Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Event Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tourism council approves seed funding for Love Tennis weekend and national kayak fishing events
Summary
The council unanimously approved two Fund 110 discretionary grants: $2,501 for a Love Tennis weekend in May 2019 and $25,000 toward national kayak bass and redfish fishing events expected in fall 2019, with staff noting conservative economic-impact estimates and some board members abstaining for conflicts.
The Tourism Development Council on a unanimous voice vote approved two discretionary event grants from Fund 110: $2,501 to help launch the Love Tennis Weekend scheduled May 16–19, 2019, and $25,000 to host national kayak bass and redfish fishing events planned for fall 2019.
The funding request for the Love Tennis Weekend was presented by a staff member identified as Matt. Mayor Holland and board member Mr. Baker were recorded as abstaining from the tennis vote because of reported conflicts; Baker said he had “a block of rooms at Hammock Beach Resort” tied to the event and that he had signed the proper paperwork. The motion to fund the tennis request passed after public comment was closed and a motion and second were recorded.
A staff member described the Love Tennis event as an amateur adult tournament to be held at Hammock Beach Resort Tennis Center with outreach to clubs across the Southeast and an expectation that the event would encourage longer average lengths of stay for visitors.
For the kayak and redfish request, staff said the organizer packaged national championships and television production that would produce 30-minute shows airing on the World Fishing Network and the Sportsman’s Channel a minimum of six times. The presenter said their organization has “7,800,000 followers” on YouTube and that the tournament operator’s film crew would already be in Florida for another project, which helped reduce the negotiated fee to $25,000 from an initial $35,000 figure. The presenter said the economy-impact analysis used a conservative assumption of 300 anglers per tournament (organizers said typical fields are 700–750), and that the staff-generated estimate of direct economic impact for the events was close to $1,200,000.
Council members asked about publicity, local stakeholder outreach and exact dates. Staff said the kayak/redfish events are being targeted for a two‑week window in November but that exact dates were not yet set. Staff also said some local fishermen had been contacted informally but that the sample size of local stakeholders reached so far was small.
Actions recorded in the meeting packet and transcript show both grants were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote with no recorded opposition. Board members who declared conflicts or abstained were identified in the public record and the session proceeded after those members recused themselves from voting.
The council’s staff said the event approvals align with the council’s discretionary-fund process; staff also noted there remain other funding requests to consider for the fiscal year.
Details recorded during the meeting indicate staff negotiated the fee reductions and prepared conservative impact analyses; final programming, television schedules and precise event dates were described as “to be determined” or “not yet set.”
