Money for advertising?
Destination Osoyoos has requested funding from the Town of Osoyoos to cost-share an advertisement in the Thompson Okanagan Tourist Association (TOTA) travel guide for 2006.
In the past, the towns of Osoyoos and Oliver and the Osoyoos Indian Band have participated in a marketing strategy under the banner Desert Wine Country. No meeting was held in 2005 to discuss projects and therefore no funding was set aside for any initiatives.
In mid-November, DO requested that the Town of Osoyoos contribute $1,386.35 toward the cost of an ad on the back cover of the TOTA travel guide. Both the Town of Oliver and the Osoyoos Indian Band would each be contributing the same amount.
On December 19, DO submitted a request for council to reconsider their earlier conditional decision to agree to the funding.
A hang-up with respect to whether the wording South Okanagan Tourist Area should be removed from or included in the ad, has led the Town of Oliver to say they would not participate in funding the ad if the words are removed from the ad.
Osoyoos Town Council, on the other hand, agreed to the funding request from DO in mid-November, on the condition that the words South Okanagan Tourist Area be removed.
Mayor John Slater asked council if they wished to reconsider the previous council's decision to remove those words.
Councillor Ted Cronmiller made a motion that council fund the ad and include the words South Okanagan Tourist Area; the motion was seconded by Councillor Stu Wells.
Councillor Allan Carswell asked why the $1,386.35 would be coming out of the town's budget rather than the DO budget. Slater answered to say that the alliance of Osoyoos, Oliver and the Osoyoos Indian Band formed approximately five years ago to fund some joint advertising initiatives and that this current request follows that agreement.
Councillor Stu Wells said the name Desert Wine Country was a great name and should remain.
As long as we can get 'Desert Wine Country' in there, whether SOTA is in there or not doesn't really matter as far as I'm concerned. I'm in favour of this motion to fund the ad, said Wells.
Councillor Dick Flintoft said he wanted to see Desert Wine Country remain as part of the deal.
Flintoft explained that council had gone through a lot of trouble to put the name Desert Wine Country in place – a name that all parties agreed on. He also pointed out that the acronym SOTA also stands for South Okanagan Teachers' Association, which could cause confusion.
Slater assured council that the words Desert Wine Country were still in the ad. He also said that the economic development departments of Osoyoos, Oliver and the Osoyoos Indian Band would be meeting early in the new year to figure out the costs for any joint projects in 2006.
The vote on the motion was split, with Cronmiller and Wells supporting the motion and Carswell and Flintoft opposing. The tie was broken by Mayor Slater, who supported the motion.
Council next addressed DO's request for approval and support of the SOTA strategy and DO's recommended action plan for 2006.
Carswell made a motion to request from Destination Osoyoos that council get the results of the comprehensive public opinion survey that went out to Osoyoos residents in the fall of 2005.
We don't know if this plan actually fits what people wanted, so I would like to make a motion that we request further information from Destination Osoyoos.rnFlintoft seconded the motion.
Cronmiller said he believed the comments were available from DO.
Slater further stated that both new councils and the Osoyoos Indian Band should revisit the strategy and action plan to make sure everyone is in agreement.
