The Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission will consider filling two open seats today and whether to agree to provide part of the matching funds for the Hot Springs Wayfinding Signage System.
The commission will meet at 3 p.m. today at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
The commission has two openings: Position 5, which is held by the owner or manager of a restaurant or hotel, and Position 7, its only at-large position.
Position 5 is currently held by David Longinotti, director of racing at Oaklawn Jockey Club, who was the only applicant for the position.
Position 7 is held by Charlie Moore, who decided to not seek reappointment.
The three applicants for Position 7 are Elizabeth Farris, who preceded Moore in the position, and is the former city president of Regions Bank -- Southwest Arkansas group; Tom French, a retired banker and marketing director who is a lifelong resident of Hot Springs; and Dub Allen, a retired master sergeant of the United States Marine Corps and three-term commission member of the McArthur Museum of Arkansas Military Commission.
The appointments would have to be approved by the Hot Springs Board of Directors.
The Wayfinding Signage System is being spearheaded by the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, said Friday.
The Federal Highway Administration offers reimbursement-type grant funding through its Federal Lands Access Program for the signage project, according to information provided to commissioners with today's agenda.
FLAP reimburses 80 percent of approved costs and requires a 20 percent local match.
Arrison said the city has agreed to fund one-third of the required local match, and the commission is being asked to agree to fund the other two-thirds of the local match, for all three phases of the project.
Only the first two phases of the project have been approved. The local match for the first phase is expected to cost $14,461.
Phase two has an estimated total cost of $317,240, with a federal share of $253,792 and a local share of $63,448.
"We think it's so important for our tourists; we've just got such a conglomeration of signs," Arrison said.
The project would create "good signage where our visitors and our citizens alike can easily find their way around downtown to various attractions," he said.
Arrison pointed out that 80 percent of the cost of the project will be paid for by the federal government.
Local on 06/26/2017