By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Council voted unanimously Monday evening to shift the job of attracting visitors to Bowling Green over to the city’s chamber of commerce.
In September, the city announced that in response to declining revenues, changes were planned to make community marketing more efficient. Those changes included moving the hotel/motel tax revenue from the Convention and Visitors Bureau to the chamber of commerce.
Earlier this month, Mayor Mike Aspacher explained his belief that in its current form, too much was being spent on administrative costs and too little on actually attracting visitors.
It was decided that the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce would assume oversight of a new community marketing approach – that of a Destination Marketing Organization, or DMO.
The mayor said the decision to realign the organizations was made for greater operational efficiency – noting that more than 60% of the CVB budget was being spent on administrative expenses, not on attracting visitors.
The city remains committed to being a “destination” and bringing visitors to the community – just with more cost effective marketing for events, conventions and sports, Aspacher said.
A CVB advisory committee with people from business will work with the chamber on how marketing dollars are used, Aspacher said.
City Council unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing the municipal administrator to enter into a contract with the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce for the promotion and publicizing of the city, to bring patronage and business of cultural, educational, religious, professional and sports organizations into the city for the benefit of the city’s citizens and business community.
Also at Monday’s meeting, City Council also voted to authorize the municipal administrator and utilities director to enter into contracts with Poggemeyer Design Group for professional design and construction administration services for the new city administrative services building, and to advertise for bids and enter contracts for construction of the building.
In other business, City Council heard first readings of ordinances involving infrastructure improvements.
One ordinance authorizes the utilities director to advertise a request for qualifications and enter into contracts for engineering services for water main improvements in the Village Subdivision, located on the north side of West Poe Road between Brim Road and BG High School.
During recent hydrant flushing, several water main breaks occurred unexpectedly. Water main breaks can occur when opening or closing a hydrant too quickly, however the staff knows to perform this operation slowly in order to avoid breaks. Water distribution operators made repairs to the breaks but they noted the poor condition and deterioration of the water main which is likely due to corrosive soils in the area.
All of the water mains in this subdivision were installed at about the same time frame using similar materials. Staff recommends replacing the water mains in the subdivision in order to avoid further damage and loss of water service to customers.
Approximately 6,000 feet of water main would be replaced. Revere Drive and a portion of Jefferson Drive has 12-inch pipe but the remainder of the subdivision is 6-inch pipe. At a minimum, the 6-inch pipe would be upgraded to 8 inches. Water valves will be replaced with this work and the condition of the hydrants will be evaluated. The city may also consider replacing its portion of the water service lines in the right-of-way.
Due to the scope of this project, the engineering division will not be able to perform the design work. Engineering design fees are estimated at around $200,000. The estimated project cost in the budget is $1.6 million, but many details are still unknown.
Another ordinance authorizes the utilities director to seek a loan from the Ohio EPA/Ohio Water Development Authority to fund the design and construction of the project in the Village subdivision.
Another ordinance authorizes the utilities director to advertise a request for qualifications and enter into contracts for engineering services for water and sewer improvements on West Wooster Street from Church Street to Haskins Road, and on Haskins Road up to Wallace Avenue.
An analysis has indicated that a 12-inch water main would be adequate to serve this area. Valves, hydrants, and water service lines will also be reviewed for replacement.
There are multiple sewers on West Wooster Street and the staff recommends reducing this to one sewer while trying to reduce the use of two rear yard sewers at the west end of the project. The engineer hired for this work will need to determine an appropriate pipe size to serve this area. Manholes, catch basins, and sewer laterals will also be reviewed for replacement.
Due to the scope of this project, the city’s engineering division will not be able to perform the design work. Engineering fees are estimated at around $275,000 for the water and sewer work. A total of $2.2 million was included to cover these improvements but many details are still unknown.
