GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
November 16, 2004 Minutes
As approved at the December 21, 2004 Meeting
ATTENDANCE:
Fair Board Members - Greg Raths, Blair Howze, Bob Brekke, Betsy Centa
Board Advisor - None
County Commissioner - Jennifer Smith Mitchell
Guests - Rob Pertzborn with BAHA, Chris Kent with SAR
Staff - Sue Shockley, Manager; Cheryl McNicholas, Bookkeeping Clerk
Committee Members - Darrell Andersen, Chris Bakwin
Public - Sonja Berg
1. CALL TO ORDER:
Chairman Greg Raths called the meeting to order at 6:33pm.
2. WELCOME TO NEW BOARD MEMBER:
Greg welcomed our new board member, Betsy Centa.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Rob Hertzborn of BAHA reported to the Board that their hockey registrations are similar to last year, 58 children and 150 adults. Their schedule is posted at the rink and on their website. Some public skate time is available during the day. Hockey games are scheduled between 3:30pm-11pm. They have no figure skaters this year. They are currently working on 2 projects: 1) Coiling doors for which they have a sponsor. 2) Sound system with 8-12 speakers. They estimate a cost of $8,000 and plan to pay for it with some of their own money, through sponsorships, and asked the Fair Board to consider donating $1,000. BAHA will hold a tournament during Wild West WinterFest, involving 150 adults. BFI is doing a good job taking care of their trash. All traffic control signs are up. Greg said to add the doors and sound system to the Fair Board’s
December agenda.
4. MINUTES:
Blair moved to approve the October 19, 2004 minutes as corrected. Seconded by Bob. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried. Bob moved to approve the October 25, 2004 special meeting minutes. Seconded by Blair. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried.
5. GUEST PRESENTATIONS:
None
6. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE:
Commissioner Smith Mitchell reported that the County will receive $2.7 million from the sale of the Oak Street property. There will be a staff meeting with new Montana legislators on December 15th. Commissioner Vincent and Mike Harris will be serving as lobbyists for Gallatin County. She invited the Fair Board to bring any concerns to her before her term ends on December 31st. She speculated that Joe Skinner will be her replacement as Fair Board’s liaison to the Commission. She would like to see the Pea Cannary property trade finalized with the City of Bozeman before she leaves the Commission.
7. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Fair (July 20-24, 2005): Sue reported that this committee meets next on November 18th. Their agenda will include election of officers and selecting a new theme. While attending the Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs convention last week in Colorado Springs, CO, we were able to preview and speak to potential entertainers for our Fair. As part of our new Outdoor Arena dedication during the Fair, we would like to find a co-sponsor to help us bring in a well-known performer for a concert.
WinterFest (February 18-20, 2005): Darrell Andersen, Chairman, reported that this committee meets next on November 17th. With the exception of bull riding, everything is coming together. However, the Fairgrounds Foundation is still working on it. If we don’t have bull riding, we need a replacement activity. A band has been booked for the dance. The schedule and format for Ag in the Classroom is still unresolved.
SeptoberFest (September 24, 2005): Sue reported that this committee met on November 9th with very poor attendance. It was discussed using 2 buildings and focusing the event on music, food and dancing only.
Rodeo: Chris Bakwin, Chairman, reported that the committee has lined up a stock contractor and has put together an informal schedule.
Marketing: Sue reported that this committee hasn’t met lately, but will meet soon so they can develop a strong plan for WinterFest. Betsy and Jennifer would like to join this committee. Betsy asked that the marketing committee invite Andi Shockley to share the results of her Fairgrounds Trend Survey once completed.
Volunteer: Sue reported that this committee hasn’t met since Fair, but should resume having regular meetings since it’s one of our performance measurements for objectives.
Policy/By Laws: Tabled till February’s meeting.
Pricing: Sue reported that this committee met on October 27th and discussed rental prices for our large portable bleachers. Their recommendation is to charge a minimum transportation fee of $25 within a 25-mile radius. Anything over 25 miles would include an additional transportation fee of $1 per mile both ways. We must provide the personnel to transport and setup the bleachers or our insurance will not cover any damage. For rental fees, the committee recommended charging $450 per day or $950 for 5 consecutive days. Each day over 5 days would be billed at $100 per day. After much discussion, Blair moved to send the proposal back to the pricing committee for changes. Bob seconded. Vote was taken, 3 in favor, 1 opposed, motion carried. Bob volunteered to replace Dale Nerlin on this committee.
Lewis & Clark: Sue reported that this committee meets every 2 weeks. They met today with a representative from the National Park Service. A site for the Corps of Discovery II exhibit was selected along the Tamarack Street fence on the south end of the Fairgrounds. This exhibit will arrive here on July 19th, setup July 20-21, and be open to the public from July 22-31. Entertainment will be schedule from 12-8pm each day. The State Bi-Centennial Committee will give us $500 per day to help pay for security and programming expenses.
8. FOUNDATION UPDATE:
Arena Project: Bob reported that the Foundation is waiting for Dan Cross to return a signed contract. The design committee met and chose a site for the arena and grandstand.
Amphitheatre Update: Nothing new.
WinterFest: They have been discussing putting on the bull riding. If we have this activity, they will do the Calcutta. They will be sponsoring the horse sale again.
Annual Meeting: They will be holding this dinner on January 21st.
9. CORRESPONDENCE:
Sue passed around a folder containing current correspondence.
10. MANAGER’S REPORT:
Sue highlighted the following items from her Manager’s Report:
§ Landscaping is done for the year.
