GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
MAY 20, 2008 SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
(as approved on June 17, 2008 meeting)
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Bob Brekke, Dennis Farnham, Chuck Busta, Jim Oberhofer, Misty Radue and Linda Warner
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – None
PUBLIC – Rob Pertzborn, Sonja Berg, Greg Mosness, Sylvia McCormick, Craig Danenhauer, Becky Roeder, Alison Harmon, Tim Stefan, John Perry, Rebecca Balotta, Bob May, Christie Leone, Dale Nerlin, Deloris Nerlin, Valerie Otto, Tere Hamburg, Darla Joyner, Anne Dixon, Dorothy Roeder, Bill Warner, Lorna Simard, Tim Kuhlman, Clay McDonald, Roger McCormick, Vickie Perkins, Don Mathre, Jane Arntzen Schumacher, Robin Allison, Julie Keck and Andy Vukonich.
1. CALL TO ORDER – Chairperson Bob Brekke called the meeting to order at 6:36PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. FOUNDATION UPDATE – Tim Kuhlman said that the Foundation had prepared their 990 form and filed the paperwork with their accounting firm. Tim Kuhlman said the Fairgrounds Foundation was
updating their brochure.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 15, 2008 and May 6, 2008 meetings – Jim Oberhofer made the motion to approve the April 15, 2008 meeting minutes as presented. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried. Jim Oberhofer made a motion to approve the May 6, 2008 special meeting minutes as presented. Linda Warner seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
5. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – Joe Skinner was unable to attend due to a family medical emergency.
6. DECISION ITEMS –
A. 2008-2009 Preliminary Budget Submittal – Sue Shockley said she did not have the Preliminary Budget done yet. Sue said she would send out a copy to the Fair Board members when it was completed.
B. “Weapons” for sale at Fair – perhaps not considered weapons, perhaps considered nuisance items at Fair?? Jim Oberhofer made the motion to allow for the sale of Marshmallow guns, Spud Guns and tazers as long as there are no tazers visibly on display or for sale at signature events. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Discussion. Dennis Farnham was opposed to 2 out of 3. Dennis was not opposed to tazers at the Fair but he was opposed to marshmallow guns and potato guns since they shoot projectiles. Misty Radue called question. Five members in favor of the motion, Bob Brekke, Chuck Busta, Misty Radue, Linda Warner and Jim Oberhofer. One Fair Board member was against the motion, Dennis Farnham. Motion Carried.
7. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2008 FAIR – Sue Shockley said that Fair planning was well underway and almost finished. June 15, 2008 is the deadline for the Premium Book or Competitors Entry Guide. The Belgrade News and the Bozeman Chronicle are working together on the Fair tab and this is the first time they have ever worked together on a project. Good entertainment is planned. Sue said we are waiting to hear back from the Boy Scouts regarding parking. Sue Shockley said that we need to know by next week if the Boy Scouts are doing parking again or not. If the Boy Scouts are not doing parking then ICE will. Dennis Farnham said he was waiting to hear fro Chris Budeski about contacting the Boy Scouts. Sue Shockley said she had been in contact with the Boy Scouts and there was
another person in charge.
B. Contract Committee – Hasn’t met – Needs to set meeting. Nothing new.
C. Bozeman Roundup – Haven’t met – Meets on 5/22/08.
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. Need to meet.
E. Policy/By Laws Committee – Need to set up meeting. Copy of current By-Laws emailed to Board members for review. Need to meet.
F. 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 Bridger Family Practice to see if they are willing to provide First Aid at the Fair. Jim Oberhofer said that Lt. Wade, Patrol Lieutenant for the Sheriff’s Office agreed to be the contact and attend all of the up coming meetings for Fair and to determine the appropriate numbers of officers needed.
G. Volunteers Committee - Working to find Dept. committees for the Fair. Nothing new.
H. Marketing Committee – No report.
I. 2008 WinterFest Committee – The WinterFest Committee was excited that the Fair Board approved having another WinterFest and they are already working on next year.
J. Open Lands Committee – Sue Shockley did not have anything new to report. This should come before the county commissioners in June to see if they are planning to designate the fairgrounds as parkland. As far as the application for funding Sue thought that we have to go back to the Open Lands Committee in June but Sue did not have any final information on that.
