Meeting Minutes
Emery County Travel Bureau
February 13, 2024 3:30 PM
Castle Dale, Utah
Attendance: Danny VanWagoner, Amanda Leonard, Terri Bennett, AnnDee Mead, Belinda Peacock,
Keven Jensen, Larry Johansen, Camie Bell, Lacy Hardman, Janet Smoak, Travis Bacon, Nathan
Martinez. Excused: Brad Walker, Ren Hatt.
Conducting and Welcome: Chairman Keven Jensen
1. Approval of Minutes: January 2024 Motion made to approve by Danny, seconded by Larry.
Motion passed.
2. Discuss/Approve/Deny: Taste of Utah Road Tour. This was approved last year and never came
about with the turnover of staff. The company will come and film promotional material for restaurants.
We can have them come and record for 1 2, 1, or 2 days split between Green River and/or the rest of
Emery County. Prices and details can found in the agenda packet attachments. Discussion on the
product and air time. We'll have the material to use anyway we see fit, as well as being available to
the restaurants. There will be multiple airings on KUTV throughout the year and the footage will also
be shown in certain hotel/motel room channels. The amount of restaurants featured/filmed will be
determined by how many days we're able to set aside. Discussion on how to select which
restaurants will be featured/filmed first. This should be an excellent resource both for the restaurant
owners and the targeted public. Motion made by Larry to plan for 2 full days of filming, seconded by
Danny. Motion passed.
3. Discuss/Approve/Deny: Attending 2024 Trails Forum. The forum for this year is going to be the
mountain west conference and will include other states. Looking for 4 people from the trails
committee and travel bureau to go to the forum and stay in an Airbnb. Motion made by Danny to
approve 2 people from each group to attend the conference. Seconded by Larry. Motion passed.
4. Discussion: RFP Marketing/Rebranding bids and special meeting. We have 5 companies
interested in the rebranding job. The price range across the companies is large, and some
companies haven't quite demonstrated that they can match our needs. We'd like to interview the
three companies with the most reasonable bids that also have experience in tourism and are able to
accomplish our goals. We will set up a meeting to interview these three companies with the travel
board. Each company will have 10 min to present, and then 10 min to answer questions from the
board. This meeting will take place on the 21
st from 3:30-5:30. Discussion comparing the companies
and samples provided as well as how to navigate prices vs. quality. Discussion on the questions that
will be asked.
5. Discuss Reports of the Following:
a. Event Coordinator: The events calendars are updated for the year. There may be a
small change in some fall events but they will be finalized soon. Discussion on 'tagging' on
social media to reach a bigger audience. This year there will be between 40-50 events on
the calendar, including golfing events. There are some new websites, nowplayingutah and
mylocalutah that we should be able to add our events onto. Rings and Flyers have been
designed and ordered for baseball tournaments. Battle Royal has been renamed to The Coal
Country Clash, and we've added a gold and silver division so that the kids can play in a
division that fits their level. The rings have our name and logo on them as well as some other
Board Members: Ren Hatt, Maria Sykes, Travis Bacon, Larry Johansen, Terri Bennettt, Lacy Hardman, Brad Walker,
Danny VanWagoner, Keven Jensen, David Sorenson.
Staff/Partners: AnnDee Mead, Camie Bell, Belinda Peacock, Amanda Leonard, Robin Hunt, Janet Smoak.
rings to be kept at the office to offer to youth that have done something to receive a
souvenir/reward. Registration is open online for both baseball tournaments. The Bonnie and
Clyde coyote hunting tournament is coming up on March 9
th
, the first 50 registrants will
receive a free hoody. Discussion on money being processed through events. We're trying to
find solutions for the way money is handled during events, and we will be looking to create a
partnership with Emery County Recreation to manage funds. This will create a separate
checking account with immediate access, help boost PR for the rec, and there's no change in
liability as insurance will still be carried over from the parks/location. The topic has been
tabled for now on the Rec's end as there are still some kinks to work out, but it should be
worked out soon. This should be a positive change for the future and mutually beneficial.
The open RFQ for the position of event coordinator has now closed, Amanda was the only
applicant so she's able to continue moving forward in her position for the next 5 years. The
contract has been updated to better reflect her performance as well as some wording to
address the financial adjustments mentioned above. For anyone who wants to attend the
next Rec Board in support, they will be meeting March 11 at 6pm.
The county fair planning is underway and looking for recommendations and thoughts to be
considered. They are planning to incorporate more carnival-like rides, but they are still in the
'idea' part of planning and are open to ideas and suggestions. Discussion on repeating the
fireworks from last year as well as the timing thereof and working with Castle Dale City. The
planning meetings are public and volunteers are welcome.
