. Member Roger Williams. Christy Reed is absent today. Member Melissa O'Shea. Is Moses Keener online with us today? And then Teresa Scott. Yeah, just walk in. So it's one, two, three, four, five. Five of seven. All right.

Check your email.

If I can check my email. Let's see if I can check my email.

Okay.

Got it.

Five of six.

Got it.

OK. Thank you. No, we still have seven. Oh. Because we added. Oh, and Christy. Well, we still have openings, though.

Correct. Yes.

We still have two. Yes. Vacancies. Yes. Two vacancies.

Still two vacancies. Yep.

OK. We call for the approval of the agenda by anyone Second? Yes. If I say, can we approve the attendance? I second. All in favor? Aye. In our typical year, we are currently at our September meeting, which is where we basically look at what is going to be the manual and application that will go up for the meetings next month, which are the mandatory grant attending meetings. Applications are due November 16th, mid-November. All that will be confirmed. And then we get the fund, and all that. All the other information, which It's online. You can read it online. So, approval of the minutes from June 18th and 30th. Do I have anyone to call for approval? Do I have a second? Anton, my first. Do I have a second?

I'll be second today. I'll be second. Melissa is second.

Do we have any discussion on this? Any changes or anything before this? If none, then I will call for the vote. Can we approve the minutes? All in favor? Aye. So motion passed. Public comments of those wishing to address anything that does not appear on the agenda?

Any comments on mine?

This one, I can ask a question.

Not on the agenda. Is it not on the agenda?

No, it's not on the agenda. Ask a question.

Yeah.

So I read the book today and it said there was a goal, like a mission for the group this year. And I wasn't sure where I could read to find that information out. So like, what are your objectives this year for tourism?

Um, in general, uh, there's three main goals that the board has. Um, one is for increasing the number of, uh, room nights in general. Um, the second one is for, uh, increasing the economic impact to the downtown area. And then the third one is for, um, improving the quality of life for Salem residents.

Yep. Okay.

So as you go through the grant applications and reviewing what kind of events to put on, you have scoring criteria based on how they impact those three categories.

What did you say first?

Increasing the number of room nights. So the number of people staying overnight at our hotels and motels, because that generates the transient occupancy tax collections. So that makes it all possible for all these events to be funded.

Um, that we've got our items requiring action. You'll see in the packet, we've got the final grant application. Oh, that's our final grant application manual and close that report. So this is what will be available to people after the October meeting. Um, you guys were all talking. So hopefully, hopefully this is not a surprise to see because we've looked at these before. Only major change. Well, changes will be for the ones that are either in red highlighted are the changes that were made.

Yeah, correct.

In general, there were no real changes to this year's from one year to the next. We're going into the second year of applications that will have the requirement for spending 25% of their top grant funding on marketing and also the funding based on the number of anticipated attendance for the various events that apply. This will be the second go around for that.

because she's not here and I'm not gonna speak on her behalf, but I know something that I wanna say was a concern of hers, that something that she had brought up previously as she's our kind of hotel representative was ensuring that when we do the meetings in October, that information is talked about the importance of connecting with hoteliers, because there's no charge to reach out first for any of the events or organizations to reach out to a hotelier and say, hey, deal or partner, like having a, you know, you can set aside a block so that people call and they're like, oh yeah, I'm with this event. You know, then that's one way that the events can show they've worked with hotels and that they can actually credit saying like, oh yeah, we said there was gonna be, you know, 5% or 2% or 1% coming in from out of town and look, we can show we had, you know, five people stay at hotels or whatever.

Do we have like a question on there saying like, are you partnered with Pacific Hotel or SunTel?

We don't, and that was one of the things that she wanted to see something like that included. Of course, in the summer, we didn't do any revisions to our application last year. Not that our revisions were big, but since we changed the attendance requirements, This year, we didn't make any changes, but that was something that she did. Yeah, she wants to get a parking lot for us to consider for future. That's why I'm saying it. So it's on the record so that Chris, when he does his information sessions.

