GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
MAY 15, 2007 MEETING MINUTES
(As approved on June 19, 2007 meeting)
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Bob Brekke, Dennis Farnham, Chris Budeski, Jim Oberhofer, Chuck Busta
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – Joe Skinner
PUBLIC – Bob Diggs, Sonja Berg, Brian Anderson, Tom LeProwse
1. CALL TO ORDER – Chairperson Bob Brekke called the meeting to order at 6:35PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES February 20, 2007 – Chuck Busta made a motion to approve the April 17, 2007 Meeting Minutes as presented. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
Jim Oberhofer made a motion to approve the May 1, 2007 Special Fair Board minutes as presented. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
4. GUEST PRESENTATIONS –
A. Breakfast Optimists RE: Their organization – what they do for the community and what they do for the Fair – They would like to know if the Fairgrounds may be willing to increase their per hour credit for working the gates since our rental rates have increased. Tom LeProwse said the Optimists put 200+ kids through Hunter’s Safety each year in the Gallatin County. They are involved in the Boys & Girls Club. They generate between $50,000-$60,000 for projects. They work with the Business Professionals, DECA Club with Advertising, and Skills America for serving for the Breakfast Garaga-rama. Tom LeProwse said their group donated 325 man-hours last year at $7/hour credit. Tom said their bill for use of the building was $800 higher than
the year before. Debbie Ehlert explained to him that the bill was figured incorrectly and they were not billed as much as they should have in 2006 and there was a heat surcharge that was added along with the 3% annual increase in 2007. the Fair Board said they would send this to the pricing committee for review. They would need to look at job classifications to determine per hour credit.
B. Gallatin Ice Foundation Project Update – Will need a decision on whether or not they may insulate the Haynes – is approximately a $200,000 project and they have most of the funds available to do it. The ICE Foundation wants to be able to insulate the ceiling and have permanent sidewalls. The building will have radiant heat and an exhaust system. They will be putting tin over the insulation. The ICE Foundation would like to make the Haynes a 10-month a year facility. This might be a benefit to the Fairgrounds. The ICE Foundation is still trying to get donations for another seasonal ICE facility that will be 15 feet wider than the existing Haynes Pavilion and would cost around 1.3 million dollars. The Fair Board said they would not approve
unless there was a proof of money and a professional was designing the building. Joe Skinner said the Commission was checking into how facilities were being built on the Fairgrounds property. Joe Skinner said there should be 3 bids and the contractors would have to follow the guidelines. Sue Shockley said that if there are no public funds involved the projects do not have to be bid and Davis-Bacon wages do not apply even if it is being built on County property. Joe Skinner said that was not necessarily correct. The Commissioners will review the matter.
5. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – Commissioner Joe Skinner said the Budgets were coming up. Joe Skinner said the Fair Board was doing a good job. He said the Fairgrounds request for ADA and Restrooms was not to far down on the CIP requests. Joe Skinner said that the Commissioners are looking at ground up asphalt shingles as a road cover.
6. DECISION ITEMS
A. Pricing Issues – sometimes prices need to be changed quickly – how shall we do this? Sue Shockley said the Fairgrounds just had an issue where pine shavings used for stalling increased to $6.49 per bag. The Fairgrounds was charging $6.00 per bag. Stalls were being billed out at $10 per stall and they included 1 bag of shavings. Sue increased the bags of shavings to $7.00 per bag and Stalls were increased to $15.00 for the first night and $10.00 for each subsequent night. Sue wanted to know how to handle this in the future. Chuck Busta made a motion to allow the Fairgrounds manager to increase prices as seen fit and to be able to justify the increase at the next scheduled Fair Board meeting. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Unanimous for.
None against. Motion carried.
B. Fair Pricing – How about a Free Day on Sunday and just accept donations? Sue Shockley suggested having a free day on Sunday. Chuck Busta suggested having a dollar day the same as last year. Dennis Farnham made a motion to charge $1 admission and have the Ticket Booths open until 2:00PM. Jim Oberhofer seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
C. Master Plan – can we hire someone to get this done NOW? The City wants the Fairgrounds to work with Galavan on parking next to Tamarack. There may be some grants available for planning. Joe Skinner was going to look into what may be available that might help with funding the site plan. The Fair Board agreed that they needed to move forward with the master plan. Sue Shockley said that the Fairgrounds might be able to update the Feasibility study in house. Chuck Busta made a motion to move forward with the Master Plan. Chris Budeski seconded the motion with discussion. Dennis Farnham called question. Discussed. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried. The Fair Board may seek a proposal from the public about what the public would like to
see at the Fairgrounds.
D. 2007 – 2008 Budget – Sue said that she was going to have to work on balancing the budget. She would need to trim back expenses. She wanted the Fair Board to look over the expenses and categorize the list of expenses with the least necessary and the most necessary. Sue said she could cut out $20,000 in expenses out of WinterFest.
