Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board authorized the city manager to explore the possibility of hiring an events coordinator by next month.
City Manager Mark Martinez said during the board’s regular meeting Wednesday such a position would help nonprofit organizations maintain annual events in the city and create new festivals, including possibly reviving the long-dormant Pinata Festival. The events coordinator also would organize free concerts at the Tucumcari Convention Center.
Martinez said an events coordinator also would promote the City of Tucumcari’s activities, including posting photographs of employees patching potholes and other “positive images.”
Martinez said the position would be run through the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce. He said he would create a job description and negotiate the salary. If the board favored his idea, Martinez said he would present a formal proposal to the board during its March meeting, then to the city commission.
Board members voiced approval of Martinez’s idea.
“I think it’s a great deal,” board Chairman Matt Bednorz said, noting that Clovis, Silver City and Santa Rosa already have such a position.
“This most definitely is a benefit to us,” board member Al Patel said, noting such events would boost motel occupancy and the city’s lodgers tax revenue.
The board unanimously authorized Martinez to pursue hiring such a position.
In other business:
• The board authorized Martinez to explore the possibility of buying an extra-large billboard west of the city on eastbound Interstate 40.
Martinez said the 16-by-90 foot billboard is twice as big as a standard-sized one, though he thought the initial asking price of $70,000 was too high. He said if authorized by the board, he would negotiate down the price.
“I don’t want to pass up a good opportunity, but I don’t know if it’s that good of an opportunity,” he said.
He said if the price came down to an acceptable level, the billboard could “pay for itself” by allowing the city to publicize upcoming events.
Bednorz noted the current fiscal year was seeing record lodgers tax revenue and was projected to have almost $200,000 more than the previous year. He said the board is required by law to spend those additional funds within three years.
• The board, as recommended by Martinez, approved $35,550 in expenses through the remainder of the current fiscal year for printing tourism rack cards, a new visitors guide and an advertisement in ROUTE Magazine.
Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, said the tourism publications would be distributed at various points along the length of the I-40 corridor in New Mexico, including visitors centers at Glenrio and Gallup. Albuquerque also waived the fee of distributing the publications in the city, saving $3,000 in costs.
• The board approved the renewal of a Tucumcari advertisement on the back page of the quarterly New Mexico Route 66 Association’s magazine.
• Scott Crotzer, the chamber’s executive director, gave a report on his recent attendance on behalf of the city of an American Bus Association conference in Grapevine, Texas. In addition to making eight scheduled pitches of Tucumcari to “lucrative” tour-bus operators, he said he dropped off 25 packets of information to other bus companies nationwide and a few foreign operators.
Crotzer said Tucumcari was seeking partnerships with other cities, such as Roswell, Los Cruces and Amarillo, for tour-bus itineraries. He said the “water cooler relationships” at the conference were as beneficial as the scheduled appointments with companies.
• Crotzer said the chamber incurred about $4,500 in expenses for 120 gift bags distributed to New Mexico lawmakers during the annual Quay Day legislative conference in Santa Fe. He said he likely would include the annual expense as a reimbursement request to the lodgers tax board.
• Crotzer said he was establishing a mock film office at his chamber building for Bobby Hockaday, a liaison for the New Mexico Film Office.
• The board’s next regular meeting is March 2, with work sessions scheduled for March 16 and March 30 to hear and discuss lodgers tax assistance requests. The board would make its final recommendations on aid on April 6, with the city commission scheduled to approve or modify the request during its regular meeting April 14.