General Information

Government Type

County

Entity

Washington County

Public Body

St. George Area Sports and Events Commission

Notice Information

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Notice Title

St. George Area Sports Commission Meeting Minutes February 17, 2016

Notice Tags

Recreation

Notice Type(s)

Meeting

Event Start Date & Time

February 17, 2016 09:30 AM

Description/Agenda

St. George Area Sports Commission Meeting Date: February 17, 2016 9:30 a.m. Board Present: Cimarron Chacon Kyle Case Barry Blake Roxie Sherwin Jeriah Threlfall Dave Kiel Jason Boothe Kevin Lewis Di Shanklin Steve Bingham Tom Dansie Location: Washington County Administration Building- Downstairs Conference Room A) Welcome: Cimarron Chacon called the meeting to order at 9:30 am and introductions were made of all the Commission members present. B) Minutes: Cimarron called for a motion to approve the minutes from December 16, 2015, from any original Commission members that were present at that meeting. Motion by Kyle Case to approve the minutes of December 16, 2015 as presented. Motion seconded by Tom Dansie and carried by a unanimous vote. C) Commission Business: Introduction of Sports Commission a) Purpose Executive Director Kevin Lewis explained that this group will assist and advise the County Commission, as well as assist the Sports and Outdoor Recreation office in the promotion and development of Sports in Washington County. b) Allocation of Funding Mr. Lewis went on to explain that the Commission allocates funds for event organizers and events that need help to get up and going. He mentioned that there are specific criteria looked at when determining how much funding an event may receive. Event organizers will present to the Commission at which time several categories are used to determine what makes an event worthy of funding. Some examples include: how many room nights the event will bring, the positive/ negative effect on the community, and the time of year in which it takes place. The Commission agreed that there was value in having each event organizer present to the Commission regardless of the amount being sought. A scoring sheet was then distributed to each member. (see attached scoring sheet) c) Infrastructure Planning/Development Tom Dansie questioned what the $80,000 dollars indicated on the agenda was set aside for. Mr. Lewis explained that it was the funding to be used for marketing of events that would be allocated by the Commission. He went on to explain that any additional money awarded could possibly come from the Sports Commission budget or other county funds in special circumstances. Roxie Sherwin explained that transient room tax is what funds both the Tourism Office and the Office of Sports. It is legislated that 50% of these funds must be used for marketing and the other 50% can be used for other tourism related expenditures. Membership: a) Basic Structure As the bylaws were not officially sent out, basic structure will be discussed at the next Sports Commission meeting. b) Introductions of Members and Officers Introductions were made at the beginning of the meeting. Adoption of Bylaws: As the bylaws were not officially looked over and approved by the Washington County Attorney's Office, this item will be tabled until the next Sports Commission meeting. Discussion of Sports and Venue Opportunities: a) Santa Clara Mountain Biking Venue There have been several discussions regarding the staging area of some of the larger mountain bike venues. Dave Kiel explained that there are six (6) mountain bike races held at the Green Valley Gap, including the Utah High School Mountain Bike Championship. The trail system that was built between Santa Clara and Ivins has been looked at for hosting the High School Mountain Bike Championship which has outgrown the Green Valley Gap area. Santa Clara is interested in hosting some of the larger events. Under the Recreational and Public Purposes Act, twenty-five (25) acres of public land would be given to Santa Clara for staging of those events in addition to becoming a city park. The option of a potential Shooting Park in Santa Clara has been discussed as well. Mr. Lewis mentioned that there is a good partnership happening between Santa Clara City, the BLM, and Washington County to make sure everything goes smoothly. b) Regional Park Mr. Lewis explained that he is a member of a Master Plan Committee for the Regional Park. The Committee is comprised of members from the existing Regional Park, the County Commission, the Fair Committee, as well as the USU Extension Office, which is in need of a permanent work space due to their building burning down several years ago. Plans for a new building are in the works, and Mr. Lewis mentioned that that he is hoping for some space for sporting events to take place there once it is complete. There is a possibility of four (4) volleyball courts, or two to three (2-3) basketball courts. It would likely be a metal building with thirty (30) foot ceilings and all the equipment would need to be brought in. The Master Plan Committee is hoping to help the Regional Park be more of a presence in Washington County. c) Shooting Sports Park Mr. Lewis explained that the Shooting Sports Park located near the Regional Park has recently been closed due to some stray bullets that have been found in or near residents on the other side of the ridge. The Park has recently undergone an inspection by a representative from the National Rifle Association (NRA), to determine if any further safety precautions are to be taken. That report should come back within a few weeks. As of right now, the Park is open to the public for the regularly scheduled events, but all events are closely supervised. Since the designation of the closely supervised shoots there have not been any other stray bullets found. d) Designated Bike Routes e) Tom Dansie explained that the Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance (SUBA) is working with some of the municipalities on consistent signage and designated routes throughout the County. The St. George Active Transportation group recently came up with a template for bike signs. It was mentioned that at the Dixie Transportation Expo there were two (2) signs displayed. One will be for routes on the road and one will be on the trails. Each will have different colors and the respective city or county name will appear on the top of each. f) Ivins Trail Request Mr. Lewis mentioned that at a meeting he recently attended, a potential trail project from Tuacahn to Snow Canyon Parkway