Commissioner District 1 Katie Delaney , Commissioner District 2

Tom Goodson, Commissioner District 3 Kim Adkinson,

Commissioner District 4 Rob Feltner, and Commissioner District 5

Thad Altman

Present:

MARKETING SUPPORT PROGRAM PRESENTATIONS

B.1. Tourism Marketing Support Program Workshop Presentation

Chairman Feltner advised the Board has a heavy Agenda today and so that everyone knows

who will be speaking, it will be for two minutes.

Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, expressed his thanks for everyone attending

today. He stated he is going to deep dive into the Marketing Support Program and take a look

back at some of the other grant programs from the prior year, to look at where they have been,

and where they are today; and he wants to start today to get a level set on how the budget is

allocated and how Tourist Development Tax (TDT), which is the five percent tax done on

short-term rentals is being allocated based on a County Ordinance. He stated for Fiscal Year

(FY) 2024-2025 the budget is $27 million and when taking out the statutory reduction that is

required by the State of five percent, along with the other fees and allocations that there is,

prior to distributing the funds, and it comes out to be a little over $23 million. He mentioned he

provided the Board with a handout of his PowerPoint presentation, should it need to follow

along, because of the numbers being a little small; in 1986, the first two pennies were approved

by the citizens and the Board, and the way those are allocated and the way the Ordinance

reads is at least 25 percent was being allocated for promotions and advertising; 30 percent was

being allocated for beach improvement; up to 35 percent was for the capital facilities; up to 10

percent was for the cultural events; and the up to adds some flexibility in the allocations,

because in the past couple of years there had been some shifting of some of those funds into

other buckets. He stated in 1989, the third penny was allocated and 65 percent was allocated

for beach improvement; 25 percent was for the Brevard Zoo; and 10 percent was for tourist

information, which allowed for the running of the Tourist Information Center, as well as provided

other information services like the website and the App to the visitors. He stated in 1994, the

fourth penny was instituted and out of that an allocation was set aside for the United States

Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Contract that the County has for $350,000, but all

remaining funds are rolled into promotions and advertising; the fifth penny is 100 percent for

promotions and advertising, which was in 2005, and promotions and advertising is just under

48.5 percent, beach improvement is 25 percent, capital facilities is 14 percent, Tourist

Information Center is two percent, cultural events is four percent, the Brevard Zoo is five

percent, and the remaining $350,000 is for the USSSA contractual obligations; and that is kind

of how things are being allocated from a TDT perspective. He stated in looking back at the

grant history, the Tourism grants have been part of the office since 1986; there has been a

number of different ways allocated over the years; beach, capital, and cultural events were all

designated for funding with the first two cents; sports was added in 1994, with the additional

marketing pennies; and in the past year the Board merged the cultural and sports grants to

establish the new Marketing Support Program. He stated in FY 2023-2024 the grant program

was established to provide support to cultural events that came from the Cultural Event Fund,

the four percent was described previously; the allocation is $600,000, that went to small and

large events; the program guidelines and applications were reviewed by the County Attorney’s

Office and by the Cultural Committee; the Tourist Development Council (TDC) approves that

and sends it to the Board, and the Board approves it; in that program, last year the minimum

eligibility was for 1,000 out-of-county attendees; the funds were meant to go to out-of-county

marketing and 50 percent of that should have gone to out-of-county marketing expenses; and

then the rest of the grant would go to the event expenses. He stated the awards were provided

as a reimbursement; most of their grant programs are reimbursements, so that happens after

the event is held; all of the applicants are to submit all of their receipts in a package for backup;

and then a check would be cut. He added, as far as what is in the Cultural Fund for FY

2024-2025 that the Board approved was for the Brevard Cultural Alliance Contract for

$202,000, the Marketing Support Program allocation for $600,000, none of that has been spent

yet because he is waiting on Board input for the final designation of how to allocate it, and there

is $600,000 being held; the Board approved $300,000 out of this fund to be used for the

lifeguards, that has been transferred to that program; there is a little over $65,500 remaining in

unallocated funds that either could be allocated this year, if not, then it would rollover and

become carryforward for the next year’s budget; and the transfer to the Tax Collector is done

for every one of these funds, and receives a percentage for $32,400, that makes up the total

expense of $1.2 million in the Cultural Fund budget. He stated for FY 2023-2024 sports grants

were established to generate room nights from sports events; there was $240,000 that was

allocated out of the Marketing Fund, which is the advertising of promotions fund that he

mentioned coming out last year, and the events that received grants generated over 16,000

room nights for the destination; the program guidelines and applications are always reviewed

by the County Attorney’s Office, by the Sports Committee of the TDC, and then ultimately,

approved by the TDC; and then approved by the Board. He advised the minimum eligibility for

sport events was 200 room nights, based on $15 per room night up to a $25,000 maximum per

event; when bringing in events from outside of the State, the Tourism Office is allowed to apply

for grants from the Florida Sports Foundation (FSF), and it was able to get nearly $30,000 from

FSF for bringing in these events from outside of the area; and the funds provided to event

organizers were designated for out-of-county marketing and for other event expenses, and this

is like the reimbursement program. He stated for this FY, upon an initial recommendation from

a Commissioner’s Office, the Marketing Support Program was approved by the TDC and the

Board; it combined the cultural and sports events together; instead of writing a check on a

reimbursement basis from the area of where they are from or how many people are from

out-of-county or inside the County, which helps to calculate this information; they were able to

get up to $50,000 in marketing support per event; the marketing is done out-of-county by the

marketing team within the Tourism Office; and the event organizer does not receive

reimbursement directly. He stated in the case of the sports events, they have to have over 200

room nights to qualify; if the event met the qualifications and does not require marketing

support; some events are invitational where they invite a number of players or teams to the

event and has a built-in number of room nights, they could receive a paid sponsorship

according to the criteria; the criteria and the budget were approved by the TDC and the Board

in the amount of $840,000; and there was 44 events that were recommended by the TDC in

this FY and that came to a total of $805,000, and he will get to the provided list in a minute. He

advised he wanted to show the Board how the budget looks for FY 2024-2025 Marketing

Support Program; the Cultural Fund had $600,000, Advertising/Promotion had $240,000, and

that is what makes up the $840,000; then in the recommended list of events, the TDC

recommended $805,000 be awarded; and there is $35,000 remaining in that bucket that could

be utilized for anything else that the Board might think of, or could then roll forward into a

carryforward for next year. He stated the next slide is the recommended awards from the TDC

for the FY 2024-2025 Marketing Support Program; on the left side of the list is the Cultural

Events, they start with the highest out-of-county attendance, and then the actual marketing

support amount total of $485,000; on the right side is the Sports Events, which are organized

by the top room nights and going in descending order, and has the marketing support amount

total of $320,000, which makes up the total award of $805,000; at the bottom some events

were listed that he was aware of and were able to get cellular date to calculate the

out-of-county attendees; but they did not meet the criteria of the $5,000 minimum. He added

that is just there, as a discussion point, as they go forward today. He stated the next slide is

the same list of the cultural events by date of when they occurred; he highlighted the events

that have already occurred and the Board could have that discussion on how to handle those;

there are seven cultural events and five sports events that have already occurred; and there will

be a conversation about that in a little bit. He provided the Board with a couple of thoughts

about options; there is a lot of discussion that could happen today, but some of the options

could be one, approve the new FY 2024-2025 Marketing Support Program as is, and the

recommended awards, as they were presented by the TDC; there were 44 events for $805,000

and are allowed for a reimbursement of the events that occurred, using last year’s grant

program as the criteria; two, could be to revert back to the previous program from the previous

year, where cultural and sports events have a separate grant program; and a thought would be

due to the timing and approving the recommended awards as reimbursable grants, or any other

option the Board would like to discuss today. He advised that is it for his presentation, there is

about 35 speakers present today and representing about 50 different events; some speakers

will speak on multiple events in their two minutes; there was a small group of sports events that

are located outside of the State, who were unable to attend today; they were recommended by

the TDC; due to them having other events going on outside of Brevard County they were

unable to make it; and he is happy to take any questions at this point, or they could get into the

conversation and go from there.

Chairman Feltner advised he thinks it would be good if they did questions early; he has a

technical question for the County Attorney; and he asked if there are questions for Mr. Cranis.

Commissioner Delaney expressed her thanks for this presentation; she asked if things are kept

or going back…

Mr. Cranis replied he thinks that is something of benefit. He stated the previous programs

having some of the benefits where there were subcommittees of the TDC that reviewed those;

there was sort of another layer; with the new program he would not need, necessarily those

subcommittees which could be looked at as a benefit too, depending on her perspective of

committees of liking them or not; but those are his main thoughts on that and there is probably

some other things, but those are the high points.

Commissioner Goodson asked if he is doing the count on cellphones does he compensate

some number of people who live in the County, that have an out-of-county cell number.

Mr. Cranis responded the way the tool works and it is not perfect; it is a very good tool; they

have been working with it for a while now; the County did an analysis of a number of different

software options that are out there; he thinks they have the best; but the way it works is, if a

cellphone “lives”, sits in an area for a period of time, that is the area that it gets tied to; if

somebody were to have purchased a phone and has a service out of Washington, D.C., but

have been in Brevard County for three or four months, that cellphone will read as a Brevard

County phone, basically. He added it is possible that somebody who come comes from New

York and is staying in Brevard County for a month, it will still read as a New York phone; but

that is somewhat how it works.

Chairman Feltner stated Mr. Cranis said, what the Board might agree to today is the Board

could give direction to staff; but he thinks that anything the Board agrees to, it has to be

brought back to the Board of County Commissioners.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, responded affirmatively.

Mr. Cranis stated his thought was if he receives some kind of consensus from the Board’s input

today, he would be able to create it, and he would like to bring it back to the Board on January

28, if possible.

Chairman Feltner stated perfect; that is what he was thinking; he thinks the Board could agree

to that; and Mr. Cranis may go ahead with the applicants.

Mr. Cranis stated for those who are in the audience to speak and had informed him that he or

she was attending to speak on particular events, he has a list, and he will call them up by name

and the name of the event; and each will have two minutes.

EVENTS CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE FOR GRANTS

B.2. American Police Hall of Fame

Barry Shepherd, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated he appreciates the opportunity

to come up and present; the usage of the funds would be for the museum and for year-round

programming as well; there is an annual upcoming event in May and it is an event where they

reserve and utilize the accommodations of five local hotels, mostly in Titusville, and including

the Courtyard, Hyatt Place, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Hampton Inn, and the DoubleTree by

Hilton, Cocoa Beach; they have a couple of other large events that are actually being worked

on at this time and one, is a Freedom Fest Concert; they participated in a Freedom Fest

Concert last year in Ohio; and it brought out thousands of attendees over the weekend. He

stated the ad dollars would actually allow them to tap into areas that they previously have not

financially been able to tap into, which includes billboard, radio, additional bulk mailings,

postcards, and email to the target audience; and the target audience is predominately outside

of Brevard County and mostly outside of the State of Florida.

