At a special meeting of council this week, Kelly Haywood, Executive Director for the Huntsville Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce, laid out the request.<\/p>\n
Calling it a fee for service to continue to promote Huntsville externally through event and cultural tourism initiatives, Haywood reminded council of the work that has been done, either solely by the Chamber or in partnership, over the years. The list is extensive but some of the highlights include: their signature event series including Girlfriends\u2019 Getaway Weekend and a winter event, Muskoka Sound, Zombie Run, ParaSport Winter Games, Ontario Winter Games, the U18 Women’s Hockey Championships, and Muskoka Ironman.<\/p>\n
Haywood reminded council of all the initiatives, partnerships, and supports the Chamber has in place.<\/p>\n
The $50,000 request is in addition to the $48,000 council is considering paying the Chamber to handle tourism inquiries.<\/p>\n
The attached list of tactics will no longer be provided by the Chamber of Commerce without this fee for service leaving a void of this important service in our community.
\nwarned Chamber ED Kelly Haywood in a written report to council<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhile most councillors were receptive to considering the payout, a few spoke out reminding everyone else of the tough choices they have ahead during budget deliberations.<\/p>\n
Councillor Bob Stone expressed how dire he feels the situation is and explained why he hadn\u2019t voted in favour of furthering any of the day’s funding requests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if you have noticed how I have been voting this afternoon? Taxpayers are going to see the biggest increase this year that they have seen in recent memory. I can\u2019t support this funding when it means many of our potholes won\u2019t be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano echoed Stone\u2019s concern over the tax increase residents are going to have to shoulder.<\/p>\n
I am not going to be able to support this because what we have to do this year is come up with $150,000 for Ironman \u2026plus the $100,000 from last year\u2019s Ironman and then this $50,000 plus the other $48,000 for the Chamber, that\u2019s a 3.5% increase. I am sorry to have to say that.Deputy mayor Karin Terziano<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Councillor Nancy Alcock brought a different perspective to the conversation, comparing staffing levels at the Town with what the Chamber does.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really struggle with this. The Town of Huntsville presently has a Manager of Marketing, a Manager of Sales and Marketing, a Manager of Arts, Culture and Heritage, and an Economic Development Officer. We have lots of our staff working on events, getting events\u2026 I am not sure why our Manager of Marketing couldn\u2019t be doing some of this, working with the Chamber?\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2014 Financial statements for the Chamber outline some of the difficulties the Chamber ran into with their event tourism and external marketing initiatives that year.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>According to the 2014 financial statements, Chamber member fees accounted for $108,000 of the revenue. The Town\u2019s contribution this year was $84,000 (please note the correction from an early published figure of $104,000).<\/p>\n