CULTURAL DIVISION AND GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU (GFLCVB) RECOMMEND APPROVAL.
This item supports the Board's value of "Cultivating community culture, arts, recreation and life-long learning" and goals relating to providing diverse artistic, cultural, educational and historical amenities and programs that contribute to a vibrant, multi-cultural and economically-viable community.
Periodically, Broward County receives requests for financial assistance from its municipalities or non-profit organizations to support capital projects using proceeds from the Tourist Development Tax (TDT), which may be used for tourism-related purposes, including tourist-related projects.
The Board, at its August 20, 2013 budget workshop, directed staff to create the TDT Capital Challenge Grant Program. At the November 12, 2013 Public Hearing (Item No. 11), the Board adopted Resolution No. 2013-880 amending the Broward Cultural Council's Incentive (Grant) programs in the Administrative Code to create the TDT Capital Challenge Grant Program to provide capital funding to eligible organizations, which was added as Section 29.16. j. of Part II of Chapter 29. The Board subsequently amended that section to include additional involvement of the GFLCVB.
Applicants must provide matching funds via cash contributions in a minimum ratio of 2:1. The cash match may include an applicant’s available cash on hand earmarked for the project; irrevocable contributions of cash that will be received and obligated by the end of the project period; and the cost of site acquisition (for the applicant-owned property) if acquired within three years prior to the date of application. In-kind match must be identified and may not exceed 30% of the total projected cost. The maximum amount for each award may not exceed $500,000.
The grant review panel for this grant application cycle was held on April 19, 2017. The review sheet used by the grant review panel included the tourism impact review report by GFLCVB of the "bed nights" that were projected by the applicants. The project application was reviewed and ranked on a High-Medium-Low-Nonresponsive/Ineligible basis by the panel.
The review panel for the program consists of five members: one member who has served on the Broward Cultural Council (Council) for at least five consecutive years; one member who is the Tourist Development Council (TDC) liaison to the Council; and three members who are hoteliers identified by the Tourist Development Council. Although there was a quorum at the April 19, 2017 panel meeting, there were only three panelists present (a TDC liaison and also a Council member, who served as the Chair at the meeting; a Council member who has served on the Council for at least five consecutive years and a hotelier). The two other hoteliers at the recommendation of the GLVBCB and TDC, were invited to serve, yet unavailable, as they had left the properties they were associated with.
Project Summaries:
Motion A
Museum of Discovery and Science, Inc. (MODS)
401 SW 2nd St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312 - Commission District 7
In 2007, MODS launched a two-phase $35 million campaign to expand and renew facilities and improve visitor experiences which includes designing and building an outdoor Science Park on approximately an acre of museum owned property contiguous to the new wing. The green oasis of the Science Park abutting Broward Boulevard in the center of Fort Lauderdale, will greet 57,000 cars that pass by daily, providing MODS the opportunity to leverage a new marketing tactic that will increase the Museum's visibility throughout the year. MODS is requesting funding to support the design, fabrication, and installation of a customized electronic marquee installed roadside within the Science Park to attract tourists and residents to the Museum.
MOTION B
The Broward County Film Society, Inc.
1314 E Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301- Commission District 7
The Broward County Film Society, Inc. requests funds to transform the backstage dressing-room areas into one large kitchen plus a separate Star Dressing area. The kitchen is needed since there is not a restaurant within walking distance to the cinema. Frequently the audience comes to the cinema and stays from morning through evening, watching up to five films in one day. Tourists usually take taxis or Uber to the cinema and the necessity of leaving the cinema to take a cab to a restaurant is so involved, many do not return for a second or third film.
The kitchen would also provide a new revenue stream for the cinema as well as make the option of a film and a meal more attractive, thereby increasing ticket sales. Groups that now rent Savor Cinema will have the option to have their events catered in-house. A daily Lunchtime Shorts schedule will be added, providing quick box lunches with free short films.
MOTION C
Town of Davie, FL,
6591 Orange Drive, Town of Davie, FL 33314 - Commission District 5
Project Location:
SW 36 Street and Shotgun Road (SW 154 Avenue), Town of Davie, FL - Commission District 7
The Davie Town Council, in 2004, set on a mission to obtain land and develop it into a facility that will service, and educate current and future generations. The development cost of the elements that make up the Farm Park are expected to be $6,000,000. The $500,000 requested in the application will be utilized toward the installation of infrastructure for the Education and Welcome Center. The Farm Park will also consist of stables, covered event arena, farm animal barnyard, greenhouse, farmers market, butterfly garden, wetlands, observation post, trails, community gardens, and areas for crops, cattle pasture and a lake. It would include facilities for tourism, education, programs for special needs individuals, research, nutritional programs, environmental programs and special events.
The Governor Leroy Collins Farm Park will provide an unparalleled opportunity for tourism, youth and community programs, and experiential learning about agriculture. The project site lies on 84 acres on the western edge of the Town of Davie, bordering 1-75 on the west, Shotgun Road, on the east, and SW 36th Street (South Post Road) on the South. The Farm Park will provide a working urban mini-farm where crops are grown and animals are raised, where children and adults learn in a hands-on environment about agricultural production from seedling to market and about the area's agricultural history. The project strives to increase the public's understanding of the vital role agriculture plays in the daily survival, while making learning fun and preserving open space. The primary organization in this endeavor is the Town of Davie with additional support from the Project Stable Foundation, Friends of the Davie Farm Park, Inc. and the Broward County Farm Bureau.
Exhibit 1 contains a description of each proposed project of all three applications received including the requested funding. Exhibit 2 provides the panel members’ scores of the three eligible applicants and a summary of the scores and High-Medium-Low-Nonresponsive/Ineligible ranking prescribed in the program guidelines. Exhibit 3 is the review summary conducted by the GFLCVB and the GFLCVB’s scores.
The rankings are designed to give a quick reference for the panel’s scores. The guidelines do not require the Board’s funding decisions to be based on those rankings. The panel’s recommendations were filed with the Broward Cultural Council on June 1, 2017. After presenting the proposals and fielding recommendations by the panel, Cultural Division staff recommends approval of these three funding requests as each appears to meet the applicable Administrative Code and program guidelines (Chapter 29, Part II, Section 29.16. j.) which was developed on the statutory restrictions prescribed by Section 125.0104 Florida Statutes.
After approval of the funding amounts by the Board, the County Administrator is authorized to approve and execute the appropriate standard agreement form and subsequent amendments as allowed by Chapter 29, Part II, Section 29.17. f. of the Administrative Code. The County Administrator will use the appropriate (or most current) standard contract for the Cultural Incentive (Grant) Program subject to prior review and approval of each agreement as to form by the Office of the County Attorney.
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