E. Recommendations regarding security and safety for events – some changes – Sue Shockley said that our customers have not been successful in hiring off duty officers for their events. The Fairgrounds has been allowing them to hire 2-4 security people.
BREAK – 8:20PM TO 8:25PM
F. Fair Parking – changes – Sue said that the Bozeman Optimists are not able to do parking for the Fair because they do not have enough people available. Sue suggested taking 50 cents of each fair pass sold and allotting it to the parking lot. The Fair Board did not want to decrease the profit off of the gates. They suggested to keep looking for a group to do the parking.
G. Water Line installation problems – do we want to try to have the contractor pay some of the costs – Keith Duneman said his boys gave the as-built drawing to Brad Bell. All we have is a sketch not an accurate drawing. Sue asked the Fair Board if they wanted to have a meeting with the contractor to go over what all is wrong. Chris Budeski said he would meet with Keith Duneman. Chris Budeski said that no other board members needed to be present.
H. Community Meeting Committee – No Report – Shall we combine this with a meeting regarding the new tower? Before Fair??? Sue Shockley said we are waiting on Jason Shrauger. This will be tabled for now.
I. Who would like to represent the Fair Board on the Park Design Committee. Sue Shockley would let the Fair Board know when the meetings are.
7. FOUNDATION UPDATE
A. Bob Diggs said that the foundation was poured and the electrical has been laid at the concession stand. There have been some additional charges because the Foundation had not yet received a completed set of plans from Lowell Springer yet. Bob said the Foundation was going to try to make sure that the concession stand was completed by Fair time.
8. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2007 Fair – Sue Shockley said she is working with Sam Porter with Porterhouse Productions to help with the Kahuna Beach Party since they have needs that the Fairgrounds staff and operations may not be able to meet. Sam Porter is working on having a Music Festival every night of the Fair. Sam Porter presented a proposal and budget for $22,000 and Sue told him that the Fairgrounds would not be able to afford that. Sam Porter told her that he would be paying for it not the Fairgrounds. Sam Porter would be taking the profits from the two nights of the concerts that he will put on. Sam Porter will do the sound for the Kahuna Beach Party and the XL Country Showdown. Tickets for all three-concert events will be sold in advance and the day of the
events. Harry Huntsinger was supposed to be doing equal advertising for the Fair in conjunction with the advertising for PBR and the Fairgrounds will be doing the same thing. Dennis Farnham asked if Sue had received a signed contract yet for the PBR. Sue was going to check on it since the Fairgrounds did not have the contract yet. Sue said that the Fairgrounds were working on the Rodeo Queen Pageant that was going to be held at the Fairgrounds during the Fair as well. The Premium Tab that is being done by the Bozeman Chronicle on June 3, 2007 and the Entertainment Tab is going out on July 15, 2007. The Fair Board agreed to do 1000 50/50 buttons.
B. Indoor Soccer/Event Center Committee Progress Report – no report – Need to schedule a meeting.
C. Contract Committee – need to set up meeting
D. Bozeman Roundup – There is a meeting scheduled for May 16, 2007
E. Policy/By Laws Committee – Need to Schedule a meeting
F. Parking Committee – Need to Schedule a meeting
G. Security/Emergency Planning/First Aid/Alcohol Committee – Jim Oberhofer met with the Lion’s Club and there is an understanding in place. Jim Oberhofer mentioned some issues with Phil Schneider that needs to be addressed.
H. Volunteer Committee – Set up meeting.
I. Marketing Committee – Set up meeting.
J. WinterFest Committee – Absolute Final Numbers – will have report – Financial reports were handed out.
9. CORRESPONDENCE – Nothing
10. MANAGER’S REPORT – No Manager’s Report.
11. FINANCIAL REPORT – No Financial Report
12. DECISION ITEMS
A. Senior Center Parking Proposal – No Report
B. Open Lands Designation – No Report
C. EOC Addition Update – Nothing yet.
D. ICE Facility Update – Previously discussed.
E. County CIP Recommendations – will have copies for anyone who would like one. Sue Shockley will email out to the Fair Board
F. Draft Proposal for improvements to motor sports area – Sue Shockley met with Steve with SCS and Steve was meeting with the motor sports committee.
G. Personnel Update – Sue Shockley said that Doug Geitzen quit and Brad Bell resigned his position and his last day is June 3, 2007. Sue has advertised the two positions. She has two applications in so far.
H. Changes to Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement – tabled until after Policy Committee reviews – nothing
I. Other items not on agenda – discussion only - nothing
13. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none
14. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MONTH’S MEETING
15. ADJOURNMENT
Jim Oberhofer made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:10PM. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted by:______________________________________
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