Monticello’s Advertising and Promotions Commission met at noon on Wednesday, June 19. Commission Chair, Shannon Herman called the meeting to order with commissioners Andy Patel, Mike Wigley, and Annette Taylor in attendance. Herman then presented the meeting minutes from May, which were reviewed and approved. The financial reports from May were also approved.
A&P Administrative Assistant, Ryan Copico could not attend the meeting, but he submitted a report that gave updates on a few projects.
The first project that Copico addressed was the applications for wayfinding signage for the city. Copico noted that each application required detailed maps, descriptions, and placement instructions. The commission originally approved to pay the application fees for 11 locations. Copico stated that each location will require at least two signs (one that is viewable when approached from either direction) and some will require even more signs. Some of the sites, most notably the Farmer’s Market, do not meet the minimum requirements outlined in the applications. The Farmer’s Market doesn’t meet the hours/days of operation criteria.
Copico recommended that the commission re-evaluate the number of signs needed and the cost involved with each of the applications. The commission would then have to decide to allocate additional funding, reconsider some of the locations, or discuss other avenues to provide directional signage for the city.
Copico also discussed the Food Truck and Fireworks event scheduled for Wednesday, July 3. The event will take place at the Monticello Sports Complex. Food trucks will serve food from 5-9 p.m. and the fireworks display will kick off at 9 p.m. There are currently nine trucks that have committed to set up for the event, but Copico says he expects at least 12 food trucks to be signed up by the time the event rolls around.
The final two items that Copico discussed were two resolutions that City Attorney Whit Barton was consulted on.
The first resolution was the one that would be drafted to show that the A&P Commission supports the wet/dry issue being placed on the ballot in the future. At the time of the meeting, Barton had not addressed this resolution and Copico said that he would continue to follow up with Barton.
Copico stated that he had been in contact with Rachel Shaw, executive director of Conway’s A&P Commission. He was consulting with Shaw to learn how alcohol taxes are collected and used. Shaw stated that in Conway the A&P does not collect any taxes on alcohol sales. She said that a majority of their funding comes from a “hamburger tax” in which the A&P receives 25 percent of the total collected funds.
The second resolution deals with the vacant commissioner slot that occurred as a result of Glenda Nichols’ resignation.
Barton was asked if Annette Taylor could be moved from the at-large slot and placed in the newly vacant tourism slot. The commission would then be able to open the field of candidates and appoint a new at-large commissioner. Barton said that it could be done, and presented a draft of the resolution that would allow the City Council to approve this move for Taylor and appoint a new commissioner. Barton also included a form for Taylor to sign stating that she supports these actions as well.
At the time of the meeting, no commissioners had any viable candidates. Mike Wigley challenged himself and the other commissioner to bring the names of three potential candidates to the July meeting. Wigley also suggested that if anyone were interested, they contact any of the commissioners or email exploremonticello@gmail.com.
With no further business, the A&P Commission adjourned until noon on Monday, July 22.
