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I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS AUGUST 3RD BOARD OF SUPERVISORS WORK SESSION TO ORDER MADAM CLERK.
WOULD YOU CALL THE ROLL PLEASE? MR. ZAREMBA, MRS. NOLE, MR. GREEN HERE, MR. RON, MR. SHEPHERD, MR. CHAIRMAN, YOU HAVE A QUORUM, RIGHT? THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I'M GOING TO DEVIATE FROM THE AGENDA ORDER RIGHT NOW, AND WE'RE GOING TO DO THE
[CONSENT CALENDAR]
CONSENT CALENDAR.UH, AND WE HAVE TWO ITEMS ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM TWO, THE PURCHASE OF FIRE RESCUE APPARATUS, REPLACEMENT, AND RECOGNITION OF THE EFFORTS OF THE FEMA TEAM, AND LIKE TO CALL OUR FIRE CHIEF CHIEF, IF YOU COULD COME UP AND JUST ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE FIRE APPARATUS AND YOU CAN FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON THE WORK THE TEAM DID IN FLORIDA.
THANKS, MR. CHAIRMAN MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, UH, TONIGHT'S REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION IS PROCURE REPLACEMENT, FIRE AND RESCUE APPARATUS.
THAT'S EXCEEDED ITS USEFUL LIFE.
AS MANY OF YOU ALL RECALL A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, UH, PROBABLY 25 YEARS AGO.
UH, WE ESTABLISHED A, UH, ROUTINE REPLACEMENT PLAN FOR FIRE RESCUE APPARATUS THAT REACHES OR EXCEEDS ITS USEFUL LIFE.
AND, UH, THIS, THIS PLAN HAS SERVED US WELL.
IT KEEPS OUR FIRE AND RESCUE APPARATUS IN A RELIABLE FASHION.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT'S CRITICAL TO OUR OPERATIONS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE UNITS THAT BREAK DOWN DURING AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
AND WE HAVE UNITS THAT, UH, THAT MAINTAIN OPERATIONS WHEN WE HAVE FIREFIGHTERS ON THE OTHER END OF THE HOSE LINE OPERATING INSIDE OF BUILDINGS.
SO, UH, THAT'S PURELY WHAT THIS ACTION IS ALL ABOUT IS JUST, IT'S NOT ADDITIONAL UNITS.
IT'S JUST REPLACING, UH, FIRE RESCUE APPARATUS, UH, TO MAINTAIN A RELIABLE FLEET, UH, WITH REGARDS TO THE VIRGINIA TASK FORCE TO RESOLUTION, AS YOU ALL KNOW, AND AS A COMMENT AT THE LAST MEETING, WE HAD THREE MEMBERS OF OUR DEPARTMENT THAT DEPLOYED TO SURFSIDE FLORIDA IN JULY TO DEAL WITH THE, UH, UH, UNIMAGINABLE, UH, COLLAPSE OF THE STRUCTURE THAT OCCURRED THERE.
UH, THAT WAS PART, THEY ARE PART OF THE, WHAT'S KNOWN AS THE VIRGINIA TASK FORCE TWO, WHICH IS A FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, UH, URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM.
AND, UH, IT WAS 80 MEMBER TASK FORCE THAT WENT DOWN THERE FROM VIRGINIA BEACH, ALONG WITH OTHER TASK FORCES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY, UH, THAT, UH, ATTEMPTED TO RECOVER THE REMAINS OF THE UNFORTUNATE VICTIMS OF THAT COLLAPSE.
AND WE'RE CERTAINLY PROUD OF THE THREE FOLKS THAT WE'RE RECOGNIZING TONIGHT.
UH, CAPTAIN ROBERT CUDDLY, CAPTAIN REGGIE RIVERA, AND CAPTAIN JUSTIN WOOD DUKE, AND HE SERVED WELL AND HONORABLY IN THAT DEPLOYMENT.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE CHIEF MISNOMER? UH, CHIEF? I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY HATS OFF TO ALL YOUR GENTLEMEN AND WOMEN THAT WENT DOWN TO FLORIDA.
IT MUST'VE BEEN A DEVASTATING EXPERIENCE FOR THEM.
IT'S A VERY SAD TIME FOR EVERYBODY, BUT I'M SO GLAD THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO STEP UP AND DO THE JOB THAT THEY DO.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND THANK THEM VERY MUCH FOR THEIR COMPASSION.
YEAH, I CAN'T BEAT MS. KNOWLES COMMENTS.
UM, WE'VE BEEN PROUD OF THAT FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR ALL 26 YEARS THAT WE BOTH PUT ON THIS BOARD AND YOU JUST MAINTAIN INCREDIBLE BUNCH OF MEN AND WOMEN.
I DO HAVE A QUESTION ON THE APPARATUS.
UH, ALWAYS IT MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE RED HEAD, BUT IF IT WAS, I MISSED IT, WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE OLD? SO, UH, IN SOME CASES THEY GET, UH, THEIR STATUS GETS CHANGED TO A RESERVE STATUS AND THEY FILL IT IN BACK UP ROLES IN THIS, IN THE CASE HERE, UH, THERE'LL BE TRADED IN, UH, TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY'LL RECYCLE IT OR, OR IT GETS DISPOSED OF APPROPRIATELY THROUGH EITHER THE DEALERSHIP OR THROUGH SURPLUS.
YEAH, JUST WANT TO ALSO SAY ABOUT THE TASK FORCE GOING DOWN THERE.
IT'S REALLY APPRECIATIVE OF ME TO SEE ARE YOUR TEAM GOING DOWN TO PARTICIPATE IN THOSE RESCUE RECOVERY EFFORTS THAT YOUR COUNTY IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF, THEY WANT TO CALL ON YOUR FOLKS TO COME AND PARTICIPATE.
THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOUR TEAM.
UM, GOING BACK TO THE NEW APPARATUS, UM, WHAT'S THE SCHEDULED A REPLACEMENT FOR, FOR EQUIPMENT LIKE THIS AND WHAT'S THE LIFESPAN TYPICALLY IT'S, IT'S USUALLY 10 YEARS FRONT LINE AND IN FIVE YEARS RESERVED.
UH, AND, AND, AND SO THAT'S THE TYPICAL LIFESPAN.
SOMETIMES WE EAT 20 YEARS OUT OF THEM.
IT DEPENDS ON PARTS AVAILABILITY AND MAINTENANCE COSTS AND, YOU KNOW, WHETHER YOU CAN REALLY RELY UPON THEM IN THE COUNTY VEHICLE, UH, MAINTENANCE SHOP TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT ALL THE APPARATUS TO ENSURE THAT WE'VE GOT A RELIABLE FLEET.
AND THEY'RE PART OF THE PROCESS TO DETERMINE WHEN EQUIPMENT IS REPLACED.
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10 YEARS OUT OF THIS NEW VEHICLE.MOST LIKELY IT'LL PROBABLY BE CLOSER TO 15.
THANK YOU, MR. SHEPHERD, CHIEF, THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM THAT YOU REFERRED TO, UH, IN VIRGINIA SAYS IT CONSISTS OF ABOUT 80 FIREFIGHTERS AND EMS PERSONNEL.
THE VIRGINIA TASK FORCE TWO IS ONE OF TWO FEMA URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS IN VIRGINIA.
UH, ONE OPERATES OUT OF THE FAIRFAX AREA AND THEN THE OTHER OPERATES OUT OF VIRGINIA BEACH AND IT'S REGIONAL MADE UP OF FOLKS FROM ACROSS THE HAMPTON ROADS REGION WITHIN YOUR BEACH TEAM IS, UH, AND IT CONSISTS OF FIREFIGHTERS THAT ARE RESCUE SPECIALISTS, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, RESPONSE SPECIALISTS, UH, DOG HANDLERS, UH, AND OBVIOUSLY THE CANINES, UH, ENGINEERS, UH, VEHICLE OPERATORS AND, UH, A WHOLE HOST OF VERY TALENTED FOLKS FROM ACROSS HAMPTON ROADS.
MOST OF WHICH ARE MEMBERS OF FIRE AND RESCUE AGENCIES IN HAMPTON ROADS.
SO IN THE THREE INDIVIDUALS THAT, UH, WERE PART OF YOUR FIRE DEPARTMENT HERE, THEY DO THEY VOLUNTEER FOR THESE ASSIGNMENTS, OR HOW DID THEY GET SELECTED FOR THE ASSIGNMENT? SO IT'S TO GET ON THE TEAM.
AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PERSONNEL THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO THE TEAM IS I THINK THE NUMBER IS CLOSER, CLOSE TO ABOUT 250, AND THEY DEVELOP A ROSTER EVERY MONTH AND THEY IDENTIFY, YOU KNOW, FOLKS THAT'LL BE ON THAT, BE ROSTERED UP, UH, IN OUR CASE.
AND IN MOST CASES ACROSS, UH, HAMPTON ROADS, THE DEPARTMENTS SUBMIT NAMES OF INTERESTED PERSONNEL THAT HAVE INDICATED THAT THEY WANT TO BE PART OF THE TEAM.
IT'S VERY COMPETITIVE FOR THEM TO GET ON THE TEAM.
THEY GET INTERVIEWED BY TEAM LEADERSHIP, AND THEN THEY'RE SELECTED TO BE ON THE TEAM.
IN OUR CASE, WE HAVE, I BELIEVE IT'S 11 PERSONNEL, UH, WHICH IS A VERY HIGH NUMBER FOR OUR DEPARTMENT, OUR SIZE TO BE ON THAT TEAM.
UH, AND OF COURSE IN THIS CASE, THREE OF OUR 11 PERSONNEL WERE DEPLOYED ON, ON THIS, UH, INCIDENT.
NOW, DID THEY HAVE, UH, SPECIALTIES, UH, THAT, THAT WERE SELECTED FOR THIS PARTICULAR RESCUE THAT ARE NOT NECESSARILY ALL ACROSS THE BOARD? SO THEY, THE TEAM IS MADE UP OF, OF THE VARIETY OF SPECIALTIES.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, UH, THEY'LL TAKE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF RESCUE SPECIALISTS WITH THEM, CERTAIN NUMBER OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, TRAIN PERSONNEL, SO FORTH, SO ON.
UH, AND THE 80 PERSON TEAM THAT GETS DEPLOYED IS MADE UP OF WHATEVER THAT MAKEUP IS ON.
UH, AND IN THIS CASE, I BELIEVE TWO OF THE FOLKS WERE DESIGNATED AS RESCUE SPECIALISTS.
AND ONE WAS A HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPECIALIST FROM OUR DEPARTMENT.
UM, HOWEVER, UH, IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR THEM TO BE CROSS UTILIZED IN OTHER ROLES, UH, WHEN THEY DEPLOY.
SO WHEN THEY WENT DOWN THERE, DID THEY WENT, THEY WENT DOWN THERE AS, AS A RESCUE TEAM, BUT ENDED UP AS A, BASICALLY A RECOVERY.
HM, WELL, AND THEY, THEY KNEW THAT THAT WAS GOING TO BE A REALLY A LARGE PORTION OF WHAT THEY WOULD BE DOING.
THEY ANTICIPATED THAT, BUT YOU KNOW, THE TEAM FEMA TEAM FROM THIS AREA HAS DEPLOYED ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
IN FACT, UH, YOU MAY RE RECALL THAT HAITI EARTHQUAKE AND THIS TEAM WENT DOWN THERE AND THEY THEY'VE RESCUED AFTER A NUMBER OF DAYS, A LITTLE BOY NAMED KIKI.
AND, UH, OUR FOLKS WERE RIGHT THERE WHEN KIKI WAS, UH, PULLED OUT OF THE REBEL ALIVE.
SO IN, IN THE END, UM, YOU KNOW, YOUR COUNTIES W YOU KNOW, WE'RE VERY PROUD OF A FIRE DEPARTMENT.
I MEAN, YOU'VE GOT JUST A HISTORY AND, UH, AND IT'S JUST PART OF THE, THE, YOU KNOW, I GUESS OUR CITIZENS SORT OF EXPECT THIS KIND OF SERVICE, BUT IT'S, I CAN TELL YOU IT'S NOT COMMON.
AND, UH, THE LEVEL OF, UH, FELLOW LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE, YOUR GOALS, YOU SET FOR THE RESPONSE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY IS TREMENDOUS NOW WITH, WITH THE, THE GUYS THAT GO DOWN THERE, OR THE 11 MEMBERS THAT WE HAVE ON THE TEAM, THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THE REGULAR DUTIES THAT THEY HAVE HERE IS THE FEDERAL OR STATE GOVERNMENT PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO US TO MAINTAIN THEIR LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY.
WE BENEFIT FROM THE LEVEL OF TRAINING THAT THEY GET.
AND IF WE HAD AN INCIDENT HERE, WE WOULD BENEFIT FROM THEIR EXPERTISE IN RESPONDING TO AN INCIDENT, OBVIOUSLY, UH, BUT THEY ARE TRAINED, UH, THEY'RE PAID BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHEN THEY, THEY ARE TRAINED.
IF WE HAVE TO BACKFILL THEIR POSITIONS DURING A TRAINING EVENT OR A DEPLOYMENT, THOSE COSTS ARE COVERED.
UH, SO, UH, IT'S, WE SEE THE HUGE BENEFIT AS BEING THESE, THESE ARE THE
[00:10:01]
TIP OF THE SPEAR KIND OF FOLKS THAT REALLY KNOW THE JOB.AND IF WE HAD, UH, A SPECIALIZED RESCUE INCIDENT SUCH AS THAT, OR, OR EVEN SOMETHING LESS THAN THAT, UH, THESE ARE THE KINDS OF FOLKS WE WOULD RELY ON.