8. CORRESPONDENCE - None
9. MANAGER’S REPORT – Bob Brekke confirmed that Sue Shockley would email out the Manager’s Report to the Fair Board members.
10. DISCUSSION ITEMS –
A. Shooting Range Update – Sue Shockley did receive a report for the Bozeman /Rifle and Pistol Club and they applied for a small grant to do some work on the range. They plan to paint it and put is a gas burning fireplace because the heat does not work very well though out the building. Sue said they were going to make nice changes and she wanted the Fair Board to be aware of that.
Semi Parking and Truck Driver Testing – Sue Shockley said that this will be a decision item next month.
Formation of a User’s Group – Sue started working on this – will have more to report at June meeting – Sue Shockley said that the Fairgrounds are in the process of forming a Fairground’s User Group and would be asking for representatives from each group that uses the Fairgrounds. The group would be meeting on a regular basis and we will have a line on communication that way. Sue said that she felt that this would be good, that was we would know what the users were thinking and the users would know what was going on.
11. GUEST PRESENTATIONS –
A. Report back from NENA representatives on Fairgrounds events that may impact the neighborhood negatively and what solutions are recommended – No report.
B. Career Transitions presentation on Farmers Market – Christie Wetsch gave a power point presentation on Farmers Market. This came about partly because there was talk of things being left in the Haynes Pavilion that would dramatically affect the Farmers Market and Christie wanted to let the Fair Board know that if that happened that this stuff may not happen. Career Transitions has been active from 1981-2008. Career Transition’s mission statement is to assist individuals, families and communities to become sole sufficient through training, education, employment and community development. Career Transitions has managed the Gallatin Valley Farmers Market since 1996. The Gallatin Valley Farmers Market customers represent approximately 20-25% of
the 300,000 visitors to the Gallatin County Fair Grounds each year. Career Transitions got that statistic from BAHA when BAHA sent out a letter to the commissioners for support. Christie said the Farmers Market has about 3000-4000 every Saturday. Farmers Market is open 12-15 Saturdays each year. Farmers Market offers a lot to everyone. Farmers Market allows non-profits to raise money and provide information at no charge. Career Transitions provides training for employment and technology, entrepreneurship training, small business development and support and customized employment services. They are the only market in Gallatin valley that co-sponsors the Bozeman Senior Center produce scholarship program and they are only one of the three farmers markets in the state that accept food stamps. The Gallatin Valley Farmers Market has provided marketing for new businesses in the valley. Christie Wetsch showed the map of the Farmers market that showed that all available space in the
Haynes Pavilion was utilized.
C. Bozeman Amateur Hockey and Gallatin Ice Foundation – Rob Pertzborn said that there is a significant increase in ice demand. Rob Pertzborn said that they have about 700 skaters. Rob said BAHA is not asking to use the Haynes Pavilion in June, July and August. Rob Pertzborn said that a second sheet of ice would provide year round ice. Rob Pertzborn said that BAHA knows that does not happen until they have another building because the Haynes Pavilion is multi purpose. The seating configuration is imperative for BAHA’s use of the building. It is impractical to remove the seating because there is a sprinkler system underneath. Another issue that BAHA identified was the equipment set up and tear down because it is very time intensive and
the wear and tear on the dasher board system which is expensive. After this last year BAHA wants to proactively address the storm water management issues and that is parking areas and driveways as well. BAHA is aware that there needs to be a master plan. Craig Danenhauer passed out BAHA’s requests. Add an additional three months onto there current original lease. BAHA wants to leave their dasher boards in place on the East side of the building. The glass would be removed. This would be approximately 150 feet long. BAHA wants to leave the dasher boards on the West side of the building where the benches are. This would leave a space of 85 feet wide and allow vehicle access inside the building. BAHA intends to amend their lease by $50,000. BAHA sees this money as $25,000 annually for the additional three months and $25,000 for surfacing around the building for parking. Sue Shockley asked if BAHA had drawings they could show the Fair Board? Rob Pertzborn said they had
drawings that showed various configurations. Rob Pertzborn encouraged everybody to go stand in the building and see just how wide it is with the boards in place. Sue Shockley asked with the seating on the East side of the building would the sides become permanent or would they come down and how many people would the permanent seats seat? Rob Pertzborn said that the East wall would be behind the seats and there would be no real reason to take the walls down but they could be taken down. Sue Shockley asked if BAHA knew what effect keeping the boards up would affect the capacity of the Haynes Pavilion for events for example Farmers Market and if they had 4000 people in the building at one time or a concert. Rob Pertzborn said the permanent seating holds 320-330 people. Sue Shockley wanted to know what the fire code would be. Sue Shockley wanted to confirm BAHA’s requests – rewrite their current six month lease to extend to a nine month lease and for the additional three
months you would be willing to pay $25,000 and $25,000 to make improvements. Linda Warner wanted to know if Farmer’s Market would be able to go into the Haynes Pavilion but just not in September. Rob Pertzborn said the one thing the Farmers Market would not be able to do is to back the produce trucks up inside the building. Jim Oberhofer said that the Fairgrounds spent a lot of money buying portable bleachers and why wouldn’t portable bleachers be workable rather than permanent bleachers with the boards left up? Rob Pertzborn said the portable bleachers were short.
