Commissioners approve temporary appointment to the Tourism Board by Culver Town Council

During the Attorney’s Report at the County Commissioner’s meeting Monday, Jim Clevenger said the county’s present ordinance (1991-11) creating a Tourism Board and implementing an Innkeepers Tax is outdated.   

The county ordinance calls for the Culver Chamber of Commerce to appoint the Culver representative to the County Tourism Board.  Clevenger said the Culver Chamber is defunct right now so the tourism people in Culver are requesting the commissioners modify the ordinance to permit the Culver Town Council to make the appointment.

In a letter dated August 30^th to the commissioners and from Bill Cleavenger, President of the Culver Town Council, it states that they voted unanimously to recommend a change in the county ordinance to permit the Culver Town Council to appoint the Culver representative to the Tourism Board.    

The County Attorney told the commissioners, “The state statute has changed, and your ordinance is outdated.”  He also noted that making this change will not resolve the continuing disagreement between the existing tourism board and what some of the communities are thinking. 

There is some distention about how much of the tax revenue that comes into the tourism board and is allocated to each entity is in an equitable fashion. 

Discussing the current state statute, Clevenger said it decreases the number of board members and also who makes the appointments.  The new statute has the commissioners appointing four members and the Mayor of Plymouth appointing one.  Currently, every town in the county has an appointment on the tourism board and the attorney believed that Plymouth had two appointments.

The letter from the Culver Town Council also recommended that Mark Damore Jr. serve as the Culver representative to the Tourism Board, succeeding Katey Wehmeyer.  The letter also stated, “Given Culver’s central role in growing tourism in Marshall County, the Culver Town Council believes it is important for Culver to be represented on the Marshall County Tourism Board.”

After some discussion, Commissioner Kevin Overmyer made a motion to give temporary approval to allow the Culver Town Council to appoint a member to the Tourism Board until the Commissioners issue a new ordinance to comply with the State Statute.  His motion was seconded by Commissioner Mike Burroughs and passed with a 3-0 vote.