12-23-2025 Council Meeting [15:36-20:37]

the 20 Bloomington and Nashville area. So that's going to catch the traffic kind of in Office 65, coming into Bloomington, going to swerve the mince and things like that. We did see a lot of people utilizing our hotels out of town from coming in for the home football games because everything was sold out, so it filtered over to us here in Mars County. Also, we held our 7th there on the Waves Cover Bridge in September, and exciting for 2026. Tourism will fund the power, lines and cameras on the Waves Cover Bridge, and the poles are already set and once weathered, cooperates, we'll go ahead and continue and work with that. So we're pretty excited about that. I hope to keep that 4 million maybe, and find out where it's, how it's happening and when it's happening. So, in December last year, we brought Springville back in雙land, Rooms back online, 71 Rooms back into our inventory meter of the county, and our local Airbnb has grown over 40 units here in the county. Airbnb is really big right now. A lot of people are taking advantage of those families they'd like to be out on their own and not confined to a hotel room, so those are really growing. And at this time, of which we don't have our receipts in yet, or November, we'll get those at the end of the year, but this time, our in keepers is of 16.2% over 2024. And some of the things in 2025, we're looking to do, we're already on together, before travel shows, when we've added the show there. We hope to be working with some of the locals and some of the school systems on some terms and things like that, getting different things going so we can fill the rooms on the weekends and the winter months as well, not just summertime. Springville is of 8% overall at the park on fees and entrance and things like that. So, Springville had a pretty good season for them this year as well. Today, we've just received our 20th, it's always a year behind, so I don't think I'm crazy when I tell you these numbers, but our State Tourism Report just came out today for 2024. And some of those key factors, just to share with you, well, Indiana welcomed over 83 million visitors, which relates to spending of $16.9 billion. And that's $3.2 billion in taxes generated federal, state, and local. And that's around 210,000 jobs, either full-time or part-time in the tourism industry and the state of Indiana. And for every dollar that has been just or spent 65 cents of that, stays here in our Indiana economy. And eventually, I'll have to report strictly on the Lawrence County, but those weren't ready yet to give out. And so now for my 2026 tourism budget, I'll go through each section there for you, unless anyone has any questions before I start that. I'd like to just say thank you for addressing up the welcome signs. Those are a little tricky. Were they to get the lead smoke? And we got that taken care of. I got a private person to mow that one down in Orange County. But they do look really nice now. We replace all the interest signs into the county having replaced now. Thank you so much. Well, I've actually got a comment and a question. The comment would be on, which I know from past, you're highly involved in that present investment. Yes. The last two years has been awesome. Thank you. The last two years, I mean, my opinion, I think it's been awesome. Because I really built that bigger. And I didn't realize how much you were involved in that. I wasn't with Larry Caldale. I mean, Larry Reed, well, hopefully not in New York. But I just want to tell you that. I serve on the Chamber of the Ward. I will say the City of Mitchell and the Chamber of Commerce has worked hard from the funding to replace of power electrical boxes. Thank you, Rick. Because that's a very important part. You know, after, you know, what happened at the State Fair, the State Farm Marshall, the rules and regulations are very strict. And we have to follow those. And since maybe in tourism, I have tried to convince them and they're seeing that the fruits of it by growing is to the State Conference each January. And there's different classes. And one of those classes is with the Farm Marshall. So you know well in advance what you need to do. Yeah. And if you don't do it, you're not going to be open. So those are our good classes for them to take. That was the kind of question is what I've been hearing the river is that on back when I could bridge down there, that's closer said, which I know that well. But I'm hearing you don't need a bucket truck because water is climbing. I haven't heard that. I have multiple times. In your selling tickets to admit it.