The Tourism Committee may separate from the Economic Development Board Jan. 1, 2015, depending on the Board’s decision Wednesday night.

In addition, the EDB will hear the details of a proposed lease of the Commanding Officer’s Quarters, a city-owned historic landmark.

“It is recommended that moving forward, the Tourism Committee shall be a stand-alone committee of representatives of the city’s visitor centers and Economic Development Staff,” Mario Giuliani, economic development manager, wrote in his Oct. 7 report to the Board.

This year, the Committee has had but two meetings because it couldn’t assemble a quorum, he wrote.

Committee members have talked about ways to restructure the panel to make it more effective, he wrote. Those suggestions include slating bimonthly meetings of visitor center representatives without the need of a quorum to conduct business, and for the Committee not to be an EDB subcommittee.

Giuliani wrote that in 2008, the Committee was busy advocating for a comprehensive tourism program. That led to the hiring of Wolf Communications, the city’s tourism consultant.

“Additionally, the Tourism Committee was the spearhead to develop a Downtown Business Improvement District,” he said. “Both these efforts were hugely successful.”

Since then, the Committee has become a forum for Visitor Center representatives to describe local activities and events – the Art Walk, Sunset Celebration Weekend and Solano County Fair, among others.

Should the EDB approve, the Committee may meet on a less formal basis and report on its activities at the Board’s April, August and December meetings.

City employees still would prepare the Committee’s meeting agendas, Giuliani wrote. Invited participants would be representatives of Benicia Main Street, Arts Benicia, Benicia Historical Museum, Benicia State Parks Association, Benicia Old Town Theatre Group, Benicia Downtown Alliance, Benicia Yacht Club and Benicia Chamber of Commerce.

“If the EDB is amenable with these recommended changes, then the action would be to separate or terminate the Tourism Committee as a sub-committee of the EDB,” Giuliani wrote.

“Conversely, if the EDB is not comfortable with these changes, the Board is free make adjustments suitable to the majority of the body,” he wrote. “Based on recent attendance and a desire to be most efficient with the time of those who do attend, staff recommends approval of the proposed changes.”

The Board also will hear a proposed lease agreement for the Commanding Officer’s Quarters that would become Carter’s Cafe.

Businessman Carter Rankin is the founder of Carter’s Biz Cafes, which gives mobile, work-from-home professionals who become members a place for meetings with concierge service, video conferencing, meeting rooms, office machines, classes and hospitality service.

In previous talks to city panels, Rankin said this would be one of several such membership business cafes, with others opening in Fremont, Emeryville, Mountain View, San Francisco and Oakland.

The Commanding Officer’s Quarters, sometimes called “The Queen of the Arsenal,” was the Benicia Arsenal’s home for its commander.

When the U.S. Army left and the city acquired the property, the building became a destination restaurant until 1986, when a fire damaged the historic site and revealed multiple safety hazards.

Shuttered in 1986, the building finally was renovated by Benicia in a $3 million restoration project, and was open to prospective tenants and other municipal uses Feb. 10, 2010.

City employees and Board members will talk about updates to the Arsenal hazardous materials cleanup, the Business Retention, Expansion and Attraction Committee activities, and invoices and work reports from Wolf Communications and Benicia main Street.

The panel will hear about vacancies in commercial and industrial buildings and of recent business license applications.

After the meeting, the Board will tour the Benicia Historical Museum.

The Economic Development Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Benicia Historical Museum, 2060 Camel Road.