GALLATIN COUNTY FAIR BOARD
JUNE 16, 2009 MINUTES
As approved at the August 18, 2009 meeting
ATTENDANCE:
Fair Board Members Present: Bob Brekke - Chairman, Dennis Farnham, Linda Warner, Chuck Busta, Jeff Wade
Absent Fair Board Members: Misty Radue, Chris Budeski
County Commissioner: Joe Skinner
4H: Nancy Chesterfield, Sandy Bryant, Buck Smith
Staff: Sue Shockley, Manager and Karlene Pisarcik, Secretary
Guests: Ken Bruwelheide, Andy Van Orden - Greenway Indoor Shooting Range
Tim Stefan - BAHA
Kurt Cunningham - FWP
Public: Sonja Berg
CALL TO ORDER: Bob called the meeting to order at 5:40pm
PUBLIC COMMENT: None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Dennis Farnham moved to approve the April 30, 2009 Fair Board minutes as presented. Chuck Busta seconded. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
Linda Warner moved to approve the May 19, 2009 Fair Board minutes as
presented. Chuck Busta seconded. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE: Joe Skinner stated that everything that Sue asked for in her preliminary budget was approved. Sue said that she never exceeds her budget. Joe said that it was commendable that the Fairgrounds is becoming self sufficient but as our revenues go down then staff needs to be decreased.
FAIRGROUNDS FOUNDATION UPDATE: Tim Kuhlman was not present but it was reported that the plans have gone to the city for the hood and stove in the outdoor arena concession stand.
4H: No report
GUEST PRESENTATIONS:
A. GREENWAY SHOOTING RANGE: Ken Bruwelheide and Andy Van Orden gave us a tour of the shooting range. Ken stated that with the help of a $7100.00 grant and the donations of many businesses improvements have been made to the range. Bozeman Rifle Club operates the shooting range and it is open to the public. They stress safety first to anyone who is using the range and a copy of the rules and regulations are attached. They normally are closed in the summer, however, they are still open right now for open shooting on Thursday.
DECISION ITEMS
A. May 4-H Market Auction buyers be admitted to Fair for free? Sue reminded the Board that Nancy Chesterfield and Sandy Bryant came to the Fair Board meeting last month to request that their livestock sale buyers be allowed to come in to the Fair free on Saturday. Sandy said she thought that the Fair Board didn’t have any objection to the buyers getting in free. Linda Warner moved to not charge anyone until 9am on Saturday morning. After 9am we could start to charge. Jeff Wade seconded. Discussion followed. Dennis Farnham stated that word will get out and everyone will be coming in free. Nancy Chesterfield said that it will only be advertised for 4-H. We could assign only one gate for the
buyers to enter. Vote taken. Two in favor, Linda Warner and Jeff Wade. Two against, Dennis Farnham and Chuck Busta. Bob Brekke was the tie breaker and he voted in favor of it for one year. Motion carried.
B. May BAHA begin construction on new locker room? Linda Warner moved to approve construction to begin on the new locker room. Dennis Farnham seconded. Discussion followed. Tim Stefan gave background information for the construction plans. They would like to begin on June 22nd. The area will be totally enclosed for safety. Vote taken. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
C. What events will be charged for parking? Dennis said that the Fair Board discussed only charging a parking fee for major events which would be events that charge admission. We have 7-9 non-profit organizations that will step up to the plate to collect parking fees. The fees will be $2.00/car and we are working on a parking packet. We will start collecting in November or December. Dennis Farnham moved to charge all major events that charge admission. Chuck Busta seconded. Vote taken. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
D. Approval of new alcohol policies: Jeff stated that the current alcohol policy needed a lot of work. A revised draft is attached. We would have a better tracking system if our staff sold the alcohol tickets. The tickets sold would be exchanged to the bartenders. We would probably have to have 2-3 staff members selling these tickets. Dennis Farnham moved to accept the alcohol policy as written. Chuck Busta seconded. Jeff Wade changed the motion to add on ticketed liquor sales. Chuck Busta seconded. Vote taken. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
E. Moving the Fair Admission Gate to the Shooting Range Gate: Sue said that the Parking Committee recommended moving the Main Entrance to the Shooting Range Gate. The walk -thru gate next to it can be used an exit gate. She said that Rocky Mountain Concessions in Building #4 are concerned that visitors will bypass them as well as the other exhibit buildings too. We could possibly put up livestock panel fences to force traffic into the buildings and use flowers, banners and trees to beautify the panels. We could also put up signs for the buildings so visitors would go through them. Jeff Wade moved to move the south admission gate. Dennis Farnham seconded. Vote taken. Unanimous
for.