Commissioner Delaney advised Mr. Shepherd to feel free to contact her office if he would like

some more time; and she would be happy to meet with him whenever.

B.3. Beach 'n Boards Fest, Cocoa Beach Half Marathon, Florida Marathon, Cocoa Beach

Triathlon, USA Beach Running

Mitch Varnes, Event Director, stated numerous sporting events are put on by Beach ‘n Boards

Fest; he has been doing this for over 20 years in Brevard County and they include the third

largest distance running race in Central Florida, the biggest Sprint Triathlon in Florida, the

biggest surfing contest in the whole State of Florida, and the biggest active lifestyle sporting

event for Spring Break in the United States which is the Beach ‘n Boards Fest; and the Tourism

Office has always been a critical and valued supporter of the events, they rely on them and

count on its support. He stated the previous grant awarding system that was recently replaced

had worked out great for sporting events; providing marketing might be good for one-off events

like Surfing Santas, or an air show, but for sporting they are trying to attract niche participants,

blanket marketing radio and television just did not work for them; for that purpose, he is

recommending the County goes back to the previous system which did work; in his running

events, races, and triathlons they quantify where people come from, because they have put

that in there when they register for the race; and he goes back to the Tourism Office for

justifying the room nights. He stated over the course of the 20 years that he has been doing

events in Brevard County, Beach ‘n Boards’ has actually brought in tens of thousands of room

nights and many millions of dollars in economic impact to the County; the hard cost of putting

on events is something he would like to have reinstituted; costs have gone up significantly for

events, whether it be police, barricade and coning, marketing, and permitting has gone up

significantly; and he would like to go back where the sporting events are reimbursed for a part

of the costs. He concluded by saying he is asking that those who produced events in the fall,

that were allocated money and expected the money, but did not receive it, that they would be

reimbursed respectfully for the cost retroactively of what was spent; it is a big ask; but he thinks

it is fair.

B.4. Brevard Renaissance Fair

Peter Moolhuizen, Renaissance Fair President, stated the Renaissance Fair is celebrating its

tenth anniversary this year, with much help from the Tourist Development Council (TDC) over

the years; they have grown this little event to become the largest Renaissance Fair in the State

of Florida; over the years, he found that it has been done different ways and the way it is being

done now, he likes the best; he is not a marketing genius at all; and in the old days, a long time

ago it was hit and miss. He added he thinks the way it is now really does help because there is

expertise out there, that he does not have, nor has the time to learn; he thinks that is a benefit

to the TDC grants; they fill many rooms in the community and many hotels had sold out this

week, they heard that from the customers while opening this weekend; the marketing is

working; some of the ticketing packages were designed to target weekends, forcing people to

come in for the whole weekend by giving special pricing for them to come in on Friday, and

leave on Monday; it was found to be really beneficial in the Renaissance industry; and things

were changed up for concerts on Saturday, things on Sunday, and coming for the entire

weekend to spend four days in Brevard County. He stated he thinks it is the best way to go;

the County has done it quite a few different ways and they are all interesting; the TDC, with the

resources and knowledge it has are able to target the people who they are after; they target

many out-of-State people, which is their big focus; and 25 to 30 percent of the people who

attend the fair, are from out-of-State or out-of-county, with many being from out-of-State.

Chairman Feltner asked Mr. Moolhuizen to tell where the Renaissance Fair will be this year.

Mr. Moolhuizen responded at 3190 New York Avenue, Melbourne. He stated it is a brand new

site, brand new buildings, and a lot of work they put into that.

Chairman Feltner stated the Board is wishing him dry weather.

B.5. Brevard Symphony

Hadassah Etienne, Executive Director of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra (BSO), stated the

BSO is one of the oldest arts organization in Brevard County; for the past 71 years, BSO

brought live orchestra music to patrons of all ages through educational concerts, five Signature

Concerts each year, and a new three concert Pop Series that targets a much younger

generation from Brevard County and other counties in the area; BSO prides itself on being the

only fully professional Orchestra in Brevard County; and it also aims to continue being a tourist

destination for anyone traveling to the Space Coast. She stated one of BSO’s largest annual

events is the Fourth of July concert; there is a fireworks show and a concert at the Cocoa

Riverfront Park where it hosts a barbecue fundraiser; of the people who signed up for the

fundraiser, BSO has seen an eight percent increase in attendees who are coming from

out-of-county just in the past year that has been increasing year-to-year, and is one of their

biggest events that is indicative of everything BSO does; and that is very exciting. She stated

over the course of the current 2024-2025 season BSO has seen an increase in ticket sales

using new digital marketing endeavors through the King Center ticketing platform Paciolan, that

is one of BSO’s biggest new thing it has been doing; and the Marketing Support Program gives

BSO a huge opportunity to continue doing that in Brevard County and out-of-county to keep

drawing in new people to the new shows and new series. She added BSO has a preexisting

reputation of planning to harness for potential patrons outside of Brevard County; by working

with the Office of Tourism Development it poses an exciting opportunity for it to unify its efforts

and ensure cohesive branding, and marketing in messages that go to out-of-county travelers.

B.6. Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

Laura Lee Walko, Marketing Committee Chair for Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation,

stated for those who do not know, the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse has been in Brevard County

since 1868, its beacon illuminating the Florida coastline as both a navigational aid, a symbol of

the regions pioneering spirit; it holds an esteemed place in the history of the Space Coast,

serving not only as a vital guide for maritime travel, but also as a testament to the early

settlement of Florida; over the years, the lighthouse has played a significant role in the

development of the United Stated space program; and it is among the County’s first tourist

attraction. She stated in the past year, the Committee welcomed approximately 18,000 visitors

to the lighthouse, with nearly half of them coming from outside of Brevard County; two years

ago the Committee had 6,000 out-of-county visitors, which shows its growth; and the diverse

visitors range from tourists to school groups, with each group representing a valuable

opportunity to educate both the locals and the tourists about the rich history of Brevard County

and its promising future. She mentioned the positive feedback and the reviews received

consistently affirms that the lighthouse is not only a cherished local landmark, but also a

sought-after destination for travelers from across the nation; the Committee appreciates the

Tourist Development Council (TDC) grant received in the past and it allowed for them to

conduct out-of-county marketing last year for the first time, and it was a significant impact to its

visibility by enhancing everything the Committee did; but now the Committee is looking forward

to participating in the new TDC Marketing Support Program grant, because all small non-profits

need that kind of support. She added she is a volunteer who could only do so much, she has

another life; the Committee actually works with the TDC, the United States Space Force, and

the United States Coast Guard to manage the lighthouse; the Committee actually works to

maintain it and keep it functional; and for this the Committee is in need to have more marketing

funds in order to get it to be broadcasted to a wider audience. She advised her colleague

provided the Board with the Committees newest brochure.

B.7. City of Palm Bay

Daniel Waite, Acting Recreation Director for City of Palm Bay, stated he formerly was a special

events coordinator and with this Marketing Support Program, organizations like the City of Palm

Bay, and those presenting today, have been able to highlight the Space Coast’s unique appeal

and events to attract out-of-county residents to the County, which helps to promote local

businesses, hotels, and restaurants; the City has three major run events, Multicultural Festival,

Independence Day Celebration, and Holiday Light Parade; based on the software data from the

Office of Tourism Development, the City’s Fiscal Year 2022-2023 had 1,000 to 2,500

out-of-county attendees; the following Fiscal Year the City increased to the next tier to 2,500 to

5,000 out-of-county residents; this Fiscal Year the City qualified for over the 5,000

out-of-county residents; and these numbers clearly demonstrate the City is bringing in

out-of-county attendees to the events, helping boost the local economy, and enhance Brevard

County’s reputation as a cultural destination. He added he likes the idea of the Tourist

Development Council doing the Marketing Support Program, especially with the City being

limited in its resources, and that would be an extra resource for them.

B.8. Cocoa Beach Air Show

Kyle Smith, Vice President of Sales at AirDotShow Tour, stated he is present to speak about

the eight stops on the 2025 AirDotShow Tour, which is Cocoa Beach Air Show that is going to

be held on July 12-13; it is going to feature the United States Air Force F-22 Raptor, if that has

not been seen before, it is one of the most technologically advanced aircraft that mankind has

ever made; and it is actually going to be the capstone event of the Cocoa Beach City

Centennial, in fact, Wayne Carragino, City Manager of Cocoa Beach, is present to show his

support for this event. He stated he wants to tell the Board a little bit about the last air show

held in Cocoa Beach; it was the fifth largest beachfront air show in the country, larger than

Miami Beach and Jones Beach, which is on Long Island; he asked out of the lower 48 States,

only three States did not have someone who attend the air show in Cocoa Beach in 2023.

Commissioner Altman responded Alaska.

Mr. Smith stated no, lower 48.

Commissioner Adkinson replied North Dakota.

Mr. Smith stated no; and it is Montana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. He went on to say what

the air show does is it provides Cocoa Beach and Brevard County with another summertime

holiday weekend, with numbers on the beach comparable to Fourth of July and Memorial Day;

naturally, that comes from marketing outside the County; the Tourist Development Council has

some of those numbers the he is sure were provided to the Board; he just wanted to tell the

Board a little bit about the show in July; and he expressed his thanks for the Board’s time and

consideration, and its service to the County.

B.9. Cocoa Beach Main Street

Kenne Wells, Executive Director of Cocoa Beach Main Street, Inc., stated they work hard as a

Main Street and what this organization does is it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, its efforts are the

revitalization of a downtown area, and that is through community efforts bringing visitors; there

are monthly events and this Friday is the Friday Fest; and she invited the Board to attend. She

stated with the Tourist Development Council (TDC) grant, Cocoa Beach Main Street had been

creating larger events; there is a Kite and Beach Fest in January trying to target a slower month

for the hotels, because the weather is not that great, it was done for two years with a fantastic

response to it, but unfortunately, because of the grant situation through the TDC they were not

able to do that this year; it was sad for Cocoa Beach Main Street and for the people who were

booking hotels last year that were looking forward to coming this year; and that hurt the Cocoa

Beach Main Street because it is an expensive event to put on and it relied on the grants for

that. She stated the hard costs in the marketing grants had worked best for Cocoa Beach Main

Street; she loves the idea of the TDC doing its marketing; but they also need help with the hard

cost of things being more expensive with the staging and everything that goes into putting on

events.

