Cornelius commissioners wanted input

The mayors of Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson have appointed a nine-member Travel and Tourism Task Force to study the changing needs of the north Mecklenburg area in light of impending state budget cuts.

Visit Lake Norman, the regional tourism agency, receives money from each of the towns to promote travel and tourism business. In a news release, the mayors said they want to get “fresh viewpoints” on the best use of that money because of “upcoming state budget challenges.”

The mayors appointed the following members of the task force:

• From Huntersville: Commissioner Charlie Jeter; Raquel Crespo, marketing director for Birkdale Village; and Jay Hill, owner of Café 100.

• From Cornelius: Mayor Pro Tem Lynette Rinker; Sid Sadlowski, marketing director for Waltrip Raceworld; and business owner Paul Yates.

• From Davidson: Commissioner Margo Williams; Kim Fleming, the town’s downtown manager; and Jan Black, director of marketing for Our Town Cinemas.

“Together this group will work to establish a mission statement for our area needs and,  hopefully, recommendations for a more focused vision for our small business, destination and tourism entities,” Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte said. “We realize that this is a comprehensive task, and that each of our towns may have unique needs in these areas, and we look forward to hearing their insights.”

Tarte discussed the new task force with the Cornelius Board of Commissioners Monday night, Feb. 7. Several commissioners expressed concern that the mayors initiated the project without first consulting with their respective boards.

“You should solicit input from this board on what we would like to see,” Jim Bensman told Tarte. “We need to define more clearly what this is going to be. Is it a business group or a public body? If the three mayors start something, no matter who’s in it, it’s a governmental thing.”

Tarte said he doesn’t expect the task force to be government driven, and he said the details about the goals and structure of the group are still in the works.

– Staff report