There were plenty of nods and audible notes of appreciation for work accomplished and considered for the future when Visit Estes Park presented its 2025 Operating Plan during a joint meeting before the Town Board and the County Commissioners earlier this month.
However, before the Sept. 9 session ended, enough inquiries about specific content combined with comments from Town Trustee-Visit Estes Park board member Kirby Hazelton, who questioned how the VEP board was conducting business, left VEP staff knowing they had more work to do before another year of work would be secure.
Now, just one week shy of a month later, with several additional meetings having been held and many more hours of work from staff and board members on the books, it appears all are ready to move forward.
The Estes Park Town Board is expected to consider acceptance of the VEP plan on Oct. 8 (PDF at end of article). It is scheduled to be considered by the Larimer County Commissioners on Oct. 15. The plan describes how VEP plans to spend an estimated $4,387,500 in operating revenue in 2025. Of that amount, $1,350,000 is anticipated for personnel, $2,887,500 is allocated for programming costs, and $150,000 is set aside for indirect expenses.
Not included in the VEP operating amount is the anticipated $5,512,500 that is dedicated to workforce and childcare in 6E funding. Those funds are collected through lodging taxes and delivered to the town for distribution to the two programs.
Because it is funded through sales tax revenues collected in the Town of Estes Park and a portion of Larimer County, VEP is authorized to function through an operating agreement between the town and the county. That agreement requires both governmental bodies to approve the marketing district’s operating plan each year.
During the work session when VEP presented its plan, there was praise for the group’s dedication to integrating destination stewardship in marketing efforts.
“Destination stewardship provides the framework to ensure Estes Park’s promotion is striking the right balance between enhancing the visitor experience, promoting economic vitality and preserving the quality of life in Estes Valley,” chief strategy officer Cindy Mackin told those attending the joint board work session.
“Yes, we want to invite people here, but we want them to treat it like they live here. We want to have them leave it better than they found it. This is why destination stewardship is the cornerstone of everything that we do,” Mackin said.
Mackin delivered the VEP plan just one day after former CEO Kara Franker left her position in Estes Park. The VEP board of directors has contracted with Searchwide Global, an executive recruitment firm specializing in the travel industry, to lead the search for a permanent CEO.
Officials who listened to the presentation also showed appreciation for VEP’s strides in reaching potential visitors, work in creating special events to fill gaps in the community’s annual activity schedule, and marketing efforts that take advantage of digital marketing channels and AI technology.
They also asked for more information on topics such as tracking mechanisms and performance indicators that demonstrate VEP’s success in reaching goals from the past year and providing specific information about how it supports events and activities sponsored by organizations other than VEP.
But as the meeting was ending, Hazelton addressed the joint board session one last time to suggest further discussions at a higher level to focus on issues beyond the operating plan were in order because she had concerns the VEP board was not operating in accordance with open meeting standards.
While VEP staff worked to incorporate content suggestions from county commissioners and town trustees, board members who are appointed to their positions by both oversight boards set out to repair their governance issues and provide a written response to Mayor Gary Hall, as requested.
A special VEP meeting board meeting with the district’s attorney, John Chmil was held Sept. 17. Chmil, an attorney with the Longmont legal firm Lyons Gaddis, provided an overview on the difference between one-on-one meetings between board members which does not violate the open meetings law. He also described how issues can arise through daisy chain communications (one board member talks to another who talks to a third, etc.) which can lead to circumvention of open meetings laws.
During the special meeting, board members spoke openly about several perceived issues and agreed to move forward as a cohesive group of volunteers with the same goal to promote Estes Park.
A recap of the VEP board’s position written by VEP chair Sean Jurgens, including the statement “that all board members would assume a common goal of furthering the success of VEP working together in service to the shared vision for our community,” was delivered to the mayor, all town trustees, and county commissioners on Thursday, along with a modified operating plan.