B.10. Cocoa Village Main Street

Christopher Stagman, Executive Director of Cocoa Village Main Street, stated the primary

mission is to promote and sustain a vibrant and beautiful downtown area, with an abundance of

thriving local businesses, fun and safe activities while nurturing the cultural diversity and

history; Cocoa Village Main Street works in partnership with the City of Cocoa, to ensure the

downtown area is a place that all are proud to call home and a place that guests feel welcome;

almost every weekend there are events and activities in Cocoa Village to attract local and out of

area guests, from music concerts, car shows, food and beverage festivals, bike parades, five

kilometer runs, book fairs, and art and craft fairs just to name a few. He went on to say Cocoa

Village Main Street hosts four art and craft fairs throughout the year which attracts over

100,000 visitors annually; and 30 percent of these visitors and over 70 percent of the vendors

who participate are from outside of Brevard County and they spend the weekend in Brevard

County, enjoying its beaches, hotels, and other amenities, and that is about 7,000 attendees

per event. He stated Cocoa Village Main Street has requested funding from the Marketing

Support Program to help it promote and advertise the art and craft fairs, with the goal of

attracting more out of area guests to visit Cocoa Village and its County; Cocoa Village Main

Street is growing and it is proud of that; he expressed appreciation for the Board’s time and all

that it does for the community, and the local economy; and its leadership is very appreciated.

Commissioner Goodson asked how much money the City of Cocoa provides to put on a show.

Mr. Stagman replied for the Cocoa Village Main Street it is free because it gets a tax abatement

from the City for any kind of street closures, which just went into effect in 2024. He stated it

does have to pay for emergency support like Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and

police, because it wants to have safe events; but Cocoa Village Main Street get much help from

the City and it works in conjunction with it.

B.11. Cocoa Village Playhouse

Nathaniel Knepper-Quijano, Artistic Director at The Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse (CVP),

stated CVP provides affordable and accessible programming to visitors and residents of the

Space Coast community; currently, CVP is celebrating 100 years of the Aladdin Theater, which

opened as the Premier Cinema in Brevard County; and the CVP is midway through its 35th

season of Broadway on Brevard. He added the patron base includes over 43,000 unique

attendees, with nearly 18 percent of attendees residing outside of Brevard County; although

CVP is halfway through its season, it has noticed an increase in out-of-county attendees by

nearly 3.7 percent, compared to the season in the prior year; and this is due in-part to funding

initiatives like the Competitive Marketing Intelligence (CMI) Program that is offered through the

Tourist Development Council (TDC) which afforded CVP the opportunity to expand its outreach

in central and west Orlando, by purchasing digital billboards throughout high-traffic areas. He

stated the core program of the theater is the Stars of Tomorrow Youth Program, which has

grown from eight students in 1992, to over 223 students this year; the CVP continues its

outreach through the County, enriching the well-being of the Space Coast through partnerships

with the Brevard County Schools like Edgewood Junior/Senior and Cocoa High, as well as local

elementary schools; and featuring over 120 performances each year and the playoffs continue

to attract visitors to the area, and contribute to the viability of Brevard County as a premier

travel destination, in addition to being an ideal place to live.

B.12. Florida Surf Museum

George Trosset, Chief Financial Officer of Surfing Santas, provided the Board with a handout

and he stated what Surfing Santas does for Brevard County tourism is it started out as a fun

family day in Cocoa Beach, which has turned into a global phenomenon; people from all over

congregate on Christmas Eve in Cocoa Beach to celebrate the holidays with Santa, friends,

and family; over the years, with the help of the Office of Tourism Development Surfing Santas

has become a viral media event like no other; and by partnering with Surfing Santas on

promotional events, the Office of Tourism Development has garnered more than 10 billion

media impressions over the years that is worth $30 million or more in advertising value. He

stated to advertise Surfing Santas through the television and Billboards, is not going to help this

event; he needs help to pay for the event; the event costs about $30,000; Surfing Santas is

fortunate to be able to continue; the grant that was approved for Surfing Santas, he is hopeful

that money could be retroactive; and that it may be coming back to go towards paying for the

event and to continue its quest to conquer the world with great media coverage.

Commissioner Altman inquired who has the record for the most surfing Santas.

Mr. Trosset responded there is no world record, as far as Guinness is concerned, although one

of things he would like to do in the future, is set a world record for the most people surfing on a

giant surfboard, and the current record for that is 66; he stated they could handily beat that by

building a giant surfboard, maybe a 60 foot surfboard, and put maybe 100 people on it; but

Guinness will not recognize the most surfing santas, it will recognize the most people dressed

as Santa, or the most people on a surfboard, but it will not recognize surfing and Santas it is

one or the other.

Commissioner Altman remarked bah humbug.

Mr. Trosset mentioned he tried, but there is always a Grinch.

Chairman Feltner asked if they recognize the oldest surfing santa as a category.

Mr. Trosset replied no.

Commissioner Goodson stated 66 people on a surfboard in Cocoa Beach during the winter;

and he asked if that is with margaritas or without.

Mr. Trosset responded no, but there might be some gummies involved; and he stated it is not

easy.

B.13. Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Center

Bill Gary, President of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex Board of Directors,

expressed his thanks for the opportunity to address the Board today. He stated he is present

to ask the Board for its support of the Tourism Development Office grant funding

recommendations; the Center has done a tremendous job hosting events and programs to

bring awareness of the history of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore, that attracts many visitors to

the Moore Cultural Center Museum; this has established the Moore Cultural Center Museum as

the epicenter of civil rights in the Central Florida region; last year the Center had over 17,000

visitors attending various events, as well as tours of the site; and about one-half of those

visitors were from out of town, including about 10 percent from foreign countries. He added

those visitors contributed to the economy of the area, by visiting restaurants, stores, and hotel

stays; and with a 2025 lineup of five major events, the marketing support grant would help the

Center to continue to market the Moore Cultural Center Museum.

B.14. Henegar Center Brevard Regional Arts Group (BRAG)

Doug Lebo, President of the Henegar Center, stated the Center is a non-profit performing arts

organization that owns and operates the historic 1919 Melbourne School building; the Center

offers year round cultural arts, live programs, attracts about 40,000 patrons a year, and almost

20 percent of them are from outside of the County; a great history was provided by Peter

Cranis, Tourism Development Director, of the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) money that

supported the grants; there was a time when General Funds from the County were used to

support these grants; that kind of went away a few years ago and it was all kind of left to the

TDT monies to carry the load; there was a time when the Center could use all of those funds or

some of those funds for production and event costs; and some of the other speakers had

brought that up, with it definitely having a benefit with that. He stated his first recommendation

for the Board is to reconsider that, which some of the money, depending on the organization

some people enjoy the full marketing support coming from the Tourist Development Council

(TDC), and he thinks other events though makes more sense for some of that money to go

towards funding the events. He mentioned the last two years being a little frustrating doing the

County grant program, it seems they go through the process over the course of months by

writing the grants and processing them, and then going through being awarded, graded, and

such; then getting to the ultimate end, it is like a surprise for the Board about why certain

organizations, non-profits, or events were included; it does not seem like there is a meeting of

the minds going into these grant programs of what should or should not qualify; and then when

getting to the end of the process the applicants end up here. He stated his second

recommendation for the Board is to the meeting of the minds that the purpose and the scope of

these grants is agreed to ahead of time.

B.15. King Center

Ashley Dillow, Director of Sales and Marketing, stated for 37 years the King Center has been a

cultural and economic cornerstone for Brevard County; the King Center serves as the only live

entertainment venue with ability to bring in national touring productions within over 50 miles;

she is proud to share with everyone in the room and being the first to hear the Kings Center

has been listed in the top 200 venues worldwide by Pollstar; and in 2024, the King Center

welcomed nearly 150,000 attendees to over 100 events, and of those attendees over 20

percent came from outside of Brevard County. She stated the impact extends beyond ticket

sales, guests dining at local restaurants, staying in hotels, and exploring the Space Coast

during their visit; this economic ripple effect is even greater when considering the touring artists

and production crews the King Center hosts, they stay in local hotels, utilize catering and dining

services, shop at area businesses, and utilize healthcare facilities during their stay in Brevard

County; and these direct contributions underscore the King Center’s role as a driver of local

economic growth and tourism. She mentioned last year the King Center utilized $10,000 of the

total $25,000 to launch targeted digital campaigns aimed at out-of-county audiences; these

campaigns directly netted over $200,000 in ticket sales and generating not only significant

revenue, but also increased awareness of Brevard County as a destination; and the King

Center’s success in reaching new audiences in helping the King Center to compete with the

larger markets like Orlando and enabling the King Center to continue to attract nationally

recognized artists and productions, that enhance the areas cultural appeal. She concluded by

saying she urges the Board to consider the tangible benefits the King Center delivers to

Brevard County, its support not only enhances the King Center’s ability to attract visitors, but

also ensures that the Space Coast remains a premier destination for arts, culture, and tourism.

Chairman Feltner stated the college, if he remembers correctly has sort of farmed out the King

Center; and he asked if Ms. Dillow is a promoter for the King Center and runs and maintains it.

Ms. Dillow responded the King Center is actually a couple of different entities in one venue.

She stated Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) owns the facilities; the King Center Board of

Directors is the listed operator/owner of the King Center; and all of the employees within the

King Center are ASM Global employees who are contracted out just as the employees are.

Chairman Feltner mentioned taking a tour when he became Commissioner and that has been

explained; and anytime any Commissioner wants to take tour, he thinks it is good.

Commissioner Altman stated he know the King Center does some impressive marketing; and

he inquired if the King Center has in-house marketing staff or does it use a marketing firm.

Ms. Dillow replied a little bit of both. She stated she is the Director of Marketing and she has a

marketing coordinator and a marketing manager, and they are the three who do the majority of

that; the shows also do some of its own marketing; and a digital team is utilized through the

ticketing system that places the King Center on Meta and Google search ads for it.

Commissioner Altman remarked the King Center has a lot of marketing.

Ms. Dillow stated it does.

Commissioner Altman asked if Ms. Dillow thinks the marketing grant helps the King Center or if

it would be better to be able to spend that money on other needs.

Ms. Dillow responded she thinks the marketing grant helps the King Center in promoting the

King Center as a whole; it does not have a budget for general King Center support; the

individual show budget goes towards promoting Jerry Seinfeld, not King Center or the Space

Coast; and she thinks whether the department of Tourism Development did the advertising for

the King Center, it is a help just for the general area.