was discussed. He mentioned that Ivins City was also working on a trailhead near the reservoir. Di Shanklin mentioned that the Shivwits Tribe is going to be putting in a multipurpose trail to the reservoir as well. g) School Bus Insurance h) Mr. Lewis stated that there have been some complications for events wanting to use the school district's buses for transportation of athletes to and from individual events. For the past several years, events such as the Ironman and the St. George Marathon have utilized the buses for that exact purpose. Recently, a couple of applications from event organizers to use the busses have been turned down because of district insurance requirements. Additional details will be provided to the Commission as they become available. Presentations: a) Applications for Event Co- Funding I. Rockwell Relay Tyler Servoss, the director of the Rockwell Relay, explained that this was the seventh year the relay has taken place. They have applied for this grant twice before and he mentioned this would be the third time applying. He went on to say that for the last six (6) years the event has been run as a for-profit organization; however, this year the event was donated to a charity by the name of Charity Vision. Charity Vision is a Utah based charity that provides corrective eye surgeries in other countries. One hundred percent of the proceeds gathered from the relay will go to Charity Vision. The relay runs from Moab to St. George and traditionally takes place the first weekend in June, with this year as an exception taking place the second weekend in June. He mentioned that the previous year's relay had 140 three person teams and 550 participants overall. It was his hope that with some additional marketing they could potentially reach 800-1000 participants this year. This year they will also have an $8,500 cash purse in hopes to bolster participation from all over the country, ultimately, bringing in more people to Washington County. Mr. Servoss mentioned that there were improvements made to the finish line last year to make it more of a celebration as well as a family fun atmosphere. The Commission discussed possibly changing the route and the finish line to be in Ivins which has a more accessible park. It was also mentioned that potentially having a band and providing additional activities at the finish line would add to the excitement and be a good way to keep people in town. Motion by Steve Bingham to approve a partial requested amount of $2,000. Motion seconded by Kyle Case and carried by a unanimous vote. II. Red Rock Rally Cristy Wiser, explained that the Red Rock Rally is an all-star cheerleading competition and there are 300 participants this year, half of which are from out of the area. She is anticipating 100 hotel rooms being booked that day. This is the first year the competition has taken place, and she hopes that as it becomes more established it will double in participation each year. The competition will be held Saturday March 5th at the Dixie Burns Arena. Next year they hope to move the competition to January as it is the beginning of competition season and will hopefully work better for all schedules. The age of the competitors range from five (5) to eighteen (18), and they have twelve (12) different categories available. The competition will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will last approximately three (3) hours. Ms. Wiser has done most of the marketing with mailers, but they do have a Facebook page and website as well. She hopes that the competition will grow in size and become a destination event for many out-of-town cheerleading teams. Mr. Lewis inquired as to how this competition differs from others in regards to special awards or extra opportunities. Ms. Wiser stated that they have etched glass trophies as well as offer a solo category, which other competitions don't typically have. The Commission agreed that it was a good event to fund to help it get up and running in the first year. It was discussed that Ms. Wiser should change the competition date from March to January and promote next year's competition date at this year's competition. The Commission would also like to see additional promotional material used to encourage more participants from out-of-town. Motion by Roxie Sherwin to approve the requested amount of $1,000 with the stipulation that the event be moved to January and steps be taken to build marketing materials for the following year. Motion seconded by Kevin Lewis and carried by a unanimous vote. b) Grant/ Sponsorship Applications i. Hurricane Mountain Bike Festival DJ Morissette, with Over the Edge Sports in Hurricane stated that she is in charge of the Mountain Bike Festival every year which typically takes place the third weekend in March, but explained that this year it will be held the second weekend in March. She went on to say that this year they would like to add a pump track to the festival, but the cost of purchasing one is quite expensive. She has made contact with the company that sells them and inquired about having them come to the festival and doing a demo of the track. In exchange, the Festival would cover the expenses of the demo. The pump track company stated that the expenses would be $4,500. Ms. Morissette mentioned that she had $1,500 set aside for the pump track but she needed a bit of additional funding as she did not anticipate the price being so high. She is certain that the addition of the pump track would bring more people and bicycle companies to the Festival each year. There was some discussion among the Commission regarding the amount of funding to be awarded, as the Festival was previously already awarded $3,000 of co-funding monies. Motion by Kyle Case to approve a funding amount of $1,500. Motion seconded by Kevin Lewis and carried by a unanimous vote. Meeting Adjourned at 11:40 a.m. Next meeting: March 16, 2016 @ 9:30 a.m.

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Washington County will make efforts to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled members of the public in accessing county programs. Please contact the Washington County Commission Office at 435.634.5700 in advance if you have special needs.

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Meeting Information

Meeting Location

197 E Tabernacle
St. George, 84770
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Notice Posting Details

Notice Posted On

March 16, 2016 03:59 PM

Notice Last Edited On

March 16, 2016 03:59 PM

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