AND WE HAVE OUR OWN TECHNICAL RESCUE TEAM THAT THESE FOLKS HAVE BEEN ON, OR ARE PART OF RIGHT NOW, UH, THAT WE HAVE, UH, UH, CONFINED SPACE, UH, COLLAPSE, OR WE HAD A ENTRY THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE.
OR WE HAD A, A, UH, THE, UH, THE VEHICLE STRIKE US STRUCTURE.
THESE ARE THE FOLKS WE SEND OUT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SHORE UP THE STRUCTURE, OR WE GO INTO THAT CONFINED SPACE AND RESCUE THE PERSON, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS AS PART OF OUR OWN TECHNICAL RESCUE TEAM.
I DON'T THINK A LOT OF THE CITIZENS IN YOUR COUNTY REALIZED THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOUR, UH, YOUR COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, PARTICIPATES IN THE TRAINING AND, UH, AND THE REGIONAL PROTECTION.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE HAVE WHAT, A CHEMICAL TRAINING FACILITY IN YOUR COUNTY, WHICH ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE STATE, INCLUDING NOT JUST FIREFIGHTERS, BUT I UNDERSTAND IT'S A OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES AND ANYBODY THAT NEEDS TO GET CERTIFIED, THEY COME HERE TO YOUR COUNTY.
UM, AND THAT'S MORE UP IN WALTZ DISTRICT FROM, UH, SOMEWHERE UP THAT WAY.
WELL, ACTUALLY IN THAT, THAT FACILITY IS A JOINT STATE, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, YOUR COUNTY, UH, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRAINING FACILITY.
AND WE ACTUALLY OPERATE THE FACILITY OUT OF BEHIND THE SEAFORD FIRE STATION.
UH, AND THEN DISTRICT THREE, THREE THAT'S.
IN, IN HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TECHNICIANS FROM ALL ACROSS VIRGINIA MUST COME TO THIS FACILITY TO BE TRAINED AND CERTIFIED BY THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE.
AND THAT'S NOT THE ONLY WE HAVE OTHERS.
I MEAN, I REMEMBER THE VISIT TO ONE FIRE STATIONS WHERE THERE'S AN, A, THERE'S AN EXPERT IN SHORING UP HOLES IN THE GROUND SO THAT THEY CAN EXTRACT PEOPLE AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO, ANYWAY, JAY, IF YOU GUYS DO A TREMENDOUS JOB, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, I, I'M SO IMPRESSED AND WE ARE VERY BLESSED TO HAVE YOU, AND, UH, THE REST OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HERE TO SUPPORT THE, UH, CITIZENS OF YOUR COUNTY AND THE REGION.
AND, AND LET ME JUST SAY, AS I THINK WE CLOSE, UH, I, I'M VERY FORTUNATE AND PROUD TO WORK WITH MEN AND FIRE OUR DEPARTMENT.
THEY'RE THE ONES THAT MAKE OUR ORGANIZATION, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT ANY INDIVIDUAL IT'S, UH, BUT IT'S ALL THE FOLKS WITH THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND THAT, UH, REALLY CARRY OUT THOSE DUTIES AND SERVE THE CITIZENS, UH, OF OUR COMMUNITY.
THANK YOU, MR. SHEPHERD, WOULD YOU LIKE TO MOVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR? UH, YES.
UH, I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE TO CONSENT CALENDAR.
UM, CLERK EMOTION HAS BEEN MADE BY MR. SHEPHERD TO MOVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR.
THE MOTION MADE BY MR. SHEPHERD IS TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS SUBMITTED MR.
AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE INTO OUR WORK SESSION.
[A. Williamsburg Tourism Council. Receive presentation from Victoria Cimino, Chief Executive Officer on the Williamsburg Tourism Council.]
UP IS AIR TOURISM COUNCIL REPORT.I'M GOING TO CALL ON THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OFFICER, MR. MRS. VICTORIA SEMINAR.
I SHOULD SAY MISS RIGHT? IT'S ALL GOOD.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HAVING ME.
I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TO YOU.
I BELIEVE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE I'VE BEEN IN THIS ROLE, THAT I'VE BEEN ABLE TO CONNECT WITH YOU AS A GROUP.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
UM, TOURISM AND I'M STATING THE OBVIOUS IS A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS REGION'S ECONOMY IN 2019 1.5 MILLION VISITORS STAYED IN A PAID ACCOMMODATION, AND THOSE VISITORS SPEND $754 MILLION WHILE THEY WERE HERE IN THE AREA.
BUT, AND THERE'S A, BUT HERE IT BECAME A DESTINATION THAT WAS LAGGING BEHIND AND LOSING MARKET SHARE.
AND SO, OH, HERE, LET ME SEE THE ARROW.
AND SO, UM, IN RESPONSE TO THAT LAG AND THAT LOSS OF MARKET SHARE THE WILLIAMSBURG TOURISM COUNCIL WAS BORN.
IT WAS CREATED BY STATUTE AND IT WENT LIVE ON JULY 1ST, 2018.
I BEGAN IN THIS ROLE AS CEO IN APRIL OF 2019 PRIOR TO COMING TO THIS DESTINATION, I HAD SERVED AS THE STATE TOURISM DIRECTOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
AND I HAD ALSO SERVED AS THE INTERNATIONAL MARKETING DIRECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS AND SORT OF SPRINKLED IN BETWEEN THERE.
I WORKED IN PR IN NEW YORK CITY AND BOSTON HANDLING TOURISM LIKE ST.
LUCIA AND THE KENNEBUNKPORT RESORT COLLECTION.
SO I'M KIND OF ONE OF THOSE ODD ANIMALS WHO HAS, UM, BOTH GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIENCE
[00:15:01]
AND AD NPR AGENCY EXPERIENCE.UM, ORGANIZATION'S PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT VISITATION.
AND SO THE MORE OVERNIGHT VISITORS WE HAVE, THE BETTER WE'LL DO OVERNIGHT VISITORS STAY LONGER AND THEY SPEND MORE MONEY.
SO ALL OF THE TRICKLE DOWN EFFECTS FROM INCREASING OVERNIGHT VISITATION MEANS INCREASED DINERS IN OUR RESTAURANTS AND SHOPPERS AND OUR RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS.
UM, OUR OTHER STRATEGIC GOALS INCLUDE INCREASING TAX REVENUE, UNIFYING THE REGION UNDER THE DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS BRAND AND IMPROVING ANALYTICS AND DATA DRIVEN OPTIMIZATION.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS ALSO DICTATED BY STATUTE, MR. CHAD GREEN REPRESENTS YOUR COUNTY, AND YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT RUTH LARSON OF JAMES CITY COUNTY IS OUR CHAIR.
CLIFF FLEET OF COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG IS OUR VICE CHAIR AND MAYOR DOUG PONDS IS OUR TREASURER FROM THE CITY OF WILLIAMSBURG.
BUSCH GARDENS IS REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT.
THE HOTEL MOTEL ASSOCIATION IS REPRESENTED BY NEIL CHOCKLEY.
JIM HORN FROM JAMESTOWN REDISCOVERY, CHRISTY COLEMAN FROM J Y F AND MICKEY CHOHAN IS, UH, REPRESENTS THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION.
WE HAVE TWO EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ON THE BOARD.
UM, SHERRY GREEN ACTUALLY RECENTLY STEPPED DOWN AND SHE HAS BEEN REPLACED BY CHRIS SMITH AND RITA MCCLENNEY WHO HEADS UP THE VIRGINIA TOURISM CORPORATION.
SO I WANT TO KIND OF START WITH 2019 BECAUSE THAT'S SORT OF, YOU KNOW, WHEN BOOTS WERE REALLY ON THE GROUND, THAT'S WHEN I FIRST STARTED IN THIS ROLE.
AND I WANTED TO START WITH SHARING WITH YOU OUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN THOSE CALCULATIONS.
IN 2019, WE WERE REALIZING SOME REAL TRACTION.
SHEER OCCUPANCY HAD BROKEN 50% FOR THE FIRST TIME, SINCE 2007.
SO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS, OUR DESTINATION WAS ACHIEVING MORE THAN 50% OCCUPANCY.
AND NORMALLY THAT'S NOT SORT OF SOMETHING THAT YOU KIND OF DO A VICTORY LAP ABOUT, BUT FOR US, THAT WAS A BIG DEAL.
AND 2020 BOOKINGS WERE SOLID AND PROMISING.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT STUDY, YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT VISIT WILLIAMSBURG'S ADVERTISING INFLUENCED 350,000 TRIPS AND MORE THAN $406 MILLION IN VISITORS SPENDING.
SO THESE ARE TRIPS THAT WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE WORK OF VISIT WILLIAMSBURG.
AND SO THAT STUDY IS CONDUCTED BY OUR RESEARCH PARTNERS, SMART INSIGHTS OUT OF INDIANAPOLIS, AND THEY ARE A FULL SERVICE RESEARCH FIRM WITH A FOCUS ON TRAVEL AND TOURISM.
THE ORGANIZATION HAS MORE THAN 33 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, AND IT HAS WORKED WITH 20 STATE TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS, 30 CONVENTION AND VISITOR BUREAUS AND 23 ATTRACTIONS.
AND SO WHEN THEY CONDUCT THESE DIFFERENT RETURN ON INVESTMENT STUDIES FOR STATES LIKE CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, FLORIDA, VISIT WILLIAMSBURG, THEY'RE USING UTILIZING THE SAME METHODOLOGY THEY GO IN AND THEY PULL IN EACH MARKET THAT YOU ARE ADVERTISING IN.
AND THE SAMPLE SIZE IS ROUGHLY 2,500 PEOPLE FOR US FOR VISIT WILLIAMSBURG.
SO FOR ANY OF YOU THAT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN POLITICAL POLLING, YOU KNOW, THAT TYPICALLY THAT NUMBER OF CLOCKS AND A CLOSER TO THREE TO 500 PEOPLE IN A SAMPLE, SO SMARTY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION OF OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM.
THEY HANDLE OUR CONSUMER PERCEPTION STUDIES, AND OF COURSE THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT STUDY, I'M SHARING THIS BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IN 2019, WE WERE ON A POSITIVE TRAJECTORY AND THEN COVID WAS DECLARED A NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN MARCH OF 2020.
AND IT KIND OF KNOCKED THE WIND OUT OF EVERYBODY'S SAILS.
UM, EVERY DESTINATION AROUND THE GLOBE HAS BEEN GUTTED LIKE NO OTHER INDUSTRY.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID HAS BEEN MORE THAN 10 TIMES GREATER THAN THAT OF NINE 11, IF THAT GIVES YOU ANY IDEA.
AND NINE, 11 AND NINE 11, CERTAINLY, UH, DID A, DID A NUMBER ON THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY BACK IN 2001.
SO IN MARCH OF 2020, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WE HAD JUST KIND OF STARTED THIS ORGANIZATION.
WE HAD GONE OUT TO BID FOR, UM, CONTRACTED PARTNERS.
UH, WE ARE A PUBLIC BODY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA AND S AND AS SUCH, WE DO ADHERE TO THE PROCUREMENT ACT, THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST ACT, ALL OF THE THINGS THAT A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY NEEDS TO ADHERE TO.
UM, SO WE HAD, WE HAD REALLY RAMPED UP, DONE A TON OF WORK AND ON A DIME HAD TO PULL EVERYTHING IN MARCH.
AND SO ALL MARKETING THAT MEN, OUR AD CAMPAIGN, ANY CONSUMER PR SOCIAL MEDIA, UM, WE SHIFTED RIGHT AWAY INTO TRIAGE MODE.
AND SO IN THOSE EARLY WEEKS OF COVID, WE SHIFTED OUR FOCUS, UM, TO SORT OF BROADENING RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, UM, AT BOTH THE LOCAL STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS,
[00:20:01]
YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE CREATED A MICRO-SITE WHERE WE POSTED, UM, CONSUMER STUDIES, DIFFERENT RESOURCES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT.WE BUILT OUT, UM, A NEW PORTAL, SO THAT POTENTIAL VISITORS TO THE AREA COULD SEE WHAT SORT OF SAFETY REQUIREMENTS WERE NOW IN PLACE, ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF.
UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE EARLY WEEKS OF COVID REALLY, YEAH.
ENABLED US TO START COMMUNICATING WITH THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY ON A REGULAR BASIS, IN A WAY THAT WE HAD NOT DONE BEFORE.
UM, IN, BY MID APRIL, WE STARTED TO COMMUNICATE WITH CONSUMERS AGAIN, UH, VIA OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS.
WE CALLED IT THE WONDERS OF WILLIAMSBURG.
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE SHOWCASE VERY SCENES.
THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN APRIL OF LAST YEAR, RIGHT.
UM, SO CALMING SCENES, BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES, ZERO PEOPLE, UH, WERE FEATURED IN OUR EARLY KIND OF FOIL BACK INTO COMMUNICATING WITH POTENTIAL, UM, CONSUMERS.
IN MAY OF LAST YEAR, WE WERE THE FIRST DESTINATION IN THE STATE TO LAUNCH A BRIDGE CAMPAIGN EFFORT.
UM, WE WENT LIVE ON MAY 3RD TO COINCIDE WITH NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM WEEK.
WE DID LAUNCH A TV SPOT AND A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN IN FOUR CLOSE BY MARKETS.
AND WHAT WE REALLY WANTED TO REMIND FOLKS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN SOON.
THERE'S THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW.
AND AT THAT TIME, IT FELT LIKE THERE WERE SO MANY UNKNOWNS THAT JUST TO HAVE SOME INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGING OUT THERE WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO US.
AND WE NEVER FORGOT THAT WE HAVE A BIG JOB TO DO.
WE HAVE TO KEEP CONSUMERS AWARE OF THE WILLIAMSBURG AREA, YORKTOWN JAMESTOWN.
WE HAD TO CONTINUE TO INCREASE CONSUMER AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION THAT SAME LEAK.