B.16. Melbourne Main Street

Kim Agee, Executive Director of Melbourne Main Street, stated Melbourne Main Street is a

20-year-old non-profit organization that is dedicated to the revitalization of downtown

Melbourne; and events are a big part of what the Melbourne Main Street does by attracting

people to the area who patronize the businesses that creates an economic impact and a lasting

impact of his or her experience in downtown Melbourne. She mentioned Melbourne Main

Street did submit for the grant and it focused on three major events, which was the November

Food and Wine Festival and the Four Nights of Candlelight Shopping with each night having a

different activation event and theme; the Food and Wine Festival has live artists painting and

live music from three different bands; one of the nights of the Four Nights of Candlelight

Shopping had an art walk, because there are over 27 different art installations and activations

within downtown Melbourne which is pretty significant from the cultural side; Melbourne Main

Street is pushing the cultural quite a bit and it has been a large boost and attraction for it; and it

has enjoyed working with Tourist Development Council staff and the department of Tourism

Development. She stated she served on the Marketing Committee last year and she learned a

lot about the job they have to do, the numbers, and the reach done for everyone in the County;

and she commended the Committee for its work. She mentioned there now is the Hotel Melby,

which actually adds a completely different flavor to the community, making it more of a

destination and attracting more people from out-of-county, and picking up some of those heavy

business travelers who are staying the weekends for some of the things that are happening

downtown; she thinks it is critical to continue the marketing; the third event is the Botanical Fest

in March; but the November Food and Wine Festival and the Four Nights of Candlelight

Shopping happened when the grant was rescinded back after it was moving forward. She

stated she is hopeful for the Board to consider reimbursing them for some of the hard costs

and the marketing cost.

Commissioner Goodson stated the Food and Wine Festival had moved to the river and out of

the Main Street; and he inquired how well received it was.

Ms. Agee responded well. She stated reports were received that it was the best one ever

done; the Melbourne Main Street is trying to connect to the waterfront; and one of its strategic

initiatives is to actually connect with the waterfront and help people experience that entire area.

Commissioner Goodson asked if the tiki bars moved down to the river, because he heard

people could not walk in the bars, get a drink, and walk back on the street.

Ms. Agee replied Melbourne Main Street did not shut off any business whatsoever.

Commissioner Goodson remarked a person has to walk uphill.

Ms. Agee felt it is good for the people and they could go to Ichabod’s Bar and Grille or El

Ambia.

B.17. Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

Rochelle Hood, Executive Director of Merritt Island Wildlife Association (MIWA), mentioned for

the Board to think of a time when the sun was rising and the birds were heard singing; and to

consider a moment of walking outside with the sun setting and seeing Sandhill Cranes flying on

the Space Coast. She stated MIWA is a non-profit friends group for the Merritt Island Wildlife

Refuge and it enabled the mission of protecting wildlife and conserving habitat; last year MIWA

had over two million people come to the refuge; it supports the 144,000 acres around the

Kennedy Space Center; and people come for archery, kayak tours, the place in the world

where the second most dominant bioluminescence occurs in Brevard County, they look for

dolphins, wonder about the marvel of a manatee, and a young boy or girl catches a fish for the

first time in his or her life; and that is the stage MIWA provides every day for 365 days a year.

She mentioned the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge being public lands and as the non-profit

supporting the refuge, with no marketing dollars whatsoever; the MIWA marketing is a rare

bird, the Snow Bunting that landed there, and the Flamingos that flew off course from a

hurricane and have stayed there for a year; and what MIWA would like to do with the Marketing

Support Program is make sure that the public lands are available to everyone, not just the

people who regularly fish, taken up archery, or bird watching but every single person; the

refuge has hundreds of acres, hiking and biking trails, and is mostly known for its wildlife drive;

the barriers were removed for the people with limited mobility to be able to enjoy those

experiences every day; and the marketing grant would allow for them to get out-of-county and

bring more of those people here and not just the people in the local area.

Commissioner Goodson asked if the refuge allows for duck hunting still.

Ms. Hood responded it does and duck hunting is a very important part of the refuges’ mission.

Chairman Feltner asked if he was clear on the difference between rabbit season and duck

season.

Commissioner Goodson replied he had a rough time with his eyesight, but he thinks one flies

and one runs.

Ms. Hood mentioned hunters being the second largest category and the number one category

is anglers and then hunters in general, and has hog hunting as well.

*The Board recessed at 2:00 p.m. and reconvened at 2:10 p.m.

B.18. Space Coast State Fair, Cocoa Beach Spring Training

Rusty Buchanan stated he is speaking on behalf of Giles Malone and Brevard Productions;

they have been working hand in hand with everyone in the sports world to try making Brevard

County a sports destination; he expressed his thanks to the Board, because in 1994 the largest

single sporting event in America, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympics was held

at the Space Coast Stadium; the next year, Mr. Malone and Brevard Productions mentioned

bringing baseball to the Cocoa Expo; that year the largest single age division baseball

tournament in the history of the United States was held; and from that point forward, every

year, Mr. Malone and the spring training folks brought hundreds of teams to the area, creating

hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact since 1994. He mentioned serving in the

role of spearheading that sports effort for 26 years; he led the efforts of Tourism Development

and sports commission until he left to become a board member for the United States Bobsled

and Skeleton Federation, representing Olympic athletes and his or her endeavors; before that

he was president and Chief Executive Officer of the largest amateur sports organization in the

world, the AAU; but he keeps his hand in the sports world and in the County because that is

where it started for him. He added this spring training program is one of the best spring

training baseball programs in the history of any of the 20 that now operate in the south; he

expressed his thanks to Mitch Varnes, for helping him with the Governor’s request to do the

Junior Olympic Games here in 2020 during COVID; they did it and pulled it off; the Space

Coast State Fair is going to have Carnival Eats come in and film only one of six places in the

country; and he wholeheartedly is supportive of this.

B.19. Space Coast Symphony

Aaron Collins, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, stated

the Symphony is in its 16th season and it has performed over 1,200 productions from both big

and small since its inception throughout the Space Coast; it has graciously received support

from the County and from all of the different iterations of the grant program for 13 of its 16

seasons; and it has helped the Symphony tremendously to market to new concert goers and

bringing thousands of visitors to the Space Coast. He stated the Symphony’s current season

consists of a large variety of programming, in fact, 37 performances on the Space Coast in

2025, and ranging from patriotic, pop, film music, contemporary works, masterworks, opera,

ballet, Broadway, jazz, rock, children’s concerts, and more; as a member of the Tourist

Development Council Cultural Committee for three years, he had great pleasure to learn about

all of the amazing organizations present today; he is hopeful the Board finds the heart and the

money to support all of them; and he yields his time back to others.

Chairman Feltner inquired where best for all to go see one of the many Symphony shows.

Mr. Collins responded the Symphony performs in a variety of venues, but mostly at The Scott

Center located on Pineda Causeway, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, and Satellite High

School; they are also a partnership with AMC Theaters to provide concerts inside the theater

while performing with the films, and a variety of other venues, churches; it is a challenge to find

venues in Brevard County; but the Symphony fits in all nooks and crannies of many different

spaces in Brevard County, with a lot of great partners.

B.20. Thunder on Cocoa Beach

Kerry Bartlett, Founder and Executive Director of Thunder on Cocoa Beach, expressed his

thanks to the Board and to Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, and his staff at the

Tourist Development Council for the many years of support and guidance, and marketing

support. He stated Thunder on Cocoa Beach is celebrating its 16th year of power boat racing

in the Space Coast; this year, the first race of a six-race national series with the American

Power Boat Association (APBA), Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), and Powerboat P1

offshore racing; the series starts in Cocoa Beach on May 15 – 18, 2025, it goes to New

Orleans, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Michigan City, St. Petersburg, and Key West for the national

and world championship; there currently are 10 classes of teams racing; over 60 race teams

have signed up so far for the 2025 race; and each team could consist of anywhere from four to

15 members who are staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, and getting gas. He added the

Thunder on Cocoa Beach has 15 years of sold economic impact in Brevard County; it is a

unique event, which where it moves it goes to the Port, then it goes to Cocoa Beach at Lori

Wilson Park for two days of racing; and Thunder on Cocoa Beach has expanded to two days of

racing which aided in it having 75,000 visitors last year, overnight stays. He stated the Hotel

Association supports the Thunder on Cocoa Beach; Thunder on Cocoa Beach has also given

over $50,000 in 15 years to local charities, including its current charity Freedom Fighters; and

Thunder on Cocoa Beach television show is airing on CBS Sports and MAVTV with over a

million views.

Chairman Feltner asked when the Thunder on Cocoa Beach race is this year.

Mr. Bartlett responded May 15 – 18, racing is on the 17th and 18th.

B.21. Titusville Playhouse

Marcia Gaedcke, Development Director for Titusville Playhouse; stated she would like to

recognize Steven Heron, Executive Artistic Director, who is in the audience; the Americans for

the Arts organization conducts an arts and economic prosperity survey on a regular basis, its

focus is on counties at the County level; the most recent survey shows that non-resident

attendees of cultural events spend an average of 372 percent more per person than local

attendees as a result of their attendance at cultural events, and primarily, that is because of

room nights; 100 percent of those non-residents say that they came specifically for a cultural

event; and over 72 percent of those folks say that if the event was not being held, they would

go elsewhere. She stated the Titusville Playhouse is currently in its 60th season; there are 13

shows on its main stage and its stage two venue, and seven youth shows; the economic impact

over the 2023-2024 season was $5.6 million; and this season she is proud to announce the

Titusville Playhouse entered an agreement with Music Theatre International (MTI); and the

Titusville Playhouse is now collaborating on shows that had never been seen before, that would

then become part of MTI’s inventory for licensing across the world, and in the future it would

always say Titusville Playhouse Collaboration on it. She added thus far the Titusville

Playhouse had 40,513 patrons through the door from 47 states; she is hopeful that Jersey Boys

would take it over 50 and that someone from Arkansas, Montana, and Nevada would attend

before the season ends; one-third of the patrons are from outside of Brevard County; groups

are welcomed, the Titusville Playhouse brought in 19 groups thus far this season to the theater;

the cultural grant funding allows the Titusville Playhouse to extend its marketing beyond what it

could do on its own; and it is reaching new neighborhoods and communities, and encouraging

them to travel to the Space Coast. She stated the Titusville Playhouse primarily does a direct

mail program with its dollars; it also does billboards; and she is hopeful for the Board to

continue the Marketing Support Program.

