March 6, 2008

Adams County to maintain fair, grounds

By Jennifer Larsen

News editor

The Board of Adams County Commissioners invited the Public Works Department to a discussion about the Adams County Fair Monday afternoon.

Director Todd O’Brien, Engineer Bill Johns and supervisor Dennis Sackmann joined the commissioners to start the process of taking over maintenance of the fairgrounds and buildings.

The commissioners have discussed ways for the fair to achieve a balanced budget and be a profitable entity for several years, but the discussion moved to the front burner after the county provided about $50,000 to the fair last year.

According to Chairman Jeff Stevens, “It always seemed like it was facility-related things that (the fair) kept coming to us for money… I think we can maintain a better facility.”

The commissioners broached the subject last year during the 2008 budget process but decided to wait for the new year to make changes. The fair’s budget is currently frozen except for payroll and necessary bills.

By the end of Monday’s discussion, the consensus was that public works would take over maintenance of the grounds and buildings, secure the facility, handle rental of the grounds and buildings and maintain the records and accounting.

“For my part, I don’t see any other way around this,” said Commissioner Rudy Plager. The commissioners hope to make the change on April 1.

Currently, a volunteer board operates the fair and one paid full-time employee. The county owns the land and buildings.

With the change, the county would hire a full-time, union employee that would maintain the facility as well as be available for other areas of work, such as maintenance work at the sheriff’s substation in Othello or lending a hand at the transfer stations.

If the county decides to continue to rent the facility for events and/or vehicle storage, a bilingual individual may be necessary to schedule the events and secure event insurance. Rates for winter storage and RV parking would also need to be reviewed.

At this stage, the commissioners expect to contribute use of the facility to the fair. And instead of providing additional funding, the county would provide the labor for maintenance and operation at no charge to the fair for the first year or so.

For public works, the difficult part is going to be a discrepancy between expenditures and revenues.

“We’re taking over 50 percent of the expenditures and only 10 percent of the revenues,” O’Brien said. “To balance it, to balance the budget so to speak, and do some of the things you’re talking about such as (improving) RV parking, you’re talking expenditures… My concern is the revenue side of it. I think there’s going to be a major discrepancy between expenditures and revenues.”

Stevens noted that there is potentially $25,000 to $30,000 worth of rental ability at the facility “because of the lack of those types of facilities in Othello…

“Just taking over maintaining the grounds, I think it would alleviate a lot of the stress we’re feeling right now about where the expenses are going. I think this will allow for the grounds to grow and give the fair solid footing to grow. I see a chance for the fair to grow and the facilities to improve.”

Stevens would ultimately like to see the fair board become a non-profit entity and come up with a master plan for the facility.

The commissioners will meet with the fair board on March 11.