GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
JUNE 17, 2008 MEETING MINUTES
Approved at the August 26, 2008 Meeting
FAIR BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT – Bob Brekke, Chris Budeski, Dennis Farnham, Chuck Busta, Jim Oberhofer, Misty Radue and Linda Warner
STAFF – Sue Shockley, Debbie Ehlert – Secretary
COMMISSION – Joe Skinner, Steve White
PUBLIC – Rob Pertzborn, Sonja Berg, Martin Townsend, Roger Nerlin, Bonnie Ulery, Betsy Heckel, Kristi Wetson, Becky Roeder, 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 6:39PM.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES May 20 – Jim Oberhofer made the motion to approve the May 20, 2008 meeting minutes as presented. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
4. COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE – Joe Skinner said that no new allocations were approved for the fairgrounds but he thought that all the requests were approved conditioned on the revenue coming in. So if additional revenue comes in the fairgrounds is approved to but those things out of the budget but no new tax dollars have been allocated to the fairgrounds.
5. FOUNDATION UPDATE – Lorna Simard said the Foundation was working on updating their brochure they are hoping to have it out by fair. The Foundation was planning on doing the Calcutta for the Fair. The Foundation is trying to complete the concession stand and restrooms at the Anderson Arena by Fair. They are working on getting a certificate of occupancy. Sue said the restrooms and meeting room open and the kitchen will be ready to serve out of but maybe not cook out of. Sue Shockley said we just got an estimate for $8000 for a hood for that building so that we can cook. Sue Shockley said that Marsha Anderson donated $25,000 to the Foundation as a maintenance fee for the arena.
6. 4-H UPDATE – Jerry Townsend , Mark Townsend and Betsy Heckel said they are building a park with natural plants and trees. They said that 4-H was working on converting the People Barn into the new rabbit and poultry barn. They have a sign that will go over an archway that will say 4-H Park & 4-H Park with a clover on it. They will have 2 picnic tables, a slip-and-slide, sandbox and a fire pit. The Rockin Rooster, Poultry Club, Rabbit Club, various donations from local businesses and volunteer labor are making this possible. Sue Shockley said they have completely remodeled the People Barn and have made a huge commitment to the Fairgrounds. Betsy Heckel said they raised about $5000 in donated materials received $1500 from 4-H and they will get $1500 in matching funds from 4-H
Unlimited.
7. DECISION ITEMS –
A. 2008-2009 Preliminary Budget Submittal – Sue Shockley said she emailed out a copy of the budget to the Fair Board members. Chris Budeski made a motion to approve the budget prepared by the Fairgrounds staff. Linda Warner seconded the motion. Question. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
B. Request from BAHA to be allowed to rent the Haynes from Sept. 29, 2008 through Oct. 14, 2008. Their regular lease begins on Oct. 15. They are requesting two weeks early. Sue Shockley said there was nothing scheduled in the Haynes after Sept 27, 2008. Dennis Farnham made a motion to accept this proposal. Chris Budeski seconded the motion. Bob Brekke asked if this was about the same time that BAHA was allowed to come into the Haynes last year. Sue Shockley said it was about 8 days later. Jim Oberhofer asked if the rent would be the same as last year. Sue Shockley said unless the Board directs her to do differently it would be the same as the board set last year. Unanimous for. None against. Motioned carried.
C. Decision on BAHA proposal for a lease agreement amendment allowing for 9 months usage Sept. 1 to June 1, 2009 and 2010:
Joe Skinner presented a letter from the commissioners that said:
For several months now, the Commission has been bombarded with requests to extend hockey activities at the Fairgrounds and just as many reactions to those requests from Farmer’s Market supporters.
Eight years ago, the County provided space for the Haynes Pavilion at the Fairgrounds and helped fund its construction. We signed a 10-year lease with BAHA, as well as an MOU between the City of Bozeman and the County, allowing hockey to use the pavilion from October 15th to April 15th every year. We did so with the understanding that the facility would be available for other community activities the rest of the year.
It is our recollection that the City of Bozeman helped fund the Haynes Pavilion not only to support BAHA’s effort for hockey ice, but also to provide a new home for Farmer’s Market.
It is the County’s position that nothing has changed to warrant any alterations to the existing lease that would be detrimental to current users of the pavilion. The Commission understands that hockey needs more ice and we will be happy to accommodate the land for a second sheet of ice as shown on the new Fairgrounds Master Plan. Until a second hockey facility is available at the Fairgrounds, we urge the Fair Board and the various users to work together to share the pavilion in a mutually beneficial manner. At this time, the County Commissioner considers the current lease to be valid, legal and fair. We also understand that the current lease ends in 2010 and that other terms can be negotiated at that time.
We also encourage and support the Fair Board to charge market lease rates to all users of Fairgrounds facilities, the Haynes Pavilion included. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this matter. We look forward to resolution of the matter in a mutually satisfactory manner.
