Jim Williams [Order this photo]

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Despite more-than-lean times in town, numbers are up according to City Advertising and Promotion Commission Director of Operations Sheila Hulsey.

According to Hulsey, lodging tax collections for May, collected in June, were up 17.8 percent over projected, and 54.9 percent over June 2007, at $66,752.

Restaurant collections also showed surprising growth. At $60,477, collections were 30.5 percent above what was projected, and 81.4 percent over last year.

Although the CAPC now collects one percent more than it did a year ago, even at the old rate, lodging was still up 2.2 percent over last year, and restaurants were up 21 percent more than June 2007.

Williams doing great job

CAPC Executive Director Jim Williams received a thumbs up during his performance evaluation by the commission during executive session for his past year's work in the job.

"We had agreed we'd discuss his performance for the first year, and if agreeable we'd extend his contract from two to three years," Chair Richard Grinnell said when the public meeting recommenced.

"The relationships he's built up across the state and city, the respect he's earned in and around town [have been great]. We have found that he has very diligently followed our guidelines and strategies as well, so I'm taking a motion to extend his contract another year."

The commission did so.

New festival?

Williams announced he is probably going to recommend for next year's budget the commission give the Eureka Gras Mardi Gras Extravaganza "some sort of festival status."

"Dan [Ellis] has built it into a whale of an event," Williams said. "But Dan has been trying to elevate it out of his own pocket."

Williams suggested the Mardi Gras festival be considered in detail at a future budget workshop.

Sealed bid policy

The commission discussed writing a resolution on a policy for sealed bids on contracted work for the Auditorium because Hulsey's husband, a painter, had recently offered a bid on a job, and Williams expressed concern over perceptions of employees' relatives being involved in such work. Sealed bids would solve the problem.

The commission decided to postpone the resolution a month to give time to incorporate the issue of relatives of commissioners as well, again to avoid any perception of impropriety by the public.

CAPC statement on lodging tax

Williams brought forward a statement he drafted regarding the recent Arkansas Attorney General's opinion on the CAPC tax on lodging facilities.

Though the AG said the wording of the state code regarding which type lodging facility has to pay the tax -- motel, hotel, cabin, bed and breakfast, etc. -- is vague, the CAPC has been collecting the three percent tax all along.

Williams' statement said in reference to the AG opinion issued July 16, the CAPC was resolved to continue to collect the tax, as outlined in state code, until the state legislature took further action in clarifying the wording.

Museum needs money

Carol Greer, secretary of the board of the Eureka Springs Historical Museum, approached the commission to request it raise its monthly stipend to the museum from $450 to $700 through the end of the year.

Since 2001, the museum has had a contract with the city to function in part as a tourist information center, offering brochure racks in the museum and staff members well versed in local history and attractions.

Greer pointed out the museum regularly offers its services to the city and Chamber of Commerce gratis, and far more people came into the museum for tourist information than to tour the museum.

Its shortfall has to do with paying the salary of a weekend employee and with utility bills.

Until 18 months ago, the museum had received funding for its weekend person through a federally funded senior citizens program.

This funding is now gone, however, and Greer asked the commission to help make up the difference.

Greer said the museum applied for and received grants for repairs to the museum, for a humidifier and for museum studies, but since grants were unavailable for operating expenses, it had been forced to pay the employee's salary, and the utilities, out of its own pocket.

Williams countered the request by saying the CAPC had for some time asked the museum for and failed to receive an accurate head count of visitors, just as it requested these things of the Chamber and Transit, and having that count would help the CAPC justify the request.

Grinnell said since the commission does its budget review in two or three weeks, that would be an appropriate time to consider the request.

In his Director's Report, Williams outlined several upcoming and ongoing advertising projects, including a collaborative effort with the Great Passion Play in which the CAPC and the Passion Play each contributed $10,000 toward promotion of a "family value vacation package" to the city.

The ad for the package, valued at about $150, is running right now in every Arkansas daily except Harrison's, as well as Tulsa and Springfield.

Williams said the CAPC had received 100 calls and booked 24 reservations in the first three days of the promotion.

Travel writers swarm Eureka

Williams also said representatives of Geiger and Associates would be back in Eureka in early November.

Arkansas Parks and Tourism hired Geiger and Associates, a public relations firm specializing in media marketing for travel and tourism industry clients, to help Arkansas towns like Eureka Springs find niche markets to boost their tourism.

Williams said Geiger will "hit Eureka Springs with 20 or 30 writers," hopefully in time for the Folk Festival, looking for any business that has some facet they can use to generate travel articles. Then Geiger will prepare and place stories in travel venues around the country.

Williams said they will need 25 to 30 rooms for the writers.