None against. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. BAHA Update: No report.
B. Greenway Range Update: Covered earlier when Ken Bruwelheide & Andy Van Orden gave us a tour of the facility.
C. Baseball Update: Sue said that she thought Baseball was told that there were to be no games on Saturday and to change the times for games on Friday. Right now they were able to change Friday’s game but there are still three games scheduled for Saturday. Sue will follow up on this schedule. Chuck felt that they should go with the contract that states no games are held on Saturday. Linda said that we need to stay strong on contracts.
D. 2009 Fair & Bozeman Roundup: Sue stated that it’s too late to turn back now (just kidding) – it’s really going to be a great Fair this year! She said that Jaime was having trouble getting sponsors but that she’s doing an awesome job. Sue said that she needs articles for the Tab by June 26th otherwise she will have to write them. She said she feels the economy situation will have a positive effect on the Fair. We have raffle tickets to sell for a 4-day NFR trip to Las Vegas and the prices are $5.00/ticket or $20.00/5.
E. Contract Committee (BAHA): Jeff reported that there will be a premature meeting tomorrow.
F. Policy/By Laws Committee: Jeff stated this committee will meet again after the Fair.
G. Parking Committee: Dennis reported that he met with the Boy Scouts and it was decided that the overflow of parking would be in the West Annex and manned by the Optimist Club as the Boy Scouts felt they had enough to do taking care of the main parking lot. Vickie Johnson and Dennis Farnham will make the parking spaces in the West Annex on Monday morning before the Fair. He said we’ll have parking attendants on hand to make sure the trailers get parked right in the beginning.
H. Capital Improvements Committee: Sue reported that the Fairgrounds will receive just about $310,000.00 in stimulus money to put up a connecting building between the existing four exhibit buildings that will house restrooms and showers. We will have until September, 2010 to complete the project.
I. Pricing Committee: No report.
J. Grounds Safety Committee: Dennis reported a meeting is scheduled for June 18, 2009 at 6:30am at the Holiday Inn.
K. Volunteers Committee: Sue reported that this committee is meeting every week with good results.
L. Marketing Committee: Jeff reported the Fairgrounds newsletter now has a name which is “GCF Focus”. He also stated that Jaime has done an awesome job and that the year round sponsorship is going to be great.
M. 2010 WinterFest Committee: No report.
CORRESPONDENCE: Sue said she has received two really crazy letters complaining about personnel, the grounds, the parking lot and the general lack of beautification at the Fairgrounds. She said that she thinks the letters are from the same person and she’s trying to find out who sent them.
MANAGER’S REPORT: Sue gives updates to the Board.
FINANCIAL REPORT: No report. Bob stated that nothing was emailed out to the Board.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Concession Stand Update: Covered earlier.
B. 2009/2010 Budget: Covered earlier.
C. Fair Board Responsibilities during Signature Events: Tabled until everyone is present.
D. County Audit Review: Sue said we have now deposited Security Deposit checks and we are waiting for further recommendations from the Auditor.
E. Charge for Parking: Covered earlier.
F. Personnel: No report.
G. RFP for Alcohol Vendor: Covered earlier.
H. Fairgrounds General Lease Agreement: Tabled until after the Policy Committee reviews.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Sue reported that we’re having a public meeting tomorrow night, June 18th, 7pm, Building #3 for the Fairgrounds users and the Fair Board is welcome to attend.
June 27th & 28th are designated as Clean Up Day at the Fairgrounds with 4-H. The Fair Board will be providing hot dogs & chips for all the volunteers. Sue has asked everyone to bring a plant with them, except for 4-H.
Mike Harris, of the Parks Dept. has asked to use Building #7 for storage. Sue said she told him to put his request in writing to the Fair Board.
We are working on a grant formula with Larry Watson for energy dollars.
John Ansley, of the Weed Dept., has been doing an awesome job spraying the weeds on the Fairgrounds. Operations asked if we could allow them to store their vehicles at the West Annex as they eventually want to fence off their area to be more secure.
ADJOURNMENT: Dennis Farnham moved to adjourn this meeting at 7:25pm. Chuck Busta seconded. Unanimous for. None against. Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted:
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