This letter was signed by all three commissioners.
Sue Shockley asked Commissioner Skinner if the Fair Board has a recommendation other than what they are proposing would you consider that. Commissioner Skinner said if the Fair Board gave the commission another recommendation the Commission would consider having a hearing of their own and making a decision based on any public comment and any new information and with the Fair Board’s recommendation.
Rob Pertzborn said that he thought that a lot of misinformation that went out. Rob Pertzborn said that it was never BAHA’s intention to have Farmer’s Market out of the Haynes and it was never their intention to leave the boards up year around. Rob Pertzborn said that their proposal affected 10 percent of the floor area. Since then Rob Pertzborn said that they have met a couple of times with everybody and are working on a compromise. Commissioner Skinner said that they would be open to something that everybody would be in agreement on. If BAHA could work it out with the other user groups and they are happy with the resolution the Commissioners may be willing to change the contract. All the user groups need to be agreeable.
Barbara Huntsman said she is a taxpayer, she attends both the Farmer’s Market, hockey and volunteer for the Gallatin Valley Dog Club. She said she would be in favor of going with the County Commission report that all the parties do come to a mutual agreement and that it is fair for all the parties that use it. She said she appreciated all of the efforts of the Fair Board.
Larkin Vonalt said that Gallatin Valley community could not or would not economically support a first rate national level hockey program even when it was being heavily subsidized by Bill Martel and if the community can’t or will not support it when there is already a private individual putting hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money in there should they be forced to subsidize it buy allowing a group to take exclusive use of the Pavilion nine months of the year when the same group has said on their web site that they would like exclusive use of the Pavilion for an entire year. When Ice was in the Ice Palace it could not break even so now we are looking at a public venue, a public facility, paid for by tax dollars which a private group wishes to sort of seize by eminent domain. This is not really fair use of this structure
and summer is already very short and this group had a six-month lease that provided for free public skating but there has never been any free public skating at the Haynes Pavilion. The lease has grown to eight months and now they want nine months and they said themselves that they want a year. Where is it going to stop?
Vicky Whitney said that their two-day dog Show in September is critical to them. The Haynes Pavilion has worked out very well. They bring in over a 1000 people. There were 47 states that people came from to come to this dog show. It is held on the only two days in September that they are allowed to hold it. They must hold it in conjunction with Helena holding theirs about two or three days later. It is a circuit here and they can not move that. The dog show takes up the whole Haynes Pavilion and they rent several other buildings. They bring in income of approximately $7000 to the fairgrounds and there are a lot of people that spend money in Bozeman, They can not find other accommodations in the Gallatin Valley. Taking up 10% of the Haynes by leaving up the boards would make the Haynes unusable. If the dog show is denied use of the Haynes they
would have to move the dog show to Helena and use their grounds. They would have to move it out of Bozeman which after 50 years of putting on the dog show in Bozeman would be a shame and it would be a loss to the community of the people that they bring in.
Bonnie Ulery is a vendor at the Farmer’s Market. Bonnie said that the Farmer’s Market affects a lot of people besides just the vendors. Vendors and people that run the Farmer’s Market are willing to cooperate and compromise in any way they can than rather to destroy the market.
Roger Nerlin is a vendor at the Farmer’s Market and losing these weeks would be a detriment to his business. The Farmer’s Market could be taken outside but it works better under cover. Roger Nerlin said that there is a lease signed and that lease needs to be taken care of. Roger Nerlin said a contract is a contract.
Tim Steffan is a Gallatin Valley resident, 4-H member and a BAHA member as well. Tim Steffan said that the Fair Board’s decision would send a message out to potential investors that have an interest in developing more buildings here. Tim asked the Fair Board to think about the message they are sending out and to think about how the Fair Board develops a lease and what that lease says and how it affects those users in the future. Tim wanted to thank BAHA for their efforts to build their facility.
Mary McShane said she had lived in many communities and never had she encountered a fairgrounds that had their main facility dominated by one private group. BAHA did sign a lease and an agreement is an agreement so at the very least through the end of their lease BAHA needs to stand by that. You can not privatize a County fairgrounds because there are too many other interests.
Jack Fullerhof is with the Gallatin Garden Club and is involved in Farmer’s Market. The Fairgrounds should be kept for public use. Jack said he felt that the hockey club feels because of the money and labor put into the Haynes entitles them to an ownership of that building and an ownership of the right to use based upon those activities. By what right does BAHA claim private entitlement and ownership of a public domain?
Darla Joyner is the executive director of Career Transitions and they run the Farmer’s Market since 1996. They have gone to the table with BAHA and are trying to find a compromise. The Dog Club does not have a way to make this work. The Farmer’s Market proposal was that if BAHA agrees to not leave the boards and the bleachers they would add another day to get the number of days they need for their vendors in September. Career Transitions can not compete with the dollar amount the BAHA proposed.
