GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
March 20, 2007 MEETING MINUTES
(As approved on April 17, 2007 meeting)
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Bob Brekke, Dennis Farnham, Chris Budeski, Misty Radue, Jim Oberhofer, Chuck Busta
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – Joe Skinner
PUBLIC – Jason Shrauger, Sonja Berg
1. CALL TO ORDER – Chairperson Bob Brekke called the meeting to order at 6:40PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES February 20, 2007 – Misty Radue made the motion to approve the February 20, 2007 Meeting Minutes as presented. Blair Howze seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
4. GUEST PRESENTATIONS – None
5. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – Joe Skinner wanted more information on what was happening on the office space at the Ag Center. Sue Shockley said that the Finance Department would have to re-do the square footage of the Ag Center and the Fairgrounds and Weeds Departments would have to add $5000 per year to the maintenance fund. The operating budget would need to be split between the Fairgrounds and the Weeds Department. Joe Skinner wanted to schedule a meeting between Finance, Dennis Hegel, Sue Shockley and himself. Sue said she would continue trying to rent the available space.
6. EOC ADDITION – Jason Shrauger presented the updated EOC site information. They are expecting to build an 80-100 Foot Tower. MDOT will fund the $160,000 for the tower and IM part will be paid by Homeland Security funds. The time line on this project is running two months behind because of the frequency determination and may possibly start in November. Jason said they are about ready to take a copy of the proposal to the City Planning Department and then the City Building Department. Jason said they were going to meet with the neighborhood group prior to moving forward. Jim Oberhofer made a motion to go forward with the existing plan and to come back if there were any substantial changes. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
7. DECISION ITEMS
A. Baseball Contract Changes- Contract Committee Meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 7:00AM at the Gran Tree.
B. 4-H would like to build a small barn to house rabbits and poultry during the Fair and WinterFest. The 4-H pigs have outgrown the north end of the Hog Barn and need more room. They have had to go to the Sheep Barn for the past 2 years and will go there again this year. That barn is not really suited for pigs and it does create some problems for the sheep people. The Rabbits and poultry project people recently purchased new cages and really would rather not have to take them up and down as it is very hard on the cages. We don’t have any place to store them. They need a place where the cages can be left up if at all possible. Todd Kesner, 4-H agent feels he may be able to have a small barn built if we can find a spot for it. The goal would
be to have it done by July 2008 for the Fair. – Sue Shockley met with Todd Kesner and the livestock key leaders and there is a possibility of having 198 pigs at the fair. There are 66 kids enrolled and each can have up to 3 pigs each. There are only 44 pens available in the pig barn and they wanted to relocate the poultry and rabbits to another location. Sue said that this year the extra pigs would go into the Sheep Barn. 4-H would like to build a barn just for poultry and rabbits. Sue thought the barn could be built where the Sales Pavilion is now after it is moved by Building 4. Joe Skinner said the Fairgrounds would need to get the amount of the move and foundation into the budget if this was to happen. Jim Oberhofer made the motion to agree with the suggestion to build a barn to house rabbits and poultry. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
C. Recommendations from the Policy Committee – 2 recommendations 1) Security for events. 2) Policy for Private promoter bringing events in during a Signature Event. Blair Howze said the Policy/Bylaws Committee started working on a template on which events need more security depending on risk exposure. Sue said that the Hamilton Fairgrounds charges 7-12% for Private promoter events and that does include admission into the Fairgrounds for the day. Sue said that Circle H Productions would be paying a $10,000 flat fee for the PBR event during Fair. The Fairgrounds will get 17% of concessions. Circle H will be responsible for the gate and ticket taking. Sue and the Fair Board wanted to make sure that the PBR is not oversold. Sue said there should
be 3000 tickets. There will not be a restriction as to when the PBR people can come in the day of the event.
D. Recommendations from 4-H Leader to limit horse trailer parking to a percentage allowance rather then straight across the Board 2 trailers per club. 4-H will handle this.
