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Morgantown - Butler County Tourism Commission Meeting

The Morgantown-Butler County Tourism Commission met on Thursday, January 28, 2016 at the Eva J. Hawes Community Building. Members presents were Judge-Executive David Fields, Mayor Billy Phelps, Roger Southerland, Brenda Longhoffer, Diane Dyer, Doug Odle, Dale Willis, and Becky Hankins. Absent was Terrell House.
The minutes of the September 3, 2015 meeting were read and approved. Treasurer's Report was read and approved with a balance of $13,480.38.
Chairman Roger Southerland explained how the budget of the Tourism Commission works.


Tommy Hines, representing the Green River Museum, reported how the $3,000 awarded to the museum was spent in 2015.   He thanked the Tourism Commission.   Diane Dyer made a motion, with a second by Becky Hankins, to give the Green River Museum $3,000 for 2016.  The motion passed.

CLICK HERE FOR GREEN RIVER MUSEUM COMPLETE REPORT: Green River Museum .pdf

Jerrod Barks, city administrator the City of Morgantown, reported how the $1,000 awarded to the City was spent in 2015.   He gave a brief overview of the new Renaissance Plan of Morgantown.  According to Barks, 8 of the 20 action items of the Renaissance Plan fit under Tourism.

  • Create a grant program to be utilized by Downtown Businesses to upgrade their facades.
  • Apply for Main Street status through the Kentucky Main Street Program.
  • Add items to downtown to allow people to congregate including chairs, benches, and tables.
  • Add banners/signage to the downtown district.
  • Create a plan for the City’s gateways not only those in front of the City’s entrances, but those in the entrance of the City Cemetery, Park, Downtown, and Community Center.
  • Create a Summer Program called movies in the park.
  • Apply for grant funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund for Trail Funding.
  • Create a plan for benches along Main Street utilizing the sidewalks and heavy pedestrian traffic along these routes.  Research should be conducted as to the feasibility of lighting this main thoroughfare of the City.

Barks stated that he would be attending the next meeting to ask for more funds to help implement the Renaissance Plan.

Mayor Billy Phelps discussed a possible restaurant tax for Morgantown.  According to Phelps, the Morgantown City Council has several questions concerning the tax.  He asked on behalf of the City Council that the Tourism Commission explore who would be required to administer the tax and how the money would be dispersed.
Dale Willis, owner of Pizza Zone, stated that he had spoken with several restaurant owners and felt that they were in favor of the tax.  Eric Sublett, owner of Firehouse Pizza, disagreed, stating that the owners he had spoken with were not in favor of the tax and had several concerns about where and how the money would be collected and dispersed.
After a lengthy discussion, Diane Dyer made a motion to have a work session and invite all business owners that currently have food permits in Morgantown to attend prior to the next Tourism meeting.   The motion was seconded by Brenda Longhoffer and passed. 

Roger Givens spoke on behalf of the Butler County Arts Guild.  According to Givens, Dick Deye has donated the use of a building on Ohio Street to the guild.  The Arts Guild plans to open a gallery, featuring local artists, and offer a variety of artistic opporunties for the community.
Visitors present: Jerrod Barks, Tommy Hines, Donna Meier, Josh Hampton, Bruce White, Brent Clark, Anita Daugherty, Eric Sublett, and Allen Meredith.

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