VEP Board membership could be revamped

Visit Estes Park’s top leadership could look considerably different beginning in January.

If the draft MOU is approved by both the Town Board Trustees and the Larimer County Commissioners, a new Board of Directors will be established, consisting of three elected and three appointed residents.

To assist in guiding the Board’s decisions would be a newly established advisory committee.

The change in VEP Board leadership was a primary topic discussed by Town Trustees during a study session on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The revised organizational plan would result from a new memorandum of understanding between the Town of Estes Park and Larimer County, the two bodies that govern the marketing district’s operations.

Larimer County Commissioners have already reviewed the draft MOU and, according to Town Administrator Travis Machalek, the Commissioners are comfortable with its provisions. Machalek anticipated that a final MOU could be presented to the Town Trustees for a final vote either Oct. 28 or Nov. 12.

As proposed, the VEP Board of directors would be reduced from seven to five, with three Town-appointed Directors and two County-appointed Directors. Board membership would include two Town Trustees, one County Commissioner, and one resident appointed by each jurisdiction.

Additionally, the newly configured board would have a quorum of three Directors and would require three affirmative votes for the VEP Board to act.

Trustee Frank Lancaster applauded the plan, saying the action creates a system used by other destination marketing organizations.

“Governing is a different skill than marketing,” Landcaster said. “It separates the two (functions) out. “I think it’s a great solution, and it’s worked in other communities.”

Disbanding the current Board follows Kirby Hazelton’s call to replace all members of the current Board, a request she made April 1 to the County Commissioners, and subsequently to the Town Board. At that time, Hazelton, a Town Trustee and now vice president of VEP, said the current Board “had not been acting with good policy governance.”

In her springtime letter to the County Commissioners, Hazelton called for the removal and replacement of all VEP Board members, saying “the Visit Estes Park Board is currently dysfunctional, ineffective, and jeopardizing future operations.”

“I’m really supportive of the change,” Hazelton said Tuesday night. “I think it allows the fundamental and structural issues that we’ve seen within the Board that have existed for years across different people, across different leadership, to be addressed and fixed,” she said.

There has been no feedback from current VEP Board members, Hazelton said, although she had shared the proposed MOU with them by sending them a copy of the meeting packet.

Following a joint meeting of the County Commissions and Town Trustees to discuss the issue, staff from both governmental agencies were tasked with revising the MOU.

VEP Board Members Sean Jurgens, Jerusha Rice, and Hazelton, who were appointed to their positions by the Town Board, could continue to serve on the new Board until their terms expire in December 2026. The term of Deb Gibson expires in December.

According to the proposal, the tenure of Trustee Marie Cenac expires when her term on the Town Board expires in April 2026. She is term-limited and cannot seek election for another four years on the Town Board. Hazelton’s term on the Town Board also expires in April; however, she is eligible to serve another four years should she be elected to the position.

Appointed by the County Commissioners, Nick Smith’s tenure on the VEP Board is set to end in 2027.

In an unrelated action, Board member Pat Murphy has submitted his resignation to VEP. County Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally has been named to replace him.

According to the MOU, the new Board of Directors is required to form an advisory committee by Dec. 31.

The new advisory committee could include members of the current Board of Directors, who can request to serve on the volunteer committee.

While the MOU does not specify how many individuals can serve on the advisory board, that group is envisioned to include a hotel or motel owner operating 20 or more rooms, a hotel or motel owner operating 19 or fewer rooms, a vacation home rental owner or property manager, a non-lodging business owner, and an at-large community member.

The proposed MOU draft was developed by Town staff, including Machalek, Town Attorney Dan Kramer, County Attorney Bill Ressue, and County Manager Lorenda Volker.