GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
August 21, 2007 MEETING MINUTES
(As approved on September 18, 2007 meeting)
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Bob Brekke, Blair Howze, Dennis Farnham, Chris Budeski, Chuck Busta, Misty Radue
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – Joe Skinner
PUBLIC – Bob Diggs, Mark D’Agostino
1. CALL TO ORDER – Chairperson Bob Brekke called the meeting to order at 6:31PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES May 15, 2007 – Blair Howze made a motion to approve the June 19, 2007 Meeting Minutes and the July 31, 2007 Special Meeting Minutes as presented. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
4. GUEST PRESENTATIONS – None
5. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – Joe Skinner said that the Road Department might be moving to Baxter Lane in the next year or so. Joe Skinner said that the Fair Board made a good presentation to the Commissioners for the Site Plan for the Fairgrounds.
6. DECISION ITEMS-
A. Black Box Design Proposal for Outdoor Arena Sound System – Sue Shockley said the cost to repair the sound in the arena was around $1800.
B. Open Lands Designation and Funding Decision – Chris Budeski and Chuck Busta met with Mike Harris. Chuck Busta said it looks good for the Fairgrounds since the Fairgrounds was largely undeveloped. It could be altered to be less ambiguous and fit with the Environmental aspect. The Fairgrounds Foundation would hold the easement. Chuck Busta recommended allowing the Foundation to move ahead. The Fair Board should apply for the easement and the Foundation would hold the easement. Chuck Busta said the Fair Board needed clarification of the application process. Concern was how this would impact future grant opportunity and bond money to develop the Fairgrounds. Dennis Farnham made a motion that after clarification of the application process to move
forward with the application. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
C. Proposal from Darrell Anderson regarding employment at the Fairgrounds – Darrell Anderson worked for the Fairgrounds for 16 years 7 months and he quit 2 years ago. He would like to come back as the Facility Operations Foreman at the Fairgrounds. He said he would guarantee that the Fairgrounds would be back on line within one year. He said he would come back at his original pay scale with benefits and his time rolled over and a raise within a year if his goal was met. Chris Budeski asked Darrell why he quit and Darrell said he needed a change of pace and because a new foremen was hired. Chris Budeski said he was in favor of Darrell coming back and if there were any way to do this it would be a great opportunity to do this. Sue said she
would need to create the position and advertise. Sue said she decided the position was not needed and too expensive and doing away with the position would help the Fairgrounds financially.
D. Public meeting dates – schedule times and dates – Blair Howze made a motion to have the first public meeting facilitated on September 11, 2007 at 7:00PM and the next meeting on October 10, 2007 at 7:00PM in either Building 1 or Building 3 with more meetings to be scheduled at a later date. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
7. FOUNDATION UPDATE – Bob Diggs said that the Foundation was going to apply for a grant from Northwestern Energy to help with the cost of the hook up of the gas and electricity for the concession stand. Bob said they still needed the HVAC plans since they were not yet completed. Tim Kuhlman who is a mechanical engineer may help them. They are going to install a sidewalk 4 feet wide by 5 inches deep that will cost $6000. The foundation wants to do a study on how the run off water flows on the Fairground’s property since this seems to be an issue.
8. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2007 Fair – Sue Shockley said the Boy Scouts would come back to do parking next year. They would like to charge $2.00 per car and have an all day park pass so people could come and go for the day. Sue Shockley said she had to send out a certified letter to Freestone Productions, LLC. to get the rest of the payment that was owed from PBR. Sue said there was good coverage by the Sheriff’s Department. There was an incident with Baseball during the Fair. They broke a windshield in one of the Mud Bog Trucks. As per the contract with Baseball, they are not to have any games during Fair but they do every year. This may need to be addressed by the Fair Board. The Fairgrounds will not do 50/50 buttons next year. It worked well for 4-H in the
Outdoor Arena on Friday.
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 – Sue Shockley said the rodeo went well. It was well attended. Need to schedule the Rodeo Queen Contest maybe different if it is here again in the future.
E. Policy/By Laws Committee – Meeting scheduled September 6, 2007 at 6:30AM at the Holiday Inn.
F. Parking Committee – Need more signage. May consider charging for parking at other major events held on the Fairgrounds.
G. Security/Emergency Planning/First Aid/Alcohol Committee – Dennis Farnham said that he might have First Aid for the Fair next year. He may be able to get a staff of doctors to donate their time.
H. Volunteer Committee – Set up meeting with Kelly with RSVP for training their volunteers.
I. Marketing Committee – Set up meeting – No Report.
J. WinterFest Committee – We will have the check from Headwaters Livestock for the Horse sale next week and we will have the final financial report from WinterFest 2007.
K. Open Lands Committee – See above.
L. Pricing Committee – Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 28, 2007 at 6:30AM at the Holiday Inn.
9. CORRESPONDENCE – Sue Shockley presented the correspondence folder.
10. MANAGER’S REPORT – Sue Shockley said she would be switching to four 10-hour days per week starting in October. Sue said that the Fairgrounds needs to increase revenues. She said that the Fairgrounds lost about $71,000 last year after tax revenue. The Fairgrounds needs to charge people consistently.
11. FINANCIAL REPORT – Must approve financial report – Completed financials will be present at the September 18, 2007 Fair Board meeting.
12. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. 2007 Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs Meeting – who would like to go? It’s in Billings, Nov. 6-11.
B. EOC/SAR Building Tower Update – Report on the Special Meeting.
C. Gallatin Ice Foundation Project Update- previously discussed.
D. Baseball Contract – Waiting to get it back from the County Attorney.
E. Draft Proposal for improvements to motor sports area – SCS and Motor Sports are working together regarding the Motor Sports area.
F. Capital Improvement Project progress report – The conceptual drawing of the Fairgrounds was presented to the Park Board.
G. Changes to Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement – tabled until after Policy Committee reviews – nothing
H. Other items not on agenda – discussion only – Sue Shockley’s evaluation by the Fair Board scheduled for 5:30PM September 18, 2007 prior to the Fair Board meeting.
13. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none
14. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MONTH’S MEETING
15. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 9:09PM.
Respectfully Submitted by:______________________________________
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