WE ALSO LAUNCHED A LOCAL EFFORT.
SO WE WERE A BRAND NEW ORGANIZATION CREATED BY STATUTE.
NOT A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD OR WHO WE WERE, WHAT WE WERE THERE TO DO ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF.
AND SO IT WAS IMPORTANT TO KIND OF REMIND LOCALS THROUGH A LOCAL EFFORT THAT VISIT WILLIAMSBURG CONTINUED TO WORK ON THEIR BEHALF, DESPITE THE FACT THAT EVERYBODY WAS IN SEVERE LOCKDOWN AT THAT POINT.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE WHEN THE WORLD IS READY TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES, WE'LL BE READY TO INVITE THEM HERE.
IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, I WASN'T, I'M JUST SORT OF DOING MY HAIR AT HOME, UM, THAT, THAT WE CONTINUE TO KEEP THAT MARKETING MACHINE WORKING DURING THOSE LOCKDOWN MONTHS.
UM, WE ALSO LAUNCHED A SHOP DINE LOCAL EFFORT IN JUNE, AS SOME OF THOSE RESTRICTIONS BEGAN TO LIFT.
UH, IT, YOU KNOW, WE TYPICALLY DO NOT ADVERTISE LOCALLY AGAIN, THAT THE REASON WE EXIST IS TO DRIVE OVERNIGHT VISITATIONS SO THAT WE HAVE, UM, PAID LODGING HAPPENING ON THE INCREASE.
UM, BUT GIVEN THE SEVERE CIRCUMSTANCES, IT WAS NOT ONLY APPROPRIATE.
IT WAS NECESSARY TO HELP SUPPORT OUR LOCAL RESTAURANTS AND RETAIL ESTABLISH THAT'S AND IN APRIL, WELL, IN MAY SORT OF BEHIND THE SCENES, WE USED THOSE TWO MONTHS TO REGROUP ON OUR AD CAMPAIGN.
WE KNEW THAT WE WERE GOING TO NEED TO SHIFT MESSAGING AS A RESULT OF COVID.
SO WE CONDUCTED 12 RESEARCH PROGRAMS, INCLUDING AN AD EFFECTIVENESS STUDY, CONSUMER PERCEPTION.
WE TESTED NEW CREATIVE AND POTENTIAL CREATIVE, AND WE CONDUCTED NINE FOCUS GROUPS.
DURING THAT, THAT PERIOD OF TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THAT ALL OF THIS RESEARCH IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AND ANYONE IS ABLE TO GO IN, USE IT, UM, HELP IT TO HELP THEM TO USE IT, TO INFORM VARIOUS MARKETING CAMPAIGNS AND EFFORTS, OR JUST TO UNDERSTAND CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF THE REGION.
SO THIS HAS BEEN DONE BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO SORT OF GUESSWORK TO WHAT WE DO.
OUR WORK IS DATA DRIVEN, RESEARCH DRIVEN.
EVERY SINGLE TIME WE DON'T USE IMAGES BECAUSE VICKY SEMINOLE LIKES IT.
WE USE IMAGES BECAUSE IT RESONATES THROUGH OUR FOCUS GROUPS WITH POTENTIAL CONSUMERS.
UM, I DEVELOPED A NEW CREATIVE PLATFORM DURING THAT TIME THAT WOULD RESONATE WITH AUDIENCES IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE STILL VERY SKIDDISH AND IN A LOT OF AREAS THAT WE WERE MARKETING, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE NOT LEAVING THEIR PODS AT THAT POINT.
UM, WE WANTED TO STAY FOCUSED ON A JUNE RELAUNCH OF OUR MEDIA EFFORT.
WE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST TOURISM DESTINATIONS IN THE COUNTRY TO COME BACK OUT WITH AN AD CAMPAIGN IN JUNE OF LAST YEAR.
AND REALLY WE RELIED ON THE PREMISE THAT REMAINING FOCUSED ON AWARENESS TODAY WOULD ENSURE A COMPETITIVE IN THE FUTURE.
WE WANTED TO BE OUT THERE TO CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE THE REGION TO POTENTIAL CONSUMERS SO THAT WHEN THEY FELT SAFE TO TRAVEL WILLIAMSBURG AND THE REGION
[00:25:01]
WOULD BE TOP OF MIND.AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE, OUR JURORS ARE WHAT WE WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH THROUGH THIS CREATIVE, UM, DEVELOPMENT IS THAT WILLIAMSBURG IS A SAFE AND RELAXING ESCAPE FROM A LIFE OF STRAIN AND COMPLEXITY.
AND ULTIMATELY WHAT WE WANTED TO COMMUNICATE WAS THAT THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN REUNITE WITH WHAT TRULY MATTERS.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE HADN'T SEEN THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN MONTHS, AND WE WANTED TO TELL FOLKS THAT THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO DO THAT.
AND SO WE CREATED LIFE AT YOUR PACE.
THE WORLD FORCES US TO MOVE AT A PACE THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS MAKE US COMFORTABLE.
WE YEARN TO GET BACK TO OUR PACE OF LIFE AS FAST OR AS SLOW AS WE WISH WE WANT TO GET CONTROL OF OUR LIVES BACK.
WILLIAMSBURG IS THE PLACE TO DO JUST THAT BECAUSE YOUR VACATION IS YOUR VACATION.
YOU WANT TO SLEEP IN AND HAVE BREAKFAST FOR LUNCH, GO FOR IT.
YOU WANT TO PLAY GOLF ALL DAY, EVERY DAY FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK.
YOU WANT TO HOP IN A CANOE AND SEE WHERE THE JAMES RIVER TAKES YOU, THEN HEAD TO WILLIAMSBURG AND EXPERIENCE LIFE AT YOUR PACE.
AND SO THIS IS WHAT WE WERE WORKING TOWARDS, AND YOU'LL SEE HOW LIFE AT YOUR PACE COMES TO LIFE.
NO PUN INTENDED HERE IN JUST A MOMENT, OUR TARGET AUDIENCE, WE FOCUS ON, UM, ACTIVE, MATURE GEN X AND MILLENNIAL COUPLES, AS WELL AS MILLENNIAL AND GEN X FAMILIES.
AND WE FOCUS PARTICULARLY WITH OUR DIGITAL ADVERTISING ON THOSE CONSUMERS WHO ARE ALREADY SHOPPING FOR A TRAVEL EXPERIENCE.
SO WE KNOW IF SOMEONE HAS GOOGLED, YOU KNOW, VACATION, WE'RE LOOKING FOR THAT PERSON SO THAT OUR ADS ARE SERVED UP TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY IN MARKET FOR A VACATION.
WE LAUNCHED, UM, LIFE AT YOUR PACE IN 20 MARKETS, INCLUDING THREE NEW MARKETS LAST YEAR, UM, CLEVELAND AND COLUMBUS WERE NEW MARKETS FOR US.
WE, WE DID A FULL BLOWN LAUNCH IN THOSE EXPANSION MARKETS.
WE DID START TO MOVE INTO NEW YORK AS WELL.
IT'S THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.
WE DID NOT RUN TV IN NEW YORK, UM, UH, BECAUSE OF THE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AND, AND IT IS SORT OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE MARKET TO ADVERTISE.
AND AS YOU HAVE SO MUCH EXPOSURE, UH, TO SO MANY PEOPLE, OUR TIMING AND TACTICS HERE, YOU CAN SEE, UM, THIS YEAR WE WERE ABLE TO DO A FULL YEAR OF ADVERTISING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LITTLE WHILE.
AND SO WE HAVE AN ALWAYS ON APPROACH.
YOU CAN SEE THAT SPRING AND SUMMER ARE WHERE WE INVEST THE LARGEST PIECE OF OUR BUDGET.
WE ADVERTISE THROUGH TRADITIONAL TV, CONNECTED TV, DISPLAY, DIGITAL DISPLAY, ADVERTISING, PAID SOCIAL PAID SEARCH.
WE HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER PROGRAM.
THAT'LL TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT AS WELL AS CONTENT PARTNERSHIPS.
AND SO WE ARE CONSTANTLY MONITORING OUR CAMPAIGNS.
AND YOU'LL SEE HERE IN A, IN A FEW SLIDES, HOW WE DO THAT, SO THAT WE'RE ABLE TO ADJUST AND CHANGE ON A DIME IF WE NEED TO BASED ON PERFORMANCE.
AND SO THIS IS SORT OF LIFE AT YOUR PACE.
THIS IS HOW IT, IT, YOU KNOW, IT CAME TO FRUITION.
SO LEAP AT YOUR PACE SPLASH STROLL SIP.
WHEN WE DEVELOPED THIS CAMPAIGN, WE PURPOSEFULLY DID NOT INCLUDE LARGE CROWDS.
WE KNEW AT THE TIME THAT THIS WAS DEVELOPED, THAT PEOPLE WERE LOOKING FOR SMALL CITY CENTER TYPE PLACES.
THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BE AROUND CROWDS, OUTDOOR RECREATION WAS RESONATING MOST WITH PEOPLE.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT WE REALLY FOCUSED ON THAT KIND OF IMAGERY AS WE MOVED THROUGH, UM, THE CREATIVE FEATURES, OUR ATTRACTIONS, OUR FOOD AND BEVERAGE OUTLETS.
AND OF COURSE THE OUTDOOR RECREATION THAT I JUST MENTIONED.
AND HERE'S JUST ANOTHER GREAT SHOT OF SORT OF THE, THE WAY THAT WE'RE PLANNING AND, UM, THE, THE REGION AND IN A VERY SORT OF MODERN AND QUIETLY SOPHISTICATED WAY.
HERE'S SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT THE FALL CAMPAIGN LOOKS LIKE AS WELL AS THE HOLIDAY CAMP PAIN ON THE RIGHT LAST YEAR.
WE ALSO USED THAT TIME SORT OF DURING THE LOCKDOWN MONTHS TO CREATE A COOPERATIVE MARKETING PROGRAM, THIS PROGRAM, UM, WE HAD BUDGETED $500,000 TO DEVELOP A COOPERATIVE MARKETING PROGRAM W IT OFFERS A ONE-TO-ONE MATCH.
SO, AND I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE HERE IN JUST A MOMENT, BUT, UM, ANYONE IN THE INDUSTRY CAN CHOOSE FROM TWO DIFFERENT KEY MEDIA OUTLETS, TRIPADVISOR, AND A DARAA.
AND WE HAVE PROGRAMS THAT RANGE ANYWHERE BETWEEN $2,500 AND $25,000.
SO IF THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO ADVERTISE AS SORT OF HOW WE'RE GOING BACK TO THAT STRATEGIC, UM, GOAL OF UNIFYING THE INDUSTRY UNDER VISIT WILLIAMSBURG'S BRAND.
AND SO LEVERAGING THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING, MAINTAINING THE SAME CREATIVE LOOK AND FEEL IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT AS WE MOVE FORWARD, THAT WE ALL LOOK LIKE WE'RE FROM THE SAME DESTINATION.
[00:30:01]
AND AGAIN, AMPLIFYING THE, EXCUSE ME, THE ADVERTISING IMPACT, EXTENDING PARTNER BUDGETS.AGAIN, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HERE TO HELP SUPPORT THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY.
AND SO THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF, OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
UM, JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT UTILIZED THE COOPERATIVE MARKETING PROGRAM, AND YOU CAN SEE HERE, UM, THEY HAVE TO USE SORT OF OUR TEMPLATE AND CREATIVE.
THEY GET TO CHOOSE SORT OF THE VERB OF THEIR CHOICE THAT PRECEDES LIFE AT, OR AT YOUR PACE.
AND THEY GET TO POP THEIR LOGO AT, WITHIN THE CREATIVE.
NOW, THIS EITHER AS A DIGITAL DISPLAY AD, EITHER GOES TO THEIR WEBSITE OR THEIR BUSINESS LISTING ON VISIT WILLIAMSBURG.COM, THE WOMEN LIAM'S BLOG, WHICH IS NEW FOR US WAS LAUNCHED IN NOVEMBER OF 2020.
AND SO YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THIS, BUT IF YOU HAVEN'T, I'LL BE KIND OF BREAKING THE NEWS.
CONTENT IS KING, RIGHT? HAVING FRESH CONTENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT A DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATION CAN DO.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT THIS $9 MILLION AD CAMPAIGN OUT THERE, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE'RE DRIVING PEOPLE TO OUR WEBSITE, THEY ARE GETTING THE BEST AND THE MOST CREATIVE CONTENT POSSIBLE TO HELP ENTICE THEM TO VISIT THE AREA.
AND SO WE POST NEW CREATIVE TWO, THREE TIMES OR NEW CONTENT TO THREE TIMES A WEEK.
WE FEATURE BOTH IN-HOUSE WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ON THAT BLOG, LOCALS AND VISITORS ALIKE.
AND SO IF YOU HAVEN'T CHECKED IT OUT, PLEASE DO THERE'S SOME REALLY FUN, NEW WAYS TO TELL THE DESTINATION STORY THAT IS POSTED TO THE WILLIAMS BLOG.
UM, LAST YEAR JULY, WE LAUNCHED A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER PROGRAM, AND THIS HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY HELPFUL BECAUSE IT ALLOWED FOR US TO COMMUNICATE HOW THE REGION IS REOPENING.
SO WE BROUGHT PEOPLE IN WHO SPOKEN AN AUTHENTIC VOICE TO THEIR FOLLOWERS.
IN SOME CASES WE HOSTED, UM, YOUR SEAN JOHNSON, SHE'S IN THE TOP SORT OF LEFT-HAND CORNER.
SHE'S A, A GOLD MEDALIST OLYMPIAN.
AND SHE HAS 3 MILLION FOLLOWERS WHO ARE EXPOSED TO OUR REGION FROM HER VISIT AND HER POSTING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS.
