GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
September 18, 2007 MEETING MINUTES
(As approved on October 16, 2007 Meeting)
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Chris Budeski, Blair Howze, Dennis Farnham, Jim Oberhofer, Chuck Busta, Misty Radue
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – None
PUBLIC – Kathy Farnham, Sonja Berg
1. CALL TO ORDER – Vice-Chairperson Chris Budeski called the meeting to order at 6:55PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES May 15, 2007 – Dennis Farnham made a motion to approve the August 21, 2007 Meeting Minutes as presented. Misty Radue seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
4. GUEST PRESENTATIONS – None
5. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – None
6. DECISION ITEMS-
A. Brett Cline is asking that the Zebra Lounge be reconsidered to provide alcohol services for events here at the Fairgrounds – Brett Cline with the Zebra was not allowed to serve concessions because he failed to pay for any of the four events that he catered alcohol at. Brett said that he did not follow up with his staff regarding the 17% Commission on the Gross Sales. He said he did not make any money on the two small events but he did on SCS and WinterFest 2005. Brett offered a donation and the re-numeration
for the past debt if he would be allowed to do events at the Fairgrounds again. Brett Cline said he had a good record with others venues and he wanted to be able to have a good relationship with the Fairgrounds and the Fairgrounds staff again. Blair Howze made a motion to allow Brett Cline to come back to the Fairgrounds with probationary approval pending payment of all past due invoices and fees with immediate cancellation of right to vend upon failure to pay after each event. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried. There was some discussion about how alcohol vendors should settle up after the event. Brett stated he had a form he had his bartenders complete after every shift and he would be happy to share that with us. The board feels it would be a good idea to standardize the settlement of these vendors.
B. Proposal from Sue Shockley that she be allowed to work four 10-hour days per week. Would like to take Mondays or Fridays off – Sue Shockley was requesting to work four 10-hour days and would like to take Monday or Friday off. Debbie Holwegner her Personal Assistant would be in charge when Sue was not available. Debbie Holwegner is working four 10-hour days, Monday-Thursday with Fridays off. The Fair Board did not recommend having both Sue Shockley and Debbie Holwegner taking the same days off. The Fair Board said they would need to check to see if the HR Department had a say in this before the Fair Board could make the decision.
C. Choose someone to Represent the Fair Board on the Gallatin Ice Foundation Board – Dennis Farnham agreed to serve on the Gallatin Ice Foundation Board.
D. Baseball Contract – have it back from Co. Attorney’s office with minor changes. Is it ready to go back to Bozeman Baseball – The Fair Board did not agree with some of the contract terms. They wanted specific language regarding usage during signature events. The Contract committee had agreed to a 5-year lease, renewable in 5-year increments. The Fair Board wanted strong language regarding consequences if the contract was not followed since Bozeman Baseball has not complied with not having tournaments or usage during the Fairground’s past signature events. Sue Shockley said she would send the contract back to Chris Grey for changes.
E. BAHA one-month contract Sept. 23 to Oct 14, 2007 – review and approve – BAHA Equipment belongs to GIF. Need to bill GIF for loading and removal of BAHA equipment in the Motor Sports area. Agreement to remove equipment within a week. Jim Oberhofer made a motion to approve the one-month contract to allow BAHA to take procession of the Haynes Pavilion on September 23. Misty Radue seconded the motion. Discussion. Charge half of $8538.34 or $4269.17 for rent and $4269.17 to be applied to BAHA’s credit balance. Five for: Chris Budeski, Dennis Farnham, Jim Oberhofer, Chuck Busta, Misty Radue. One against, Blair Howze. Motion carried. GIF would be charged for any clean up of the equipment left in the Motor Sports Area.
F. Pricing Committee Recommendations – The pricing committee recommended a 10% increase on all of the rental rates with a minimum charge and specific Open Riding times. The Pricing Committee was going to meet again and bring back all of the recommendations to the Fair Board for approval.
G. Site Plan Progress – Public Meeting Dates – changed to Oct. 3 and Nov 14. – Process discussion. Sue has a facilitator – Pete Geddes. Other meetings and input – The first meeting with NENA is scheduled for October 3, 2007. A presentation for the NENA Annual meeting is scheduled for Sept 25 at 7:00PM and the next meeting will be November 14, 2007.
7. FOUNDATION UPDATE – Kathy Farnham said the Concession stand might be done in two weeks. They still need to get the certificate of occupancy from the City of Bozeman. They needed to replace the wooden wall studs behind where the stove is going with metal studs. The total cost will be about $321,000. Bob Diggs was sending out the application for a grant to Northwestern Energy to help defray the cost of installation of the power and gas to the concession stand.
8. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2007 Fair – Jim Oberhofer addressed the sale of plastic guns and metal knives during the 2007 Fair. Jim Oberhofer said if the Fair Board would uphold the Gallatin County and State statues the Fair Board would not have to do anything to restrict the sale of these items. This item would be kept on the agenda for a decision item. The Boy Scouts did a good job parking vehicles in the lot. Dennis Farnham suggested getting safety vests and paying for them or getting them donated that way we would have them for any group that would do parking. Dennis Farnham said he was working on getting First Aid during Fair next year. The Fairgrounds is looking at getting a golf cart or 4 wheeler with a stretcher attached to use.
B. Indoor Soccer/Event Center Committee Progress Report – no report – Need to schedule a meeting.
C. Contract Committee – Need to schedule a meeting with Baseball for their contract and with BAHA to extend theirs.
D. Bozeman Roundup – Need to schedule a meeting. No meeting scheduled until November.
E. Policy/By Laws Committee – The committee is waiting for the Alcohol and Security committee to make their recommendations so that they can be included in the policy manual. Need to discuss free alcohol and what the issues are. Should the Fairgrounds hire security-so we have control. Send out RFP’s to the security companies for pricing. The Fairgrounds has the most risk on individual events. Jim Oberhofer suggested trying to contact Merv Gunderson since he used to have a licensed security firm.
F. Parking Committee – Discussed prior.
G. Security/Emergency Planning/First Aid/Alcohol Committee – Dennis Farnham said he would look into safety vests. Need to set up meeting.
H. Volunteer Committee – Meeting scheduled for October 2, 2007 at 2:00PM at the Ag Center.
I. Marketing Committee – Set up meeting – No Report.
J. WinterFest Committee – WinterFest is February 15-17, 2008. The committee was looking into a concert for Valentine’s Day - Carhart and Sweetheart Dance. Maybe a Rib Fest in addition to the Chili cook off. Maybe look into having a poker tournament. Next WinterFest meeting is September 20, 2007 at 7:00AM at the Ag Center.
K. Open Lands Committee – working on draft application – Bob Diggs, Tim Stefan, Mike Hope and Mark Harris are working on the draft proposal along with Sue Shockley. Will present to the Fair Board either at Nov. or Dec. meeting and turn in to the Open Lands Board in January.
9. CORRESPONDENCE – Sue Shockley presented correspondence regarding one 4-H Member that had complaints regarding the 2007 Fair and the Fairgrounds. The Fair Board wanted to schedule a time to meet with the individual or the individual’s representative to address the complaints. Sue Shockley was going to contact the person and try to schedule a time to meet.
10. MANAGER’S REPORT – Sue Shockley was going to post a position for a marketing/ fundraising person since the Fairgrounds had funding available for that position. Winterization plans are underway. The written report is made a part of these minutes.
11. FINANCIAL REPORT – Must approve financial report – Jim Oberhofer made a motion to approve the June 2007, July 2007 and August 2007 Monthly Expenses as presented. Misty Radue seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried. Sue Shockley said the financials would be presented on the cash basis not accrual basis.
12. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. 2007 Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs Meeting – There will be eight people going to this years meeting.
B. EOC/SAR Building Tower Update – Next week the tower will be up.
C. Gallatin Ice Foundation Project Update- The insulation is just about installed.
D. Security Deposit Procedures – will be made a part of our Operations Policies which staff will write and the Fair Board will review and formally adopt – The Fairgrounds will request a security plan for events. The Operations Staff will work on an Operations Policy Manual.
E. Fairgrounds Business Plan – update on progress – Sue Shockley said she was working on a Business Plan for the Fairgrounds along with Tim Stefan and Don Pisarcik.
F. Draft Proposal for improvements to motor sports area – SCS and Motor Sports are working together regarding the Motor Sports area.
G. Capital Improvement Project progress report – Sue Shockley said there had been some additional charges for repairs because of Duneman Construction and the sewer line they installed last summer. Chris Budeski said Duneman Construction would have fixed the issues if they had been notified. Sue Shockley said she sent a letter to Jackie at JTL regarding the South East Entrance that
they were going to do. Misty Radue said she could follow up.
H. Changes to Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement – Looking at a different Fairground’s Contracts. Really can’t make changes until we have our policies and pricing in place. Once changes are made, the Lease Agreement will be sent to the County Attorney’s Office for review.
I. Other items not on agenda – discussion only – Move the November Fair Board meeting to November 13, 2007.
13. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none
14. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MONTH’S MEETING
A. Change the name of the AG Center Building.
15. ADJOURNMENT
Dennis Farnham made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:00PM. Misty Radue seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted by:______________________________________
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