GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
APRIL 15, 2008 MEETING MINUTES
(as approved on May 20, 2008 meeting)
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Bob Brekke, Chris Budeski, Dennis Farnham, Chuck Busta, Misty Radue, Linda Warner
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – Joe Skinner
PUBLIC – Faith Poet, Sonja Berg, Lorna Simard, Mary Cloud Ammons, Chris Nixon and Glenna Patten.
1. CALL TO ORDER – Chairperson Bob Brekke called the meeting to order at 6:32PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Jan. 29, 2008 – Chuck Busta made a motion to approve the March 18, 2008 Meeting Minutes as presented. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
4. GUEST PRESENTATIONS – None
5. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – Joe Skinner said that next year’s budget would be tough. It would be worse than this year. Joe Skinner said not to expect much in extra money from the Commissioners. There is less carry over funds. Sue Shockley said that the Planning Department and Clerk and Recorder fees were down this year. Joe Skinner said that he did not know how the Open Lands request would go. The Commissioners had been getting comments from people who voted for the second bond issue and the voters do not believe the money should go to the Fairgrounds. The Open Lands funds were designed for parks and landscaping not mechanical. The Open Lands Board makes a recommendation to the County Commissioners and the County Commissioners have the final vote.
Joe Skinner said that the Fairgrounds should have possession of the Road Department in August.
Chris Budeski said the pricing committee increased the Fairgrounds rental fees. Sue Shockley said that an improvement fee was added and she met with the Commissioners on March 19, 2008 to inform them of the change so they would be aware if they received calls regarding the increase. Sue Shockley said she did not know if the Fair Board needed the approval of the Commissioners for the improvement fee pricing or not until she reviewed the commissioners ruling that gave the Fair Board the right to determine pricing without the approval of the Commissioners.
6. FOUNDATION UPDATE – Sue Shockley said she has an email she will send out regarding the dinner for Blair Howze who retired off the Fair Board which is Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 6:30PM at Stacy’s. Lorna Simard said at their meeting in April they discussed goals to work on. The Foundation wants to have a working relationship with the Fair Board and wants Fair Board members to attend their monthly meetings. The Foundation needs to know what the Fair Board wants the Foundation to work on. Lorna said the Foundation was going to look into liability insurance. Lorna said that they still have open spots on the Foundation Board. They elected a new member, Burt Poppe, to the Foundation. The Foundation is looking at increasing their membership. The Foundation would like to have the Fair Board to
help the Foundation to be more efficient. Focus on building membership and awareness. Lorna Simard, Tim Kuhlman and Sue Shockley did a walk through at the concession stand. They would like Sue Shockley to come up with a list of priorities to bring the concession stand up to usability. There is still no certificate of occupancy. An electrical wire needs to be put in a termination box where the range hood goes. Sue Shockley said Jim Rehm was supposed to be here a month ago. In order to get a permanent certificate of occupancy there needs to be a range hood and a range. Ray Toledo submitted a quote on installing the cabinets that the Fairgrounds picked up. Sue Shockley said that coolers have been lined up. Fountain Drinks will probably be served and will probably use premix not post mix because of cost. Sue is working on a deal between Pepsi and Coke. Sue met with Pepsi today, April 15, 2008. The next Foundation meeting is May 13, 2008 at 6:30AM at the Holiday Inn.
7. 4-H UPDATE – Faith Poet said they have new ideas for a kid’s fun 4-H Day. Since the 4-H kids are so busy with their projects it might be nice to give them a day of fun as well. Faith said they are checking around on the concessions for Fair. Faith said the average cost for the 4-H kids is around $400 for the 5 days for the Fair if they have a project and she said some families are concerned regarding the $8 wristband. Chris Budeski said that the Fair Board had a sound policy regarding charging across the board. Faith said that 4-H may do interviews on Monday or Tuesday so some families do not have to pay fair admittance to do those. Misty Radue mentioned that families with financial difficulties could apply for a grant from the 4-H State Congress. Faith Poet agreed that was available.
8. DECISION ITEMS-
A. Committee Assignments – The Fair Board made a couple more changes to the Fair Board Committees members.
B. Noise Ordinance and late night concerts – Sue Shockley introduced Chris Nixon, the new president of NENA, Mary Cloud Ammons, the new vice-president of NENA and Glenna Patten, the new secretary of NENA. Sue Shockley said she received complaints from the residents of the North East neighborhood regarding the Spearhead concert. Sue said the Fair Board established a time limit for events. Concerts in the Indoor Arena and the Haynes Pavilion get the most complaints. Sue said she has been working with Marty Kent with the Bozeman Police Department regarding events and concerts. Sue asked if the Fair Board wanted to change the time limit to 10:00PM and off property at 11:00PM. Fair does not get over until 11:00-11:30PM and neither does Barrel Racing.
