Members from Taylor, Polson and Company present the audit they completed to the commissioners during their regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 10. Michael Crimmins/Glasgow News 1.
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Glasgow-Barren County Tourist and Convention Commission met Tuesday, Oct. 10, for its regular meeting at the tourism office in downtown Glasgow to discuss the tourism’s financials, and to hear the auditor’s report.
The roughly 45 minute meeting was called to order a little after 1 p.m. by chairman Byran Sorrell with numerous people attending the commission meeting, including Executive Director Maclean Lessenberry, Director of Administrative Services Tina Wood, commissioners Melissa Gibson, Amy Vann and Robert Smith, Glasgow Mayor Henry Royse and two members of Taylor, Polson and Company.
These two representatives, moved to the beginning of the meeting by Sorrell, presented to the commissioners their audit report discussing things like the commission’s assets, debts. In the end, the two men, with their 11 bound copies of the audit report, said that the tourist commission was in good financial standing.
It was midway through the audit that Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd joined the handful of people seated around the conference room table with some suggestions she wanted to discuss with the tourist commission. Her suggestions revolved around Beautify Barren County, a “nonprofit organization that is dedicated to enhancing the natural beauty of our community” of which Byrd is a board member.
“I think a lot of what Beautify Barren County is doing ties into everything that tourism is,” Byrd said. “In general, I think tourism should be a sponsor in Beautify Barren County. Instead of doing it per event it’s just sponsoring the efforts of the BBC.”
She said Warren County, and Bowling Green, was doing something similar with Operation PRIDE, where all three entities joined together to upkeep their portion of Interstate 65 and other areas.
“The city, the county and tourism for Warren County all pay to subcontract the mowing,” Byrd said. “I’m going to propose that we do the same thing that Warren County does… and we buy the equipment, but sublease out the mowing.”
Byrd said Warren County’s contract was roughly $290,000, but the one for Barren County would be less. She added, in response to Vann’s question, that the contract would stipulate that the contractor could not use the mower on other projects.
“We won’t be $290,000 because they’re doing 10 times more than we’d be doing,” Byrd said. “We’re looking at doing just the end zones where you get off [the parkway].”
According to Byrd, this mowing is very important because those exits are the first introduction most people have to the county, and the state transportation department only mows three times a year, this contract between the three would keep it from growing up.
Lessenberry was hesitant to enter into a blanket sponsorship because the tourism office has declined similar arrangements in the past with other organizations. No agreement was made during the meeting.
Other items that were discussed during the meeting was the financial report, the payables and the tourism dollars — which were $28,020.52, according to Lessenberry — all three of which were passed with no discussion.
The next Glasgow-Barren County Tourist and Convention Commission meeting will be Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.
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