During Monday’s meeting, the Katy City Council approved three tourism grant applications, including one to support the upcoming 30th anniversary Rice Harvest Festival.
Council members gave a thumbs-up to a $43,892 request from the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce to help pay for entertainment and infrastructure costs for the annual festival, as well as for advertising and promotion.
Of the total, $28,595 was earmarked for such items as artists, stages, chairs, sound equipment and lighting, technicians, consultants and electricity. The remaining $15,297 will go to print media advertising, official programs and online ads.
In the grant application, Katy Chamber President Ann Hodge pointed out the Rice Harvest Festival was the largest annual event held in the City of Katy.
“The attendance is between 40,000 and 50,000 guests over two days. This festival celebrates the history of the rice farming in the Katy community and draws guests from all over the country,” Hodge noted.
Council members also approved a $21,273 grant application from the Rotary Club of Katy to publicize the upcoming Katy Triathlon at Firethorne. Funding will also be used to pay for commemorative T-shirts for participants and volunteers, medals to be awarded to triathlon finishers and traffic control and security.
In approving the grant, council members agreed to a stipulation from the Convention and Tourism Bureau that an advertising banner across Hwy. 90 be removed from the list of funded items.
State law requires tourism money to be used to bring outside visitors into a community for overnight stays – typically referred to as “putting heads in beds.” Both the CTB and city council felt the banner across a local roadway would not meet the criteria of attracting out-of-town visitors to stay in local hotels and motels.
“The advertising has to reach outside of the City of Katy,” City Attorney Art Pertile told the council.
The final approved grant was in the amount of $350 for a final Americans With Disabilities Act compliance inspection of renovations at the Katy Depot Visitors Center.
A July 22 inspection was not approved because the depot was not in compliance with some provisions of the state’s Architectural Barriers Act. The problem areas were corrected and written verification of the completed corrections was submitted to the inspection company by Assistant Public Works Director Jim Cook.
All three grant applications were approved by unanimous votes of the council.
Council Member Carol Adams was not present for the meeting.