Was there a motion and a second and approval?

Look at that. They'll get that idea. They might not even be someone and they'll look at the question and be like, ooh, that's a good idea. I should. So it'll like spark.

Trigger.

Do you want me to do? Do you want me to motion that we make Kristen do something?

Yes, be very specific. Okay.

About partnering with hoteliers in the info sessions, potentially as a printed out sheet.

Well, there's. This is what Christie had provided. It's on the very last two pages of your thick application or thick agenda packet. Very last two pages. So it's easy to find. The actual last manual. Correct.

Perfect.

So that is what Christy had provided early on in May when I needed to be reminded where it was at and I found it. So I included it in at the very end. If this is agreeable to everybody, I can include this as a informational packet with the, either in the grant manual or as a supplemental information packet for the orientation meetings in October.

Yeah, definitely want to see this included. Okay. I motion that we include this, whether it goes to the grant manual or as an addition, it should just be included somehow.

Let's go ahead and let's go ahead and do it for the orientation meetings in October.

Your YouTube channel is playing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Brett KenCairn, So my recommendation staff recommendation would be to have it as a supplemental information packet to the to the manual and be handed out at the orientation. Brett KenCairn, For possible discussion, maybe because you can show up and speak to it better.

Christie Lassen- include the partner with your partner your event with the hotel. Added the manual language. Exactly. Thanks.

All 30. We have any discussion.

We will request if Christy is available that she could be there otherwise.

She can help guide the discussion around it.

All in favor. Aye. Aye.

Moses is here. Do you want to vote? A or nay? Moses is here.

Hey, can you hear me?

Yes.

Hey, how's it going? Sorry. Yes, I vote in favor as well.

I'm out sick today.

Sorry about that. Thanks for joining us.

Absolutely.

Yeah, so basically everything else is the same. That'll be good. We have nothing else on the manual and applications. Our next thing is the orientation announcement. Did you include the announcement in there?

The press release, yes. I'm going to do a couple different things all at the same time.

Can I help you? Kara's in now.

Kara's in now.

Sorry, Kara. Thank you for letting me know. No, you're good. Thank you.

Let's see. Back to the press release. There's already a line that goes, woo! So did we, was there a motion to approve the applications and the manual and applications for this next year?

This whole packet that we just received. Yeah. But basically the grant manual, the grant applications and then the closeout reports like the forms. So we need a motion to approve those.

So all the paperwork the applicants deal with. Yeah.

And you guys can see on the backside.

But I have a motion to approve. I have a second from Terry. Any discussion? With that, I'll call for votes. All in favor of accepting the motion, say aye. Aye. Aye.

Hi. Six of seven. All right.

Okay. Now on to orientation announcement. The public notice. The press release has been your packet. Password, follow the application.

Page 73, I think it is. in the packet. So here's what the press release looks like. It's been revamped a little bit. We have a new public information office staff and stuff. So they streamlined it a little bit more. The days for the orientation are proposed to be Tuesday, October 13th from 2 to 4 p.m. in the collaboration room, which is right across the hall here in the library. And then Thursday night, two days later, Thursday night, October 15th from 6 to 8 p.m. for those that can't make it to the first meeting on the 13th. So.

And ask a question? Yes.

Sure.

Okay. So attending one.

One. Yes. You only have to attend one.

And they are both hybrid, so you can attend remote or in person. Okay. The collaboration station is right by the doors over there, right?

We like to see people in person, but you can Zoom in. And are the board members expecting you to come to both?

No.

If you can, great. If not, that's fine. It'd be nice if you could sit in on one so you can hear what the applicants are told in case you have questions. I mean, I know you're familiar with the applicant application on the applicant side. But yeah, so like if you have questions, but you can also hear, you know, what Chris tells them so that if we have questions for Chris.

Chris, you didn't say that.

Yeah.