Chairman Feltner mentioned for anyone who does not know the Titusville Playhouse is very

close to the Titusville six-story building where Commissioner Delaney’s office will be located;

and he walked by it every day for six and one-half years.

B.22. US Space Walk of Fame Foundation

Gabriel Rothblatt, Executive Director of US Space Walk of Fame Foundation, stated everyone

celebrates the nations Independence of the Fourth of July, but has anyone ever wondered

when Brevard’s birthday is; founded by law in 1855, Brevard County really came to life when

the Space Program had settled there; yet, unlike the other locations like Palmdale, California,

evidenced by this morning’s successful Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch, no one mission

defines the relation to the space industry; this is why the Patron Saint of the Space Coast,

Robert Osband, a citizen advocate who became an international icon fought for the creation of

the 321 area code as a unique identifier and established Brevard County, as the Space Coast;

and as Executive Director of the US Space Walk of Fame Foundation, Inc., he not only

oversees the American Space Museum in Titusville and its year-round programming, such as

bilingual Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) classes and the Shuttle Fest on

April 12, and work in partnership with the City of Titusville and Brevard County Parks and

Recreation to develop and maintain monuments to the chapters of American space history. He

added as a memorial last year to that founder of the Space Coast, 321 was inaugurated to one

day be held annually on March 21st as a celebration of space and relations to it with

Proclamation for the Mayor of Titusville; this year returning to the birthplace of Brevard County,

to celebrate its unique place in space; and is inviting the Board to adopt and support March

21st as Brevard’s birthday, henceforth in perpetuity. He expressed his thanks to the Board for

the opportunity to present US Space Walk of Fame Foundation’s case for the 2025 Marketing

Support Program, with ongoing support inspiring the future through the preservation of

achievements of the past, and continuing to share with the world how Brevard County came to

be and will remain the place where the history of tomorrow is made.

B.23. Valiant Air Command

Ron Davis, Grants Manager for the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, stated he had

been a volunteer for about 17 years at the Valiant Air Command and he is an aviation person;

Valiant Air Command has been part of the community since 1977, a non-profit 501(c)(3)

certified, and supported by about 800 permanent members and 38,000 volunteer hours a year;

and that is the rock-solid heart of the Valiant Air Command organization and why they are so

proud of it. He stated the Valiant Air Command had about 30,000 paying people at the

museum last year and another 5,000 at special events, which is one of things Valiant Air

Command is really excited about because it is becoming a venue for special events, particularly

for industrial and aerospace in North Brevard; and most are aware Valiant Air Command will

soon commission its new 15,000 square foot climate controlled event center. He mentioned

the Valiant Air Command’s marketing is heavily influenced or dependent on social media and it

looks forward to the expertise of Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, sharing more

with the idea of how to make it effective, how to get feedback, how to point its marketing at

likely demographic people who love airplanes, people who love coming to Florida, and people

who do not like Orlando very much but want to see something else; and that is part of the

Valiant Air Command’s groups, who provide marvelous write-ups for them. He concluded by

saying the event center itself, the County, and a lot of other agencies have been very generous

and the Valiant Air Command is proud of how it is going to look; and to give it a couple of

months and it would knock their eyes out.

B.24. Wizard of Oz Museum

Fred Trust, Founder of Wizard of Oz Museum, stated the Board has probably heard the news

that the Wizard of Oz Museum would eventually be moving to the Orlando area; it is going to

take around two years to get there; but since this is the 2025 budget, he figured the Wizard of

Oz Museum would apply and try to maybe get some funds. He stated what is happening is the

Museum has around 18,000 visitors annually and is growing at approximately 10 percent every

year; five percent of the visitors are coming from Brevard County; approximately five percent of

the visitors are international travelers; the number one country visiting the Museum is England;

the number two country visiting the Museum is Canada, and followed by Brazil and Australia;

30 percent of the visitors are from Florida and from outside of Brevard County; 60 percent of

the visitors are from everywhere else in the United States; and the reason why they are visiting

the Museum is the Museum has a unique experience, that could not be seen anywhere else,

including the immersive experience. He continued to explain what is happening is the Museum

is not only covering the Wizard of Oz, because everybody knows the trade name, but also

because the Museum incorporates the Art of Van Gogh and the images of the James Webb

Telescope; the Museum ranked on Tripadvisor which is the platform that recognizes actual

museums against each other; there are 35,000 museums in the United States; Florida is the

third largest state with around 2,000 museums; Tripadvisor has the Wizard of Oz Museum

being ranked as the number one children’s museum, number five as art museum, and number

12 as the specialty museum; and the Museum has already outranked all of the museums in the

Orlando area.

B.25. Central Brevard Soccer (CBS) Winter Classic and CBS Hurricane Classic

Jenna Scaglione, President of Central Brevard Soccer (CBS), stated with her is Brittany Lee,

Treasurer; the CBS program has been around since 1982 in Merritt Island,; CBS is a nonprofit

organization serving approximately 1,400 Brevard County children; as a club, it hosts two

soccer tournaments a year; one, is the Winter Classic in January and for this month it would be

next weekend; and two, is the Hurricane Classic in August. She mentioned the tournaments

hosted are at Mitchell Ellington Park and Kelly Park West, across all of the available fields, and

over a two to three-day weekend; there are more than 100 teams that come to these events,

with approximately 1,500 attendees; 60 percent of the attendees are out-of-county teams who

are traveling, and CBS looks to put approximately 700 attendees in hotels around the area; and

a minimum of two hotel nights, typically going to the Radisson Resort at the Port, Country Inn

and Suites by Radisson, Cape Crossing Resort and Marina, and any other Port Canaveral

hotels; and now she is going to pass to Ms. Lee, to quickly run-through how CBS uses some of

the funds from the Tourist Development Council (TDC).

Ms. Lee stated CBS is volunteer ran and it is small but mighty; it uses a lot of TDC funds for

marketing online and for public relations people to create ads by an artist which is done

in-house as much as they could do; but in order to grow the events CBS would need to do

more; and the events are growing a little bit every time CBS has them.

B.26. Softball Magazine Seniors Open and Softball Magazine Spring

Scott Armstrong, Executive Director of Space Coast United (SCU), expressed his appreciation

for the opportunity come up and explain SCU’s need; SCU is a non-profit and the largest sports

organization in Brevard County, it currently has about 3,750 kids; the program runs from two

years old and up to 50 years old, and it has an adult league; SCU currently runs four

tournaments, the first tournament is in November and it had 1,543 hotel rooms; the Junior Cup

had 1,009 hotel rooms; and the Junior Cup is a Cup that SCU put together that was located on

the west coast of Florida, and relocated it to Brevard County. He went on to say there is the

Space Coast Clash and it had 1,200 hotel rooms and the Florida Cup that had over 1,000 hotel

rooms; SCU does not have a State to play events, meaning it would facilitate over 100 different

hotels in the County; the SCU tournaments have outgrown their facilities; and it is looking to

expand into the Titusville market for two of its tournaments. He stated 75 percent of the

attendees for events are from out of town; SCU has different relationships with different clubs

around Florida and it reciprocates, so it has a good number of its events based on over 75

percent; from the events, SCU provides about $60,000 in scholarships a year to

underprivileged kids who require free lunches from Brevard County; SCU has a need of

$65,000 to $70,000 and it appreciates the funds provided; and that is the majority of where its

event funds come from. He stated SCU has a marketing company it works with and pay that

out of the registration fees; SCU will be hosting two new events over the next year for adult

league events; SCU appreciates everything the County does for them; and he is hopeful SCU

continues with the County’s support.

Chairman Feltner stated when Mr. Armstrong was talking about the number of hotel rooms

from the different events, he worked for a hotel a long time ago and earlier mentioned was the

Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), and the AAU definitely filled up that hotel. He inquired how Mr.

Armstrong knows the number of generated room nights from those events, if it is a

commissionable rate, if there is a room list, or if a phone call is, received.

Mr. Armstrong replied in the past, SCU never was big enough for Infinity Travel so it never

used it, but what SCU did was, it asked all of its teams who are attending the events to give

SCU the information of where he or she are staying; from there, the SCU has an understanding

of how many participants, such as an AAU youth 13 team coming from Jacksonville, the SCU

knows it has 18 players and base that on four people to a room it knows exactly how many kids

are coming in and where he or she are staying; and the SCU is about 75 percent clear on

where it knows most of the families are staying and whether it is an Airbnb or a hotel.

Chairman Feltner stated Mr. Armstrong answered his other question about other short-term

rentals versus hotels, which he certainly understands that; most of SCU’s events would say

take place at the Viera Regional Park…

Mr. Armstrong interrupted by saying it is not just Viera Regional Park, the SCU utilizes Rotary

Park at Suntree and Wickham Park, but the problem SCU has with Wickham Park is it is never

accessible, meaning the fields are not playable and they are too dangerous for the kids; and

this year SCU used Dick Blake Park, but could only use one of those fields because those

fields are too dangerous for the families.

Chairman Feltner stated he knows the demand is very strong for soccer and for more fields and

such; the events are usually mainland, that is just the way it is or the way real estate is; most of

these families are found traveling, if he is coming from Ohio he would probably want to take the

kids and stay on the beach; and he inquired if that is something done, or do they stay around

the venue.

Mr. Armstrong responded because SCU is not a stay and play, it uses over 100 hotels around

the County; he does not have the list of hotels used available but he would give a list of those

used; hotels in Cocoa Beach are used or wherever the families want to go to; and he could tell

him that the families in Jacksonville primarily use the beach hotels, because they love the

beach.

Chairman Feltner advised in Viera hotels are being built; there will be a lot of room nights

added to that area; he is not necessarily making a pitch for Viera; but he is just saying for the

SCU tournaments that there would be more opportunity around the places played at.

Mr. Armstrong added SCU is also in a national league; it is the only nonmetropolitan soccer

club in a national league, which means 56 games are hosted every weekend, and they come

from all over Florida just for SCU’s main events of tournaments; they get hotel rooms; but every

weekend it has teams from Miami and Palm Beach, they come up and stay one or two nights,

depending on when the game is up.

Chairman Feltner stated the joke over the years is that every little leaguer travels with an

entourage that is mom, dad, and siblings.

Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, stated that is the conclusion of speakers that

were from events that were eligible for the Marketing Support Program; now they get into

events that were not eligible originally, or did not apply.

