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May Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Orange County · Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau
Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Advisory board meeting Appointments and personnelBudget and appropriationsEconomic development incentivesArts and public artIntergovernmental agreements

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

The bureau's executive director has announced her retirement, and that shapes the whole meeting. The chair opens with it, and proposes postponing the formation of strategic subcommittees until later in the summer pending guidance on the county's succession planning process. Then the draft 2026-27 budgets from the county and town managers, and an analysis of what a large sporting event actually returned.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Executive director Laurie Paolicelli opened the meeting by announcing her retirement on November 1, and the chair postponed the discussion of the Magellan Strategies report until later.

The budget was the substance. Personnel stays flat but operations fall by $324,000, money going to rebuild the Visitors Bureau fund balance, which also supports the Orange County Arts Commission and a couple of outside agencies. On top of that, the Town of Chapel Hill proposes cutting its $200,000 contribution to zero. The town collects about $1.7 million a year in a 3 percent hotel occupancy tax and wants to use it for a destinations coordinator post, wayfinding signage, safety and security, and promotion. Board members told the town's representatives that would duplicate what the bureau already does and signals a lack of investment in its work.

Paolicelli then set out what the bureau would cut: travel, trade shows, meeting and convention marketing, and reduced spending on community events and leisure advertising. She warned the bureau would no longer be able to respond to opportunity events, naming the bid fee for the Savannah Bananas as the kind of thing it would have to pass up.

Chair DR Bryan proposed hiring an outside consultant to look at how the bureau should be structured, pointing to the Magellan report's note that it is unusual for a visitors bureau to be a county department rather than a tourism development authority. Several members agreed. Commissioner Sally Greene said she would support and advocate for it in the budget if it carried no tax impact.

How the votes went

Two votes, both with all in favor: approval of the April 15 minutes, moved by Creston Woods and seconded by Sally Greene, and adjournment, moved by Matt Hughes and seconded by Greene. Fourteen of the fifteen members attended.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (5)

Discussion item · 2Procedural · 1Minutes approval · 1Budget action · 1
  1. II Chair's Introduction and Remarks
    Procedural Appointments and personnel
    The chair opened on the executive director's announced retirement, and proposed postponing the formation of strategic subcommittees until later in the summer, after Orange County's succession planning process provides more direction.
  2. III Approval of Minutes
    Discussion item Appointments and personnel
    The announced retirement of the executive director, and a proposal to postpone forming strategic subcommittees until later in the summer pending guidance on the county's succession planning process.
  3. IV FY 2026-27 Budget Update and Discussion
    Minutes approval Budget and appropriations
    A review of the FY 2026-27 budgets recommended by Orange County Manager Travis Myren and Chapel Hill Town Manager Ted Vorhees, both in draft pending their governing boards.
  4. V Savannah Bananas Event Analysis and Future Opportunities
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsEconomic development incentivesIntergovernmental agreements
    The draft budgets recommended by the Orange County manager and the Chapel Hill town manager, both pending approval by their governing boards.
  5. VII Upcoming Events and Conference Updates
    Discussion item Arts and public artEconomic development incentives
    Economic impact, return on investment, and whether to bid for further large-scale destination events.

Agenda changes

What moved between published versions of this agenda. Item numbers shift constantly as things are inserted, so only genuine additions and removals are listed.

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