Also working on the BLM permit for The Swell Jamboree in April. Looking into bringing a two
day corn hole tournament to the area as well as a WB, Motorcycle ride with fire station
fundraisers.
The Junior Entrepreneurs Academy schedule is up at emerycountychamber.com and
registration is open.
Discussion on sponsoring some jerseys/signage at Green River High School as their sports
teams compete with teams from Colorado.
This coming month in Green River there is an event almost every weekend in April to look
forward to.
b. Marketing: The billboards that we have been working on have been put up in Green River.
The billboards are looking great, but upon discussion we've discovered that the sign for the
museum is facing the wrong way. We'll need to get in touch with the company and figure out
a solution.
c. Museums: The JWP museum has been closed for a few weeks in which they were able to
do some maintenance projects. The museum store has been modified in a way to make it a
more functional accessory to the museum. Since reopening this year they are working on
gathering more precise information on what is bringing visitors to the facility as well as where
people are coming from. They were open for just one week in January and saw 57 visitors
which is actually higher than last year. There is an event coming up March 9
th which will be a
lecture, and a public event on the 11
th which is a closing event on the Glen Canyon exhibit
with live music and storytelling.
The Museum of the San Rafael had their January Pioneer Museum opening which went very
well. Trying to implement a rotation system for the artifacts. During February kids can come
in and do a scavenger hunt. Numbers are up a bit from last year and showing more local
attendance.
Board Members: Ren Hatt, Maria Sykes, Travis Bacon, Larry Johansen, Terri Bennettt, Lacy Hardman, Brad Walker,
Danny VanWagoner, Keven Jensen, David Sorenson.
Staff/Partners: AnnDee Mead, Camie Bell, Belinda Peacock, Amanda Leonard, Robin Hunt, Janet Smoak.
d. State Parks: Green River state park golf course is open and picking up since it's the only
course open at the time. Ray's Tavern Tournament on March 2
nd will be the first golf
tournament coming up, as well as a disk golf tournament on April 27
th
-28
th
. They've got more
carts so that they can get more people into the tournament. Discussion on monetary support
from the county for the tournaments.
Goblin Valley is expanding and requested a support letter for an outdoor recreation grant to
aid with that effort.
e. Trail's:The Forest Service is planning a new mountain bike trail system by Joe's Valley.
The Trails Committee is excited for this development that will provide great mountain biking
opportunities for the community. This is open for comment online and feedback is
encouraged. Discussion on using this trail system for different events as well as the potential
for a future Emery High Mountain Bike team. This is also a way to open up the possibility of
multi-day trips for visitors which will encourage them to stay and boost spending in the area.
The mini-x has been purchased, and we are currently working on a requisition for a trailer so
that the trails committee can get out and start working on the trails. Please feel free to share
the efforts and the work being done by the trails crews in response to any negativity or lack of
information overheard about the work being done on Emery County trails. They are also
putting together a working spreadsheet to keep track of any suggestions for work that needs
done in the county. Anyone is welcome to contact AnnDee or Jim with requests or ideas for
trail work and it will be added to the list to be considered. These can be emailed to
travel@emery.utah.gov or passed along to AnnDee/Jim directly. Discussion on putting
information out to the public from the Trails Committee and Travel Board to educate the
public on what's being done and the benefits to the community.
f. Grants: The trailer mentioned earlier is part of the same grant used for the mini x, the
leased trucks aren't due till October but we're hoping to be able to close it out with a
commitment to pay when due. We were able to close out the UOT grants other than one that
isn't due till July and includes the upcoming rebranding costs. We'll be getting ready to apply
for new UOT grants in July as well. Not planning on any OHV grants this year unless anyone
has ideas or suggestions that would be applicable there.
g. Financials: Discussion on state tax reports so far this year including collections for the
county as well as individual towns, a comparison of past years to this year's numbers, and
comparing month to month. As of this January we are just slightly below the numbers from
last year at this time.
h. Board Member Discussion/Questions:
Adjourn - Thank you for coming!
For more information about this and future Travel Board meetings please contact
travel@emery.utah.gov
Board Members: Ren Hatt, Maria Sykes, Travis Bacon, Larry Johansen, Terri Bennettt, Lacy Hardman, Brad Walker,
Danny VanWagoner, Keven Jensen, David Sorenson.
Staff/Partners: AnnDee Mead, Camie Bell, Belinda Peacock, Amanda Leonard, Robin Hunt, Janet Smoak.
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