Council declares Oct. 6 through 12 Fire Prevention Week

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers.

At the start of the meeting, Councilmember Charles Bourbeau read a proclamation that declared Oct. 6 through 12 Fire Prevention Week.

“Whereas the City of Atascadero is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living in and visiting our city. Whereas fire is a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally, and homes are the locations where people are at greatest risk of fire,” Bourbeau read at the beginning of the proclamation.

The proclamation went on to encourage everyone to make sure they have smoke alarms in their sleeping rooms and throughout their houses and to make sure that they are all in working order by testing them at least once a month.

“Whereas the 2024 fire protection week theme, Smoke Alarms Make Them Work for You, serves to remind us of the importance of having working smoke alarms in the home. Now, therefore, on behalf of the City Council and the City of Atascadero, I hereby proclaim Oct. 6 through 12 of 2024 as Fire Prevention Week and call upon the people of Atascadero to make sure their homes have working smoke alarms. Signed Heather Moreno, Mayor,” concluded Bourbeau.

Fire Chief Casey Bryson thanked the council for the proclamation.

Director of Community Services and Promotions Terri Banish then addressed the council with a Marketing Plan Update for the city. It featured facts about the city and the Tourism Board’s marketing and events.

“We have an overview that we will be covering this evening, focusing on both our city and tourism marketing efforts and how we are performing and a look ahead to some of the new things to look forward to,” stated Banish.

Banish commented on how, in October of 2015, the city rolled out its new Visit Atascadero logo and everything else that went along with that. She also stated the marketing goals of the town, which are “Stay, Spend, and Enjoy our City.” On the tourism side, the marketing goals are “Sleep, Stay, Spend.”

“We did a great job of doing those things through these past nine years. Just hard to believe it’s been that long,” Banish added. “With the City’s goal, events have become the focus of our marketing efforts, and currently, in this calendar year of 2024, we have 40 city and city-sponsored events.”

Atascadero also has a Signature Event category, which brings more tourism into the city. It’s a collaboration between the Atascadero Tourism Business Improvement District (ATBID), with hard dollars, and the city, which provides the venues for events like the Fall Festival.

“One thing we are really excited about is Atascadero experienced the highest year-over-year increase in transient occupancy tax (TOT) in SLO CAL,” stated Chief Strategy Officer of Marketing of the Tourism Board Ashlee Akres, who accompanied Banish in the presentation. “We had a 7.5 increase in TOT.”

At the end of the presentation, Mayor Heather Moreno commented that she remembered Aug. 29, 2014, and then read the vision that the council, at the time, wanted to see happen in Atascadero.

“This is a 10-year vision,” Moreno said. “Atascadero is a beautiful and authentic city of outdoor recreation, culinary adventures, and welcoming hospitality. It’s a safe place where the arts and history thrive, and the diversity of experience, generosity of spirit, and small-town ambiance are here to be enjoyed by visitors and residents alike.”

She went on to say that Banish and the rest of the team have made that vision a reality.

Banish then returned with the Atascadero Tourism Business Improvement District Assessment Increase. 

“We are here this evening because the logging community came to us on how we can position our destination for future growth with more opportunities to use our event space and to be able to accommodate more hotel rooms,” stated Banish. 

The Atascadero Tourism Business Improvement District (ATBID) discussed and approved an increase in assessment from 2 to 2.5 percent for the purpose of investing in the Charles Paddock Zoo and the other areas of the Atascadero Lake Park as an event center.

“We’re asking, on behalf of the ATBID advisory board, to present the half-percent increase and move forward with an increase in the assessment to help fund these physical improvements,” stated Banish. “Our recommendation this evening would be to approve the modified ATBID annual report and adopt the draft resolution. Following tonight, there will be a letter mailed with the draft resolution and annual report noticing the lodging owners 45 days in advance of the Dec. 10 public hearing. Lodging owners will be given the opportunity to protest the increase in person.”

Lodging owners will also be allowed to mail a protest to the ATBID City of Atascadero. The public meeting will take place on Dec. 2, and the public hearing will follow on Dec. 10.

The motion was approved unanimously by the council.

The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m.