Negotiations regarding billboard continue between two groups

by Mark Dykes

Tuesday afternoon at the Hot Springs Travel and Tourism board meeting, the board expressed interest in keeping the Hessenthaler billboard south of town, and gave Director Amanda Moeller authority to negotiate a contract with the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce.

The issue of the billboard has been under discussion between the two groups for the past few months. According to information presented by Phillip Scheel, the chamber is leasing the ground for the billboard from Kent Hessenthaler, and the chamber is in possession of the board.

The lease with Hessenthaler is up this year, and during Thursday’s chamber board meeting a few ideas of what could be done were discussed.

Scheel explained the chamber would like to continue working with Travel and Tourism with regard to the board. Under the current agreement, the chamber leases out the board to Travel and Tourism for the same amount paid for the land — $1,250 for five years, though that would increase to $1,275 to reflect the increase in price for the land. The chamber also pays lease fees to the state, to have the billboard.

Should the agreement between the chamber and Travel and Tourism continue, the chamber is requesting a payment of $1,275 per year. Though the increase is significant, Moeller pointed out Travel and Tourism pays about $10,000 per year for digital billboards, while traditional billboards cost about $440 per month. Moeller further pointed out the board could be used to advertise special events, using a wrap around the billboard.

In other action, following an executive session, the board approved a preliminary draft of the fiscal year 2018 budget. A full copy of the budget will be available at a later date. The board also approved their bylaws.

Moeller also noted there are currently two board vacancies. One is for the Town of Thermopolis, which is a tourism position and as such must be held by someone representative of the travel and tourism industry. The second is for East Thermopolis, and is an “at large” position.

Moeller also reported there would be a hospitality workshop conducted by Ginny Garner from Casper College, on May 31. She encouraged all board members to pay for their employees to attend either of the three-hour sessions, 9 a.m.to 12 p.m., or 1 to 3 p.m. She further explained this would be some intensive hospitality training, and cover topics such as why tourists are important and how one person’s treatment of tourists can impact their impression of the whole town.