12. PUBLIC COMMENT
Greg Mosness with the AGR House said that they hold their Testy Fest within the first two weeks of September and with there being no other buildings of this size or location in the County it would severely hinder the AGR House being able to do that. The AGR House donates close to $10,000 back within the county and all within the state. This would be a dramatic thing if this did not happen. Greg Mosness said being a young student in agriculture he would hate to see something like the Farmers Market go away and to deter producers from coming in. Greg Mosness said they have 2000 to 4000 people in attendance each year for the Testy Fest.
Becky Roeder is the president of the Gallatin Dog Club. Every year they have an annual dog show at the fairgrounds at approximately the third week of September. The dates for the dog show are set by the American Kennel Club and are in combination with the Helena, Montana Kennel Club Show also. The dog show is here in Bozeman for two days and then two days in Helena. They have over 80 RV’s and over 1000 dogs in two and a half days. There is no where else in Gallatin County to hold this kind of dog show as efficiently and effectively as we can at the Fairgrounds. This is the best facility and the best people to work with and they have had a good relationship for approximately eight years. The Gallatin Dog Club donated money for improvements in the electrical system so the RV’s can have electrical hook ups. Becky Roeder said as far
as their scheduling they are pretty much set. They are also restricted in terms of the size of their rings and any kind of a extra boards set up in the Haynes Pavilion would mean that they can not hold their event there because they need all the space because they have their vendors in there as well. They have eight rings in the Haynes for the dogs. The show draws people from all over the country from at least thirty states and they have professional handlers and professional judges. This event is put on by a club that benefits the entire county. They have people from RSVP and other organizations that volunteer at this event and get there volunteer hours so they can in turn get their funding from United Way. Becky Roeder said she would hate to see the Gallatin Dog Club not be able to put on their show it would pretty much put an end to it. The Gallatin Dog Club needs the Haynes Pavilion and they are part of Gallatin County. Sue Shockley wanted to know what the size of the rings
were? Becky Roeder said a conformation ring was 40 feet by 50 feet and then they are restricted with a walk area. They have 8 rings in the Haynes Pavilion and 2 rings outside. They have indoor vendors all along the walls and outside as well.
Allison Harn is representing Town’s Harvest Market which is a student market farm on MSU campus. Allison Harn is an advisor for that as well as MSU Friends of Local Food and professor of Food Nutrition on campus. Allison Harn said her concern would be about any negative effect that this would have on the Farmers Market and the size of that market and the number of vendors that could be accommodated. Towns Harvest Market depends upon Farmers Market for approximately half of their revenue that pays for student insurance and their seeds for the next year. Allison Harn said that it was a real important part of livelihood for producers in this area and Farmers Market serves two very important purposes: 1. Increasing access to local fresh nutritious food particularly since this is one of the rare markets that accept food stamps. 2. Provide a
place for producers to meet their market so any negative impact on the market is going to be a negative on the community, consumers and farmers.
John Perry is a vendor at the Farmers Market for about three years. John Perry said that Bozeman is agricultural based setting. John Perry said that he could understand the hockey teams wanting to have their seating but the negative impact would affect people like himself as far as their livelihood and ability to contribute to the community. John Perry said it would be great to have improvements to the parking. Of course it would be great to have paved parking but there are still dirt roads in Bozeman streets so he did think there would be anybody opposed to driving down dirt roads or parking in the dirt and there might be issues with run off.