Becky Roeder is the President of the Gallatin Dog Club said that they have specific dimensions that they have to work with. They have specific isle sizes according to AKC. The Haynes would not work if the dasher boards are up. The best compromise they could offer was if BAHA wants to get in as soon as the dog show is out every year.
Public comment was closed at 7:25PM.
Chris Budeski explained that the BAHA proposal was no changes to the 2008 season. For the 2009 and 2010 season the BAHA group would like to move into the Pavilion as soon as possible in September and to take it later into June. BAHA would like to put up a portion of the boards earlier and start making ice as soon as possible in September.
Jim Oberhofer said he had read all of the emails and letters and listened to the finance officer say that the fairgrounds need to make money. Jim had also listened to the Fair Board say that what they need to do at the fairgrounds needs to be multipurpose for all citizens. Jim said he believed that there is support in the community to build another rink of ice. Jim said that the Fair Board needs to abide by the contract and renegotiate a new contract when it comes up. Jim said he would not support moving the agendas around. Jim Oberhofer made a motion to maintain the current status of the Haynes Pavilion and to renegotiate the contract when the contract comes up. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Discussion. Linda Warner said she had been involved in the meetings between BAHA, Farmer’s Market and the Gallatin Dog Club. The Fairgrounds
needs to move into the future. Baseball is another group that privatizes a portion of the fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds is going to have to act like a business. All of the user groups need to start volunteering at the Fairgrounds. Linda said she is in favor of hockey. Chris Budeski said he was in support of all three. We are a community out here and we need to provide for the community. The groups almost came to a decision. Sue Shockley said that September was the busiest month. The Fairgrounds has the AGR Testi Fest which had outgrown the indoor arena, the Fight Force and at least one concert. Chris Budeski thought that BAHA was offering $2000 per week for any additional time. Chris Budeski wanted to evaluate the facility more. If the Fairgrounds do not have the funds to keep it going nobody gets to use it. Chris said he could not support the motion because it is not that black and white we have other options that we are pursuing and he felt that the Fair Board should leave
that door open.
Misty Radue said that if they wait people will procrastinate and we still have some contracts out. The Fair Board needs to make some kind of decision so the groups know where they stand. Misty asked what would happen if the Farmer’s Market wants to have the Haynes later would BAHA allow that. Rob Pertzborn asked if the roof was necessary to sell produce. Rob Pertzborn asked to extend their lease not break the lease. BAHA is not trying to privatize. Misty said she does support the motion. Misty said that Sue Shockley said that there needs to be some consistency in the leases. Chuck Busta said that this issue had brought a lot of action and concern to the Fair Board. Chuck said that everyone needs to support the fairgrounds. Bob Brekke said he has been on the Fair Board for several years and the Haynes Pavilion was a big group
effort by the county, city and BAHA. The County gave up the property, the city gave up money that they received from the Haynes family to build a facility that youth could use and the community could use. BAHA gave up a lot of effort, time and money which they do get credit back for each year as they pay off their loan. The Fair Board has made changes to the contract by adding days. Bob Brekke said that the Fair Board needs to stay close to the original lease agreement, which is with BAHA. There is just more than BAHA using the Haynes. The County did a lot for the Haynes because something in the design was not budgeted for and the Fairgrounds figured out a way to cover the cost. It took all of us for the building to get built. We are required to have a fire inspection on the building and adding permanent items reduces the usage of that building because the fire restriction and the number of people we can have in it.
Chris Budeski said that for the 2009 season not this year and he asked if Jim Oberhofer would consider modifying the motion to allow BAHA to begin the lease after the dog show is done. This would allow the Farmer’s Market to continue on their regular schedule and the dog show to stay on their schedule and it would allow the ice in about eight days earlier. Jim Oberhofer said that at this time he is voting to say that the contract stands. Can we adjust a couple of days when that time comes sure we may but between now and 2009 we do not know what might be booked in the Haynes. There is a contractual agreement. Jim Oberhofer wants his motion to stand. Dennis said that if there is nothing booked in 2009 or 2010 then let BAHA have first choice otherwise Dennis agrees with Jim and the contract stands. Chuck Busta said that a lot has happened
in during the ten-year lease. The Fair Board needs to look at the fairgrounds and how we move on in the future. Motion to maintain the current status of the Haynes Pavilion and to renegotiate the contract when the contract comes up. Dennis Farnham seconded the motion. Misty Radue, Bob Brekke, Jim Oberhofer, and Dennis Farnham for. Chuck Busta, Chris Budeski and Linda Warner against. Motion carried.
Permission to leave part of the dasher boards up year round and also permission to construct permanent bleachers along the east side of the Haynes. Rob Pertzborn said that this was removed.
