Gage County approves $18,000 visitor grant for Nebraska Cattlemen's Ball; appoints hotel manager to tourism advisory committee

The Gage County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 19 approved an $18,000 visitor improvement grant to fund bus transportation from Beatrice to the Nebraska Cattlemen's Ball near Blue Springs and accepted a tourism quarterly report that details preparations for the June event.

The grant, presented by Dakota Hurley, Gage County tourism coordinator, and Patty (event coordinator), is intended to subsidize bus transportation to move attendees from Beatrice and nearby towns to the event site east of Blue Springs. “This specific part of this funding is to help with transportation of their over 4,000 guests that will be coming into this event,” Hurley said. She added the county is ordering an additional 4,000 visitor guides and plans welcome materials for bus riders.

Hurley told the board the plan calls for two buses in rotation and said organizers hope “to have about 400 to 600 people using those buses.” The route had not been finalized but would include Highway 77 and Blue Springs’ main street to showcase the town, she said. Supervisors discussed vehicle weight limits on local bridges and said they would coordinate with the highway department on final routing.

Board members moved to approve the grant with a recorded motion and vote. “Motion by Lytle, second by Adams to approve the $18,000 visitor improvement grant,” the clerk announced; the board voted 7-0 in favor.

Also during the tourism segment, Hurley briefed the board on broader tourism work: a recent Visit Nebraska marketing grant award to support online advertising, ongoing work to update the county’s visitor guide, coordination on agritourism and youth-sports promotion, and a push to collect event calendars from village clerks and community groups to improve advance promotion. Hurley said she has urged partners to support pending state legislation that would allow visitor-improvement funds to be used for maintenance projects such as museum roofs, noting that currently such maintenance is not eligible under existing rules.

The board asked Hurley to provide details on the state bill so supervisors could consider a support letter.

The board also approved the Tourism Advisory Committee appointment of Tony Asilio, who said he manages My Place and the Holiday Inn Express in Beatrice. The motion to appoint Asilio was moved by Lytle and seconded by Dorn; the board voted 7-0 in favor.

Finally, the board voted to place Hurley’s tourism quarterly report on file. The board recorded the motion as moved by Lytle and seconded by Dorn; the vote was 7-0 in favor.

The tourism items were one of several routine agenda items the board handled at the meeting; no additional county funding was requested beyond the single $18,000 grant approved Friday.