E. A recommendation from the Wild West WinterFest Committee whether or not to continue doing the WinterFest. Sue Shockley said that WinterFest lost about $10,000. It had lost money 4 out of the 5 years it had been put on. The WinterFest committee had some ideas on how to cut expenses and hopefully increase revenue. The idea is to go with local talent for entertainment. Jim Oberhofer made a motion to go forward with the WWWF 2008. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
F. Scheduling same type events within a certain time period. This is getting to be a problem and needs to be reviewed and a policy established. We now have the potential of having multiple Home Shows within a very short period of time. When this happens, everyone loses. For carnivals, we don’t allow another carnival to set up 90 days prior to another carnival. Perhaps we need to look at something like that. We could potentially have the same issue with Antique Shows or other similar events. - Sue said we may need to request to limit the number of home shows in any given period but we would need to check for any legal issues. Blair Howze made a motion that like events are limited no later than 30 days prior to a similar event
without prior vendor approval. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
G. What are we going to do with the proposal we received from Tim Stefan to do the long-range site plan for the Fairgrounds? Tim Stefan made the proposal to create a long-range site plan and projection for the Fairgrounds at a cost of $5000. Sue wanted to know if the Foundation would raise the money to pay for this.
8. FOUNDATION UPDATE – Set a meeting with the Foundation Board, Fair Board and Circle H. The Fair Board wanted to know if this has been set up yet. Sue said she had not heard from Bob Diggs regarding this. Bob Brekke invited other Fair Board members to join the Foundation Board. There will be a Special Fair Board meeting regarding CIP Planning scheduled for April 3, 2007 at 5:30PM at the Ag Center.
9. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2007 Fair – Sue said that Colgate Country Showdown would be coming to the 2007 Fair and want to be there on Saturday in the Outdoor Arena. Sue said this would conflict with the Ranch Rodeo. Sue was hoping to have this event under the tent. Blair Howze said the Mountaineers would be having the Mud Bogs this year. Sue said that a button winner has been picked and the 2007 Fair is moving forward.
B. Community Meeting Committee - No Report – Should schedule next meeting. Nothing scheduled.
C. Freedom Days - No Report – Sue said she needed to contact Harry Johnson to find out what is happening on Freedom Days.
D. Indoor Soccer/Event Center Committee Progress Report – Tim Stefan made modifications to his design to accommodate rodeo events.
E. Contract Committee – No Report Set Meeting – Meeting scheduled March 28, 2007 at 7:00AM at the Gran Tree.
F. Bozeman Roundup – No Report
G. Policy/By Laws Committee – Not completed yet. Meeting is scheduled for April 4, 2007 at 7:00AM at the Holiday Inn.
H. Parking Committee – needs to set up wrap-up meeting for 2006 Fair and discuss issues that arose at WinterFest. Need to decide if we are charging for parking at this year’s Fair. Sue met with Todd Kesner and Livestock key Leaders RE: arrival times, loading and unloading Set meeting. A meeting is scheduled for March 29, 2007 at 8:00AM at the Ag Center.
I. Security/Emergency Planning/First Aid/ Alcohol Committee – No Report – Meeting is scheduled for April 4, 2007 at 7:00AM at the Holiday Inn.
J. Volunteer Committee – No Report
K. Marketing Committee – No Report
L. WinterFest Committee – Discussed prior.
10. CORRESPONDENCE – Sue passed around surveys the Fairgrounds had received.
11. MANAGER’S REPORT – Sue handed out the Manager’s Report.
12. FINANCIAL REPORT – Chris Budeski made a motion to approve the Financial Reports from February 2007 as presented. Misty Radue seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
13. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Senior Center Parking Proposal – Decision – to explore further or not. The Fair Board would like to look at time for a long-range plan.
B. Open Lands Designation – No Report.
C. ICE Facility Update- The ICE Committee has revised their existing plans. They are looking to build another building that would replace the existing Haynes Pavilion and turn the existing Haynes into a year round facility. They have $300,000 from the City of Bozeman as matching funds for this project.
D. Taxes on Pea Cannery – No Report
E. Draft Proposal for improvements to motor sports area – a meeting will be scheduled for the first of January after holidays – No Report
F. Capital Improvement Project Progress Report – Sue had to provide the Finance Department with all of the invoices for the work to be completed by March 15, 2007
G. Personnel Update – None
H. Changes to Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement – tabled until after Policy Committee reviews.
I. Other Items not on agenda- discussion only – Bob Brekke and Sue Shockley will schedule a meeting with Harry Johnson with Yellowstone Harley regarding the Harley event this summer.
14. ANNOUNCEMENTS – None
15. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MONTH’S MEETING –
ADJOURNMENT - Meeting adjourned at 9:15PM
Respectfully Submitted By _________________________________________________
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