D. Request for discount on Haynes Pavilion for Testy Fest to be held in Sept. 2008. Chris Budeski made a motion to deny the AGR request for the reduction n the Haynes Pavilion. Chuck Busta seconded the motion. Question. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
8. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. 2008 FAIR – Sue Shockley said the Fair is only six weeks away. There is still a lot to do but fair is coming together. Our sponsorship person has brought in $22000+ in cash sponsorships and a lot of barter sponsorships. He is doing a very good job. We have great entertainment. We have lots of volunteers. We had around $8000 in cash sponsorships last year. Chris Budeski said we had a meeting with the Boy Scouts. We are going to charge $2 to parking and this will be split in half. This money will be used to fix the parking facilities. Hopefully we can start paving the parking lot. Lee Provance may have some disposable vests. Sue said the Boy Scouts did not want to wear vest they would rather have flashlights. The Boy Scouts can not be on
public streets without vests. Sue Shockley said we do not have any first aid for fair.
Break 8:00PM – 8:05PM
B. Contract Committee – Hasn’t met – Needs to set meeting. Nothing new.
C. Bozeman Roundup – Finally met. Opening gates at 5:00PM event starts at 7:00. Same events as last year. Ranch Horse Contest on Saturday morning. Have the judges and stock. Foundation will be doing the Calcutta. We are not doing a PRCA rodeo. The ranch rodeo has been successful for us. We are no longer sanctioned because of the cost of fees.
D. Capital Improvements Committee – Nothing. Need to set up a meeting.
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-Bridger Family Health cannot help with First Aid. Set date for Fair Security Meeting – Meeting is set for July 8, 2008 at 6:30AM at the Holiday Inn. Sue Shockley said that AMR is providing the ambulance for the ranch rodeo and mutton bustin.
G. Volunteers Committee-Working to Dept. committees for the Fair. Not much to report. There is a youth group coming to the fairgrounds to volunteer labor for clean up.
H. Marketing Committee – currently working on Fair promo. Getting marketing going with radio and the Bozeman Chronicle.
I. 2008 WinterFest Committee – Taking a breather.
J. Open Lands Committee – Mike Harris said the land designation meeting would be the first part of July. Joe Skinner said that there might be a delay in getting the Road Department property. Dennis Farnham asked it the horse trailers would be able to park in the Road Department during PBR like they did last year. Sue Shockley said yes. Sue Shockley said the Fairgrounds received a donation of brand new carpet from the Chamber of Commerce. This was carpet they used for the home shows at MSU. Joe Skinner said there may need to be a separate hearing to decide how the Open Space Bond money could be used for recreational, 10-20% or all of the ten million.
9. CORRESPONDENCE - None
10. MANAGER’S REPORT – Not presented.
11. DISCUSSION ITEMS –
A. Bozeman Baseball Contract – Signed and is on County Contract Circulation Journey- Sue Shockley said that Baseball signed the contract.
B. Shooting Range Update – haven’t heard if the Bozeman Rifle Club has received their grant. – Nothing to report.
C. Formation of a User’s Group – Sue started working on this – will have more to report at June meeting – Nothing to report.
D. Semi Parking and Truck Driver Testing – discussion only – will be on Decision Agenda for Aug. meeting. – Nothing to report.
E. Fairgrounds Business Plan – haven’t been working on it.
F. RFP for Storm Water Management Plan – have the beginning of an RFP – we can do this if we receive the Open Lands Grant – Chris Budeski said the master site plan is put together. Chris Budeski said the Commissioners did not adopt the Fairgrounds Master Plan. Chris Budeski said they need to get the swale by the Concession Stand to drain East end to North end. There may need to be 20 foot culvert and pipes buried along the concrete and the down spouts connected to the buried pipe. There needs to be around 400 yards of road mix brought in.
G. Capital Improvement Project progress report – Sue Shockley said the inspectors gave a list of items to complete on the concession stand and the contractor is working to complete those. Sue said she needs to call and schedule and appointment for the final inspection.
H. Changes to Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement – tabled until after Policy Committee reviews.
I. Review RFP for Alcohol Provider – will complete this in August.
J. Other items not on agenda – discussion only – Sue Shockley said she had been meeting with the horse groups and the groups said the Fairgrounds can not have a demo derby in the Anderson Arena. Sue said she asked Mike True with the MSU Rodeo to pay for 100 yards of sand because of the problem with the rodeo stock being fed in the arena. Sue said she asked the Bozeman Jaycees to pay for 50 yards of sand because of the lost sand from the Demo Derby. Sue said Mike True had not returned her call yet.
12. SET NEXT MEETING DATE – The July Fair Board meeting will be a working meeting.
ADJOURNMENT –Meeting was adjourned at 9:55PM.
Respectfully submitted.
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