EVENTS NOT CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE FOR GRANTS

B.28. Melbourne Municipal Band

Dave Hudson, President of the Melbourne Municipal Band, stated Melbourne Municipal Band is

celebrating its 60th year, providing free concerts to the community; Melbourne Municipal Band

is an invaluable cultural asset that brings together individuals of all ages, fostering a spirit of

unity and artistic enrichment through its free concerts; the mission is simple for the Melbourne

Municipal Band, yet profoundly impactful, to make high-quality musical performances

accessible to everyone in Brevard County, regardless of his or her financial situation; and

nobody is every turned away from the concerts, ensuring that the joy and inspiration of live

music is a shared experience open to all. He stated despite the commitment to free access,

the Melbourne Municipal Band faces legitimate expenses; most of the Melbourne Municipal

Band funding comes from generous donations collected at concerts, from charitable foundation

grants, and from the City of Melbourne; with the abrupt loss of State and County funding the

income has dropped dramatically, whereas Melbourne Municipal Band’s expenses has only

increased because of inflation; and even though Melbourne Municipal Band’s musicians freely

give his or her time to perform, it has expenses to maintain its rehearsal facilities, pay for

utilities, and pay for music just to name a few. He stated when the threshold for Tourist

Development Council (TDC) funding was sent at 1,000 out-of-county attendees, the Melbourne

Municipal Band easily surpassed that requirement; and the criteria was raised to 5,000, a

number the Melbourne Municipal Band finds somewhat arbitrary, and challenging to meet

despite its proven track record of attracting significant numbers of visitors from outside the

County. He concluded to invite the Board to attend the Melbourne Municipal Band concerts,

and see what it offers; and he urged the Board to consider the broader impact to support

funding Melbourne Municipal Band, meaning investing in a richer, more vibrant community

where the transformative power of music is accessible to all.

Chairman Feltner inquired if Tom Stauffacher is still playing the tuba.

Mr. Hudson responded absolutely.

B.29. Native Heritage Festival

Martha Pessaro, Native Heritage Gathering, Inc., stated Native Heritage Gathering, Inc.

produces the Native Heritage Festival annually, this past November was the 16th year; for over

14,000 years, the Native American people have called Florida home; Native Heritage

Gathering, Inc.’s mission is to bring cultural awareness, education, and entertainment to all of

the citizenry in the southeastern region and beyond; the Native Heritage Festival has visitors

that come from Europe, as well as Canada and Mexico; and the Native Heritage Festival is

following the edict because each November the White House issues a proclamation to

celebrate and honor Native American Heritage Month. She stated in Brevard County a similar

proclamation is received from the Board and many of the municipalities, to reach out to all of

the citizens and to get everyone involved in the three-day family friendly, free admission event

that is accessible to all, and provided by a non-profit, all volunteer staff annually; she is hopeful

for the Board to take a peek at the programs from this past year’s event; and she provided the

Board with a handout.

B.30. Green Gables

Annita Full, Treasurer of Green Gables at Historic Riverview Village, provided a handout to the

Board and she stated Green Gables is a historic home built in 1896; the home is celebrating

129 years as part of this community and is located in Melbourne on almost one and one-half

acres of greenspace on the banks of the Indian River Lagoon; Green Gables purchased the

home in June 2023, with the help of the community, and a matching grant from the State of

Florida; Green Gables’ mission is to preserve and restore this historical landmark, as a living

history museum and a center for community engagement; and Green Gables truly strives to be

Melbourne’s bridge of the past. She stated Green Gables received a cultural support grant for

the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-2021; those funds helped them to create an online presence and

allowed them to reach further into the community and surrounding areas; in the FY 2021-2022

Green Gables did not apply for the grant because it could not meet the visitor requirement; in

the FY 2022-2023 Green Gables were approved for the grant, but it was denied because it did

not have enough out-of-county visitors; Green Gables received the FY 2023-2024 grant; and it

used the $15,000 for out-of-county advertising, other marketing, and material supplies. She

mentioned Green Gables did not apply for the FY 2024-2025 grant, because it could not meet

the out-of-county visitor requirement; just because the visitor demographics are not large

enough to qualify for the current grant, does not mean Green Gables is not an important part of

Brevard County’s tourism industry; and Green Gables has recently joined, with 20 other

non-profit museums in Brevard County to form Museums of Brevard (MOB). She asked if the

Board knew Brevard has more than 20 non-profit museums in the County and those are all

assets to the tourism industry in Brevard County; and all Green Gables is asking is to let it

share in promoting Brevard County.

Chairman Feltner inquired when the gala event is because he has been a couple of times.

Ms. Full responded the gala event is coming on February 28; and she stated Green Gables

would love to have him join them.

Chairman Feltner stated the food was good; and he inquired whom did the food last time.

Ms. Full replied The Grand Manor.

Chairman Feltner mentioned Green Gables having a real nice motorcycle show.

Ms. Full responded there is a car show in March and an antique motorcycle show in April; and

she stated check the website.

B.31. Field Manor

Korinn Braden, Site Director of Field Manor, provided a handout for Field Manor and Museums

of Brevard (MOB); she stated Field Manor is a 19th century homestead museum and venue,

located on Merritt Island; she is honored to be the current President of MOB, as Annita Full had

mentioned of the 20 non-profit museums located in Brevard County, and many of the members

are present today; Field Manor’s mission is to preserve the Field’s 45-acre homestead for the

purpose of educating visitors and state; and Field Manor was awarded the cultural support

grant for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, but is not eligible for the new Marketing Support Program

grant, due to the change in the grant criteria with a minimum of 5,001 attendees. She stated

the past grant money awarded allowed for Field Manor to increase its audience through

out-of-county advertising for the museum and events; without County grant support, Field

Manor’s outreach for Central Florida and the southeast would be diminished; the Board’s time

is appreciated and Field Manor would appreciate future funding and other worthy historical

activities; and reinstating the previous grant criteria would continue the partnerships with

Brevard County and help Field Manor locals and visitors.

Commissioner Delaney asked how many out of town visitors Field Manor had.

Ms. Braden responded the maximum is about 1,600.

Chairman Feltner mentioned he thinks the Board would all be coming out at the end of the

month for an event and it is on the calendar.

B.32. Space Coast Art Festival

Steve Izzo, President of Space Coast Art Festival, stated 2025 is Space Coast Art Festival’s

60th edition of the Fine Arts Festival in the area; when he says that, people often ask how it got

to 60, for those who are older than 60, but the key is a long history of volunteers; he has been

doing this for two years; and the audience, with tens of thousands of people who show up every

year to attend a festival such as this. He mentioned the festival being very simple, in terms of

construction, and it draws artists from around Florida and from across the country; there is a

component from the local area that the Space Coast Art Festival is trying to develop that is

called Community Partners, which is bringing the other non-profits like the Brevard Zoo and

Museums of Brevard, and others to that audience for exposure to the audience at the Space

Coast Art Festival; and the third component is Space Coast Art Festival running the largest

physical student art show in Brevard County that is open to K-12. He went on to say Space

Coast Art Festival delivers $3,500 in awards to those individual students and to support art in

schools, to the schools themselves; this funding is with a simple business model with about 60

percent of the funds coming from the artists themselves, in terms of the booth fees; and the

remaining 40 percent is split between sponsors and received grants. He stated the largest

single expense is marketing; it really does cost to get the word out there; that is where the

Space Coast Art Festival has benefited in the past; he is hopeful to benefit in the future, to

expand that marketing and then expand the reach above the set threshold; and Space Coast

Art Festival definitely supports the professionalization of that marketing being, all volunteer

organizations, but does not have the skills required. He added he is supportive of moving in

the direction of professional support.

Chairman Feltner asked when and where is the Space Coast Art Festival this year.

Mr. Izzo responded November 8-9, with the seventh used for set up at The Avenue Viera.

B.33. Surfside Playhouse

Sony Jackson, Director of Marketing for Surfside Playhouse, stated Surfside Playhouse has

been around for 65 years in Cocoa Beach, which is the only community theater beachside from

Cape Canaveral down to Melbourne Beach; she lives beachside and she hates to go over the

bridge, and there are a lot of residents who feel the same; and yet, they all pretty much act at

the other theaters because there is so much talent, and opportunity in Brevard County; in the

past, Surfside Playhouse had been eligible for the grant and are still spending money from the

previous round where Surfside Playhouse received a matching grant from Spectrum to

advertise in the Orlando market; and having the in-kind matching has really helped Surfside

Playhouse leverage its money which is what it likes to do; and Surfside Playhouse would love

to be eligible, but it has not met the threshold of the 5,000. She mentioned understanding big

bang for its buck and the Surfside Playhouse is getting there little by little, like the theater that

could; Surfside Playhouse has over 250 volunteers, four children’s shows that is actually

through the summer, and is kind of fun; when the sports marketing does well in getting people

in for surfing and the surf camps, the Surfside Playhouse has theater camps because often

times there is a jock with an artistic sibling; those kinds of things just adds to the depth; the

culture Surfside Playhouse has is amazing; and it adds to the depth of the experience of

Brevard County in general. She stated she encourages the Board to consider expanding that

bang for its buck.

B.35. Melbourne Art Festival

Doug Taylor, Board of Directors for Melbourne Art Festival, stated unfortunately he does not

have a lot time to go into depth on the award-winning 40th Melbourne Art Festival, including

thou artists voting Melbourne Art Festival last year as the 38th best fine art show in America; he

does not have time to discuss that three years ago the Melbourne Art Festival received $6,666,

two years ago the Melbourne Art Festival received $10,000 grant funding, which it found out it

had between one and 2,000 out-of-county visitors; last year the Melbourne Art Festival were

awarded $15,000, but it does not know how many out-of-county visitors it received from that;

and there seems to be a little bit of an issue, because the Melbourne Art Festival does not

know how the County’s investment worked. He stated he also does not have time to discuss

how the Melbourne Art Festival operates on a razor thin budget and how cuts to these grants,

not only will force them to reduce its promotion of the Space Coast, but also probably results in

cuts to many of Melbourne Art Festivals non-revenue producing family friendly activities. He

stated he does not have time to mention the Melbourne Art Festival itself gives $8,000 back to

the County in terms of rental for the Wickham Park. He stated he does not have time to

discuss how voters repeatedly, through the bed tax, voted for the bed tax to support

organizations local arts and cultural organizations, just like the Melbourne Art Festival who have

now been excluded; and these events not only draw tourists, future employees, and residents

who hopefully see the Space Coast as worthy to move to and invest in because of its cultural

diversity. He concluded by saying the Melbourne Art Festival will continue to draw

out-of-county visitors, continue to be proud to promote the Space Coast; the Melbourne Art

Festival is hopeful that the Board is proud of them and that it would support them and the other

non-profit organizations in this dais.

