By Stephen Smoot
“Jared and I are really excited about this,” said Katie VanMeter as she addressed the leadership committee for Treasure Mountain Festival. Along with her husband, the local business owning family acquired the William McCoy House in Franklin last year with the intention of creating lodging and a community events facility.
Then Treasure Mountain Festival Association chose to hold its beloved Tea Room event there as the VanMeters have continued to complete renovations to restore the historic luster of the structure.
Annie Humes, who serves on the committee, explained that “I gave Katie a binder on all things Tea Room. Katie has a wonderful venue.”
Some concerns in the past lay in the limited space for the Tea Room. The VanMeters offered to open the two large main floor parlors to the Tea Room. They also have hosted public events there on Christmas and at other times.
VanMeter went on to say that the festival could use their facility any time at no cost and that they would even don period costumes to make the event more authentic.
Discussion next centered on how to use the lawns on the two street sides of the property. VanMeter suggested that they could add outdoor seating for those waiting to access the Tea Room. Later, the group discussed adding outdoor space to the Tea Room event itself.
“I am more than willing to set up a Tea Room outside,” VanMeter agreed.
Jennifer Taylor-Ide queried VanMeter about access for the disabled, to which she responded that they had to work with the National Register of Historic Places. Buildings on the register must maintain their historic authenticity as much as possible.
Humes proposed that “there are massive tax credits for ADA access.”
“Anything that we can do to give back to our community,” VanMeter added.
At the fore of the meeting, the group discussed ongoing efforts to obtain 501 © 3 status. This status marks an organization as a tax exempt non-profit under the United States Internal Revenue Service. The TMF group already enjoys such status under state law.
A 501 © 3 can raise donations through the promise of a federal tax deduction, but cannot engage in any political or campaign activity.
Applying for such status takes longer than it once did. According to the IRS website, the agency receives just under 100,000 applications for tax exempt status yearly. Depending on which form the organization may use, the application could be processed in four weeks or less or six months or more.
The next meeting of the full TMF body will take place on June 13.