Or wait a second, I remember Chris had told you guys. But there's also, there may be questions that somebody new might have.

And you'd be on the flip side of it.

You get to play both sides and say, hey, I remember when I was in the same situation. This is what I learned from doing this. Or you're putting on your hat as the board member and saying, hey, this is what I'm looking for when I'm reviewing the applications type thing. So sometimes that helps some of the organizations understand how to answer some of the questions. So that's the main. There's twofold. One is that way new people get to find out who you are as the board member. And then two, also what you're looking for when they're doing their application, when they're writing. So it helps out. And if you're a new board member, then it also helps you learn what's being shared and what's not being shared.

Right. With that, I'm going to call for a motion to have Chris send this out to our list.

To release the press release?

I've got a motion from someone. Release the baby. Go on. I have a second. Well, it's a second. Any discussion? With that, I will call for the vote. All in favor, say aye. Aye.

Aye. Moses, are you voting?

Not here. We'll take five. Five, seven.

Okay, we'll take five. Oh, pass.

Still pass.

All right.

No fund report?

Not at this time.

We're kind of in the interesting cycle of the year. So the fiscal year for fiscal year 2026, which runs July 1st, 25 through June 30th, 26 is officially closed, but we haven't had the city's auditors complete the books to finalize it and say, yep, that's the final outcome of the funds for the cultural insurance fund. Um, And then normally at this point in time too, there's only been two months worth of data that's been reported. So it doesn't hold a lot of value. It doesn't have a lot of value right now. And, you know, second is staff is.

It's okay. You're allowed to take vacation.

Yes, I did take a vacation. So staff hasn't had the time to coordinate all that.

Then we look forward to the fund report next week.

until november i don't know you want to meet november so typically what happens is we don't have an october meeting because the orientations replace the uh the october meeting yeah um so that's why we encourage board members to show up to one of the orientations And then the applications are due about the same time as, as the next top board meeting is going to be within a few days. And there won't be any, there won't be a turnaround time for, for review for the application being written for you to review.

For us to be doing in November. So December is the.

So December would be the next opportunity.

Okay. Well, then I look forward to it in December.

Good, good.

We've got a few months left. There'll be a lot of data to show. Our next few things are we have grant reports for facility operators and events and capital improvements. And I'm going to let you all read those at your leisure, which will bring us to our roundtable discussion. That means anyone around here can Share a couple minutes if they'd like to.

Did anybody have questions about the application or the reports that were submitted? They're good sources for knowing, you know, they're supposed to report how many attendees they had for each of their events.

I do recommend reading them.

So that can be helpful for when you get the applications. I remember you reported 500 attendees and you're saying we're going to get, you know, 2,000, you know, so.

knowing how their past experience is helpful and past experience in the like reading through what their reports are as opposed to a. People that. would.

Yeah.

Yeah, because for some of them, I mean, we do ask in the application, like, and they received a TOT from us before.

Those questions are in the application.

Sorry to rush it all. Now, may I ask if there's any interested citizens?

Okay, with that,

Does anyone like to say anything?

Such as you.

You get to go, John. It's your turn.

Well, this is my last TOT meeting. I stepped down as director of the Howard Fort News Department on September 4th, so I'm in my official capacity as a quote-unquote consultant. But Yeah, my last day, I'm separating from William on September 30th. And last Thursday, I think, Shindig, the O.M. gave a lecture on history of the Halley Fort Museum of Art. We had a reception. It's supposed to be 200 people. Yeah, nice.

I heard it was really well attended and everyone that I've heard from was very excited too. There's so much that you shared that they didn't know about Hallie Ford and about the impact and your time there. So it was exciting to hear from other people just learning. It was exciting.

So I have copies of her book for everybody still. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, John.

There are eight.

Seven members. Seven members. Kelly?

I'll let you distribute those. Thank you, John. Those are beautiful. Yeah.