Chairman Feltner recognizes Mr. Taylor for running a nice event at Wickham Park; he thinks it

is one of the nicest events held at the Park; and he appreciates there being no charge for

admission.

Mr. Taylor expressed his thanks; and he stated there is no admission, low beer prices, folks

could walk there, and there are free family activities, free parking, free kid activities, and free

live entertainment.

B.37. National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Surf Contest

Savannah Lanza, Chief Executive Officer for National Kidney Foundation of Florida, stated the

National Kidney Foundation of Florida (NKF) is a benefiting organization for the NKF Rich

Salick Surf Festival; someone who grew up in Brevard may have either been to the event or

surfed in the event; she started surfing in the event when she was 10 years old; and it is

actually NKF’s 40th year coming up to honor the surf festival and give back to kidney patients

in the State of Florida. She stated NKF was advised to move forward with some marketing

contracts which always brings in out-of-county participants; NKF typically have five to 10,000

participants who are beachgoers, spectators, and surfers coming out to the event; NKF has

worked with the Board for probably almost the entire time NKF has been doing the event; for

almost 40 years the Tourist Development Council (TDC) has given NKF funds to promote; this

past year was the first year NKF actually moved forward with contracts and is not funded for

any of the out-of-county marketing; and NKF still went forward and did the marketing, and

brought in a ton of surfers and participants, and had a wonderful event. She mentioned NKF

would love to continue working with the County; it was definitely a huge bummer to spend that

money that could have been put towards its patient programs; and she asked that whatever

marketing dollars the TDC allocated could be retroactive like some of the other events that

happened at the November cutoff, so NKF could continue working with the hotels, bringing in

surfers and participants, and beachgoers for the three-day weekend. She added NKF not only

does the surfing, it does a big Silent Auction and Taste of Brevard with bands, auction items,

patient testimonials, and about 25 to 30 restaurants coming in for food sampling; it is a great

night; and a lot of people are brought in for it.

Chairman Feltner stated it is a great cause and he knew Mr. Salick, who was a wonderful

human being and a passionate advocate for the NKF cause; and he inquired if there is a date

for this year.

Ms. Lanza responded the event has moved from the Labor Day weekend to the Columbus Day

weekend that is actually a slower weekend normally; and NKF is really pushing to get more

people to the Space Coast, which is why those marketing dollars and support is crucial.

Chairman Feltner stated he is sure the hoteliers do not mind NKF helping to fill its room nights

in October; and he asked if that is located in the outback of Ron Jon’s.

Ms. Lanza replied it is technically at the Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier and NKF is working with

Westgate; it is an ideal location for everyone to attend; and she asked why listed under the not

eligible category is NKF Surf Contest, because NKF is always eligible.

Chairman Feltner responded the Board would probably get to that in a minute if she would wait

and Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, will clarify that for everyone.

Mr. Cranis advised that concludes the events not currently eligible for grants; and there is no

other speakers scheduled.

Chairman Feltner asked for clarification of Ms. Lanza’s question.

Mr. Cranis replied affirmatively; he explained NKF had fallen in the previous Fiscal Year and

then it moved its event to October; he guesses what happened was NKF ended up not actually

applying under the new program and an application was never received for them; and that is

why it was put under the category of not eligible, or did not apply.

Ms. Lanza remarked from the audience she was advised not to apply, because the event

happened right at the cusp of the Fiscal Year.

Chairman Feltner expresses his apology for any misunderstanding on dates and such; and he

would make sure for in the future that Ms. Lanza has that information early. He asked Mr.

Cranis how he wants to handle the next section; and if he was planning to speak on those.

Mr. Cranis replied he was not planning to, but he could in terms of the numbers he has for

those, if the Board would like.

Chairman Feltner asked what the pleasure of the Board is if anybody wants him to run through

the room nights. He advised Mr. Cranis to start in a few minutes.

Mr. Cranis stated the Museum of Dinosaurs was not able to attend; it generated 21,450

out-of-county attendees to its venue last year; the Columbia Classic Golf Invitational generated

453 room nights; Moon Golf Jr. All Star generated 285 room nights; ESA Surfing Contest

generated 453 room nights; Space Coast Spring Games Softball generated 578 room nights;

Moon Golf Invitational generated 285 room nights; and Bless the Babies Bowl Invitation

happened in December and were estimating 2,000 room nights, he has not checked that, but

he will; the way sports events work is if they do not hit the room nights number predicted, he

reduces the award amount by the percentage they are under; and C1N 7 v. 7 National

Championship projected 1,000 room nights.

Chairman Feltner advised since there is no public comments, the Board could move into Board

discussion and Board reports to power through, or take a break.

BOARD DISCUSSION

Commissioner Adkinson asked the Board to bear with her, she has quite a few things to say.

She expressed her thanks to Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, for sitting down with

her yesterday and going through all of this; she stated she wanted to make sure being a new

Commissioner that she had some understanding about what was being done today; she knows

that Mr. Cranis’ thoughts are giving him direction; her thoughts are if the event has already

happened and they applied in good faith, and how could the Board not give the money they

thought they were going to get. She stated she is not super excited about the criteria currently,

because she thinks it leaves out many of the little people; she hopes that does not offend

anyone, but there is a lot of programs out there that she really likes; her thoughts on some

direction for Mr. Cranis is if he could look at how to redistribute for next year, with some of the

money, using different criteria perhaps to include some of the smaller groups; and she asked

how much money is left this year.

Mr. Cranis responded there was $35,000 not allocated out of the original $840,000 pot; and in

the Cultural Fund, there is about $65,000 remaining that was unallocated, so approximately

$100,000 right now.

Commissioner Adkinson inquired if that could be used to distribute to some of the people who

did not get it this year.

Mr. Cranis replied the Board could certainly choose to allocate that however it would like.

Commissioner Adkinson advised those were her thoughts for now.

Commissioner Delaney stated she was thinking of the same thing and she really likes that idea;

she thinks the Board needs to make sure all of these groups are being supported; culture is so

important to all communities, but especially the Space Coast; when people come to the Space

Coast one of the first things that is asked is what kind of stuff is there to do; and she is totally in

favor of that.

Commissioner Goodson asked if $100,000 could be split five ways; he stated they would come

back at the next meeting and inform Mr. Cranis of his or her choices; and he asked

Commissioner Adkinson if that is what she is proposing.

Commissioner Adkinson replied no. She stated she would ask Mr. Cranis and his group to

decide what is the best way to distribute, maybe not all of that money but some of it to the

groups who did not get it; and she would defer to Mr. Cranis.

Commissioner Goodson stated in his district he would say Surfing Santa’s and Field Manor; he

is sure in Commissioner Adkinson’s district there is some; but it would only be two choices

because at $15,000 apiece, 30 times five is only $150.

Commissioner Adkinson stated if one was to look at the number from the presentation where it

talked about the ones not approved; and if it is added up, by what had been asked for, it does

not even come close, and they could give them at least what they asked for.

Commissioner Goodson mentioned some of the smaller ones did say that they might not want

the advertising and might want to do his or her own advertising.

Mr. Cranis stated he did hear a couple of groups saying that they would prefer to receive

funding directly; and he would need some direction from the Board on how to do that.

Commissioner Goodson asked if that is the way it was originally.

Mr. Cranis replied last year, yes.

Commissioner Goodson inquired if it bothered his office if the smaller ones that said they would

do his or her own advertising.

Mr. Cranis responded no; and he stated it is whatever the Board’s pleasure is his office is fine

with it.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she did hear some of the smaller ones wanted to do his or her

own advertising.

Commissioner Goodson reiterated he heard some of the small say they could do his or her own

advertising; and he asked if Mr. Cranis did.

Mr. Cranis replied some of them did, yes.

Commissioner Goodson stated a good example is Surfing Santa’s did; but he is just making

comments to the Board.

Commissioner Delaney stated she thinks some of them were asking to use it not just for

marketing, but also for cost.

Chairman Feltner stated he heard that, too.

Commissioner Delaney stated since there is a limited amount of money, she is sure the groups

would be happy with something, rather than nothing; and that is something the Board could talk

through as a Board, and with staff to figure out the best way forward.

Chairman Feltner stated he has a few thoughts on this; he heard today that some people would

just rather have the money; the prior Board had a different view on that and one he shares

quite candidly; there should be economies of scale in marketing, which provides for specialty

and a lot of booking with radio; he listens to the radio in the car and he knows the ads that he is

hearing; he hears it a lot; he thinks it is working because he is certainly getting the message;

and he thinks there is a lot of benefit in that with having marketing professionals doing it. He

stated Mr. Cranis and he talked many times before about how, as a Tourist Development

Council (TDC) is certainly open to the kind of specialty; for example, there may be marketing

that needs to be done for say a 5K, that is different than just being on the radio, and certainly

would take advice from those groups for what has worked for them in the past; but it will done

and ads placed. He added there is always going to be some groups that are just going to fall

through; it is just not possible for money to go for everyone who applies; he thinks he agrees

with Commissioner Goodson’s idea; say there is $100,000 that is left and he does not see what

is wrong with each Commissioner identifying up to $20,000, and it does not have to be in a

Commissioner’s district; they could come back to the Board to say here are the things he or

she identified to fund with that $100,000 if not comfortable with that somebody else maybe

could appropriate those dollars for him or her; and decide as a Board, potentially at the next

meeting that, that is how that $100,000 would be spent. He stated Commissioner Goodson

mentioned a couple of groups; he happens to likes the Melbourne Art Festival; he is no artist,

but it is a nice community event; and it may be hard for them to justify room nights because

that might just be a really hard test, but is definitely a nice event.

Commissioner Goodson stated he thinks the Board should consider all of these groups; in the

future, might wish to start raising money because if he or she knows anything about its

County… He stated unless he or she wants to fund everything, he is all for it; the Board is

going to have to do a few things, it is going to have to raise the Municipal Service Taxing Unit

(MSTU) funding, bust the cap, and pay the firefighters; with all of that being said, somewhere

along the line they would not be able to come down here every year and ask for money,

because they are going to have to help raise money; and maybe the Board needs to look at

that in this whole discussion. He added if Mr. Cranis is going to qualify them, maybe something

tied to fundraising should be added; he heard multiple cities today wanting the Board to fund an

activity; he did not hear any of them say the city was helping to pay for it; but those are just his

thoughts.