AND SO TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE THE DESTINATION STORY IN AN AUTHENTIC VOICE TO THEIR FOLLOWING HAS BEEN GREAT.
AND IT'S ALSO, YOU KNOW, WORKING IT IT'S ALLOWED US TO CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARDS THAT GOAL OF CONSUMER AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION SHIFTS IN MAY AND JUNE OF THIS YEAR ALONE, SOCIAL INFLUENCERS HAVE GENERATED MORE, ALMOST 17 MILLION IMPRESSIONS AND 544,000 ENGAGEMENTS WITH THE VISIT BRAND.
AND WE FEATURED 54 INDUSTRY PARTNERS ALONG THE WAY.
SO, UM, TRAVEL WRITERS ARE STARTING TO TRAVEL AGAIN, WHICH IS GREAT.
AND SO THAT'S A BIG PIECE OF WHAT WE DO WHEN WE'RE BRINGING PEOPLE TO THE REGION TO EXPERIENCE IT IN THEIR OWN TIME AND IN THEIR OWN WAY.
WE, UM, KNOW THAT WE WILL HAVE SORT OF AN INFLUX OF TRAVEL WRITERS HERE COMING TO THE REGION WITHIN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, WHEN WE ARE HOSTING A TRAVEL WRITER OR A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER, WE VET THEM, WE HAVE A, HAVE A VERY STRICT PROCESS THAT WE FOLLOW.
AND THEN WE SEND THESE LEADS OUT TO THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WHOEVER'S IN OUR DATABASE.
SO IF WE ARE HOSTING, LET'S PICK ON SEAN JOHNSON, THE OLYMPIAN WITH 3 MILLION FOLLOWERS, WE'LL SEND OUT SORT OF A ROUGH IDEA OF WHAT THAT ITINERARY SHOULD INCLUDE.
AND WE PUT IT OUT TO THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY AND WHOEVER RESPONDS BACK, WE THEN DEVELOP THAT PERSON'S ITINERARY.
WE'RE NOT HANDPICKING FAVORITES.
WE'RE REALLY OPENING UP THE DOORS TO EVERYBODY.
EVERYTHING THAT WE DO IS CHRONICLED ALL OF OUR MEDIA CLIPS THAT WE'VE ACHIEVED.
THESE WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT RPR WORK ARE POSTED TO OUR WEBSITE AS WELL.
UM, WE LAUNCHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH GOLF MAGAZINE AND GOLF.COM HERE, UH, EARLIER THIS YEAR.
UH, AND IT CONTINUES, IT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR.
WE ARE, UM, WHAT WE DID WITH THEM.
THEY CAME, THEY SHOT SOME VIDEOS.
WE'RE GOING TO LAUNCH THOSE VIDEOS ON THEIR WEBSITE HERE.
SO GOLF WILL FEATURE, UM, WHAT A GREAT GOLF DESTINATION THIS AREA TRULY IS WITH SUCH A VARIETY WITHIN PROXIMITY, AS FAR AS GOLF COURSES ARE CONCERNED.
UM, WHAT THEY WERE ABLE TO DO WAS REALLY SHOWCASE THE DIFFERENT COURSES, WHO THE COURSES WERE DESIGNED BY, AND THEN THE HIGH CALIBER EXPERIENCE THAT EXISTS HERE IN THE AREA.
AND THEY HAD SOME FUN ALONG THE WAY.
OF COURSE, THEY VISITED SOME BREWERIES AND DID A GHOST TOUR AND ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF.
UM, WE ALSO LAUNCHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.
AND SO THIS HELPED US TO TELL THE DESTINATION STORY A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY.
WE REALLY FOCUSED ON THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE HISTORY THAT WE DISCOVER ON A DAILY BASIS IN THIS REGION AND HOW THAT PLAYS OUT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE NAT GEO
[00:35:01]
FOLKS AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE, HE'S LIKE AN EMMY AWARD WINNING, YOU KNOW, A GENTLEMAN WHO'S AROUND THE GLOBE ALL THE TIME, LIKE SOUTH POLE AND THINGS LIKE THAT.AND SO IT WAS GREAT TO HOST HIM HERE.
UM, HE MET WITH A LOT OF ARCHEOLOGISTS.
UM, WE ALSO FOCUSED ON OUR AQUACULTURE HERE IN THE AREA.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THESE ARE SOME EXAMPLES WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE OVER NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC'S INSTAGRAM POSTS FOR A DAY.
AND THESE ARE JUST SOME GREAT EXAMPLES, A COUPLE HERE, UM, ONE HERE IN YORK TOWN.
AND SO WE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THE OYSTERING THAT EXISTS HERE.
AND IF I WERE INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY, THIS IS WHAT I WOULD DO.
I WOULD START A INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE THAT PEOPLE CAN GO OUT ON A, ON A BOAT, UM, GET OYSTERS AND KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SHUCK THEM AND HAVE THEM RIGHT ON THE SHORES.
AND, YOU KNOW, LIKE IN NEW ENGLAND, UM, HOW THEY DO SORT OF THE LOBSTER BOAT THINGS.
AND YOU CAN GO OUT WITH A LOBSTERMAN AND STEAM, YOUR LOBSTER AND ALL OF THAT.
SO, SO IN ADDITION TO SORT OF ALL OF THIS WORK THAT WE'RE, WE'RE DOING ON THE PAID MEDIA SIDE AND THE EARNED MEDIA SIDE WITH OUR PUBLIC RELATIONS MEDIA RELATIONS EFFORTS, WE HAVE A SALES, UM, EFFORT AT PLAY TOO.
RIGHT NOW WE HAVE A SALES DIRECTOR OF ONE, BUT WE ARE HIRING, UM, WHICH IS GREAT.
IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO, TO HIRE AND GET FULLY STAFFED UP.
UM, AND SO WE DO FOCUS ON THINGS LIKE SPORTS AND SOCIAL, MILITARY REUNIONS AND MEETINGS, UM, FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS, DIFFERENT ASSOCIATIONS, LIKE THE NATIONAL QUILTERS CLUB AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, CORPORATE MEETINGS AND EVENTS THAT HASN'T COME BACK FULLY YET.
WE'RE PROBABLY ABOUT 20% OF THE WAY THERE.
WE'VE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO WITH MEETINGS.
UM, BUT, UM, AND GROUP TOUR, SAME, YOU KNOW, THAT THOSE ARE GONNA BE SORT OF THE LAST TWO CATEGORIES OF TRAVEL TO COME BACK, BUT NONETHELESS, IT HAS NOT DISAPPEARED FROM OUR RADAR.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE WE POST SALES LEADS ONCE A MONTH, UM, IN JUST BETWEEN MAY AND JULY ALONE, WE POSTED 17 NEW BUSINESS LEADS THAT REPRESENTED 3,856 ROOM NIGHTS.
SO THIS IS ALL POTENTIAL NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR THE REGION.
AND WE, AGAIN, WE PUT THIS OUT THERE, WE ALSO POSTED FOR SERVICE LEADS.
SO IF A GROUP WAS ALREADY COMING HERE, BUT THEY WERE SEEKING A RESTAURANT OR SOME SORT OF EXPERIENCE, WE PUT THOSE SERVICE LEADS OUT THERE TOO.
WE, THESE ARE THE KINDS OF CONFERENCES, APPOINTMENTS, THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT WE'VE CONDUCTED RECENTLY, OR WILL CONDUCT HERE SOON.
SO YOU CAN SORT OF SEE WE'RE AT THE AMERICAN BUS ASSOCIATION, WE'RE AT SORT OF THE SOCIETY OF TRAVEL PLANNERS, ANNUAL CONFERENCE.
UM, SO WE'RE OUT THERE AND FULLY REPRESENTING THE REGION.
WHEN WE COME BACK FROM ANY OF THESE, WE'RE EITHER POSTING RFPS AND SALES LEADS OR TRIP REPORTS, SO THAT YOU CAN SEE WHO WE MET WITH WHILE WE WERE THERE.
AND WE DON'T GO TO ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T OFFER UP SOME NEW BUSINESS POTENTIAL THAT IS TRACKABLE.
SO, YOU KNOW, GONE ARE THE DAYS OF VISITING AND SORT OF AAA OFFICES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, BOOKED GROUP BUSINESS.
SO AGAIN, OUR SALES DIRECTOR OF ONE, AND SHE COMES TO US, SHE WAS THE, UH, SALES DIRECTOR FOR THE ORLANDO CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU.
SO WE'VE WORKED VERY HARD TO HIRE PEOPLE WITH ACTUAL DESTINATION MARKETING EXPERIENCE FROM OTHER MARKETS.
UM, AND SO IN MAY AND JULY, OR MAY THROUGH JULY ALONE, THIS IS BOOKED BUSINESS THAT WE'VE ACHIEVED THROUGH OUR SALES EFFORT.
AND THAT EQUALS 14,000 HUNDRED AND 92 ROOM NIGHTS.
AND SO OUTSIDE OF SORT OF THE SALES LEADS AND ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU MEASURE IT? YOU KNOW? AND SO GOING BACK TO THAT AD EFFECTIVENESS STUDY, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT TO REITERATE AGAIN THAT THESE 350,000 TRIPS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IF IT WEREN'T FOR VISIT WILLIAMSBURG'S WORK.
SO THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO SAID THEY SAW AN AD AND THEY DECIDED TO BOOK TRAVEL.
SO IF, AS WE'RE PULLING PEOPLE, IF THEY COME BACK AND SAY, I'VE NEVER SEEN A VISIT WILLIAMSBURG AD, THEY'RE GONE THERE, THEY'RE NO LONGER IN OUR CONSIDERATION SET.
SO WE'RE ONLY TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO HAD NOT CONSIDERED THE AREA AS, AS A POTENTIAL VACATION DESTINATION, SAW AN AD AND THEN WENT ON TO BOOK TRAVEL.
WE KIND OF TAKE IT DOWN EVEN MORE.
SO WE INFLUENCED NEARLY $406 MILLION IN SPENDING.
AND WHAT DOES THAT TRANSLATE TO AS FAR AS TAX IMPACT IS CONCERNED, THAT'S ROUGHLY $14 MILLION FOR THE REGION.
IF YOU BREAK THAT DOWN EVEN FURTHER, THAT MEANS THAT FOR EVERY DOLLAR WE INVESTED IN OUR AD CAMPAIGN, WE SAW A TAX ROI OF $3.
SO RIGHT NOW IT'S A THREE TO ONE RETURN ON INVESTMENT RATIO.
[00:40:01]
USING THE SAME MODEL AS 30 STATE TOURISM OFFICES, CONVENTIONS, AND VISITORS BUREAUS AROUND THE COUNTRY.IN 2020, WE CONDUCTED AN AD EFFECTIVENESS STUDY.
WE KNOW THAT CERTAINLY PEOPLE WERE NOT TRAVELING IN MASSES LAST YEAR.
SO WE, WE, BUT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE MEASURING HOW OUR CAMPAIGN WAS PERFORMING BETWEEN JUNE AND DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR.
AND SO WE HAD, UH, AN AD AWARENESS OF NEARLY 40% CLOCKING IN AT 39%.
UM, WE REACHED 4.4 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS AND OUR CREATIVE RATINGS RANKED IN THE TOP 25 PERCENTILE.
AND SO THIS PERCENTILE IS BASED ON SMARTIES CLIENT BASE.
SO THEY TAKE ALL OF THE DESTINATIONS THAT THEY REPRESENT, AND BECAUSE THEY'RE USING THE SAME METHODOLOGY IN HOW THEY'RE TESTING AD EFFECTIVENESS, THEY'RE ABLE TO SEE WHERE WE FALL ON THE BROADER SPECTRUM OF THE DOZENS OF DESTINATIONS THAT THEY REPRESENT.
AND SO OUR AD IMPACT RATINGS CAME BACK VERY STRONG IN THE EXCELLENT RANGE FOR MAKES ME WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THINGS TO SEE AND DO, AND IN THE GOOD RANGE, UH, FOR MAKES ME WANT TO VISIT WILLIAMSBURG OR IN THE REGION FOR A LEISURE TRIP.
WE ALSO HAVE A PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD THAT'S HELPS US TO CONSTANTLY MONITOR OUR AD CAMPAIGN.
WE'RE ABLE TO SEE, UM, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE CLICKING THROUGH ON OUR ADS.
UM, OUR REACH, UH, THIS DRILLS DOWN TO EVEN HOTEL BOOKINGS.
SO WE'RE ABLE TO, WE UTILIZE A DARAA, WHICH HELPS US TO SEE IF SOMEBODY CLICKED ON AN AD AND THEN WENT ON TO BOOK A HOTEL ROOM OR A FLIGHT.
SO THERE'S, IT DIRECTLY FOLLOWS THE CONSUMER'S PATH.
AND SO I'LL SHOW YOU MORE ABOUT THAT LATER, BUT SO WE, WE HAVE THIS DASHBOARD, WE REVIEW IT EVERY SINGLE DAY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ON POINT WITH OUR AD CAMPAIGNS.
WE ALSO DO SORT OF THE TRADITION, WELL MARKETING STUFF, RIGHT? LIKE WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR CLICK-THROUGH RATES ARE INCREASING AND THEY ARE, UM, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR VIDEO COMPLETION RATES ARE INCREASING AND THEY ARE, UM, AS FAR AS SORT OF OUR INCREASE IN PAID SEARCH VOLUME OF 50 50%.
SO THIS IS COMPARED TO IN MANY CASES, 2019, WE'RE NOT GOING TO COMPARE TO 2020, UM, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT A TOTAL WASH, BUT PRETTY DARN CLOSE.
SO, AND WE LOOK AT THINGS LIKE THAT, WEB PERFORMANCE, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT WE'RE AGAIN COMPARING OUR WEB PERFORMANCE TO NOT JUST LAST YEAR, BUT 2019, AND WE'RE SEEING STRONG GROWTH.
