Final approval of the new bureau is pending City Attorney Joe Flannery's legal review of the proposal.

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Angie Watson, chair of the Hotel/Motel Sales Tax Advisory Board, presented the board's goals for the bureau and said it would mean "more efficient" marketing and planning efforts on behalf of many different groups in Le Mars, a "one-stop shop" for visitors.

"The bureau can both unify and perpetuate our tourism efforts through community marketing," Watson said.

The bureau's promotional and marketing efforts will be directed to two target groups - the leisure travelers and marketing planners of corporate/business events, Watson said.

The existing Hotel/Motel Sales Tax Advisory Board will shift to become a Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board. It is hoped, Watson said, that the bureau will be operational by July 1, 2009.

Jessica Lindgren, currently Le Mars Convention Center manager, is presently in line to serve as manager of the new bureau.

The bureau would be paid for out of revenue from the 5 percent Hotel/Motel Sales Tax assessed to room rentals in Le Mars.

Currently that money, about $100,000 a year, is used as a grant fund to pay for tourism-related projects in the community. The advisory board makes recommendations on those awards.

The new bureau would incorporate that grant process, but cut it back to about $40,000, Watson said. That money would come out of the bureau's $100,000 annual budget.

The remaining money would be used as follows: $40,000 for community marketing, $10,000 for operating expenses, and $10,000 for an "incentive salary" for rental increases in use of the city's available facilities.

Watson said Tuesday she's hopeful that finalization of bureau plans can be completed within the next eight to nine months.

Councilman Ken Nelson, in giving his support for the proposal emphasized what he said was the importance of "hitting the ground running" and moving forward with the bureau, "a move in the right direction," as soon as possible.

Mayor Dick Kirchoff, who has been working closely with the project, commended the board for its actions to date to implement the proposal.

"It's necessary we crawl before we walk on this ball field and coordinate our efforts into one channel," he said.

Councilman Rex Knapp, council liaison with the advisory board, commented that the new bureau will operate at no cost to the taxpayer but with monies from the city's motel/sales tax dollars. The grants those dollars were formerly used for, he and Watson stressed, will continue as applicable depending on the available funds.

Knapp added that success of the new bureau in bringing in additional hotel/motel taxes through its promotional and marketing efforts can also add to the funding available for such efforts.

Should this funding exceed the new bureau's $100,000 budget, Watson said current plans call for the excess funds to "be banked" for additional future projects.

Watson said that the bureau will work with the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce through team efforts, as with other local groups and organizations, for increased promotion of the city and increased visitor numbers. The chamber, she added, will also have representation on the bureau board.

The council also approved the appointments of Kathy Moore and Mark Sturgeon as at-large members of the advisory board, effective immediately to run through June 30, 2011. The two are replacing retiring board members Becky Wiersma and Terri Pauling.