Compass Facility Management will oversee most of the operations of the beleaguered Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, a transition committee of the bureau proposed Monday night.

Beginning March 1, Compass will oversee the bureau’s general management, personnel, budgeting, sales and marketing, public relations, convention and visitor services, operating services, special-event coordinating and merchandising, the panel said.

Board chairman Tim Darden said he will distribute copies of the proposed contract to board members and to Compass employees for review before the next transition committee meeting on Feb. 27.

The contract hiring Compass as the new executive director of the bureau will follow a 45-day exploratory deal between Compass and the VCVB.

The board decided Jan. 26 to hire the Iowa-based firm despite a Mississippi attorney general’s opinion that the pact may violate state law. This will be the first time the bureau will be run by a company, rather than an individual.

The transition committee is made up of all eleven members of the board: Darden, David Maggio, Bobbie Morrow, Jo Wilson, Lamar Roberts, Bill Collins, Patty Cappaert, Bobby Doyle, Jessica Williams, Omar Nelson and Bobby Bailess.

However, only Darden, Maggio, Roberts, Collins, Cappaert and Bailess, all Compass supporters, were present for Monday’s meeting.

The transition committee was formed in December to work on the details of the arrangement with Compass, in which Compass has agreed to work for the VCVB without a charge for services. Compass was hired in 2001 by the city to run the Vicksburg Convention Center and Vicksburg Auditorium for $125,000 a year. The company will continue to be paid by the city government and is not seeking further payment from the bureau.

The current draft of the contract states the agreement will last until Feb. 29, 2008, during which time Compass will be required to present a proposed annual business and operating plan each September, identifying goals and objectives.

&#8220They’re going to give us a report on revenue and on sales activity,” Darden said.

Also included in this draft of the contract is a clause stating Compass will not be allowed to dismiss any employee without approval from the board and it must receive pre-approval from the board for any expenses it wishes to be reimbursed.

The VCVB board will hold its next regular meeting Feb. 28. Board members said they hope to be able to vote on the contract during the regular meeting.