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE WHERE, YOU KNOW, THOSE WHO ARE VISITING OUR WEBSITE ARE COMING FROM, AND IT'S NO SURPRISE.
IT'S SORT OF LOCALLY HERE IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA, BUT THEN WASHINGTON DC PHILLY, NEW YORK.
SO WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THAT WE CAN DRAW A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE MARKETS THAT WE'RE ADVERTISING IN, AND THEN HOW THAT GOES ON TO TRANSLATE INTO WEB SITE VISITS.
AND I TOLD YOU A LITTLE BIT, A BIT ABOUT OUR NEW BLOG BEFORE, AND IF YOU COMPARE THAT TO, UM, WHAT HAD EXISTED IN EARLY 2019, WHICH WAS CALLED TRIP IDEAS, OUR SESSIONS ARE UP 425% USERS ARE UP 200%.
UM, NEW USER SESSIONS ARE UP 3.5%.
SO THAT IS REALLY GREAT NEWS BECAUSE WE'RE SEEING THAT TRACTION, YOU KNOW, OUR TOP PERFORMING CONTENT SEVEN THINGS TO DO FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS.
AND I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T MENTION THAT 80% OF THE VISITORS TO OUR WEBSITE FOR THE PAST YEAR HAVE BEEN FIRST-TIME VISITORS.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING THE WORD OUT THERE.
WE'RE THIS, ISN'T JUST SORT OF THE REPEAT VISITOR THAT WOULD EXIST ANYWAY, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR VISIT WILLIAMSBURG'S WORK.
SO WE ALSO CREATED AN ECONOMIC DASHBOARD, WHICH I THINK IS IMPORTANT.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS AVAILABLE TO ALL, UM, I KNOW WE WORK WITH YOUR, UM, OFFICE HERE, UM, BUT THIS HELPS US TO TALK ABOUT VISITOR VOLUME VISITORS, SPEND EMPLOYMENT FIGURES.
YOU CAN CLICK WITHIN THE REGION ON THE THREE DIFFERENT MUNICIPALITIES AND GET DATA.
AND, UM, AND SOME OF THESE SORT OF COMMODITY SPEND FIGURES FOR THE SPECIFIC MUNICIPALITY OR THE REGION AS A WHOLE.
AND SO THAT WAS, UM, IN LATE 20, 19, EARLY 2020, AND THEN THERE'S ALWAYS THE, YOU KNOW, GOOD OLD FASHIONED SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH REPORT.
THIS HELPS US MEASURE OCCUPANCY, UM, AND AVERAGE DAILY RATE.
AND SO IN 2021, WE ARE AT 60% OCCUPANCY FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE.
NOW, COMPARING THAT TO 2019, WHERE, WHICH WAS 66% OCCUPANCY IN 2019, WE'RE STILL SLIGHTLY DOWN.
[00:45:01]
NOW IS PURE LEISURE TRAVEL.THERE AREN'T A WHOLE LOT OF BUSES HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE MISSING BUSINESS MEETINGS AND EVENTS AND WE'RE MISSING INTERNATIONAL COMPLETELY.
SO WE'RE MISSING THREE OUT OF THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF TRAVEL THAT BROUGHT US UP TO 66% OCCUPANCY IN 2019.
SO I WE'RE, WE'RE TRACKING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
DAILY RATE HAS INCREASED WHEN COMPARED TO 2019, WE'RE AT 1 41 TODAY, EXCUSE ME.
AND WE WERE AT 1 29, 2 YEARS, AND THIS ISN'T AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE WORKFORCE IS A HUGE CHALLENGE FOR OUR INDUSTRY.
WE HAVE HOTELS THAT CANNOT OPEN FULLY.
SO WE HAVE SEVERELY COMPRESSED INVENTORY, WHICH IS DRIVING RATE UP QUITE A BIT.
SO FROM A RATE PERSPECTIVE, BALANCED SHEETS SHOULD BE STRONG FOR 2021 BECAUSE THAT RATE HAS INCREASED SO SIGNIFICANTLY.
IF YOU LOOK AT YEAR TO DATE 21 OR ROUGHLY 38%, UM, AT, AT 2019, AND AT THE END OF JUNE, WE WERE AT 46%.
SO WE'RE DOWN ABOUT 8%, BUT TRAVEL DIDN'T RESUME UNTIL APRIL.
SO WE MISSED JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND MARCH OF THIS YEAR WITH VERY LITTLE TRAVEL.
SO IN APRIL MAY AND JUNE, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO CATCH UP AND WHERE WITHIN A VERY CLOSE DISTANCE TO WHERE WE WERE IN 2019.
AND AGAIN, THAT RATE IS MUCH STRONGER.
AND WE'VE ALSO STARTED TO UTILIZE A NEW SORT OF DATA AGGREGATE PARTNER CALLED
SO WE USE MOBILE DEVICE DATA TO HELP INFORM AND COUNT IN MANY CASES.
AND SO THEY AGGREGATE IT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND SORT OF VISITOR AND RESIDENT FLOW WITHIN THE DESTINATION.
AND THIS ALLOWS FOR MEASUREMENT AROUND OUR ORIGIN MARKETS.
AND SO WE HAD THEM, UM, STUDY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND FOR US.
THEY ALSO DID 4TH OF JULY FOR US.
THAT'S NOT QUITE READY FOR DISTRIBUTION YET, AND WE'LL HELP.
WE'LL HAVE THEM WORK WITH US ON WHEN WE'RE HOSTING MAJOR EVENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT AS WELL.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE MEMORIAL DAY, WEEKEND, 55% IN STATE 45% AT A STATE.
SO WE'RE KIND OF CATCHING UP AND IN THAT WAY, PEOPLE ARE STILL TRAVELING CLOSER TO HOME, BUT IT'S EXCELLENT TO SEE.
AND QUITE FRANKLY, ABOVE SORT OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS RIGHT NOW TO SEE SO MUCH OUT OF STATE AND SEEING HERE THAT THESE ARE OUR ORIGIN MARKETS, THE BOLDER LINES MEAN THE MORE VISITORS WERE COMING FROM THAT.
AND AGAIN, WE'RE MEASURING THIS BASED ON CELL PHONE DATA.
SO IF YOU'RE HERE AND YOU'VE GOT A 2 0 2 NUMBER, WE KNOW YOU CAME FROM WASHINGTON DC, RIGHT.
OR THAT AREA, IF YOU'RE HERE AND YOU'VE GOT A THREE, THREE OH NUMBER, WE KNOW YOU'RE COMING FROM THE GREATER CLEVELAND AREA.
SO WE USE THAT UBER MEDIA, MOBILE PHONE DEVICE INFORMATION.
AND SO WASHINGTON, DC, BALTIMORE, NEW YORK, PHILLY, PITTSBURGH, CLEVELAND, AND COLUMBUS, WE'RE ALL STRONG OUT OF STATE MARKETS FOR US OVER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, NORFOLK, RICHMOND, AND CHARLOTTESVILLE, WHERE OUR STRONGEST IN-STATE MARKET, I MAY HAVE SKIPPED.
AND SO THIS MATCHES UP WELL WITH OUR, UH, DARRA MEASUREMENT INFORMATION TOO.
SO, UH, DARAA AGAIN, THEY WORK WITH SPECIFIC HOTEL BRANDS.
THIS ISN'T COMPLETE, BUT IT IS INDICATIVE.
AND IT DOESN'T ACCOUNT FOR PROPERTIES THAT ARE NOT PART OF A MARRIOTT OR A HILTON OR, OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT THAT BEING SAID IN MAY, WE HAD THE HIGHEST 12 MONTH ATTRIBUTION RATE AT MORE THAN 1500 ROOM NIGHTS AND $650,000 IN HOTEL REVENUE DIRECTLY LINKED TO OUR DIGITAL DISPLAY ADS.
SO PEOPLE CLICKED ON ONE OF OUR ADS HAD NEVER BEEN TO OUR WEBSITE, WENT ON TO BOOK TRAVEL, AND THAT RESULTED IN $650,000 IN HOTEL REVENUE IN THE MONTH OF MAY AND APRIL WASN'T FAR BEHIND THAT, WE HAD 1,338 ROOM NIGHTS TO BE EXACT THAT RESULTED IN $467,000 IN HOTEL REVENUE.
AND SINCE JANUARY, WE HAVE DRIVEN $2.4 MILLION IN HOTEL REVENUE, UH, KIND OF GOING BACK TO SORT OF THAT THE
SO DURING MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, THIS WAS OUR VISITOR TO RESIDENT RATIO.
UM, SO FOR EVERY RESIDENT, THERE WERE NEARLY TWO VISITORS AT A PAID ACCOMMODATION.
SO WHAT THIS HELPS US TO DO IS FOR THOSE WHO SAY THAT ONLY LOCALS VISIT THEIR ESTABLISHMENT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABLE TO REALLY PORTRAY THAT IN MANY CASES.
UM, THE, THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR VISITORS IS CRUCIAL TO OUR OVERALL ECONOMY AND HOW WE ARE DOING.
UM, SO I, THIS IS JUST SORT OF A, A NEAT TOOL TO SHOW THAT OBVIOUSLY
[00:50:01]
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, ATTRACTIONS, HOTELS, ALL OF THE THINGS THAT YOU DO ON A VACATION, THERE WAS A MUCH HIGHER VISITOR TO RESIDENT RATIO.UM, YOU CAN ALSO LOOK AT SORT OF TRAVEL PATTERNS AND CROSS VISITATION OF IN-STATE VISITORS VERSUS OUT OF STATE VISITORS.
SO IN-STATE VISITORS WERE MORE DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
UM, OVER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, THERE WAS, THEY GOLFED LESS.
UM, BUT THEY, THEY HIT MORE ATTRACTIONS AND RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS.
AND SO THIS DATA WILL HELP US TO INFORM CREATIVE AS WE MOVE FORWARD, SO THAT THE ADS THAT WE'RE SERVING UP TO IN-STATE VISITORS SPEAK TO THEIR TRAVEL PATTERNS.
AND IF THEY'RE NOT GOLFING, MAYBE THEY NEED TO SEE MORE GOLF ADS FROM US.
AND SO THAT WILL HELP US BECAUSE WE'RE ABLE TO GET SO SPECIFIC WITH WHAT KIND OF CREATIVE WE'RE SERVING UP IN EVERY SINGLE MARKET.
THIS WILL HELP TO INFORM THAT OUT-OF-STATE VISITORS HAD A WEAKER CROSS VISITATION PATTERNS, BUT MORE DISPERSIONS THROUGHOUT THE WATERFRONTS.
SO GREAT FOR A PLACE LIKE YORKTOWN.
UM, WE HAD THE STRONGEST CROSS VISITATION, AS YOU CAN SEE BETWEEN ATTRACTIONS, HOTELS, AND RETAIL.
AND AGAIN, YOU SAW SOME STRONG, UH, DISBURSEMENT OUT TO THE WATER FRIENDS.
A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T REALIZE, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE NOT FROM THE AREA THAT WE'VE GOT WATER ON, BOTH SIDES OF US AND, AND LOTS OF SORT OF AQUACULTURE, UM, WITHIN OUR, OUR, OUR HISTORY.
UM, SO I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THIS AND I'LL PLAY IT FOR YOU A COUPLE OF TIMES.
UM, THIS IS A TIME LAPSE VIDEO THAT SHOWS TRAFFIC PATTERNS THROUGHOUT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.
AND SO AS YOU GO FROM DARKER ORANGE TO LIGHTER ORANGE TO WHITE, THERE ARE MORE DEVICES IN THAT PLACE.
AND SO THE MOST VISITOR FLOW IN AND AROUND ATTRACTIONS IS LATE MORNING TO MIDDAY, UM, AND EACH DAY REALLY OF MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.
AND WE'LL START TO USE THIS TO TRACK SORT OF TRAVEL PATTERNS TO THOSE WHO TRAVEL HERE FOR EVENTS AND TOURNAMENTS.
SO LET'S SAY THERE'S A BIG SPORTING EVENT, AND WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY, OKAY, WELL, THEY STARTED AT THIS FIELD, BUT THEN WHERE DID THEY GO? WE'LL BE ABLE TO TRACK THAT AND SHOW A VISUALIZATION OF THAT.
SO, SO FROM A MEASUREMENT AND PERFORMANCE STANDPOINT, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF TOOLS.
IT GOES BACK TO OUR STRATEGIC GOALS, INCREASE OVERNIGHT VISITATION, INCREASED TAX REVENUE, UNITE THE INDUSTRY UNDER THE TOURISM BRAND AND IMPROVE OUR DATA AND ANALYTICS AND OUR ABILITY TO TALK ABOUT THE RETURN OF THE INVESTMENT THAT IS VISIT WILLIAMSBURG.
AND SO WITH THAT, I WILL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
IT'S AN ALL COMPREHENSIVE REPORT.
MY WIFE USED TO BE IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS HERE IN TOWN, AND, UM, THAT HOTEL SPENT A LOT OF MONEY, UH, ON ADVERTISING AS DISTINCT FROM THE COLLECTIVE ADVERTISEMENT, UH, DONE BY, UH, THE ORGANIZATION.
UH, WHAT'S THE FEELING TODAY, IN OTHER WORDS, ARE OUR HOTELERS SPENDING MONEY BEYOND WHAT THEY CONTRIBUTED TO YOUR OFFICE FOR TOURISM, OR ARE THEY BEING A LITTLE BIT TIGHT WITH RESPECT TO THEIR WALLETS, GIVEN THE PANDEMIC AND ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
I TH I THINK IT DEPENDS ON THE PROPERTY.
