By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Officials in Bucyrus and Galion no longer want to spin their wheels when it comes to the possibility of a county-wide tourism bureau. That was why they took the matter straight to the trio that could actually get the ball rolling.
Members of the Bucyrus and Galion city councils, Bucyrus Tourism and Visitors Bureau (BTVB) Executive Director Trish Ratliff and board treasurer Virginia Hammontree, and Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development Executive Director Gary Frankhouse met with county commissioners to discuss the matter. County prosecutor Matt Crall and Debbie Miller, owner of HideAway Country Inn, also attended the meeting to lend expert advice.
The commissioners were favorable to the idea of a county-wide tourism bureau, but believed it would be best to create an ad-hoc committee to map out how the board and bureau would be formed and operated.
“I think from our end we’re interested in putting together a county tourism bureau,” Commissioner Steve Reinhard said.
Bucyrus and Galion both have 3 percent bed taxes on the books. Should the county move forward with a tourism bureau, those bed taxes would have to be repealed as the county establishes its own 3 percent bed tax. Crall explained that the cities, or any other entities that have a bed tax, could pass their own bed taxes for a combined total of 6 percent.
Galion council president Carl Watt believed that the two largest municipalities in the county should have equal representation on the potential tourism board, an idea that was echoed by Bucyrus council president Sis Love. Ratliff added that other county visitors’ bureaus structure their boards by having at least one seat designated to represent hoteliers; Miller said it would beneficial to have another seat represented by individuals involved in local attractions.
“The boards are usually made up of tourism activities; they are not made up of somebody that doesn’t have anything to do with tourism,” Miller said. “They’re all based there. You want to look at it this way as a cooperative to help promote the whole area.”
She added that tensions sometimes arise when bed taxes are added, which could push people to stay outside of areas with higher bed taxes, but still come into the area for the attractions.
“If it’s going to be county-wide, it should be county-wide,” Watt said. “I think Crestline should have representation . . . New Washington. We need to get the entire county involved. There’s places outside of Galion and Bucyrus that people are attracted to.”
Hammontree pointed out that the BTVB already encompasses individuals that do not live within the Bucyrus city limits, a basis for how the county bureau could be formed.
“We recognize the city line can’t be the limit or we’re wasting our time,” Hammontree said.
Bucyrus council member Bill O’Rourke brought up a more dismal aspect of where he believed the county currently stood.
“Crawford County is what it is right now,” O’Rourke said. “If there’s attractions built in Crawford County to attract people to want to stay here, fine. Until that happens, the best we can do right now is hope the people who are going to Cedar Point or going skiing may stay in this county. But right now Crawford County is what it is.”
Frankhouse, however, saw the potential that many in the county have brought.
“I think there is some vision out there. You’ve got Pickwick Place, you’ve got talks of a sports complex. You’ve got things that have vision,” Frankhouse countered. “I’m not saying you’re wrong with where we’ve been, but when you look where we’re going, this is an important conversation. It’s going to have a big impact down the road. I want to err on the side that we’re going to change.”
Watt expressed similar sentiments, especially as many aspects of Crawford: 20/20 Vision promoted county-centric ideas.
“If we can get this moving and make it successful, I think we can look forward to some other areas,” Watt said. “I think this can be a pilot program for future consolidations or mergers.”
An ad-hoc committee will be formed of representatives from Bucyrus and Galion, Miller, Ratliff, and Crall. Reinhard expected it to meet within the next two weeks to hash out further details.