I've been working with you guys over the past almost 28 years. Because I remember when we first started applying, we were project grants and then three or four or five years into it somebody said why don't you apply as a facility operator and so at that point we um we switched and started applying as a facility operator at least 20 years i think it was barbara roberts or robertson who was the original chris but um It's been great. Your support has been just absolutely invaluable. And it's really allowed the museum to promote and market itself not only locally, but regionally and nationally. I think what we've seen as a result of that is increased attendance from outside of Salem and the Atlantic Valley. being a lot of people in from Portland, up from Eugene, some of our bigger exhibitions, people from around the nation and the world. So it's been really exciting. So hopefully we, I think last year we, you know, conservatively estimated that we had an economic impact of about two and a half million dollars, which, you know, Those numbers are always really hard to calculate, but conservatively, I think, you know, at least . So I really enjoyed working with everybody here. And my successor is Jonathan Bucci. Jonathan was my curator for 20 years, and we will have it often not to do a national a great job. I'm going to make sure that either he or Aaron Boers, who's with the grant officer, will be coming. Thanks, everybody, for everything that you do. And commissioners, I know how much time you spend reading grants. And oh, my God. I'm sorry.

Well, thank you, John. It's been a pleasure. The impact, what you've done at Hallie Ford is incredible, and Salem is really lucky to have such a gem of a museum here. Yeah, it's overlooked. So I'm glad it is truly one of the things that TOT aims for, you know, losing $2,000 to promote just that, like what we have here culturally in Alleyford. It's definitely very important to say only.

I'll be around, so I'm not going anywhere.

We do have openings on the TOT. So just submit your application.

We'll get to it eventually. What's happening?

What's happening at the Elsinore? Okay, I'm going to stand up. I am excited about this. So last two years, the capital campaign was all about the architectural restoration and getting the building back to where it really originally was in 1926. Beautiful job. And now we are focusing on the internal construction side and starting with a focus on getting new seats. So we have, we're going to remove them completely. We've redesigned the original seat, but with a modern size and a modern comfort so that our because patrons can come and enjoy and leave with their, but not for you. So anyhow, that's pretty exciting. And I'll be fundraising where my goal is 1.8 million. And that really truly includes all of the chairs and then getting a new sound system in. So just as you know, and as you're buying tickets or if you want to donate this year, that's where the money's going. And it's really exciting. It's going to be beautiful. If you want to know a secret,

The seats aren't going to be.

But anyhow, yeah, just pass along the word when you're talking with your friends. That we're doing that. And then October 15th is why I'll be here on the 13th. I'm having a fundraiser, which is a Texas Hold'em tournament. And I'm really excited. I'm hoping for 90 people to turn out. There'll be nine tables. And that all of that money will go towards the seating. And then the winners will receive tickets. their own legacy seat where you can leave a brass plaque with your name or whoever you want to dedicate it to. And that's also what's for purchase during the fundraiser.

So anyhow, keep your ears open.

Eyes peeled. And thank you for all your support and excellent work over the last however many years we are very lucky. Yes. We do have folks online.

Lisa, do you hear? What's happening at the Festival of Corral?

What is happening? Well, we just started our rehearsals for this new season. And as you might know, Dr. Sylvie Holmquist, who's been the director of the Festival Chorale for 48 years, she was the founding director. This is her last season with the chorale. So we have some exciting concerts planned. We'll be in the Elsinore. Thank you very much, Elsinore. in november and um then we'll have our final concert in um april or late may i'm not i think may first part of may and then we're going to have a gala celebration to celebrate her retirement um but we we had um over a hundred singers show up um so far for the season. So it's going to be a big year for us, singer-wise and performance-wise. It's going to be very memorable. I'm very much looking forward to it. So that's what's happening with us.

Awesome. Thank you.

Josie Hummert, Willamette Arts Center.