SO IF YOU'RE WITHIN A LARGER BRAND, LIKE A HILTON, LIKE A MARRIOTT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S BEING DICTATED BY CORPORATE IN MANY CASES, LOCAL PROPERTIES SEEN A LOT OF TIGHTENING OF THE PURSE STRINGS.
SO, YEAH, SO AT LEAST WHILE THE PANDEMIC IS IN PLACE, UH, THEY DEPEND MORE AND MORE AND MORE ON YOU AND THE ORGANIZATION.
AND, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE THERE FOR.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IF FOLKS AREN'T AWARE OF OUR COOPERATIVE MARKETING PROGRAM AND, YOU KNOW, IT CAN BE A MODEST AMOUNT OF $2,500 WITH ONE OF OUR TWO VETTED, UM, PARTNERS WE'LL MATCH IT, YOU KNOW, SO WE'RE, WE'RE THERE TO HELP IN ANY WAY WE CAN.
UM, I REALLY LIKED THE, UM, THE, THE, UH, DATA ANALYTICS THAT YOU HAVE INSIGHTS THERE.
I'M GOING TO, UH, RESIST THE URGE OF DOING A DEEP DIVE ON ANY OF THEM, BECAUSE I COULD SPEND THE REST OF THE UNIT, TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT QUESTIONS.
IF YOU EVER WANT TO GEEK OUT WITH ME, IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO DO.
IF YOU REALLY GET INTO IT, UM, ON THE SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH REPORT, I NOTICED THERE WAS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN YOUR COUNTY AND SOUTHERN NEW YORK COUNTY, WHICH HELP EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT.
YEAH, NO, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
WE WANT TO MEASURE ALL OF YOUR COUNTY BECAUSE THE TRANSIENT TAX THAT COMES TO VISIT WILLIAMSBURG, UM, AS ONE OF OUR THREE SOURCES OF REVENUE ESSENTIALLY, UM, ENCOMPASSES THE ENTIRE COUNTY.
BUT WE ALSO REALIZE THAT A LOT OF SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY AREN'T NECESSARILY TRADITIONAL VISITORS TO THE AREA THAT THEY'RE THERE, MAYBE FOR THEY'RE A CONTRACTOR OR THEY'RE ON MILITARY BUSINESS, OR
[00:55:01]
SO WE WANT TO MEASURE THE ENTIRE THING, BUT WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO SORT OF WHERE A TRADITIONAL VISITOR TO THE REGION WOULD STAY.AND SO A LOT OF THE PROPERTIES THAT HAVE SLASH NEWPORT NEWS IN THEIR NAME AREN'T NECESSARILY THOSE PROPERTIES.
SO THE, YOUR COUNTY NUMBERS HERE DON'T INCLUDE THE SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY NUMBERS THERE THEY'RE SEPARATE OR CORRECT.
THE, UM, WHAT'S YOUR ANNUAL BUDGET? UH, OUR FISCAL YEAR 22 BUDGET IS JUST OVER $15 MILLION.
WE HAVE THREE SOURCES OF REVENUE.
SO SALES TAX, THE HALF OF THE 1%, UM, WHICH COMES TO VISIT WILLIAMSBURG TRANSIENT TAX AND WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT FUNDS.
AND THOSE ARE FUNDS THAT THE THREE MUNICIPALITIES PROVIDE, UM, TO BOTH THE GREATER WILLIAMSBURG CHAMBER AND TOURISM ALLIANCE AND THE TOURISM COUNCIL.
UM, THE, I WAS REALLY INTERESTED IN THE INSIGHT ABOUT THE ORIGIN MARKETS, BUT YOU SAID THAT WAS BASED UPON CELL PHONE NUMBERS, AREA CODES.
THESE
ARE YOU IN THAT DATA? BECAUSE PEOPLE TEND CARRY THEIR CELL PHONE NUMBERS WITH THEM AS THEY MOVE AND EVEN AS THEY CHANGE CARRIER.
SO A 73, 2 AREA CODE DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE NECESSARILY COMING FROM NEW JERSEY.
THAT MEANS THEY COULD BE COMING FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
I THINK THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HAVE AN AREA CODE AND I CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH THE EXACT PERCENTAGE BECAUSE IT IS IN THE HIGHER PERCENTILE, THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE AREA CODE OF WHICH THEY HAVE A CELL PHONE.
WHAT'S THE, I COULD PROBABLY GUESS, BUT WHAT ARE THE, LIKE THE TOP TWO ATTRACTIONS THAT BRING PEOPLE TO OUR AREA? SO IT'S, IT'S SORT OF, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GREATEST HITS, RIGHT.
IT'S COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, BUSCH GARDENS, JAMESTOWN, YORKTOWN.
UM, SO IT, IT, IT IS THE LARGER ATTRACTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN IN PLACE FOR DECADES.
UM, AND SO WHAT WE TRY TO DO THROUGH OUR ADVERTISING EFFORTS IS THEN INTRODUCE PEOPLE TO WHAT THEY MAY NOT KNOW.
SO WE'RE NEVER LIKE HISTORY IS IN OUR DNA.
IT WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR DNA, BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY MAKING A CONSCIENTIOUS EFFORT TO COMMUNICATE SOME OF THE LESSER KNOWN PLACES TO, OKAY.
I COULD SPEND ALL NIGHT TALKING DATA WITH YOU.
IT WAS VERY COMPREHENSIVE BRIEFING AND, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
I'VE NOTICED UNDER YOUR INFLUENCER PR STRATEGY, UH, YOU HAVE A PERSON HERE IS A JOURNALIST NAMED HARRY NOD.
WELL, YEAH, BUT FOR THOSE OF YOU ON THE BOARD, UH, HARRY NAUGLES IS THE OPERATIONS MANAGER FOR, UH, A COMPANY IN VIRGINIA CALLED MY, UH, EXCUSE ME IN YOUR COUNTY CALLED MY GOD, MY GOSPEL, IT'S OWNED BY ADAM BEACH.
AND, UH, THEY HAVE, UM, I THINK THE SUBSCRIPTION LEVEL RIGHT NOW IS AT 9 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS.
AND YOU'RE THE COMPANY THAT I DEAL WITH WITH, UH, TESTING GOLF CLUBS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO IF WE JUST DON'T KNOW THIS IT'S HERE, BUT IT'S JUST, IT'S OVER, UM, JUST OFF TO YOUR CAMP, THE HIGHWAY AND THE INDUSTRIAL PARK HERE.
I MEAN, AND REACH IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE IMPORTANT CRITERIA THAT WE LOOK AT WHEN WE AGREE TO BRING A TRAVEL WRITER TO THE REGION.
UM, WE HAVE TO TALK TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND THEY HAVE TO BE THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND A GOOD FIT.
SO, SO YEAH, BUT, BUT THAT WAS GREAT.
AND THEN, UM, WE HOSTED ANOTHER JOURNALIST, UH, IN JUNE, I BELIEVE, UM, RAMSEY, WHAT I'M GOING TO MISPRONOUNCE HIS LAST NAME, BUT WE'LL BE FINE.
UM, HE WORKS FOR FOURS AND HE DID, UM, A WHOLE PIECE ON WILLIAMSBURG AS A MEETING'S DESTINATION.
SO, LIKE I SAID, TRAVEL WRITERS ARE STARTING TO TRAVEL AGAIN, WHICH IS GREAT NEWS.
ANYTHING ELSE, MR. SHEPHERD? THAT WAS A GOOD THING.
AND JUST ONE LAST THING I'D LIKE TO SAY, IT'S VERY NICE AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS IN DEPTH, UH, PRESENTATION, BUT IT'S NICE TO SEE WHEN WE'RE SPENDING PUBLIC MONEY ON THIS, THAT OUR RETURN OF INVESTMENT AND, YOU KNOW, $3 FOR THREE TO ONE IS VERY SUBSTANTIAL.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN HANG OUR HAT ON AND WE CAN SHOW THE CITIZENS THAT, HEY, LOOK AT THE BANG THAT YOU'RE GETTING FOR YOUR BUCK AND TOURISM IS SUCH A BIG DRIVER FOR THIS AREA AND ESPECIALLY UP IN GOD'S COUNTRY, DISTRICT ONE, AND REALLY THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF YOUR COUNTY.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR WHAT YOU DO CONTINUE THE GOOD WORK AND THANK YOU FOR
[01:00:01]
THE REPORT.WE'LL HAVE YOU BACK HERE NEXT YEAR.
[1 Grafton Annex Disposition (Formerly Fire Station 1). Receive presentation concerning the use and options for the Grafton Annex, formerly Fire Station 1. a. Memorandum from County Administrator. b. Map.]
I'M GOING TO CALL ON OUR COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR AN UPDATE ON THE OLD FIRE STATION.NUMBER ONE, WHICH IS NOW THE GRAFTON ANNEX, MR. MORGAN.
UH, WHEN THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, UH, AUTHORIZED THE PURCHASE OF SOME LAND.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY A FEW YEARS AGO, THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW FIRE STATION.
NUMBER ONE, UH, IMPLICIT IN THAT DECISION WAS THAT SOMEDAY IN YOUR FUTURE, WE WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH OLD FIRE STATION.
NUMBER ONE, WHICH WE HAVE LABELED AS THE GRAFTON ANNEX TO AVOID CONFUSION.
AND FOR ABOUT 12 TO 14 MONTHS, WE ARE PUTTING IT TO GOOD USE, UH, AS A TEMPORARY HOME FOR PART OF THE, UH, YORKTOWN LIBRARY COLLECTION.
UH, BUT WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE, UH, WE'D LIKE TO GET THE BOARD'S INPUT DIRECTION ON, UM, WHAT TO DO WITH THE PROPERTY, UH, AND WHAT KIND OF ADVANCE WORK WE NEED TO DO SO THAT WHEN THE LIBRARIES VACATE PERHAPS EARLY NEXT FALL, UH, WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO NEXT.
UM, AND OF COURSE EVERYONE'S FAMILIAR WITH THE STATION AND ITS PROUD HISTORY.
UM, AND IT, IT CLEARLY GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE IT WAS NO LONGER, UH, ABLE TO FUNCTION AS A MODERN FIRE STATION.
UM, PARKING IS PRETTY LIMITED IN THE REAR.
IT WAS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF DECADES TO USE GETTING PRETTY MARGINAL WHEN ROUTE 17 WAS WIDENED THAT FURTHER COMPLICATED, HOW, UM, FIRE EQUIPMENT GOT IN AND OUT OF THE FACILITY.
AND OF COURSE ALL OF THE SYSTEMS ARE OLD AND IT'S, UM, NOT COMPARABLE TO ANY OF OUR OTHER FIRE STATIONS.
UM, ONE OF THE VERY SMALL PARCELS, UH, THAT'S CONTIGUOUS THIS, WHICH WE OWN IS THE GRAFTON VOTING PLACE, WHICH, UH, WHATEVER WE WOULD DECIDE TO DO WITH THE, THE MAIN BUILDING WE WOULD WANT TO TAKE IN CONSIDERATION, UH, HOW WOULD WE, YOU KNOW, PRESERVE THIS OR PROTECT THIS EITHER DIRECTLY OR THROUGH SOME ARRANGEMENT WITH A THIRD PARTY.
UM, AND OF COURSE THERE'S A HISTORICAL MARKER THERE AND IT'S, UH, MAINTAINED TO SOME DEGREE.
UM, THIS MAP SHOWS, UH, THE PROPERTY AND, UH, BASICALLY YOU HAVE THREE PARCELS.
IF YOU ADD THEM ALL UP, IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT UNDER AN ACRE.
UM, AND SO, UH, PRESUMABLY THE BUILDING PARCEL AND THE PARKING LOT PARCEL TO THE WEST WOULD BE SEEN AS A PACKAGE IF WE WERE GOING TO, UH, MAKE THE PROPERTY AVAILABLE.
AND THEN, UH, HOW WE HANDLED THE, THE FORMER, UH, VOTING STATION WOULD BE A SOMEWHAT RELATED, BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME QUESTION.
SO ALL OF YOU ALL HAVE BEEN ENGAGED BY CURIOUS CITIZENS AS HAS THE STAFF ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO IT.
AND SOME OF THE DIFFERENT IDEAS, SOME OF THE ONES THAT WE HAVE HEARD AND KICKED AROUND AT THE STATION STAFF LEVEL, OR TURN IT INTO A GREEN SPACE, UM, CREATE A CONNECTOR ROAD SINCE THERE'S ALREADY A TRAFFIC SIGNAL THAT LINES UP WITH IT, UM, SELL IT TO AN ADJACENT DUDE OR, UM, SELL IT OR TO CONVEY IT TO SOME OTHER ENTERPRISE OR SOME ALTERNATE USE THAT MIGHT BE PROPOSED.
UH, I THINK THAT PRETTY MUCH COVERS IT, I GUESS THE OTHER ONE, WHICH I HAVE A BIAS AGAINST, I'VE HAD SOME EXPERIENCE OVER THE DECADES OF OLD GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DECLARED, UM, OBSOLETE.
UH, IF THEY SIT AROUND LONG ENOUGH, SOMEBODY DISCOVERS SOME NEW NEED FOR THEM.
UM, AND THEN, UH, A BUNCH OF RESOURCES ARE PUT INTO MAINTAINING IT.
SO, UH, AND WE CERTAINLY JUST, AS A MATTER OF PRIDE, DON'T WANT IT TO JUST SIT THERE AND DETERIORATE.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THE CONSIDERATIONS I THINK, UM, THAT WE'VE AT LEAST COME UP WITH AND OUR THOUGHT WAS, AND THIS IS WHERE WE'D LIKE, YOUR INPUT IS IF THESE ARE ALL POSSIBILITIES AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHO OUT THERE MIGHT HAVE A VIABLE PROPOSAL, THAT SINCE WE HAVE 12 TO 14 MONTHS TO THINK ABOUT THIS, THAT WITH YOUR
[01:05:01]
DIRECTION, WHAT WE COULD DO IS HAVE SOME TYPE OF, UM, REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PROCESS AND BASICALLY SEE WHAT ALL COMERS MIGHT PROPOSE A VERY SORT OF OPEN THING THAT HAD NO PARTICULAR, UH, RULES.SO IT WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE HIGHEST PRICE.