Chairman Feltner advised for the Board to keep in mind that tourism has been good on the

Space Coast; he worked in the tourism industry for a long time and there has been abrupt

changes, in the amount of Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collected as travel changes; last

year was good for the TDT, but that does not necessarily mean that next year would be; and he

likes that there is some flexibility. He proposed with the $100,000 that is left, each

Commissioner could decide an event of his or her choice, up to $20,000 that does not have to

be in his or her district, and bring that back to the Board on January 28 for the Board to vote on

as one package; and it helps to support these different events. He advised as the Chair of the

TDC, there is time as a TDC to address this issue of how to help some of these smaller events

with different criteria; something the prior Board did not do, which quite frankly, that is why this

Workshop was scheduled for the new Commission; he would make that commitment that the

TDC would take the issue up; but he thinks the right way forward is what he suggested with the

$100,000.

Commissioner Delaney stated just to be clear; this is for all of the events from B.2. to B.45., to

be brought forward, or is it just the ones not currently eligible.

Chairman Feltner replied what he would put forward are the ones that did not qualify.

Commissioner Goodson asked what the funding is right now; he knows Mr. Cranis’ budget

number was $27 million; and if that is online and through what month.

Mr. Cranis responded that number is the October to September Fiscal Year.

Commissioner Goodson asked how it looks from September to now and the coming year.

Mr. Cranis replied it is doing well. He stated it has been up October and November by almost

10 percent; the year started good, but bigger months are ahead of them; spring and summer

are really the big season; it still remains to be seen whether they hit the $27 million or not; and

the year is starting off so far, so good.

Commissioner Goodson stated if it is up 10 percent at $27 million last year that would be $30

million.

Mr. Cranis advised they were at $25.25 million last year and 10 percent would get them close to

the $27 million.

Commissioner Goodson remarked if he worked harder maybe $30 million.

Chairman Feltner apologized for that remark.

Mr. Cranis indicated he would put in some extra hours.

Commissioner Altman stated he remembers and he was here when the Board passed the TDT;

he thinks the Board tried once or twice to pass it through referendum and it failed; the third time

the community interest groups, the hotel industry, the environmental community, and the

cultural arts community were brought together and worked hard on developing a consensus; all

of those groups campaigned for it and passed it, so the Board was part of making it happen;

and when it was passed the Board committed to spending 25 percent of the revenue to help

promote tourism, amongst other things. He went on to say what is being talked about here is

using 10 percent to promote tourist oriented culture on special events; and he inquired if this

money being spent to market the cultural events is coming out of the 10 percent for supporting

tourists, or is it coming out of the 25 percent to promote tourism.

Mr. Cranis responded last year the funds for the cultural grants came out of the Cultural Fund,

so that 10 percent this year was sort of a mix of $600,000 from the Cultural Fund and $240,000

from the Marketing Fund combined.

Commissioner Altman felt if they are using cultural money to promote these tourism events,

that it is diminishing the money that should be going to pure cultural event programs; he uses a

good example and a victim of that; it was a great presentation on Surfing Santa’s and it has

become a legacy event for Brevard, it means a lot; the County gets an unbelievable amount of

publicity; it is such a popular program that is so well known; promotion does not help them,

what they need is money to put the event on; and a program like this could punish a lot of the

events that are doing good things. He indicated he has many more questions, but his thought

is if the County is only spending that money to provide advertising or promotion that should

come out of the promotional budget, not the cultural arts budget; he stated the cultural art

money is money that should go to the cultural groups directly so they could provide a very

high-quality cultural and arts experience in Brevard County; and thereby, making it more

desirable to visit.

Chairman Feltner advised he sees Commissioner Altman’s point and he does not disagree with

him; he asked about what he suggested for each Commissioner to identify $20,000 for the next

Board meeting and if the Board agreed on that, then it would just go to those groups; they

would take care of his or her own marketing and pay for security or whatever is needed; and he

asked if Commissioner Altman is amendable to that.

Commissioner Altman replied he would certainly entertain that. He stated it is a very creative

idea and he would mull it over and think about it; his point, he just wants to follow the intent of

the referendum in the Ordinance; it is very interesting; and he would give it some thought.

Commissioner Delaney asked about the people who are eligible for the grants, because a lot of

them were saying they would rather use that money in that way.

Chairman Feltner clarified are not eligible or are eligible.

Commissioner Delaney indicated are eligible.

Chairman Feltner advised he thought that is something that the TDC ought to take up which is

what he was talking about before, the TDC could work on that issue, and see if it is being done

in the right way, or if changes are necessary; but for this $100,000, at the next meeting for

some of these groups coming up, the Board could identify $20,000 and to Commissioner

Altman’s point, that those groups just receive the money because maybe it is not marketing

that is needed, but is needed to pay rental or whatever the case may be.

Commissioner Goodson inquired if it went back to the way it was would that solve these

problems talked about on the little people.

Mr. Cranis responded yes, because last year’s program was a reimbursement and mandated to

use half of it for marketing, and the other half could go towards these other expenses needing

to be covered; and it would cover both, basically.

Commissioner Goodson stated he means he just does not know.

Chairman Feltner reiterated he thinks the TDC could take that up in the coming months; he

makes that commitment to the Board that the TDC would do that as a board; but in the interim,

some of these things are coming up and the $100,000 is still sitting there, and the Board could

appropriate it for some of those.

Commissioner Adkinson stated one of the first things that she said is the people who applied in

good faith, should receive what he or she thought him or her were going to get, but there has

not been any talk about that; she just kind of threw it out there and the Board has not said

much about it; and she is just wondering how everybody feels about that.

Commissioner Delaney stated she guesses she would want to know more specifics with that

before making a decision; she is not against it by any means; and she would like to have more

information about that.

Chairman Feltner advised sometimes a person has to own things; the prior Board did not award

that money; for whatever host of reasons, he does not remember all of it now, and that may be

behind the Board; he is looking at what is ahead of the Board in the coming year; and he thinks

that is something that the TDC could work on and discuss this spring. He asked about

Commissioner Adkinson’s point, about the amount of money.

Mr. Cranis replied that was the $805,000 that the TDC approved, but was never formally

approved by the Board.

Jim Liesenfelt, Assistant County Manager, stated if he recalls correctly, the previous Board said

if the Board awarded the $800,000, to hold the previous ones as harmless that they would

receive his or her award.

Chairman Feltner asked how much is available to do that.

Frank Abbate, County Manager, replied he thinks Mr. Liesenfelt is right. He stated he thinks

the Board said to hold that money, so it is part of the pot that is already there; he thinks staff is

hearing very clearly everything the Board is saying; the Board cannot vote on it today anyway;

and staff would bring back the Agenda that addresses it from those different perspectives with

options at that time; the Board could give permission for staff to add on part of that Agenda, the

information that staff receives from the Board, in terms of an allocation of $20,000, and provide

the Board with an option to do it the way it is today, or that it is bifurcated, that it could be used

for marketing or any other purpose like previously; staff would include all of that; maybe the

best way might be is to give staff time to prepare that Agenda, give the specific numbers

needed; and if wanting to give up to $20,000, like Chairman Feltner said for each

Commissioner, staff would include that information in the Agenda Item, for the Board to have it

as a package.

Chairman Feltner asked when the Board would need to give Mr. Cranis that to make it on the

Agenda.

Mr. Abbate responded if staff were able to get it by the normal Tuesday when staff is putting

out the Agenda would work well; and staff would be able to include it and then it goes out on

Thursday before the Board meeting.

Chairman Feltner inquired if the week before on the 21st.

Mr. Abbate replied affirmatively. He asked if that works.

Chairman Feltner reiterated on the 21st send to Mr. Cranis, up to $20,000 in care of the other

groups each Commissioner wants to be included. He stated he thinks that sounds good; and

he asked if it needed a motion to give direction to staff.

Mr. Abbate responded a motion is not needed to give direction to staff at a Workshop, if

consensus among the Board is reached; it would be up to staff to try to bring back something

that meets what the Board is looking for; the Board gets to discuss it and vote on it; and

hopefully, staff would get it right.

Commissioner Goodson asked once prepared the Board is then deciding to go back to the old

way, or next year have the same discussion again like today.

Chairman Feltner replied he thinks the Board should let the TDC take that issue up; and

making the reimbursement is what…

Commissioner Goodson remarked he is not talking about that; he asked if the Board is going to

separate the sports from the cultural like the Board used to; and if not, the Board is going to

have the same discussion next year.

Chairman Feltner stated he is not disagreeing; and that is why he is thinking that in an early

TDC meeting, it has not had a meeting yet.

Commissioner Goodson asked if that is going to be an option or a discussion.

Mr. Abbate responded if he is getting it wrong, staff is going to do that for what is being talked

about now; he thinks Chairman Feltner is talking about the future year’s guidelines let the TDC

bring something back to the Board before distributing for next year, but would include that now

for this year.

Chairman Feltner responded affirmatively; and he stated he wants the TDC to have the

opportunity to take that up.

The Board in special session reached consensus to direct staff to prepare and bring back an

Agenda Item with options addressing the different perspectives of the Tourism Marketing

Support Program funding to the January 28, 2025, meeting. The Board was inclined to

approve the Marketing Support Program awards as recommended by the Tourist Development

Council and willing to offer reimbursements in the award amounts to the events that have

already occurred. Options will be presented at the January 28, 2025, meeting. Each

Commissioner will provide Peter Cranis, Tourism Development Director, by Tuesday, January

21 their allocation of up to $20,000 for the other groups wanting to be included in the grants

without going through the full application process and not needing to be in their District.

E.3. Katie Delaney, Commissioner District 1, Re: Board Report

Commissioner Delaney stated she is hoping to get Board support on an executive session, in

regards to the firefighters because they just had mediation yesterday; and she would love to

talk with the Board about that.

Chairman Feltner stated he feels like the Board is thinking that; and he asked the County

Manager to speak on that.

Frank Abbate, County Manager, replied obviously staff is going to wait for the Board to tell him

what it wants; if he did not hear that, he was going to bring it up; and all he needs to know is

the first available date that the Board would like to have it.

Chairman Feltner asked if it could be on the 28th after the Commission meeting.

Mr. Abbate responded staff would be ready to do that right after the regular Board meeting.

Commissioner Delaney stated that would be great.

Mr. Abbate asked if staff would give the Board direction. He mentioned he had already spoken

with the County Attorney, who said for the Board to give staff that direction now; it would be

advertised that it is happening, and it would be done the same way as the last one; and it would

be an executive session under Chapter 447, which is held right after the regular Agenda of the

Board meeting.

Chairman Feltner inquired if the Board needed to vote on that.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, replied no, just give staff direction.

Chairman Feltner stated the Board heard from Commissioner Delaney who wants to do that; he