BLYTHEWOOD – The focus of Town Council’s third and final budget workshop on Thursday, May 23, centered on expenditures from the accommodations and hospitality tax funds.
In recent months, Mayor J. Michael Ross has warned event organizers that he expects those who are awarded funds from the Town to spend those awards on advertising that will actually bring out crowds of people.
“I feel like a broken record,” he said at Thursday night’s meeting. “We want these events to be successful.”
He was addressing the organizers of the Bravo Blythewood Spring Market which organizer Sue Pence said brought in about 400 visitors over three days. The town awarded Bravo $4,000 for the event.
Of that $4,000, Pence said, the group spent $1,250 on digital billboards in Columbia and $400 in The County Chronicle and none in The Voice.
“Spending $1,200 of your advertising dollars on billboards in Columbia was a chance. If I see that on the next request for funding, I’m not going to approve it. I’m going to turn you down. If you had $1,250 to spend on billboards, you had money to advertise in the local papers,” Ross said.
“We sit here and talk about we want to support our local businesses, want to shop local and that’s what we promote here in our town,” Councilman Eddie Baughman said. “To shop local, we need to advertise local. We see time and time again where the money is spent elsewhere. I think our event organizers should spend their money locally also.”
Ross suggested advertising to the local community and then using Facebook to share outside the community.
Ross said on Thursday evening that an arts immersion class that Bravo Blythewood is requesting funds for in the fall does not qualify for accommodation tax funds. However, on Monday, May 28, Council voted unanimously to fund the class for $1,500 of the $2,500 Bravo requested.
Bravo organizers also sought $4,000 for their annual Holiday Market, but said it will no longer be held in the town of Blythewood but at the Columbia Country Club.
“We’ve already contracted with Columbia Country Club and had to put down a $500 deposit,” a representative of Bravo said from the audience.
Criticizing the town’s signage restrictions, the representative said the location outside of town would make advertising the location much easier.
But Ross balked at funding an event outside the town limits, saying it would not bring business into the town, which is the intended use of the accommodation and hospitality tax revenues.
“You take a tremendous risk doing that when you don’t already have the funds approved [from the Town],” Ross said. “It’s a hard sell when you take [the event] out of the town of Blythewood.”
Keith Loner of Blythewood and his daughter, Ashley York, take time out from shopping a previous Big Grab in downtown Blythewood to rest on a sale couch set along Highway 21. | Barbara Ball
BLYTHEWOOD – When two separate applicants appeared before the Town government’s Accommodation Tax (A-Tax) committee last week to vie for $10,000 the town council has allocated for someone to manage this year’s Big Grab yard sale, the tense, hour-long meeting erupted into a shouting match between the two applicants and their supporters until frustrated committee member Ken Shettles called a halt to the ruckus with a motion to recommend that council reduce its allocation for the event to $5,000 and also make the decision as to which group will be awarded the money.
History of the Big Grab, presented at A-Tax meeting
The two applicants, Mike Switzer, Executive Director of the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce and Theresa McKendrick, owner of Postmarked 29016, a gift shop on McNulty Road, each made a case as to why he/she should be awarded the $10,000.
One committee member described the tug of war as a battle for the money.
“Oh, no,” Switzer said. “It’s not a battle at all. We’re totally fine if this group of volunteers would like to take it over.”
“So you’re withdrawing? Is that what you’re saying?” Shettles asked.
“No, that’s up to the committee,” Switzer said, but reminded the committee that this would be the chamber’s third year to oversee the Big Grab if awarded the money.
According to the chamber’s records, it made a profit from last year’s Big Grab, but how much is not clear. The Chamber did not turned over to the A-Tax committee a detailed listing of vendor fees and sponsorship sales for last year’s Big Grab, just a total number for each. One report showed a total Big Grab profit of $1,432.77, while other numbers indicated a possible profit of as much as $6,144.88.
The A-tax applications submitted by Switzer and McKendrick were similar.
Switzer’s application called for Big Grab to continue as a megasite in Doko Park as it did last year under the chamber’s direction. He listed project costs for the September, 2018 event at $10,000 but the revenue and expenses sections of the application each add up to $14,500, not $10,000.
Total revenue sources include $10,000 (A-tax funds), $3000 (sponsorships) and $1,500 (food and vendor sales). A proposed total of $14,500 in expenditures includes $2,240 (park rental for 28 hours), $2,560 (Sheriff’s Deputies), $800 (portable restrooms and trash bins) $500 (misc. supplies), $400 (ROTC), $5,000 (payments to chamber and visitor center staff) and $3,000 (advertising/marketing).
While McKendrick likened the Chamber’s Big Grab in the park to a flea market atmosphere, she, too, proposed locating vendors in the park but also in the town center.
McKendrick’s revenue sources mirrored Switzer’s at $14,500, but her proposed expenditures of $15,000 included up to $3,000 (park rental), up to $4,000 (municipal and county resources), up to $4,000 (administrative/event planner) and $4000 (marketing/promotions).
