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• Penalities for violations of gun laws are very low. Most are misdeaminors. Repeated offenses can turn into felonies • Two years ago the NC General Assembly passed legislation that makes it very difficult for munisipalities to regulate where guns can be carried • He incouraged everyone to invite him, or Carrboro's Police Chief, to speak with their staff about the best ways to handle these situations • Guns are not permitted on athletic courts, at swimming pools and facilities used for athletic events. When unsure call 911 and ask that it be checked out Mark Sherburne shared that the Carolina Inn askes guests to leave firearms in their cars and not bring them into the Inn. Chief Blue stated that on the UNC campus you can have a gun in a locked container which effectively means a glove box or trunk of your car. This was echoed by Aaron Bachenheimer in that the University wants to provide a safe environment for all its students while recognizing individual rights. Currently UNC housing contracts prohibit keeping a gun in a dorm room. Penny Rich asked, how do we as tourism professionals respond to inquiries from out of state guests about NC gun laws? He suggests posting a sign that you either allow firearms in your establishment or that you do not. Laurie Paolicelli recommended posting that information on the Visitors Bureau website. The board also welcomed Eric Holeman from the Piedmont Food and Agriculture Processing Center. The center opened in 2010 as a vision of Orange, Durham, Chatham and Alamance counties to be a food encubator for food enterprenures. It occupies 10,000 sq. ft. of space in the repurposed Orange Industries building. The building and equipment were paid for from $1.3 million in grants. They have 50 clients from as far away as Forsyth County and Fayetteville. While they are providing services to some caterers and food trucks their main focus is manufacturers. The value of the product produced last year was $2.6 million, with 70 -80 jobs being created. They have recently received a $145,000 grant to expand their equipment and reach out to more growers. They are helping local residents with a passion for food get their products in stores. They are open 24/7 and could accomadate another 25 clients. Executive Director's Report Laurie Paolicelli thanked the board for a very productive fiscal year as it comes to an end. We have seen new hotels open as well as resturants. There have been additions of tourism focused staff. Mark Sherburne added that we continue to struggle to increase weekday business and that while June is usually a strong month, so far this year that has not been the case. Our market continues to upsorb the new Hyatt Place while new hotels open on our boarders. Ms. Paolicelli shared that 10,000 square feet of space is being added in Carrboro through the building of the new Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to the Hampton Inn. Visitors Bureau and Hillsborough Town Staff met recently to talk about how they can work together. We are looking at ways we can use social media to give the towns we serve the accolades they deserve. As is required by state statute every five years, we must go out for bid for a contract as large as our ad agency contract. We issued a RFP and received seventeen proposals and our current agency, Clean Design was not one of them, as they feel they have been biding for the last five years and have not ask for a rate increase in that time. The sub- committee of the board will receive presentations from three agencies (BCF, Silverback and Dana Communications) on August 7. At the moment we do not have a contract with an agency but will continue to work with Clean Design on a per project basis. Laurie announced that Lee Pavao's term on the board has expired and since he was Vice -Chair we need to elect a new Vice - Chair. She recommended Jeff Stickler and a motion was made by George Cianciolo, seconded by Mark Sherburne. The board voted unanimously to approve Jeff Stickler as the board's new Vice - Chair. 21 Page CHOCVB BOD Meeting June 21 2017