IT MIGHT BE HOW CREATIVE IT IS OR THE NATURE OF THE USE.
CERTAINLY, UH, IF, IF THEY WANTED TO BECOME THE OWNER OF THE, OF THE HISTORIC PROPERTY, THEN YOU KNOW, HOW WOULD THAT BE DEALT WITH? AND IF WE GOT SOME INTERESTING PROPOSALS, WE CAN BRING THEM TO YOU.
AND WE WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE, YOU KNOW, OF, OF THE INTERESTING ONES, HOW WE WOULD NARROW IT DOWN OR MAKE A DECISION.
AND IF WE DON'T GET ANY INTERESTING PROPOSALS, THEN WE CAN GO BACK TO SOME OF THESE IDEAS.
SO THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION WOULD BE TO DIRECT US TO INITIATE SOME TYPE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL PROCESS WHERE WE SORT OF KEEP ALL OF OUR OPTIONS OPEN AND THEN SORT OF NARROW THAT DOWN IN A TIMEFRAME.
SO AS WE PREPARE TO, UH, VACATE WITH THE LIBRARY USE A YEAR OR SO FROM NOW, UH, WE KIND OF KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO NEXT.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE PREHISTORIC VOTING PLACE AND THE PROPERTY LINES AND THE LINES BEING DRAWN.
SO THAT SECTION IS CUT OUT OF IT STAYS WITH THE COUNTY.
YEAH, WELL, IT IS ALREADY A SEPARATE PARCEL.
IT'S A VERY SMALL, SEPARATE PARCEL.
I WAS LOOKING AT THE, AT THE DRY UNTIL, I GUESS I DIDN'T SEE THAT THAT WAS, YEAH.
THE, THE PICTURE'S A LITTLE SMALL TO SEE FROM HERE, BUT IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE RECTANGLE TO THE NORTH OF THE TWO MAIN PARCELS.
AND I BELIEVE THE, UH, COUNTY ATTORNEY WOULD TELL YOU THAT IF WE CHOSE, SINCE WE OWN ALL THREE PARCELS, IF WE CHOSE TO SUBDIVIDE IT IN SOME DIFFERENT MANNER, UH, UNDER CERTAIN, YOU KNOW, ZONING RULES, WE COULD, BUT IT IS A DISTINCT PARCEL.
SO YOU COULD JUST HOLD THAT SEPARATE FROM THE OTHERS.
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO KEEP THAT? BECAUSE IT'S A HISTORIC BUILDING, IT LOOKED LIKE AN OUTHOUSE, OR YOU PICKED THE SUCKER UP AND DRAG IT UP HERE AND PUT IT SOMEPLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN SEE IT.
NO, ONE'S GOING TO GO DOWN THERE NOW.
I, I BELIEVE THAT, UH, UH, THERE'S NO, UH, DESIRE ON THE BOARD TO DEMOLISH AND RETAIN THE, UH, BUILDING AS GREEN SPACE.
AND I BELIEVE THE BOARD WOULD LIKE TO, UH, LOOK INTO SOME PRIVATE USE AND GET IT OFF OF OUR OWNERSHIP AND ONTO THE TAX ROLLS.
SO, UH, LET'S CONTINUE MAYBE DOWN THAT COURSE, UH, MR. MRES, I MEAN, I WOULD THINK THAT, UH, THE ISSUE FALLS SQUIRRELY IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ARENA.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, JIM AND THE MEMBERS OF THAT BOARD, IF GIVEN THE TASK, WOULD IT BE ABLE TO DO SOME ARM WRESTLING AND SQUEEZING OF IDEAS THEMSELVES, IF THIS WAS NOT THEIR PRODUCT? IN OTHER WORDS, UH, YOU KNOW, THEIR TASK IS TO DO THAT AS SOON AS THEY CAN SMARTLY BRING IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
OBVIOUSLY, OBVIOUSLY IT'S THE SITE FOR THAT, UH, WITH SOME INVESTMENT.
BUT THE QUESTION I WOULD HAVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME IS, IS EDA BEEN TASKED TO DO ANYTHING? OR IS THAT JUST THE, YOUR STAFF? NO, NOT COUNTING EDU, NOT YET.
THAT'S CERTAINLY ONE ROUTE YOU COULD GO.
UM, ONE, ONE HESITATION THERE IS THE PROPERTY IS VERY MUCH CONSTRAINED.
UM, IT'S NOT EVEN CLEAR THAT IT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE FROM ROUTE 17 IN THE FUTURE.
WE HAD A WAIVER BECAUSE IT WAS A FIRE STATION AND PARKING IS, I'VE HEARD ALL KINDS OF COOL IDEAS, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE'S ABOUT 20 PARKING SPACES AND THAT GREATLY LIMITS WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW, SOMEBODY MIGHT CHOOSE TO CLEAR THE SITE AND REUSE IT.
I MEAN, WE COULD GIVE THE EDA DIRECTION TOO, TO HAVE AN RFP SUCH AS YOU KNOW, I WAS SUGGESTING, UM, I GUESS THE POINT FOR YOU TO CONSIDER THOUGH IS WHILE IT MIGHT VERY WELL BE THAT SOME OF THE PROPOSALS WE GET ARE, YOU KNOW, BUSINESS TYPE USES, YOU COULD IMAGINE OTHER DESIRABLE PROPOSALS TO USE IT THAT AREN'T NECESSARILY JUST BUSINESS AND TAXES, FOR EXAMPLE, SOME NONPROFIT IN THE COMMUNITY OR SOMETHING.
AND I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THAT ANYBODY WOULD BE INTERESTED.
SO, UH, ANOTHER WAY YOU COULD DO THAT IS YOU COULD SORT OF SEE WHO'S OUT THERE SORT OF, YOU KNOW, CAST A WIDE NET, UH, REPORT BACK ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
AND IF THERE'S SOME, YOU KNOW, VIABLE
[01:10:01]
BUSINESS TYPE OPPORTUNITIES, AND THAT'S WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, THEN SORT OF IN THE SECOND STEP HANDED OFF TO THE ADA, BUT THERE'S NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY.I MEAN, WE CAN CERTAINLY TASK THE EDA AND THEY'RE GOING TO SAY, WHAT DOES THE BOARD, YEAH, WELL, GIVE US SOME IDEAS.
HEY, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS, THE GRAFTON VOTING STATION, THAT LITTLE BUILDING THAT'S OUT THERE, UH, I BELIEVE THAT COULD BE MOVED.
AND MR. SHEPHERD MADE THE POINT THAT THAT MIGHT BE BETTER SUITED IN A, ANOTHER LOCATION.
IT DID NOT LOOK, UH, LOOKED LIKE, UH, THE SIZE OF A 10 BY 10, UH, GARAGE THAT THEY MOVE EVERY DAY, COLONIAL, COLONIAL SHEDS.
BUT I BELIEVE THEY USED TO MOVE THAT AROUND AS WON'T LAY THEM ONCE TOLD ME THAT USED TO GET MOVED TO DIFFERENT PLACES.
SO
SO, AND I, I CERTAINLY, I CERTAINLY WOULD WANT TO RESERVE IT ALL.
WE GOT PLENTY OF TIME BEFORE YOU NEED TO MAKE A DECISION.
I WOULD, I WOULD PUT THE WORD, I, HEY, THIS PLACE IS AVAILABLE.
AND YOU SAYS, I, I, I KIND OF LIKED THE IDEA OF, UM, I SEEN A GENERATION TAX AND THE TAX INCOME FOR US, BUT AGAIN, WHAT IS THE BEST USE OF THE PROPERTY FOR THE, FOR THE RESIDENTS HERE IN THE COUNTY? UM, I WOULDN'T MIND SEEING THE EDA MARKETED OUT, MAYBE OUTSIDE OF THE AREA TO SEE SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT.
UM, ONE QUESTION I HAVE GIVEN WHAT HAS BEEN USED FOR SO SO MANY YEARS, ARE THERE ANY ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES WITH THAT PIECE OF PROPERTY? NOTHING THAT WOULD BE INSURMOUNTABLE.
I MEAN, IT'S BEEN WELL MAINTAINED OVER THE YEARS.
IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, ALL THAN OBSOLETE.
SO I, I THINK I HEAR YOU ALL SAYING, GET A PROCESS STARTED INITIALLY CAST A WIDE NET REPORT BACK WITH SORT OF WHAT DOES THE INTEREST LOOK LIKE? AND THEN THE BOARD COULD THEN HELP US NARROW THAT DOWN AND DECIDE WHAT STEP TO TAKE AFTER THAT.
[OPEN DISCUSSION]
OPEN DISCUSSION BY THE BOARD MEMBERS.AND I'M GOING TO CALL ON MS. SMELL AS I ALWAYS CALL ON FIRST MISNOMER.
WELL, I TALKED TO BRIAN WOODWARD A LITTLE WHILE AGO.
I LAST WEEK I WENT DOWN TO THE MAC, A SPORTS COMPLEX, AND I WENT BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY GARDENS AND IT WAS OPEN AND I GOT AN VERY NICE TOUR OF IT.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE ARE GROWING A WIDE VARIETY OF VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS AND THEY'RE WELL-MAINTAINED, BUT THERE'S A WAITING LIST.
AND I THINK MAYBE WE MIGHT CONSIDER ENLARGING THE COMMUNITY GARDEN, BECAUSE IF THERE'S A WAITING LIST, WE SHOULD REALLY TRY TO PROVIDE THAT BECAUSE IT'S, EVERYBODY'S INTERESTED IN GROWING VEGETABLES OF WHAT IS IT FARM TO MARKET.
AND YOU LOOK AT ALL THE VEGETABLES AND FRUITS THAT ARE BEING SOLD DOWN AT OUR MARKET EVERY SATURDAY.
I, THEY DON'T REALLY LIKE, BECAUSE I MIGHT BUY ONE OF EACH AND THEN COME BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK, BUT IT'S THERE AND THEY'RE FRESH AND THERE'S NOTHING LIKE FRESH VEGETABLES.
SO I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT GARDEN AND GIVE PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GROW THEIR OWN.
SO IF WE COULD CONSIDER THAT, I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT MR. MORGAN, IF YOU COULD, UH, CHECK INTO THE POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION OF THE COMMUNITY GARDEN.
YEAH, I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF THINGS I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU.
UM, EARLIER TODAY I FORWARDED AN EMAIL TO YOU THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO READ IT.
SO BROAD COMPETENCE FOR EVERYBODY HERE.
AND I'LL ADDRESS THAT A LITTLE A LITTLE WHILE LATER AFTER I TALK ABOUT A PARTICULAR NEWSPAPER THAT I GET ON A WEEKLY BASIS, IT'S A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER.
DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER GOTTEN A COPY OF A REDDIT.
UH, THE NICE THING ABOUT IT IS IT TALKS ABOUT ARTICLES AND IT GOES INTO GREAT DEPTH, UH, UNLIKE OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS AND THE SPECIFIC, UH, SUBJECT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT TONIGHT.
AND I WANT TO READ THAT JUST AN EXCERPT OF IT.
IT'S AN OPINION, JUST AN OPINION.
AND REMEMBER, IT'S A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER QUOTE, THE TOTALITARIAN AGENDA BEHIND LGBT SEX ED REVOLUTION AT SCHOOL PRESENTED AS A TOOL FOR A HEALTH INTOLERANCE.
SO-CALLED COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY.
EDUCATION IS REALLY A WEAPON IN THE MARX'S WAR ON THE FAMILY.
[01:15:01]
IT'S NOT POINTING ANY FINGERS AT ANYBODY AT THIS POINT IN TIME, EXTREME SOCIALIZATION AND LGBTQ PLUS INTOLERANCE OF CHILDREN AT YOUNG, YOUNGER AND YOUNGER AGES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE NOW UBIQUITOUS NATIONWIDE AND IS A PART OF A MUCH BROADER AGENDA.THAT GOES WELL BEYOND JUST ECONOMIC CONFUSION AND PROMISCUITY FOR ITS OWN SAKE.
THE REAL GOAL OF THIS AGENDA IS ULTIMATELY TO DESTROY THE NEW PEELER FAMILY AS THE FOUNDATION OF CIVILIZATION EXPERTS SAY, AS CARL MARX AND COUNTLESS OTHER TOTALITARIANS UNDERSTOOD THE STATE WILL STEP IN TO FILL THE VOID LEFT BY THE FAMILY UNIT IN SHORT SEX.
ED IS AIMED AT UNDERMINING THE VERY BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCIETY.
NOW IT GOES ON AND ON, AND I WAS VERY, VERY DETAILED ARTICLE.
UM, WHEN I GOT THIS LAST WEEK AND READ IT, I SAID, THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THIS COUNTRY IN DIFFERENT POCKETS OF EDUCATION, THIS IS PROBABLY HAPPENING, RIGHT? WELL THEN TODAY I RECEIVED THIS EMAIL FROM A VERY CONCERNED PARENT WHO HAS THREE CHILDREN IN OUR K THROUGH 12.
I DON'T WANT TO READ ANY OF IT TO YOU.
BUT IT'S PRETTY POINTED WITH RESPECT TO AT LEAST THIS ONE FAMILY IN THE LIGHT.
NOW YOU OUGHT TO KNOW THAT THERE'S ALL SORTS OF DIALOGUE.
AND THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS I BROUGHT THIS UP TONIGHT.