McKendrick justified payments of up to $4,000 for her staff as covering an event planner and “other support staff. If we have to hire day-of-event staff, then we would have that money available. We hope to hire a social media person and may have to pay to play if we hire social media influencers. We would pay them to post,” she explained.
While McKendrick said she was speaking on behalf of the owners of the town’s consignment stores, Bits and Pieces and Blythewood Consignment, neither of the stores’ owners were happy with Switzer’s or McKendrick’s proposals.
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Liz Humphries, owner of Blythewood Consignment said. “This is about a big yard sale, a glorified selling of junk. I don’t think we need to spend all this money. I think we all need to get together and volunteer for our community.”
Joe Benini, co-owner of Bits and Pieces agreed.
“The first Big Grab was awesome and easy,” Benini said. “Then the chamber took over and the next thing I know, it’s now a $15,000 budget, for what? My wife and I had to pay $50 just to be a sponsor. I paid for all my stuff, posters, etc. and posted the map that was in The Voice on our door,” he said.
“Let the local people make the money,” Humphries said. “The Big Grab started as a way to get people in to our brick and mortar [stores]. The park has nothing to do with my store except that it’s a huge competition. My sales dropped in half last year because everyone was at the park. I’m just here to protect my business,” Humphries said. “I’m all about people selling their junk. But I don’t think people should get paid to do this. If you love Blythewood, you need to volunteer and not expect to get paid.”
Susan DeMarco, who owns Sweet Pea’s Ice Cream Parlor, is a member of the Chamber and sits on the A-tax committee, agreed.
“We can tag each other on Facebook and say, ‘We’re all merchants in Blythewood and we’re all excited about the Big Grab.’ It’s going to happen no matter what we decide today. It’s on. It’s on. What you put in to it is what you get out of it,” DeMarco said. “If we spend a bunch of money, we aren’t changing the Big Grab. All we’re doing is having a power struggle between two parties.”
“We thought we were doing a good job,” Switzer said, defending the chamber’s management of the Big Grab. “We reached out to all the merchants. We thought we were working out solutions to try to help them because we’re all about businesses succeeding and thriving in this community. As for as being paid to run the event, we cover that cost with sponsorships and vendor fees.”
“But you’re still holding it in the park,” said Gail Banks, a vendor at Blythewood Consignment. ”You’re not getting it.”
“And last year the park looked like a disaster relief area,” committee member Kris White said.
“No matter what we do today, we aren’t going to come to a conclusion,” Shettles said. “Our committee only makes recommendations to council, and these arguments need to be in front of council. We could go on here for hours.”
With Shettle’s motion on the table, DeMarco offered a second motion recommending that no organizer would get any money for the event, but that the town would foot the bills for hard expenses like sheriff’s deputies, trash receptacles, portable restrooms, etc.
“People have to stop asking the merchants for sponsorships,” DeMarco said. “I don’t want to give A-tax money to someone to run the event and who then comes to ask me for more money to sponsor it.”
The committee voted 3-0, with DeMarco abstaining, to pass Shettle’s motion.
The Big Grab 50-mile community yard sale is set for Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, and will include Blythewood, Ridgeway and Winnsboro.
Applicants offered $5K; Mayor: Take it or leave it
BLYTHEWOOD – After the Accommodation Tax (A-Tax) committee passed last week on choosing one of two applicants (the Greater Blythewood Chamber and shop owner Theresa McKendrick) to receive $10,000 in A-Tax funds to run the Blythewood portion of this year’s Big Grab event, council was left to make the choice with the only recommendation from the A-Tax committee being that it limit funding for the event to $5,000.
Rich McKendrick, who addressed council Monday night on behalf of his wife, Theresa, criticized merchants who, he said, supported her to apply for the A-tax funds to spearhead the Big Grab, but on the day of the A-tax committee meeting did not support her application. Those business connections, however, said that when they found out McKendrick’s application included $4,000 in staff pay, the assignment of vendors to the park and the sale of sponsorships – expenses they said they opposed from the get go – they could not support it.
Those merchants said they were looking for an alternative to the chamber’s Big Grab megasite of vendors in the park last year that took much of their Big Grab business out of the town where it was originally designed to go. They also expressed their opposition to having to pay for sponsorships and for the A-tax money going to pay for thousands of dollars for staff pay.
Kitty Kelly, office manager for the chamber, told council that the chamber did not receive any of its staff pay from A-Tax funds.
“I don’t know where that’s coming from,” Kelly said.
“Kitty, on the application you filled out for A-Tax funds, you designated ‘Blythewood chamber/visitor center staff, $5,000.’ That’s what your organization asked the A-Tax committee for to pay the chamber’s staff…$5,000 to administer the Big Grab,” Ross said, holding up the chamber’s application.