How would this be affected? The Gallatin County Noise Ordinance ends at 10:00PM but the Fairgrounds are exempt. Sue said that the baseball lights are on after 10:00PM and barrel racing as well. Mary Cloud Ammons said the main concern with NENA were concerts. Members of NENA ask to try to get a win/win situation for everyone. Sue Shockley said that the speakers in the Haynes Pavilion were pointed more facing North and that helped some. In the Indoor Arena most concerts were set up at the North end with the speakers facing to the South. Sue said members of NENA that called the police on the Spearhead concert said the Police Department said they knew nothing about the concert. Sue said that she had met with Marty Kent with the Bozeman Police Department and the Fire Department before the concert. This item to be on next month’s agenda.
C. Will there be a WinterFest 2009 – To date WinterFest had made around $9000 plus $2400 from the horse show. We are still waiting on revenue from Rocky Mountain Concessions and 3 sponsors that have not paid yet. Debbie Ehlert said profit should be around $10000-11000. Dennis Farnham made a motion to have WinterFest again in 2009. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
D. Review and approve Fair Planning committee’s recommendations on Fair Pricing – The Fair Planning Committee pricing recommended was: $5 Day Pass, Children 10 & under free, $15 Season Pass for 5 days, $8 wristbands for 4-H and there immediate family members, vendors and exhibitors receive 2 wristbands each with their exhibit booth rental. Sunday admittance would be 2 for $5 or $3/person. Seniors, Military and Day Care Providers on Thursday would be $3 for adults, children 10 and under free. Dennis Farnham made a motion to adopt pricing as recommended by the Fair Pricing Committee. Linda Warner seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
E. County Ordinance 96-2 An Ordinance Prohibiting the Carrying of Weapons in Certain county Owed Buildings and Property – How this ordinance relates to what we do at the Fairgrounds– Sue Shockley said the Fair Board needs to make up its mind if other events can sell guns, knives and swords. The Fair Board already adopted a motion to prohibit the sale of toy guns and knives at Fair. Sue Shockley said to leave it alone for now and Sue said she changed the wording on the contracts for vendors. Dennis Farnham wanted this tabled for now until Jim Oberhofer is in attendance.
F. Move meetings to Court House and use their new high tech. Equipment to record meetings. Meetings could also be streamed over the internet. This would eliminate the need to have Fairgrounds staff attend these meetings to record minutes and may force us to be more concise. Sue Shockley suggested that the Fair Board move their monthly meetings to the Court House so the meetings could be recorded and it would eliminate the need for a Fairgrounds staff member to take minutes. Chuck Busta asked who would transcribe the minutes. Debbie Ehlert said she probably would. Chris Budeski made a motion to stay here at the Fairgrounds for the Fair Board Meetings. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
9. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2008 Fair – Sue Shockley said that everything is coming together. Sue Said Todd Suedel already had a $1000 sponsorship for the 2008 Fair. Sue said that the Fairgrounds was eliminating the vendor ad and dropping the vendor booth price. Sue said the Bozeman Chronicle was going to cost $5000 for 20,000 copies of the tab this year. This would be 32 pages with 16 pages of information and 16 pages of ads. The Bozeman Chronicle was going to talk to the Belgrade News. Todd Suedel was working on sponsorships. PBR is under new management. Sue needs to get information to the Wrangler regarding the Ranch Horse Rodeo. Sue said she has a little started. The suggestion was to contact sponsors that support the Fairgrounds that use the Bozeman Chronicle and put
pressure on the Bozeman Chronicle.
B. Contract Committee – Trying to get a meeting scheduled with Baseball. It is very difficult to get everyone together. Need this committee to meet to begin discussions on new land leases. Have contacted Deputy County Attorney about trying to make land leases more consistent. Sue Shockley said Dick Hart with Bozeman Baseball is never in town. Sue said she spoke with Ron Edwards today and he was going to contact Dick Hart. Sue said she would send over the wording for the contract.
C. Bozeman Roundup – Haven’t met.
D. Capital Improvements Committee – set a meeting date to develop a list of projects that are needed at the Fairgrounds so that the Foundation has some goals. Chris Budeski will call.
E. Policy/By Laws Committee – Has not met. Copy of current By-Laws emailed to Board members for review. Sue Shockley said she did not email out the copy of the By-Laws but she did bring copies to the meeting for the Fair Board members. A meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 5:30PM at the Fairgrounds Office.
F. Parking Committee – Sue Shockley said she has tried contacting Mike Costle and in an email Mike told her that it has been turned over to Aaron. Dennis Farnham said Mike Costle did not follow the rules. Sue said she would need all of the information to get it to Aaron. If we do not hear back from the Boy Scouts within two weeks we will discuss parking with the ICE group. Linda Warner said their group would do parking and had plenty of people to cover it.
G. Security/Emergency Planning/First Aid/Alcohol Committee – Sue is setting up a meeting with Rocky Mountain Security, City and County Law Enforcement to work on security issues and get policies set. Need to set up meeting with the Bridger Family Practice to see if they are still willing to provide First Aid at the Fair-Sue Shockley said she would have to contact Bozeman Creek Family Planning about scheduling a meeting to do First Aid for Fair. Dennis Farnham said Sue needed to contact Bozeman Creek Family Health. This was who Dennis made the original contact with. Sue was going to call to schedule a meeting with them. Sue met with Bryan Adams, Steve Klein and Stewart with Rocky Mountain Security regarding the youth dances at the Fairgrounds and
the issues that have come up. Sue Shockley spoke with Marty Kent and Marty asked Sue to send back over the sign up sheets for events and Marty would see what he could do about getting them covered. Sue wanted to schedule a meeting next week with Carolyn Robinson, Jim Oberhofer, Marty Kent and Stewart with Rocky Mountain Security in order to discuss what security issues there are and get policies set.