Hold on just a second. I'm going to close my door. sorry um hi everybody hello um my first top meeting um we have a lot of stuff coming up we have we're doing um our family clay uh in october again we've skipped skipped a couple of months because of school and kids and summer and all that good stuff so october we're starting that again and we will be um we're working towards our empty bowls fundraiser, which is November 21st. And we would love to see you all there on that Saturday. It's going to be here at our new facility. And we've got so far as of the count of this weekend, we have 1100 pieces to sell. So we're excited about that. That's a, About we're we're couple hundred shy of what we normally have, but we've got a whole month and a half to get the rest of those pieces done so pretty excited about that and excited to welcome the Community into our facility. and let them see that if they haven't been in before on that. So come do that. And then we are getting ready to do our next term of eight week classes. And we are doing a lot of different type of art classes and workshops this term and over the course of the next three months. So we're excited about bringing in other art mediums besides pottery. and are hoping to attract some additional people to come in. Awesome.

Thank you. Thank you. Just a reminder, as your events are taking place throughout the year, please send me an email with your flyers or posters or whatever. The city of Salem now has a pretty good... All those... email newsletter, you know, information, information and social media content staff. To be able to help post those and share those on the city's site and social media channels. So as those take place, please feel free to email me as they're coming up. Next up would be Jane Downing from Quiltopia.

Good evening, everyone. With Quiltopia, we are in full force gearing up for our November 6th and 7th event at the Willamette Heritage Center. And we have been advertising in several local, regional, and Northwest publications, and we've distributed posters everywhere. all throughout Oregon and flyers for folks. And we're focusing on bringing people from out of the area to the event and promoting our partnerships with the Grand Hotel and other businesses. So we're really hoping that attendees before and after coming to our event will frequent those local businesses. So we're getting ready and we hope that you all will attend in November.

Thank you. Jane, you're one of the people that I know has worked with the hotelier, with the Grand. Is there anything you want to say about that to other people as they put an event together?

Well, I will just say that it's been incredible. So easy to work with and so enthusiastic. They post it way in advance, so they're letting people know that are coming in even before our event. that this is coming up and encouraging them to come that partnership is also providing some discounts for people that are coming in and and spending the night um christie's just been incredible to work with and i would encourage anyone who is just even thinking about it to just reach out and see what's available and what partnerships you can form. It's been really exciting for us. And working with Travel Salem has been incredible. They've been so helpful to me because I was really new at all of this. And so, yeah, I just say ask for help and ask lots of questions. They're great. Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you. So, yeah, Elizabeth, what do you put? What's happening over at Deepwood?

I think she said she might be stepping in and out.

She might be in and out.

Are you in, Elizabeth, at Deepwood? We'll give you a sec.

I was like, they have their trick-or-treat from 3 to 6 on the 31st. I also know they're doing their boutique. and candlelight tours in october i want to say on this yeah well they they're kind of like their boutique their there we go there we go sorry my video and my audio wasn't working and i had to go into settings and i was like work oh everybody sorry about that

So we've got several events coming up, particularly in October. I've got a flyer right here for we're doing a pop-up boutique. Friday is October 2nd and 16th. It'll be in the evening in our solarium off of the front porch of the Victorian Home from 5 to 8.30. And so that'll be really cool. People can come not only get, like, regular gift shop things, but we've got people making, like, really cute, like, spooky accessories, like... crocheting, like, hats with ghosts and all sorts of fun things to get you guys in the spirit for Halloween. And then we're also working on our big trick-or-treating event that's going to be on Halloween from 3 to 6. And not only can people come and get... candy and cookies, but there will also be a chance to check out the first floor of the Victorian home for a free self-guided tour. We'll have the solarium all decorated so that people can get family pictures or just pictures of themselves. And then there will be out on the property lawn games for people to enjoy as well as volunteers, sharing stories like storytelling like cute um halloween books and things and then we're going to have later this month yoga in the gardens um it's a free um donations are welcome um it's on sunday the 27th of september from 10 to 11 it'll be on the front lawn and then later that day we're also hosting a necklace making workshop too

Awesome. Make sure you get those flyers out to me and we'll forward those on to Christy over at the Grand Hotel. And we'll put them in the City of Salem's promotions and social media links.

