City Council hears funding proposals

By Sharon Wittke

The Carbondale City Council discussed fiscal year 2013 funding requests from community and economic development organizations during its meeting at the Civic Center Tuesday.

At the Feb. 7 city council meeting, Mayor Joel Fritzler proposed shifting $120,000 from the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau to other civic organizations that promote tourism in Carbondale.

During that meeting, council members requested additional information from Carbondale Main Street, Carbondale Community Arts and the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau. The council also had requested that the Chamber of Commerce submit a new proposal for funding.

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Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau executive director Debbie Moore provided the additional details requested by the council about how her agency records and reports the effectiveness of the bureau’s promotional materials and marketing campaigns.

She said her board meets six times each year and the same packet presented at the board meetings is given to the mayor and the city manager. The supporting documents in the packet include the agenda, financial reports, profit and loss statements, and detailed bank deposit reports.

“I believe there’s been a little bit of, perhaps, miscommunication in recent weeks or recent months with respect to reports the CCTB submits to the city,” Moore said.

Executive directors from The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, Carbondale Main Street and Carbondale Community Arts presented their organizations’ proposals for spending the proposed additional funding they would receive if Fritzler’s plan was approved.

Carbondale Community Arts executive director Nancy Stemper said she would like to use the additional funding to complete a planned train scape mural across from the Amtrak depot, and  more aggressively market the Southern Illinois Music Festival to out-of-town visitors.

Stemper said she would like to hold an open reception at the music festival and feature works by local artists who have studio space in Carbondale and arrange for guided tours of those studios.

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