“It’s $5,000 just to rent the park and pay Richland County (sheriff’s deputies),” Kelly said.
As Switzer approached the podium, Ross told Kelly, “I think you need to let Mr. Switzer explain this.”
“Yes, there are staff costs involved. Sponsorship and vendor fees have covered our staff costs,” Switzer said.
However, the chamber’s application for A-Tax funds for this year and past years clearly listed staff salaries as coming out of A-Tax funds. Further, while the chamber’s application listed its Big Grab budget at $10,000, the budget was actually $14,500. McKendrick’s budget was $15,000.
Ross said council wanted to cover all the essential expenses for putting on the Big Grab – sheriff’s deputies, port-a-johns, marketing, etc. – with the caveat that council would receive receipts for those expenses. He said he felt the $5,000 would cover those expenses.
“We’re not fools,” Ross said. “If we don’t give a dime to this, the Big Grab will happen and the vendors will set up in town and the businesses will do well.” He also suggested that the town could take over running the event but said he didn’t want to take an opportunity away from organizations that want to do it the right way.
“We don’t want to bring people into our park to take them away from the businesses,” Ross said.
Councilman Brian Franklin, however, ignoring merchant’s claims that the park vendors drastically reduce their business on Big Grab weekend, suggested still having as many as 50 vendors in the park.
Mayor J. Michael Ross first offered the $5,000 for management of the event to McKendrick who declined, saying she would not run it without staff pay ($4,000) and allocations for other things such as rental for the park.
Ross then offered the $5,000 to the chamber. Switzer said he was not turning the offer down but said the application was for $10,000 and that’s what he needed.
The mayor countered that the option was take it or leave it. Switzer left the room and did not return.
Council voted 4-1 to fund the chamber with the $5,000 if the chamber wanted to accept that amount and limit park vendors to 50. Councilman Eddie Baughman voted against. Otherwise, Ross said, the town would take over the Big Grab.
The chamber was to notify town hall of its decision by 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 25. That decision had not been made before The Voice went to press on Wednesday.
BLYTHEWOOD – Council approved the Accommodations Tax (A-Tax) Committee’s recommendations for a total of $48,000 for four events to be held in the Town in March and April. Bravo Blythewood requested three of the awards.
Of the $48,000 awards, $20,000 went to The University of South Carolina for two-day rental of two video boards ($10,000 each) for the Southeast Conference Equestrian Championships to be held at One-Wood Farm in Blythewood on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31.
Martha Jones, president of Bravo Blythewood, requested the funds for the University. She said the two giant video boards would be situated in the two main arenas to show what is happening in the other arena(s). The participating teams, she said, will include USC, Texas A&M University, University of Georgia and Auburn University with more than 120 athletes and their families representing over 35 states, Canada and the Bahamas.
Jones said 3,000 people are expected to attend over the two-day period.
Theatre Blythewood
Council also awarded $4,000 toward theater production costs of $18,000 to establish Theatre Blythewood, a small professional theater that Jones said will “allow for using community people at all theatrical levels as well as professional performers.” Theatre Blythewood will operate under the Bravo Blythewood umbrella.
Jones said the remaining $14,000 of revenue to cover the $18,000 production costs will be provided through ticket sales ($4,900) and sponsorships ($9,100).
The launching of Theatre Blythewood will begin April 12 – 22 with the production of seven performances of ‘Collected Stories,’ written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies and performed at Westwood High School.
A second production of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,’ is set for April 28 and will be produced in conjunction with Freeway Music. Jones said that production may possibly be held in the Palmetto Citizens Amphitheatre.
Jones said the production budget for ‘Collected Stories’ is $14,641 and the production budget for ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ is $3,360 for a total cost of $17,801.
Jones said, she did not know at this point how much of the production expenses for ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ would be contributed by Freeway Music.
“We expect there will be other production costs besides the $3,360, so we would be talking to Freeway Music about those expenses,” Jones told The Voice.
Spring Market
Council also approved $4,000 for the Blythewood Artist Guild’s Spring Market to be held Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 next door to the IGA. Jones said she expects 500 to 1,000 attendees during the two-day event. Jones said $3,000 of the award will go to advertising and the remainder for electricity, cleaning supplies, paper goods, pipe and drape and business license.
Diamond Invitational Tournament
Council also unanimously approved $20,000 to fund the lion’s share of $30,500 that was listed as the ‘total project cost’ for the annual South Carolina Diamond Invitational baseball tournament to be held this spring at Blythewood High School. A breakout of the SCDI’s budget as submitted to the A-Tax committee lists revenues (ticket sales, A-Tax funding, sponsorships and other) at $40,000 and expenditures at $36,000. Steve Hasterock, speaking on behalf of the SCDI’s primary contact person, Rick Lucas, who was not present, said approximately 4,500 people are expected to attend the tournament and that 90 percent of them will be tourists.
