CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Heartland News) – The Cape Girardeau City Council voted 5-2 Monday night to move forward with a proposal from local business owners to pay for research on tourism in the city.
The plan calls for hiring an outside consultant to explore the city’s tourism opportunities.
Business owners said they will pay the $100,000 cost of the study. They said a special task force assigned by the city council will decide which tourism ideas to take to voters.
“I am pleased with the direction of working with the task force and a consultant with a wider group of stakeholders to ensure whatever gets to the voters has the best chance to enhance our tourism while being data-driven,” Mayor Robbie Guard said in a statement.
Councilwoman Tameka Randle expressed concerns Monday night about the city partnering with private businesses.
“I appreciate the business of whoever wants to pay $100,000. You said no strings attached, but you already attached the strings when you gave it a name, and you said you can talk to such and such, you need to have these people on your committee. I don’t think that’s fair either,” she said.
Jeff Maurer of Mayson Capital pitched the proposal on behalf of local hotel owners. He said the group is open to making changes to address concerns. The group is asking for three seats on the task force.
Maurer said the proposal is a chance to gather more data.
The council approved a plan to work with hospitality leaders to explore potential tourism assets beyond sports. The plan will likely require a tax increase.
The council also voted down a proposal from the Parks and Recreation Department to expand the SportsPlex and build outdoor soccer fields.
Issac Veneble opened Relish in downtown Cape Girardeau less than two years ago. He said a new restaurant tax on top of the 1% his customers already pay would make it harder to break even.
“We are playing this game of trying to get a business off the ground, be able to pay for labor, be able to bring supplies in, be able to pay our rent, our lease, so that we can continue our business and be able to grow like we want to,” Veneble said.
“The hustle and the grind is to get to 0% to be a success in the first three years. Then I think that 1% equals negative 1%,” he added.
Veneble said customers see the final price on their check and not what the money pays for.
“The bottom line is the impact of that dollar coming out. That’s what the customer remembers. They know what they got and what they’ve paid at this place, and they don’t need a spreadsheet breakdown of where that went and why,” he said.
Ron Brzyzki owns Sedona on the north side of Cape Girardeau, down the road from the SportsPlex. He said sports tourism directly affects his business and brings in customers from numerous states.
“Without that SportsPlex and that business, there would be no Sedona, I’ll tell you that right now,” he said.
“When the volleyball or basketball tournaments are out there, it impacts our business, sometimes 10%. So it’s a huge impact. If you are going to build soccer fields, that’s going to help us,” he added.
City leaders plan to look further at the future of the proposed restaurant tax and who will be a part of the committee that will decide which projects will best benefit Cape’s tourism.
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