JACKSON WILL ESTABLISH CITY TOURISM BOARD

JACKSON -- The Board of Aldermen and the Jackson Chamber of Commerce have agreed in principle to create a city tourism board as of July 1.

Ward 4 Alderman LeRoy Brown, chairman of a study committee appointed in April to look into the formation of a tourist board, said Monday final plans and guidelines are now being drawn up by the chamber and the city. Other members of the committee are Ward 3 Alderman Glenn Oldham, City Administrator Carl Talley, and the board's legal counsel, David Beeson.

Brown made the announcement in response to a question from Trisha Wischmann, who in March had led a delegation of citizens calling for establishment of a board to assist in promoting tourist attractions in the Jackson area.

Under the tentative agreement, Brown said, the chamber will appoint qualified members to the tourism board. "The city has placed no restrictions on the makeup of the board. We feel the chamber has the expertise when it comes to tourism," he said.

"The city will provide a two-year grant of $20,000 ($10,000 per year) to help the board get on its feet. The city also expects the business community to make donations to match the yearly grants," said Brown. "The tourism board will be required to make quarterly reports on its operations."

After discussing the issue for the past several weeks, Brown said, the committee agreed a tourism board was needed, but felt it should be located within the chamber of commerce. "We then met with the chamber board of directors, and later with the full membership, and they agreed," Brown continued. "We felt the best way to go was to have the tourism board a part of the chamber of commerce because they have more expertise in this sort of thing."

Brown said the exact number of members that will serve on the board has not been determined. He said other details on the tourism board will be announced as20the plans and guidelines are finalized.

In other business, the board authorized the mayor to enter into a settlement agreement between Union Electric Co. and Jackson along with a wholesale service agreement, transmission agreement and a transaction agreement. The settlement ends years of litigation between the city and utility over electric rates.

The board approved the reappointment of the law firm of Buerkle, Beeson and Ludwig to provide the services of city attorney. Also reappointed to another two-year term was Police Chief Larry Koenig. Pete Statler was reappointed as judge of the municipal court.