Work Session
December 14, 2009
Present were Mayor Bertrand, Councilors McCue, Lafleur, Evans, Cayer and Poulin; Councilors Remillard, Landry and Goudreau were absent.
Sylvia Poulin, Robbie Munce, Samantha Kinney Maltais, students from the High School Civics Class, Erik Eisele, Barbara Tetreault, public
Discussion Re: Great North Woods to Grand North
Councilor Evans indicated a possible conflict saying that he changed the name of his business to coordinate with the Great North Woods region and he is inclined to stay with Great North Woods as a designation.
Councilor McCue noted that the letter to the State proposed at a previous meeting asking for a change in the name of the County’s tourist designation from Great North Woods to Grand North likely came to the Council prematurely and is not a priority of the initiative. He introduced Samantha Kinney Maltais, Project Manager of the Grand North Initiative, Sylvia Poulin, Main Street and Rob Munce President of the Chamber of Commerce.
Ms. Poulin opened by saying that she supports Roger Brooks’ idea of branding Coos County because it is a large marketing campaign. In his presentation regarding Berlin’s role, Mr. Brooks indicated that Berlin would be the marketing center for the region. Ms. Poulin stated that the idea is to use the word “grand” in all marketing to promote the County. This is an opportunity for marketing under one initiative.
Rob Munce explained that the suggestion to change the tourism designation was made when Roger Brooks was in Berlin. The effort was to bring attention to a destination that is unique. There are Great North Woods in other areas of the country. Several Chamber board members have sent letters of support to the state and the natural next step was to send requests for support to the cities and towns. He added that the web site being developed is going to be a valuable tool to the region.
Samantha Kinney Maltais explained that Coos County was found to be unique in the country with three grand historic hotels. The initiative focuses on nine grand adventures that have been deemed grand because they would be worth driving three hours to participate in. There are then 22 “best of business” diversionary activities. Ms. Maltais stated that she is working on a communication plan to take more time to educate the country about the brand.
The target market is Boston and Montreal and marketing material will be distributed to those areas.
There is still a need for education before asking for a letter of support from communities. Mayor Bertrand confirmed that the Grand North web site has a counter and there were 700 hits to the site on its first weekend. All businesses are eligible for a listing on the site.
Councilor Evans established his support for the Roger Brooks Initiative and the “grand” idea. One of his concerns is that the overlay for Coos County and the Great North Woods are not the same. Ms. Maltais acknowledged that the two areas do not have the same boundaries and that is something that will need to be worked out.
Councilor Lafleur asked why the marketing effort was limited to areas within a 3 hour drive. Ms. Maltais replied that this will be a “getting ready” year and there are not the marketing dollars to go further. She pointed out that Alice DeSouza and George Bald have been very supportive of this effort.
Councilor McCue thanked the group for coming to explain the brand idea. He noted that people were only hearing about the controversy with Six Gun City. This initiative ties in well with the city’s recreation effort.
Ms. Maltais reported that in general Chambers of Commerce do not work together; however in this branding effort, there are five Chambers working together. Moving forward with the communications plan, representatives of the Grand North will be attending 60 meetings to help educate the county and to answer questions everyone is asking.
Mayor Bertrand commented that something of this nature is unseen in our history. Berlin’s fate was dictated by what was going on at the pulp mill. This initiative is forging a new direction for the city.
Community Field Parking Funding Source
Mr. MacQueen explained that a resolution was drafted for the next regular meeting that would have authorized taking $5,500 from Undesignated Fund Balance for creating a parking area at Community Field. After three years, the city and ISSI closed on a deed that sells a piece of property on Route 110 to ISSI for $8,000. In a resolution from 2006, the money was appropriated to the Recreation Department and Laura Viger has agreed that a portion of those funds can be used to complete the Community Field parking area. Ms. Viger commented that a separate line item has been created and the money is dedicated to that project.
Other
Councilor Poulin confirmed that the City is not ordering any new items with the old seal.
Councilor Poulin moved to adjourn; Councilor Cayer seconded and the motion carried. The meeting ended at 7:10 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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