By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — For some reason, the Naples Information Center has been operating separate from the town.

On Monday, the Naples Board of Selectmen corrected this oversight.

As of July 1, the new fiscal year, the Info Center will be officially classified as a department of the Town of Naples.

The board voted unanimously, with all members present, to include the info center as a town department — something that some people were surprised was not already the case.

“We pay her an hourly wage during the summer to open the info center. She does the brochure during the winter. The purpose of the discussion tonight is: [We] want to reel it in and make it part of the town,” Chairman Jim Grattelo said.

According to Naples Town Manager John Hawley, the oversight was discovered when he decided to review the information center after looking at the “makeup of the [Naples] Historical Society and its relationship with the town.”

“Currently, Brenda Leo is the only person who has been providing that service [the information center duties] to the town. We make annual contributions and pay her for the hours that she works during the summer when the info center is open,” Hawley said.

“As she recruits advertisers for her annual publications, those funds are put into an account not owned by or audited by the town,” Hawley said, adding, “The money is put into an account that isn’t managed by the town, which isn’t a concern to me.”

“I met with Brenda last week to get some information from her; and she says that the Info Center has never been clearly defined,” he said.

Hawley advised that the selectmen make a motion to change the Info Center’s classification.

“It would be my recommendation that because she is soliciting money on behalf of the travel and tourism for the town, [because] she operates in a town-owned building and receives guidance from me, and [because] she carries no liability insurance and we already pay for her wages and associated wage fees, that we classify the Information Center as an official town function for the purposes of insuring and accountability,” Hawley said.

He added that the Info Center often uses Tax-Increment Financing (TIF) funds as well.

Outlining the future, Hawley said that he would continue to oversee the department until a town planner or town development position is approved and filled.

“It seems that it would be appropriate that the info center classification should be changed to a town function,” Hawley repeated.

The board couldn’t agree more.

“All the expenses would run through the town,” Selectman Bob Caron II said.

Selectman Jim Turpin said that he wanted to “make sure she [Leo] is ultimately compensated for the effort” and time that she puts into creating the brochures.

Leo has been instrumental in putting together the advertising and content for the color brochures that let people know what to do in Naples, whether it is eating, hiking, boating or shopping.