§ The estimates requested by the Commissions for improvements to our buildings and grounds is ready, but the Commissioners are still waiting for Roads and Weeds to submit their requests before they can sign a low-interest loan from the State. Sue will speak to Ed Blackman in Fiscal to see if this loan can be done in 2 parts, allowing the Fairgrounds to start work now during our slow time. Sue should have drawings of our exhibit building renovations by the December Fair Board meeting.
§ Bob located a 1973 grain truck for us in Clyde Park. It has a steel dump box and could be used to haul barn litter to the dump. The cost is $5,000.
§ We interviewed 5 applicants for the Operations Foreman position. However, due to some misinterpretation of the job description, the County Human Resource Director decided to rewrite the description and re-advertise.
§ We have registered the name and logo for both SeptoberFest and WinterFest with the MT Secretary of State.
§ We have received our preliminary Pollution Prevention Assessment from the EPA. Dust was determined as our biggest problem.
§ A group of 9 attended the Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs in Colorado Springs, CO from November 10-14. During the convention, Fairs from around Montana held a meeting and decided to create a state association mainly to address legislative issues. This new group will only meet during the RMAF annual convention. We attended a workshop on Fair Economic Impact and as a result, will recommend that our marketing committee begin collecting this type of data. Other workshops attended by the group included Media Analysis, Recruiting & Retaining Volunteers, Recruiting & Training Judges, Grants & Funding, Sponsorship Opportunities and Animal Ethics. 2 important points came out
of the Dealing with County Commissioners workshop: 1) Vendor liability insurance is not required when attending a Fairgrounds-sponsored event. 2) State law does not require county agencies to publish meeting notices or agendas in the newspaper. They only need to be posted in a public place. Sue will draft a resolution for the Fair Board’s approval next month, establishing the which public place we will post our meeting notices and agendas. We will also post these items on our website.
11. FINANCIAL REPORT:
The Fair Board reviewed the Monthly Financial Report for October. Since the County Accounting Dept. does not provide us with month-end figures in time for our monthly board meetings, it was moved by Blair to delay this report each month until all relevant data can be provided. Seconded by Betsy. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried.
12. DECISION ITEMS:
Policy Manual: Tabled until new board members have been appointed.
Letter to Donor: Tabled.
JTL Sidewalk Quote: It was moved by Bob to accept JTL’s quote of $49,180.50 to install a sidewalk along Tamarack Street from 3rd Street to the State Highway Dept. building. Seconded by Blair. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried. Construction will begin next spring.
Location of New Outdoor Arena & Covered Grandstand: Sue reported that the design committee chose to leave the site in the same location as the old facility; however, it will be moved slightly to the west. The grandstand will face north. The bucking chutes will be located on the north side of the arena. They are considering splitting the arena in half with temporary fencing so 2 venues can take place at the same time. It was moved by Bob to approve this location. Seconded by Betsy. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried.
Approval of Draft Plan for North Half of Road Dept. Property: Tabled.
Facilitated Meetings: We haven’t heard anything from Steve Tanner. NENA was waiting for a response to their letter to the County Commissioners. However, they need to get on the Commissioners’ agenda to get a response. Jennifer suggested that NENA and the Fair Board should come together to make agreements on holding a facilitated meeting and then present that to the Commissioners. However, before NENA will agree to a facilitated meeting, they want to resolve the issue of how public meetings are posted. Sue will get a written opinion from the Montana Association of Counties and the Attorney General stating their positions on posting of public meetings. Jennifer also suggested contacting the Montana Freedom of Information Network since our County Attorney is providing conflicting information regarding posting of public
meetings. Jennifer stated that the Fair Board and NENA can best resolve their problems themselves and not through the County Commissioners.
Bozeman Lion’s Club Annual Rental Agreement Draft: Tabled.
Draft Proposal for Improvement of Motor Sports Area: Speaking on behalf of the Mountaineers, Blair would like to have an agreement that when any facility is built for the Fairgrounds, a maintenance plan is worked out with the Fairgrounds. Sue stated that a permanent track must be established before we will create a maintenance plan. Motor sports groups need to hold their own meeting and draft a proposal of what they want. Blair will contact the Mountaineers, Jaycees, ATV Club and ATV Safety Institute to arrange a meeting. Sue and Fairgrounds’ operations staff will be invited to attend.
Invitation to all Fair Board Applicants: All those who have applied to serve on the Fair Board will be invited to attend our December meeting.
13. DISCUSSION ITEMS:
City Noise Ordinance: Sue hasn’t written the City yet regarding our exemption.
READI Workforce Training: Sue stated that the pricing committee recommended charging them our normal rates. Sue will relay this information to Van Shelhamer.
Bozeman Baseball Renewal Contract: Nothing new.
Pea Cannery Update: Nothing new.
SAR Building Update: Chris Kent reported that they have moved their equipment in, but the building is not yet fully operational. Sue stated she would not sign off for final payment until all remaining items on the punch list have been completed. The dedication is planned for next spring.
Emergency & Disaster Planning: Tabled.
Personnel Update: Sue will be taking some time off the week of Thanksgiving, the first week of December and during the holidays. As Chairman, Greg will begin signing Sue’s timesheets.
Other Business: Greg said to eliminate this category and handle future Other Business matters as Announcements. Meeting minutes regarding an exception requested by a Fair vendor need to be checked and a decision needs to be made at the December Fair Board meeting if it hasn’t been done already.
14. ANNOUNCEMENTS:
December’s meeting will be a potluck.
15. ADJOURNMENT:
Chairman Greg Raths adjourned the meeting at 9:40pm.
Respectfully Submitted: ___________________________________________ / ___11-18-04___
Cheryl McNicholas Date
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