Okay. Awesome. Thank you.

And Kira, travel Salem. And get them over to Travel Salem, too.

Okay, perfect.

Yes, I was going to echo that to anyone who has flyers. We would love to have them. We'll put them up our visitor center. And of course, on TravelSalem.com, you can enter all of your events. We try to scour for events, but we don't necessarily see them all. So if you send them to us directly, then we will make sure they're on the event calendar. And then I would just share with the group that we are doing our annual tourism summit and awards this year on November 4th at the Salem Convention Center. It'll be all day, basically from 8.30 to 4.30 p.m. And so we'll have keynote speaker, breakouts, and then, of course, our awards, our MOPO Awards, Most Oregon Part of Oregon Awards. So I do have a flyer for that. um i can share that with kristen if you want to send it out feel free but it did also just go out um to everyone our industry newsletter list but people may not all be on that so i'll send that over um yeah and that's that's what we have going but yeah please it's event season so please send us your events too so that we can get those on our calendar we push that out via social and um different all of our different channels so that's it thank you yeah

I was going to add that I've been to the summit three times. It's a great event. It's very educational. Lots of fun things going on, learning. Awesome.

Thank you.

Yeah. Moses, if you would. Moses, do you have anything you would like to share?

Hey, sorry. Not a whole lot. I've been sick, but yeah. Hope you guys have had such a great summer and it's nice to have some good weather for a few more days after the rain we had.

Well, thanks. Yeah, no problem. Yes, Melissa.

So I curated a show at the Bushburn Art Center, which is happening right now. It's up till the end of September. And so the first art Friday was September 4th. There was like a big opening for it. And the people there were saying like, this is the most people we've seen in a long time come, which was really cool. It was a packed house and there was multiple exhibitions that were opening at the same time. But yeah, I curated the show in the annex, so just up and two pieces of sold already. And yeah, just very cool. So go see it. End of September is when it ends. So it's open for, and what did you say it was at? At the Bush Barn Art Center. So yeah, they have new exhibitions in each of their little galleries and stuff. So there was like a little talk and yeah, their little openings are really fun.

Thank you. Overview of the highlights of the dates for, you know, when it opens, when it closes.

So just a reminder for everyone for the next cycle for the TOT grants. They said the orientations will be on Tuesday, October 13th from 2 to 4. If you can't make that Tuesday, October 13th meeting, there is going to be another one on the Thursday that same week, October 15th from 6 to 8 p.m. Both of them will be hybrid, so you can be in person here at the collaboration studio here in the library or online via Zoom. And after those orientations have been completed, the grant applications will be available online. And from there, they'll be due November 16th, should be a Monday, about 30 days later. So then we'll start the whole cycle for getting them ready for the December meeting where the facility operator grants are usually reviewed along with any of the associated events and capital improvement projects with those nine facility operators. And then the rest of the events will be split between January and February and scores will be due to leave after the February meeting or the March meeting, which will then be reveal of all the passing scores and funding levels and getting ready to approve the next budget cycle for July 1st. It's kind of an overview of the next cycle.

Remember that one or the other meeting is mandatory to apply for a grant. So if you know of someone that wants to get into the cycle, make sure you spread the word.

Yep. They are mandatory orientations.

Do we need to RSVP for the meetings? No.

No, you don't have to.

Okay.

Anything else to think of?

we have any other business or parking lot items for future discussion no you moved the one over to the that'd be disgusting so you mean our parking lot's empty there's room what are you talking about no no well there's a difference between being empty like there's absolutely nothing in there or there's like things for future

The one thing that I had was the how to work with the hoteliers. Okay. So that was the only parking lot I had. Okay. Since we moved that into the orientation process. Great. Let's have to wait until next April.

Anything else, anyone? Oh, no one has anything else. Then I'm going to call this meeting to an end.

All right. Thanks, everyone.