By DOTTY NIST
Seagrove resident Fred Buehler got the April 7 Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC) meeting started with a bang with a complaint about the “lack of an agenda item” about traffic.
“The 800-pound gorilla is the traffic down on 30A that nobody seems to be addressing;” he told the council members, “it’s just getting worse and worse.”
Buehler spoke of many comments he had been hearing from people about how long it had taken them to get from one place to another. He urged for the TDC, as the entity responsible for visitor experience, to “lead the fight” to alleviate the traffic situation. “Tourism is going to be suffering,” if there is no improvement, he warned.
Buehler was thanked for his comment, but the matter he had referenced was not addressed immediately.
Later, during a report by TDC member Jim Richard of the TDC Marketing and Media Committee, TDC member Gary Brielmayer recommended increasing rates for short-term rentals as a means of slowing down traffic. Brielmayer spoke of the importance of maintaining “rate integrity” in south Walton County. He added that with higher rates, there are actually fewer complaints from guests.
“You hit it on the head,” agreed Suzanne Harris of Edgewater Beach Condominium on Scenic Gulf Drive. She commented that with higher rates her condominium has not seen renters trying to crowd too many people in units. Harris also urged for more parking and solutions to traffic if the area is going to continue to develop.
Discussion at the meeting also turned to the use of shuttles/trams/trolleys as a transportation strategy. Transit has been seen as one of a few feasible measures for alleviating congestion on CR-30A.
Harris told the council members that Scenic Gulf Drive is just as crowded as CR-30A and that people living there would love to have a trolley. Referring to Sandestin Resort’s transit, she commented that Sandestin “does it right” by paying for its own transit.
TDC member/District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows said she had been looking at different options for a tram or trolley system. There was discussion that the Turtle Express trolley that businesses had funded in 2014, running along part of CR-30A, had not attracted many riders.
Leigh Moore, a member of the TDC Destination Improvement Committee, commented that the topic of transportation keeps coming up in committee meetings. “We don’t have a parking problem, we have a transportation problem,” she told the council members.
Rather than “taking nibbles” at the problem, “we need to be devouring it,” Moore urged. She recommended hiring a transportation planning firm for recommendations. The key, she said, is to “take a holistic view of the thing.”
On the subject of transit, Moore said she had heard that not many people had ridden the Turtle Express. She did not see this as a reason not to pursue transit, saying that it takes many years for transit to “take hold.”
Moore added that transit “is a money-losing proposition,” but that public money is available to local governments who provide transit. She saw the providing of transit from county line to county line as” crucial.”
Meadows responded that a team with the West Florida Regional Planning Council has been researching the possibility of transit in Walton County. She told Moore that she would be invited to the next meeting with the team.
A proposal for elaborate “wrap” graphics to be painted onto the TDC’s 20-vehicle fleet at a total cost of between $75,000 and $85,000 generated a good deal of discussion. This was proposed as a marketing opportunity “for brand value, safety and awareness.” Among the graphics and messages to be displayed were those related to promoting the TDC’s beach safety program.
Meadows’ reaction was that this was a lot to spend on “dressing up trucks.” “To me, it’s like overkill,” she said. She said she would rather see a simple brand on the trucks.
“This is not a priority to me,” agreed TDC member Art Miller.
Jon Ervin, TDC director of marketing and communications, commented that this was one of the more affordable options for marketing within the local area. “It has a life that’s longer than anything else,” he said.
TDC member Jim Richard agreed on the value of marketing locally but agreed that this was a lot of money “to wrap these vehicles.”
“They are a moving billboard,” agreed TDC Chairman Tim Norris. He suggested “trimming down” the graphics going on the vehicles. He was of the opinion that the logo and beach safety messages were a good idea.
“I think wrapping a car is tacky,” Suzanne Harris reacted. She agreed on putting the logo on the side of the vehicles and the web site on the back. “Let’s make it elegant,” she said.
Ervin said he thought there was general agreement on the “necessities” for what should go on the vehicles. He agreed to work on the proposal and bring it back before the council.
In other business, the council members voted for approval of a $15,000 marketing grant to go to the Black Tie Classic Rally, a week-long auto rally billed as the country’s greatest Ferrari driving event and which is to be held Sept. 22-27 at Sandestin Resort.
TDC action items are subject to final consideration by the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in public session.
Additional information on the TDC meeting is available on the Walton County web site, www.co.walton.fl.us, by selecting “Government,” “Agendas and Minutes,” “Agendas, Minutes and Live and Archived Meeting Video…,” and then items corresponding with the meeting date, April 7.
