Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway
Corridor Advocacy Group (CAG)
Minutes
Regular Meeting at
URS Corporation - Board Room
7650 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway
Tampa, Florida
April 14, 2006
10:00 a.m.
Attending:
The Honorable Bill Jonson, Councilmember, City of Clearwater
Christine Commerce, Executive Director, Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful
Ken Hoyt, Member, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Karen Harris, Director of Transportation, Westshore Alliance
Mike Palozzi, FDOT/GEC (PBS&J)
Mary Helen Duke, Greenways & Trails Coordinator, City of Tampa Parks & Recreation
Felicia Leonard, Administrative Support Manager, City of Clearwater Parks & Recreation
The minutes of the March 10, 2006 meeting were approved with no corrections.
Old Business:
1.
Visit Florida Grant Application
Councilmember Jonson reported that Karen Harris, Westshore Alliance, along with Mary Helen Duke,
has prepared a Visit Florida grant application. He also added that Ron Gregory of URS has
volunteered to do an in-kind match of approximately $7,500 to $12,000.
Councilmember Jonson stated that the group could now accept the planned telephone call from
Andrew Nichol at any time.
2.
Great American Clean-Up
The Clean-Up is scheduled for April 22, 2006 and Councilmember Jonson and Mike Palozzi are
planning to there to man a table for the CCSH.
Councilmember Jonson stated neither he nor Linda Saul-Sena will be able to attend the May meeting and he
will not be available for the June meeting either. He suggested that the May meeting be cancelled, making the
next scheduled meeting in June. The Councilmember also announced that he plans to attend the State
Scenic Highway Conference which is scheduled for May 11 and 12, 2006 in Cocoaa Beach. He suggested
that at the June 9 meeting, the group begin looking at the Tampa Bay Estuary Mini Grant, which will focus on
interpretive signage or promoting the estuary associated with the Courtney Campbell. In speaking with Ms.
White, he learned, with the Mini Grants, the expectation is that it is more of a participation grant, which means
they expect a match with volunteer labor. He thought perhaps the group could recruit some folks from one or
both of the $Keep Beautifuls# or possibly a Boy Scout troop.
Mary Helen Duke brought an example of an interpretive sign they did for another site which she felt could
easily be modified for the Courtney Campbell. She stated her department could do all the graphics in-house,
she just needs feedback from the group regarding what should go on it. A prototype could probably be ready
for the June meeting. Ms. Duke asked that group members e-mail her with theme ideas and suggestions for
pictures, how many, etc. The initial assumption is that the first sign would be placed at Ben T. Davis Beach.
Additionally the City of Clearwater should identify one or more locations for the west end of the Causeway.
New Business:
3.
Andrew Nichol - State Scenic Byway Staff Roadside Chat
The telephone call to Mr. Nichol was placed and Councilmember Jonson thanked him for the box of
$goodies,# and informed him that the papers have been distributed to the members.
Mr. Nichol stated he planned to follow the agenda he put together, the first item being:
Statewide Program Update
Currently, there are 15 designated highways, including the Courtney Campbell, which is almost 700
miles of designated roads, 3 of which are National Byways (A1A, Tamiami Trail and Indian River
Lagoon). There are several other highways looking to be designated as National Scenic Byways.
There are 10 additional candidate highways going through the designation process. They have $20
million in available funding and have just had another $200,000 approved in the 2006 NSB/FHWA
grant cycle.
Statewide Brochure
The brochure was printed in 2005, and any highway designated prior to 2004 is included. The
Courtney Campbell missed this printing, but there are plans to reprint sometime this summer (2006)
and the CCSH will appear in this next printing. There will be no charge since funding is provided
through the program. Councilmember Jonson pointed out that having the Courtney Campbell appear
in the brochure is a great way for the group to provide a handout to businesses along the Causeway
and build support and energy. When the new brochure is compiled, the CAG will be consulted to be
sure that the photos, text and all the information is to its liking. Mr. Nichol stated that if the CAG
wished to provide this information now for future inclusion they are welcome to do so.
Tourism
For the last three months, the consultant has been working with a production company in Orlando to
create the first ever set of DVDs for the Scenic Highway program. One is a tourism or promotional
video and the other will be an instructional video to inform the public about the Scenic Highways
program. These videos will be unveiled at the Scenic Highway Conference in May in Cocoa Beach.
Apparel
They work with a vendor who has the Florida Scenic Highway logo already set up for t-shirt orders,
golf balls or golf towels, etc., with the logo. Mr. Nichol stated that if any member wanted to order an
item they should send him an e-mail.
Florida State Harley Davidson HOG Rally
HOG stands for Harley Owner Group. Each state has a HOG group and Florida has one of the
largest in the world for such a small area. The consultant partnered with them this past year for their
annual state Bike Week, which is separate from Bike Week in Daytona. The event drew
approximately 5,000 cyclists, there were national performing bands, etc., and his firm set up a booth
with the state brochure and promotional items and they marketed all the scenic highways in central
Florida. This will take place again down in Fort Myers in 2006 and will be an excellent opportunity for
the CAG to give them some of its literature which they will put out on their table in order to attract
some of these cyclists to this area. There are three markets they are targeting--motorcycle groups,
recreational vehicle owners and road cyclists, since these particular groups are usually seeking scenic
roadways.
