By Laura Keeter | Daily Times Staff Writer

It will soon be fishing season for tourists in Wilson County.

For months, some Tourism board members have extolled the school of thought that the board should be "fishing where the fish are at," and open a visitors center at the I-95/U.S. 264 interchange.

The interchange at Exit 121 gets a steady flow of hotel guests and travelers who stop to fuel up or eat at Cracker Barrel and other interchange restaurants.

At the monthly meeting on Tuesday, the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority board voted to pursue an agreement for three years with developer Ed Etheridge to lease space at a strip shopping center to test the interchange waters.

The center, called Shoppes at Southern Village, is behind Burger King.

This will be a satellite office. The current office of the Wilson Visitors Bureau will remain open at the Wilson Arts Center in downtown.

While that satellite office is open for three years, Tourism will still pursue a permanent location, such as 210 S. Tarboro St., said Bobby Boykin, board chair.

Lease terms are not finalized for the interchange space, Boykin said. Etheridge gave the Tourism board a new proposal, and the board will offer a counterproposal, said Boykin after a closed session to discuss the negotiations. The original proposal from last year, which Tourism rejected as too expensive, had given the board various lease options for 2,080 square feet of space that was $3,100 to $3,950 per month.

The space being looked at now is 1,150 square feet with an office, two full bathrooms, reception area and a half kitchen, said Sandra Homes, executive director of the Wilson Visitors Bureau.

In other business, Tourism members agreed to postpone a request to the N.C. General Assembly to enact a higher hotel occupancy tax for Wilson County. Two local legislators, N.C. Sen. A.B. Swindell and N.C. Rep. Joe Tolson, advised waiting until the longer session in January for the request because of the current economy, Homes said.

"I don't think we have any choice here," said Frank Emory, who serves on the Tourism board and is chairman of the Wilson County Commissioners. In April, commissioners approved doubling the hotel occupancy tax to 6 cents from 3 cents. The General Assembly must make final approval. Hotel guests pay the hotel occupancy tax that funds Tourism.

The board tabled a decision to hire a full-time assistant to create a second Tourism staff person.

Homes suggested hiring her intern from the summer who has just graduated with a degree in tourism and hospitality management from East Carolina University. The board may vote on creating that position next month after reviewing a job description.

Also in the next meeting on June 3, the Tourism board will discuss funding requests for the upcoming fiscal year and a proposed $470,220 budget.

keeter@wilsontimes.com | 265-7817