Rebecca Balotta is here tonight with her two sons who are the fiddlers, market player, and her father is also here who makes the airplanes that they sell at the Farmers Market. The Farmers Market affects their family in a big way. One thing that struck Rebecca Balotta was shear numbers. BAHA mentioned 700 people that have participate and the AGR House mentioned 2000–4000 that participate and Farmers Market mentioned 4000-6000 each Saturday and the Gallatin Dog Club mentioned 80 RV’s and 1000 dogs. Rebecca Balotta could empathize with BAHA’s situation and they clearly need a better facility. It seems that this project that BAHA wants to do with the boards being up and the seating being up for one thing Farmers Market people do not sit in bleachers and watch what is going on they walk around and shop. Rebecca Balotta said they
had been vendors of Farmers Market for 4 years. She has seen the produce trucks come in and if they can’t come in to the outside of the Haynes Pavilion they can’t come in and can’t be part of to market because their set ups are huge. If those things were left in place permanently that would eliminate the greater number of produce vendors and that would be significant.
Bob May builds airplanes. Bob May makes a living at Farmers Market. There should be a way to satisfy both venues. There should be a way that the hockey people can get their skating rink and some way that the Farmers Market could have heir space to put this on. It takes a lot of space for the produce. Bob May would like to see the Farmers Market continue and be able to still put his airplanes out there for people to see or purchase.
Gabe Balotta and Avery Balotta play fiddles at Farmers Market to earn money. They have been at Farmers Market for 4 years. Most people that come to Farmers Market come for the produce.
Darla Joyner represented the Farmers Market and the commitment they made to move from Bogart Park to the fairgrounds because they were growing to fast for the market to remain at Bogart Park. There were a lot of safety issues as well as customers and there were no places for the Farmers Market to go in Bogart Park because the city was limiting them to under the pavilion no longer on the grounds. Farmers Market was looking for a place to move to. Sue Shockley told them to think about the fairgrounds and it would be a good commitment for the fairgrounds to look at to support the Farmers Market and might enhance the Farmers Market for the future and get people down here for other reasons. The Farmers Market commitment is long term. Darla Joyner thought that it had been a good relationship with BAHA so far by sharing the use of the Haynes
Pavilion. Darla Joyner is a strong believer in multi-use facilities, from forests to buildings to fairgrounds. Darla Joyner feels that it should be kept that way and try to find another way to get BAHA on to a building of their own.
Roger McCormick was speaking for the Senior Center. The Farmers Market has developed into a tremendous influx of people coming through here every Saturday. The Senior Center has a produce program and they have 1750 members appreciate all the Fair Board has done for them and they would like to see the Farmers Market stay.
Don Mathre is representing the Gallatin Gardeners Club with Don Hayden. Gallatin Gardeners Club is one of those organizations where a non-profit, 45 members of both men and women. They have been with the Farmers Market sine its beginning. This is one of many activities that they have each year. They do educational programs during the winter. During the summer they raise a large vegetable garden and they bring the produce down to the Farmers Market. All of the income that they gain from the sale of this produce goes back into the community. They provide $3000 worth of scholarships to MSU Horticultural students and provide $1000 per year to Eagle Mount horticultural therapy program. They do the gardens at the Gallatin Rest Home and they manage the Sacajewea Park. All of their income goes back into the community all the labor is donated by
their members. They are one of the Farmers Market vendors that back their truck up to the East side of Haynes Pavilion. They bring about 1000 pounds of produce each week. The loss of 3 weeks in September would matter because that is when they make most of their money. Since they have moved form Bogart Part their income has tripled because of the increase in the number of people that go through Farmers Market. They would like to see the market maintained as they have seen it in the last several years.
Valerie Otto works with Career Transitions. Valerie said that there is little public skating time in the Haynes Pavilion when BAHA has it. Farmers Market is an exceptional community event this is and it would be a tragedy for this to go by the wayside. BAHA was an organization that promised to build a facility that was supposed to have been done in the fall of 2007. That promised did not come to forth. BAHA came before the Fair Board on May 6, 2008 about building a shed to store their equipment but BAHA said they were $75,000 short of meeting their own construction budget for this month. It is confusing that BAHA is here tonight to make financial promises. Valerie Otto asked the Fair Board to be very cautious when they make decisions about the future of this public facility.
