EDC TO TAKE OVER VISITORS BUREAU

An existing organization will take over management of the Daviess County Visitors Bureau. The Daviess County Commissioners agreed to a management agreement putting the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation in charge of the Visitors Bureau operations.

The agreement was the result of almost one year of negotiating and planning.

“I think we have come up with the right answer here. The Visitors Commission did a great job. They put out the contract for proposal. We are going to be paying less, compared to the other options and there will be more oversight,” said President of the Daviess County Commissioners Nathan Gabhart. “The commissioners are thrilled with the contract and working with a local organization on spending the innkeepers tax.”

The commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of the agreement with Commissioner Ron Arnold voting against the agreement.

“It goes against how the organizations were set up,” he said. “There are a dozen different reasons I think we should not have approved it. The early organizers went out and studied and they found the communities that were successful had a separate organization to work with industrial manufacturing and another organization that takes care of retail and service. Tourism falls under the retail and service side.”

Gabhart says he doesn’t agree with Arnold’s assessment of the history of the Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitor’s Bureau.

“I don’t necessarily believe that is the case. I have seen no documentation that explains the formation of the EDC,” said Gabbart. “Things change. This is a great direction to run in. There are so many good things happening in Daviess County, so EDC must be doing something right.”

“There was nothing in the agreement about the Commons or the proposed convention center. It is not a good fit,” said Arnold. “The chamber is going to suffer. Without the visitor’s bureau they will probably have to move out of the Depot, which is a tourist attraction. What is going to be the center for visitors. This is just a matter where we have two boards that couldn’t get along. We should have locked them in a room and made them work it out.”

One of the most popular places for tourists to visit in Daviess County is Amish country. The commissioners are considering making a big change on the price of license plates for buggies in the Amish community. Currently, the discussion is to raise that fee next year from $125 to $195.

“We are still compiling the numbers. Right now, a vehicle owner pays approximately $350 per year when you add in the gas tax and all the fees,” said Gabhart. “We now have some hard data. Based on the 3,000 permits we sell each year the permits will have to increase.”

Gabhart says that if the cost of horse damage to the roads was completely tied to the license plates the cost would be even higher.

“Horse shoes cause much more road damage than automobiles. I think if we eventually get into the $300 range that would give us to maintain all of those roads. We either need to stop upgrading the roads or come up with some additional revenue to maintain them. At some point it will be in the $300 range,” he said. “I have yet to receive one negative call about the road improvements. The Amish are reasonable people, as long as the cost justifies the fees.”

The commissioners received several reports on plans for the county highway department. One involved the annual bridge inspection report which said the county had no poorly rated bridges, but it does have 34 bridges with weight limits that need to eventually be replaced.

County highway supervisor Chris Winkler received permission to seek a federal grant for a $2.8 million upgrade to a bridge on CR 975 N., just east of Raglesville. The local match for the project will be around $500,000.

Winkler told the commissioners he hopes to develop a schedule to replace all of the lowest rated bridges.

“Fixing and repairing bridges is costly, so we need to start looking at them ahead of time and plan accordingly,” said Gabhart. “It goes back to the adage that if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. We have 126 bridges in Daviess County and that is a lot of infrastructure to maintain. It is good to know what we will be facing in the next five years. We have to make sure they are safe.”

Winkler told the commissioners that the county received a $1.5 million Community Crossings grant. The bulk of that money will go to putting new surface on the recently acquired Old U.S. 50 from CR 300 W. to the Washington city limits.

The commissioners also approved a plan to have the county highway provide some assistance to the rebuilding of a parking lot at West Boggs Park.

The commissioners also approved a request from the coroner’s office to seek a $10,000 state grant to establish a counseling service for families that have lost a relative to suicide.

An interlocal agreement with the city of Washington and the county was approved. That agreement has the city paying $6,000 per year to support the Daviess County Emergency Management Agency. In return the city gets EMA services.

The construction management company on the Daviess County Courthouse renovation project reported that the roof is in place, the air handling systems are back on the roof and in general the project is running on time and inside the budget.

“It is going well. We are getting to the point where we are beginning to see the end point. We have the windows going in soon. We are on budget and the time line is still in place,” said Gabhart. “We do have one large electrical distribution piece that has not been delivered. I still think we will be good there. If there is any kind of hold-up it will be just for a short period of time. With a project this large this is not surprising. We are still going to push for an on-time delivery, but if it doesn’t work out, we have options.”

Article published by Mike Grant for the Washington Times Herald.