With still more questions than answers at this time, the Town Council voted unanimously to terminate its tourism services agreement with the Chamber of Commerce.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan was unable to provide council members with concrete answers to questions about what happens next.

Councilman Cecil Yates asked about an accounting of the funding and how much would become available for the town to use with a program of its own.

Buchanan said the termination date of Dec. 31 was set to provide time for a transition. He said the accounting will not be closed out until after that termination date. He also said the Chamber has ongoing related agreements the town needs to take into consideration.

Councilman Tait Elkie asked whether the town would have any obligations related to those ongoing agreements. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire said he did not know because he had not yet seen any of those agreements.

Councilwoman Ginny Dickey asked whether the town will need any personnel to implement a tourism program based on what the Tourism Bureau was doing.

Buchanan said he would be talking more about that with the council at a later time.

Chamber President/CEO Frank Ferrara was present for the meeting, but no questions were directed to him, and he offered no input.

The termination of the program was initiated by the Chamber in a letter sent to Buchanan Oct. 21.

The Chamber decision means that the town will not be paying the Tourism Bureau any balance of the $103,000 that was allocated in the 2013-14 budget.

The town received quarterly invoices from the Chamber outlining expenses and seeking reimbursement. The actual amount the town will be saving from the budget will not be known until it receives that second quarter accounting after it is closed Dec. 31.

In a memo prepared Oct. 15, Buchanan provided the council with an outline of the items and issues to be addressed through a transition. Those include the tourism website along with the status of the URL ownership.

There is also the status of annual publications including a Visitors Guide and Dining Guide that needs to be determined.

The town will need to address the status of the Visitors Bureau and the Visitors Center, along with partnerships with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Arizona Office of Tourism.

Before the town proceeds with any firm program, Buchanan is proposing a tourism strategy to include organization, marketing, event promotion and advertising, social media and website strategies and funding.

The town first entered into an agreement with the Chamber and its Visitors Bureau to provide a tourism promotion program in 2007. That agreement was renewed on an annual basis including for the current fiscal year. Funding was reduced as the town finances were stressed by the prolonged recession.

Mark McDermott, under contract as the Tourism Bureau director with the Chamber, resigned effective Oct. 31.

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