H. Volunteer Committee – No Report.
I. Marketing Committee – No Report.
J. WinterFest Committee – See above.
K. Open Lands Committee – We will be presenting to the Open Lands Board on Monday, April 4 at 7pm at city hall – No Report. The date is actually Monday, April 14, 2008.
10. CORRESPONDENCE – Nothing.
11. MANAGER’S REPORT – Sue Shockley said there will be a clean up day in the office tomorrow. The Gallatin Ice Foundation will begin clean up in the Motor Sports area starting on April 21, 2008. Misty Radue said there were bulls kept and fed in the Outdoor arena during the MSU College Rodeo and this would make the Outdoor arena unusable until it is cleaned up. Sue Shockley said she was going to get an estimate for the replacement cost of the aggregate and bill MSU Rodeo. Sue figured around 1000 yards of aggregate. Misty said the 4-H Horse group offered to clean up the arena. Sue said Jay Hogan, the stock contractor, would be cleaning up.
Sue Shockley said that the Finance Director said to eliminate one position at the Fairgrounds but Sue is asking for an additional position instead. Chuck Busta suggested getting the energy usage at the Road Department so the Fairgrounds know what kind of increase that will be in our expenses.
12. FINANCIAL REPORT – Must approve financial report – Misty Radue made a motion to approve the March Monthly Expenses as presented. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
13. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Spring RMAF District meeting April 18 in Plains – Sue Shockley, Debbie Holwegner and Todd Suedel were going to the meeting.
B. 2008-2009 Budget- Sue Shockley said April 30th she can start working on next year’s budget. Sue needs to look into the expenses for the Road Department.
C. Board Training and Goal Setting Meeting - Schedule in the fall.
D. BAHA – Craig Danenhauer and Mark D’Agostino met with Sue Shockley regarding year round use of the Haynes Pavilion. Sue Shockley and Linda Warner spoke with Rob Pertzborn regarding the issues during WinterFest. A special Fair Board meeting is scheduled for May 6 at 6:00PM at the Fairground’s Office to discuss with BAHA about starting construction as soon as possible of the mechanical room and year round usage of the Haynes Pavilion. The Fair Board wanted a packet of BAHA’s requests a week before the Special Meeting so they can look it over.
E. Formation of a User’s Group – Sue Shockley suggested a user’s group that is made up of all of the users of the Fairgrounds to meet quarterly. The group could include ICE, Baseball, EOC, Shooting Range, 4-H Clubs, Home Shows, Dog Groups and other Fairgrounds users.
F. Semi Parking and Truck Driver Testing – Sue Shockley said that the State Driver’s Testing uses the parking lot to do their driving tests. Sue said they are tearing up the parking lot and complain about their cones being disturbed when they leave them out. Sue Shockley said the State Driver’s Testing only pay the Fairgrounds $5/hour for use of the grounds. Sue said we have had two gates hit by trucks entering the Fairground, one gate on Bozeman Street and one gate on Grand Street. The gate that was damaged on Grand street the Fairgrounds does know the trucking company that was involved in that. Sue said the Fairgrounds had received three estimates to repair the fence, $12,000, $6,000 and $3,000. These will be sent to the insurance
company of the trucking firm. Galavan, Sysco and USF Reddaway all pay for parking on the Fairgrounds. The Fair Board needs to decide if they want to continue allowing trucks to park on the Fairgrounds or not.
G. Gallatin Ice Foundation Project Update – No update
H. Fairgrounds Business Plan – update on progress – Sue Shockley said that not much has been done recently because Don Pisarcik had not been feeling well and she has had issues.
I. RFP for Storm Water Management Plan – have the beginning of an RFP – we can so this if we receive the Open Lands Grant. – RFCQ Qualification- on hold for now.
J. Capital Improvement Project progress report – No update
K. Changes to Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement – tabled until after Policy Committee Reviews – No update
L. Review RFP for Alcohol Provider – Sue Shockley said this is almost done.
M. Other items not on agenda – discussion only – No additional
14. ANNOUNCEMENTS – Dennis Farnham said the Fairgrounds received a certificate of appreciation from the Breakfast Optimists. Sue Shockley said the Fairgrounds received a swimming upstream award regarding allowing community service workers to work at the fairgrounds and having everyone that serves alcohol at the Fairgrounds go through alcohol training classes. Sue mentioned that she was not sure that all of the PC Brew pourers for the Beer Fest this last weekend had alcohol training. Sue was going to look into this.
Dinner for Blair Howze is April 24, 2008 at 6:30PM at Stacy’s in Gallatin Gateway.
15. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MONTH’S MEETING
16. ADJOURNMENT - Bob Brekke adjourned the meeting at 9:20PM.
Respectfully Submitted by:______________________________________
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