Website Update
Mr. Nichol stated they are trying their best to keep up with the website. He does all the web work,
which is not a big priority because managing the program takes precedent, but they are trying to
improve the site and the domain name. He asked that if the group has the time, he would like to have
the CCSH data updated so he can add it to their main website. Councilmember Jonson pointed out
that updating the CCSH website is essential to show the various sponsors that they are represented
on it.
Upcoming Events
The most important of these events is the state Scenic Highway Conference in Cocoa Beach on May
11 and 12. Registration deadline is April 15. It will be an excellent opportunity for networking and
meeting with some of the National Scenic Byway folks.
Another event in May, just before the above-mentioned conference, is the Travel Industry of America
which is an international trade show specifically for tour packages. It is a high profile, well-attended
marketing event and this year the Florida Scenic Highway program is included and will have a
representative there to market all the Florida scenic highways.
Funding Opportunities
Mr. Nichol mentioned that the 2007 grant cycle will be coming up quickly, so the group should be
thinking about what it wishes to apply for under the National Scenic Byways grant program. These
grants are easy to apply for and his company can assist in getting applications submitted. The grants
should be submitted by fall and decisions should be made by December or January. Last year, fifteen
grants were submitted and eight were awarded. Mr. Nichol stated that the federal government wants
to see the programs in Florida succeed and they encourage grant submittals, so it is definitely
something the CAG should be doing.
Ms. Duke asked if the Scenic Highway Advisory Committee (SHAC) is taking any initiative toward
securing any of the 1.2 billion dollar state surplus. Mr. Nichol stated that the SHAC is a neutral body
that reviews applications. His firm would be the one to lobby for those funds, although they do not do
much lobbying. However, he thought it might be a good idea to go after some of the existing surplus
and he will check into it and let the group know.
Partnerships
Mr. Nichol reported that Visit Florida is the largest tourism body in the United States. He stated they
do some incredible things, and the state pays for the CAG to have a partnership with them, so every
year, as a scenic highway, the partnership is renewed. All of the services they offer may be utilized by
the CAG and he encouraged the group to do just that. Councilmember Jonson reported that the CAG
had just submitted a Visit Florida grant application, and Mr. Nichol acknowledged that he has a copy
of the application. He included a Visit Florida partnership book with the materials he sent and
Councilmember Jonson stated that it had been received. Mr. Nichol suggested that one person on
the CAG be designated as a $Visit Florida# liaison, give them the book and have them keep in touch
with Visit Florida on a regular basis. Mr. Nichol also suggested that the CAG educate the businesses
along the corridor about scenic highways and how to utilize them, who to contact, etc. Effective
marketing is beneficial to both the CCSH and the businesses along it, in that they can promote each
other. For example, the CAG for A1A in Flagler Beach invited all the businesses along their corridor
to a meeting at which the marketing advantages were discussed. One of the restaurants has
incorporated the state scenic highway logo within its logo and they make their t-shirts with it, it !s on
their menu and marketed on their website. Developers are beginning to market to potential
homeowners that they are on a scenic highway.
Annual Report
In October of 2006, the CAG will be responsible for turning in its first annual report, and this year the
process has been greatly simplified. The report must be completed in order to receive a high score
on the grant. The SHAC will review and rank the CCSH on all grants submitted through the National
Scenic Byways program. Mr. Nichol suggested selecting one person to be responsible for completing
the annual report.
Mr. Palozzi asked Mr. Nichol to explain the SHAC s selection process for the grants. Mr. Nichol stated the
process begins with the CAG filling out the grant application on-line through the National Scenic Byways
website. The application is then submitted to him for review and to make comments, after which he will
forward the application to the SHAC. They have thirty days to review the grant application, and following their
review, all members of the SHAC meet in Tallahassee to rank each grant individually. A ranking sheet, which
has four or five different categories, is filled out for each grant and a score results. The grant is then ranked
amongst all the others by priority, based on the score. Mr. Nichol thought it would be very helpful to the CAG
to have a copy of the criteria on which the grants will be ranked, so they can be certain the criteria will be met.
After the SHAC ranks the grants, they put together a portfolio to be sent to Washington. The reviewers in
Washington do their own review and then look at the SHAC s prioritization and its comments. Sometimes,
after considering this information, the reviewers may alter their decision slightly, but sometimes the reviewers
do not agree with the SHAC. The federal reviewers rank the grants as well, and allot a certain amount of
money to each grant.
Mary Helen Duke reported that about a month ago, she and Karen Harris had a difficult time finding the
Courtney Campbell website. There is no direct link to the site from the Regional Planning Council web page.
Karen Harris suggested that Mr. Ben Waxman would be a viable candidate to contact regarding sponsorship.
Ms. Harris reported that the Westshore Alliance held a meeting regarding Greenways and Trails, which was
hosted Mr. Waxman at the Radisson Hotel.
Councilmember Jonson told the group that he will not be present at the June meeting, but that Linda SaulSena will attend.
Ms. Duke asked how the CAG would feel about writing a letter to the powers that be regarding the 1.2 billion
dollar surplus. Councilmember Jonson replied that he felt it was probably too late in the process.
There being no further items for discussion, Councilmember Jonson adjourned the meeting.
Next Scheduled Meeting: June 9, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.