Vicki Perkins owns Senorita Specialties Foods. Vicki Perkins started her business 19 years ago at Farmers Market. September 1st is harvest season for all the local producer and that date would not allow them to bring their produce to market. Preservation of the Gallatin Farmers Market it seems that it would be a priority for the community.
Christie Leone is a member of the Gallatin Dog Club. Everyone knows that BAHA needs to grow. We are here to protect our interests and the county’s interests. If they do not have the Pavilion they do not have a show. They do not have a choice. They use to be at MSU and they could not afford MSU anymore. They are a very small club. This is a community issue it is not a BAHA issue. This is the county Fair Grounds and it needs to be for the entire county not just for specialized groups. Christie Leone asked the Fair Board to consider the fate of the whole community not just one group.
Dale Nerlin was a Fair Board member for 10 years and got off the Board in 2003. Dale Nerlin has been a vendor or involved with the Farmers Market for about 25 years. Dale Nerlin told Rob Pertzborn of BAHA that the Haynes would have never been built on the fairgrounds under the conditions BAHA are presently proposing. The Haynes was supported by the fairgrounds because the fairgrounds were to get to use the Haynes for approximately half the year and the hockey people would have it for the other half. Dale Nerlin suggested that the Fair Board read their policy manual because it says that the Fair Board is not allowed to have people store things on the fairgrounds.
Tere Hamburg is a multiple fairground user. Tere Hamburg felt that it would be unfair to allow one group’s interest to impede upon another. It would be detrimental to Farmers Market to have permanent seating that would impede what has gone on there. It is unfair for one group’s interest reign above others interests.
Jane Arntzen Schumacher is with the Gallatin Dog Club in Belgrade and executive director of Child Care Connections. If Farmers Market is not successful it would affect the budget of Career Transitions it would affect 20-30 other non-profits.
Kristi Wetsch said that if BAHA leaves up the sides on the East side of the Haynes Pavilion vendors would not be able to get their trucks in there for Farmers Market. Kristi Wetsch said that there is no way that they could reconstruct their set up. This would have a negative impact on the Farmers Market.
Bill Warner produces events. Bill Warner feels that there is a way that everyone could work this out but there will need to be some compromises and more study.
Rob Pertzborn said BAHA would love to leave their stuff in their year round. BAHA works very hard every year to make the Haynes Pavilion multi-purpose. Things change over the history and Rob did not think that a lot of people realize that it was written in the paper today that public funds were used to build the building. Rob said there was about $250,000 of cash money. BAHA took serious loans plus tens of thousands man-hours to build the building. Rob said BAHA was the biggest user of the building. Rob said this was about trying to work together and try to find a compromise. Rob said that the Haynes Pavilion was not free. BAHA has been paying debt on it for 9 years. Rob said that the Farmers Market pays $200 for the building and $80 for the grass. Rob Pertzborn said that BAHA is not talking about the Farmers Market going away but about
it adjusting. Rob Pertzborn said he hoped that they could all sit down together and work through the details of this proposal and find a compromise.
Bob Brekke thanked everyone that attended and providing public comment. Jim Oberhofer thanked everyone for coming and providing needed information.
Sue Shockley asked the Fair Board if they had a next step in mind. Jim Oberhofer and Dennis Farnham suggested a special meeting. Misty Radue said that on a timing basis the Fair Board needs to get on this because June is around the corner. Christie Leone asked when this would take place since they have a contract and an agreement for x amount of years. Sue Shockley said that the Gallatin Dog Club does have a signed contract for 2008 and Farmers Market for 2008 and the fairgrounds has booked the dates but there are no signed contracts. There are signed contracts for several other events in the Haynes for 2008. Sue Shockley said there would need to be a legal opinion on that for those who have signed contracts. Bob Brekke asked if the user groups would like to meet. Bob Brekke told them to get in touch with Sue Shockley to schedule a
meeting before the special meeting Fair Board meeting on June 3, 2008 at 6:30PM
13. SET NEXT MEETING DATE
June 3, 2008 at 6:30 PM at the Fairgrounds office.
ADJOURNMENT –Jim Obrehofer made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:20PM. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted by ______________________________________
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