Council to consider Route 66 tourism consultant contract, $45,000 annual proposal

The Committee of the Whole heard a presentation from tourism consultant Michael McCoy on May 13 and agreed to place a consultant agreement, proposed at $45,000 per year, on the regular agenda for the next council meeting.

The contract before the council is written as an auto-renewing consultant agreement to support the new tourism department that the council is creating using hotel-motel tax revenue. "Tourism is economic development," McCoy told the council, citing Lincoln's Route 66 connection and the community's historic association with Abraham Lincoln as attractions he would emphasize.

City staff described the contract as a step in standing up a tourism department. The council was told that the proposed agreement includes a reimbursement provision that does not require client preapproval for expenses of $200 or less in a calendar month; McCoy said that threshold would cover routine items such as meals or short hotel stays for visiting partners. "Primarily, that will handle things like if we have somebody in town that we're trying to work with and we have a dinner," McCoy said.

McCoy said larger purchases — examples he listed included vehicles, office equipment or souvenirs — would be brought to the council for approval. He also offered to provide status reports and return-on-investment statistics at a cadence the council prefers: "I can do it monthly. I usually do it quarterly with the municipality," he said.

City staff noted additional steps after council approval of the agreement: a departmental budget must be prepared and returned to council for appropriation because the fiscal year budget has already been adopted. The committee voted to place item number 5, the tourism consultant contract, on the regular agenda.

A full vote on the contract and any related budget or appropriations was not taken at the committee meeting.