THERE'S ALL SORTS OF DIALOGUE ONGOING WITHIN THE COMMONWEALTH, AS WELL AS OTHER STATES.
AND THERE ARE THREE FACEBOOK PAGES THAT I HAPPEN TO BE PART OF THAT, LISTENING TO THE DIALOGUE AND SOME COMMENTS AND SO FORTH.
BUT I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT, UH, TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU CAN WITH YOUR PHONE, GET TO THE REOPENING, YOUR COUNTY SCHOOLS, FACEBOOK PAGE, THE STOP CRT AND HAMPTON ROOMS, FACEBOOK PAGE, AND STOPS YOUR T NATIONWIDE.
THAT IS THE NEAT THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT IT'S ONGOING DIALOGUE BETWEEN PROFESSIONALS, BETWEEN PARENTS, BETWEEN THIRD PARTIES AND SO FORTH, BUT IT GETS YOU AN IDEA OF THIS THING CALLED CRT.
AND ITS APPENDAGES IS TODAY WHERE IT'S BEEN A YEAR OR SO AGO AND WHERE IT'S GOING.
UH, SO I JUST SHARED THAT WITH YOU.
UH, IT'S VERY, I DON'T HAVE ANY KIDS K THROUGH 12, MINE ARE GONE, BUT MY CHILDREN HAVE CHILDREN K THROUGH 12, NOT IN YOUR COUNTY, BUT IN DIFFERENT COUNTIES IN THE STATE.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS THE BURGEONING ISSUE.
WE'RE SEEING MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE ARTICLES ON IT.
AND I JUST THINK THAT, UH, THE FIVE OF US WHO REPRESENT THE COUNTY FROM THE ELECTION STANDPOINT OR B MAKE SURE WE'RE IN TUNE WITH OUR CONSTITUENTS ON THE SUBJECT ENOUGH SET.
THANK YOU, MR. RONAN, A LITTLE BIT IN RELATION TO THAT.
UM, IT WE'RE COMING INTO AUGUST AND SHORTLY.
WE'LL BE COMING BACK INTO THE, UM, SCHOOL YEAR.
AND I HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF CONVERSATIONS OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS VIA EMAIL AND TEXT AND IN PERSON, UH, PEOPLE WONDERING WHAT TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT THAT THEIR KIDS WILL BE GOING BACK TO IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS HERE.
UM, AND AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, A LOT OF CONCERNS, UM, BETWEEN, UH, COVID IMPACT SOME OF THE THINGS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HERE THIS EVENING, UM, AND I'VE SPOKEN VIA EMAIL WITH THEIR, UM, UH, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR ABOUT IT, UH, UH, REACHED OUT TO MY PEER ON THE SCHOOL BOARD.
UM, UM, MR. RICHARDSON, WE, WE TALKED OVER THE PHONE ABOUT A LITTLE BIT AND WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THAT IN THIS MONTH, THERE WILL BE A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS ABOUT WHAT THAT SCHOOL YEAR IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
THE SCHOOL BOARD, THIS BOARD SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION WILL BE ADDRESSING ALL THOSE TOPICS.
SO I ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE AGENDAS COMING UP, UH, ATTEND THOSE MEETINGS, TALK WITH THE REPRESENTATIVE, TALK WITH THE BOARD, TALK WITH THE SCHOOL STAFF AND LET THEM KNOW ABOUT YOUR CONCERNS, UH, WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN.
BE PART OF THAT DISCUSSION, BE PART OF WHAT THAT ENVIRONMENT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE, UH, THIS, THIS COMING FALL, UH, FOR OUR KIDS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL LIKE WALTZ, I DON'T, MY KIDS HAVE GRADUATED SINCE, UH, AS WELL.
UH, SO I DON'T HAVE THAT INSIGHT THAT SOME OTHER PARENTS DO WITH KIDS GOING INTO SCHOOL.
UH, BUT THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY NOW TO GO AND HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS, UM, AND BE PART OF THAT DISCUSSION.
THEY'D BE PART OF THAT DECISION PROCESS ARE REALLY ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS NARROW WINDOW THAT WE HAVE HERE IN THIS MONTH.
IS THERE AN UPCOMING MEETING THAT YOU WANT TO INFORM EVERYONE? I WOULD.
[01:20:01]
GOING TO SAY, YOU KNOW, GO, GO CHECK OUT ON THE, UH, THE SCHOOL BOARDS WEBPAGE, BUT TOMORROW NIGHT APPARENTLY IS THE, IS THE NEXT MEETING.AND WHAT TIME IS THAT SPECIAL MEETING? AND THE SPECIAL MEETING IS HERE AT YOUR CALL.
SIX O'CLOCK HERE, HERE TOMORROW AT YOUR CALL.
DO WE KNOW WHAT THE AGENDA FOR TOMORROW NIGHT'S SPECIAL LEADING IS THAT WASN'T ON WHICH LEG TODAY.
YEAH, THE, UH, THANK YOU MR. CHAIRMAN.
UM, ESSENTIALLY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT KIDS IN SCHOOL AND I THOUGHT, WELL, BY THE TIME I REACHED MY AGE NOW THAT I WOULDN'T BE, UH, HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE SCHOOL ISSUES, BUT THE, ONE OF THE REASONS I MASK UP TODAY IS, UH, FOR TWO REASONS, ONE, THE CDC HAS MADE A RECOMMENDATION THAT WHEN YOU'RE IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WITH PEOPLE THAT NOW ALL INDOOR ACTIVITIES, THAT YOU SHOULD BE WEARING A MASK.
UM, THE SECOND PART IS THAT WHAT WE WHAT'S BEEN ANNOUNCED TOO BY THE CDC IS THAT PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD THEIR VACCINATIONS, BOTH VACCINATIONS CAN STILL CARRY, BUT THEY CALL A VIRAL LOAD FOR THE, UH, DELTA OF OUR AUNT.
UM, THAT'S THE SAME AS SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT HAD THEIR SHOTS.
SO THAT MAKES, MAKES ALL OF US POTENTIAL CARRIER.
UM, AND, AND NOW AS I FIND MYSELF AS A GRANDFATHER WITH A NINE YEAR OLD AND A SIX YEAR OLD IN MY HOUSE, I'M SITTING HERE WORRYING AT NIGHT, WHETHER I'M GOING TO END UP WITH ONE OF MY CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, UH, COMING DOWN WITH COVID AND THE BIG CONCERN IS OVER THE NEXT YEAR.
THE SCHOOL GONNA LOOK LIKE, CAUSE I WILL TELL YOU THE VIRTUAL TRAIN WAS TOUGH.
SOME KIDS REALLY ADAPTED TO IT, OTHERS.
IT JUST, IT WAS A WASTED YEAR AND IT'S THE LAST YEAR IN THEIR LIFE.
SO A COUPLE OF THINGS I JUST WANTED TO BRING OUT AND, YOU KNOW, I, MY CHOICE OF, OF A REFERENCE THAT I GO TO CONCERNING THE COVID AND, AND STUFF THAT WE'RE HAVING TO DO IS THE SCIENCE THAT IS, UH, ADDRESSED BY THE CDC.
YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER SOURCE YOU WANT.
I'VE SEEN ALL KINDS OF EMAILS AND, AND THINGS THAT HAVE COME OUT FOR PEOPLE AT DIFFERENT SOURCES AND A DEBATE ON WHETHER THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE MASK IN SCHOOL OR NOT IN SCHOOL.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S GOING TO BE MAYBE SOME OF THAT DISCUSSION.
THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE THE MEETING.
I REALLY DON'T KNOW, BUT THE NEWSPAPERS, I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING, YOU KNOW, THE NEWSPAPERS COME OUT AND I'LL, IF YOU CAN SEE THIS WHERE IT SAYS IT'S TIME TO MASK UP AGAIN.
AND THEN THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE THAT CAME OUT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE NEW CDC GUIDANCE, THERE'S A MASK RUSH.
EVERYBODY'S PAYING ATTENTION AND GOING, OKAY.
I GOT TO GO DOWN AND GET MASKED.
SO WE ENDED UP, I DON'T KNOW IF WE DIDN'T END UP WITH A SHORTAGE OF MY HOUSE CAUSE WE, WE HOARDED MASK AND WE'VE GOT OUR SHARE.
UM, AND THEN WE FIND THAT ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE VA IS NOW, YOU KNOW, THERE WILL REQUIRE MASK AND, UH, SHOTS.
AND YOU'RE FINDING COMPANIES LIKE WALMART TO SOME DEGREE IN THEIR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS IS GOING TO REQUIRE VACCINATIONS.
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.
ONE OF THE SCHOOLS IS GOING TO REQUIRE IT.
SO DIFFERENT COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS, THE MILITARY OF ALL THINGS IS, UH, I JUST, I WAS STUNNED BY THE FACT THAT THEY, THEY LET, UH, THEIR MILITARY SERVICE PEOPLE HAVE OPTIONS ON VACCINATIONS.
YOU STOOD IN LINE, YOU GET YOUR SHOT AND THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT WAS.
AND THEN YOU SEE THIS, COVID NOW A PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED AND IT GOES NOT SO FAST.
AND IT, AND THAT'S WHERE HE FIND OUT THAT PEOPLE THAT ARE VACCINATED CAN CARRY THE DISEASE.
AND THEN THROUGH ALL THIS, YOU KNOW, YOU SAY, YOU'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO, WHAT INFORMATION, WHERE DO I GO? HOW DO I PROTECT MY, MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS AND PEOPLE.
I'M GOING TO BE AROUND AND NOT HAVE TO WEAR THE DAMN MASK.
SO I LOOKED AT THE, THE MASS GUIDANCE AND I JUST WANT A COUPLE OF POINTS.
IT SAYS ANYWHERE, UM, W THE RATINGS ARE SUBSTANTIAL OR HIGH RISK OR STRONG OR STRONGLY ADVISED TO WEAR MASK INDOORS.
AS NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS FULLY VACCINATED, PEOPLE CAN STILL SPREAD THE VIRUS.
AND THIS CAME FROM THE CDC DIRECTOR.
SO, BUT HE NEVER SAID, WHAT IS, WHAT IS SUBSTANTIAL AND WHAT IS HIGH? SO I HAD TO GO DIG THAT OUT.
AND IT SAYS SUBSTANTIAL IS WHEN 50 TO 99 NEW CASES PER 100,000 RESIDENTS WHEN THEY GET THAT.
SO THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE SUBSTANTIAL.
NOW, YOUR COUNTY FALLS INTO THE HIGH RISK.
NOW WE ARE CLASSIFIED HIGH RISK.
I THINK WILLIAMSBURG IS NOT, IT'S KIND OF DOWN IN SUBSTANTIAL, BUT WE'RE RATED HIGH RISK AND IT'S 100 OR MORE NEW CASES
[01:25:01]
PER 100,000, UM, IN THE PAST SEVEN DAYS.AND 10% OR HIGHER POSITIVITY RATE, WHICH IS A PRETTY HIGH RATE.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF ONE OR BOTH OF THOSE HAVE TO OCCUR, BUT I KNOW ONE OF THEM HAS TO OCCUR.
AND, UM, SO MY ADVICE AND I'VE, I'VE TALKED TO A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE, A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE, A LOT OF MIDDLE-AGED PEOPLE ABOUT ARE YOU GETTING THE SHOTS? AND THE THERE'S A LOT OF THEM SAYING, NO, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S BLACK OR WHITE OR ORIENTAL OR WHATEVER A LOT ARE SAYING NO.
AND I, AND SO I ASKED WHY, BECAUSE MAYBE IT'S, MY GENERATION JUST FELT THAT I'VE, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED A SHOT.
AND SOME OF THEM SAID, WELL, IT'S A PERSONAL CHOICE.
I HAD ONE INDIVIDUAL SAY, WELL, I'VE NEVER BEEN SICK BEFORE, SO WHY SHOULD I GO GET THE SHOT? UM, OTHERS ARE, I DON'T TRUST IT BECAUSE I DON'T, THIS IS NOT AN APPROVED VACCINE.
AND THAT'S KIND OF INTERESTING BECAUSE IT'S ONLY EMERGENCY APPROVED.
IT'S NOT FULLY APPROVED VACCINE.
IF IT WAS APPROVED, YOU COULD PROBABLY HAVE MORE PEOPLE MANDATING THE SHOT.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS OUT THERE FOR FOLKS, BUT I WILL TELL YOU THE ONE THING THAT I FEEL PERSONALLY, UM, GOOD ABOUT IS THAT, THAT I'M NOT GOING TO DIE FROM COVID, I'LL DIE FOR MAYBE A CAR WRECK OR SOMETHING ELSE, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO DIE FROM COVID.
I MAY GET SICK FROM COVID, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO DIE FROM COVID.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF THAT GOING AROUND.
AND A LOT OF FOLKS, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION, SO I'M NOT, I'M NOT A DOCTOR, BUT I WILL TELL YOU MY ADVICE IS IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT, GO SEE YOUR PHYSICIAN, GO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR AND, AND, AND, AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, BUT GO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR AND MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.
GOOD, GOOD ADVICE FROM MR. SHEPHERD, GO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT THIS VACCINE.
UH, LAST TOMORROW NIGHT, FIVE O'CLOCK.
THERE IS A, EVEN THE MOST IMPORTANT MEETING OF POTENTIALLY THE YEAR IS THE COMP PLAN MEETING AT THE SENIOR CENTER FIVE O'CLOCK.
WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
UH, THIS IS OUR 20 SOMETHING MEETING AND, UH, IT'S OPEN TO THE PUBLIC IF YOU WANT TO COME AND SEE WHAT WE'RE UP TO SEE WHERE WE'RE HEADING WITH THE COMP PLAN, COME TO THE SENIOR CENTER, FIVE O'CLOCK TOMORROW.
AND WITH THAT WE'RE ADJOURNED.