Fairgrounds
Task Force
Monday, May 16, 2022 - 8:30 pm
Roy Holzer - Chairman
Chairman Holzer called this Fairgrounds
Task Force to order at 8:30 with the following in attendance: Robin DeLoria, Roy
Holzer, Jim Monty, Matt Stanley, Ike Tyler, Meg Wood (8:55), Mark Wright, Jim
Dougan, Mike Mascarenas and Holly Aquino. Charlie Harrington was absent.
Also Present: Dina Garvey, Holly Aquino,
Becky Provost, Dennie Westover, Scott Christian
(8:35) and Alice Halloran (9:01).
HOLZER: Holly, why don’t we start with
your report.
AQUINO: So, the first page is always the
updated version of the calendar of events that are happening, so far, as we
know them. Not a lot new to mention, just ongoing paperwork. It seems to be a
lot of paperwork whenever anybody wants to do it and Becky knows with insurance
and everything. I think Dan Manning probably hates me, because I was trying to
get a hold of him constantly, about insurance requirements and waivers and things
like that. So, it’s kind of one of the growing pains that we’ve been talking
about, as more activity goes on at the fairgrounds, more of these situations,
just come up and I felt sorry for Dan, last month.
So, a couple of things going on at the
fairgrounds, so the barrel racing group as put a lot of work into the horse
ring and also cleaning the bathrooms, so that they are ready to go after them.
So, a lot of volunteer time, some of their own money, as well. They’ve gotten
other people to donate some things, working with an excavating company to sift
the sand; which is important for barrel racing, not so much for the 4H group,
but for barrel racing, when you’ve got little kids going at a fast speed, if
they fall off a horse they don’t want to hit a rock. So, they sifted that sand
to be a little bit finer.
And the Fair had their swap meet and
craft fair on April 30th. Becky, you agree that it was a success for
you?
PROVOST: Huge
AQUINO: Yeah, yeah, so that was really
good. Roy was there, made an appearance.
HOLZER: Yeah, my wife actually one of
the 30 day, I don’t know what she won, but her name was on your page. So, it
was worth the trip, apparently.
AQUINO: So, a lot of activity. Right
now, it’s mostly the horse shows that are really picking up. They had their
first one, the first weekend of May. They’re next one is this coming weekend
and there’s like 5 weekends total that they’ll be out there.
And then, we put a dumpster out there,
as well. So, the barrel racing group, they will be, pretty much in charge of
maintaining that, in terms of making sure that it’s tarped, properly, but, it
can also be used for the fair, as well, so it’s like 2 birds, 1 stone, to take
care of that situation.
HOLZER: So, did we address, like the
access to that area, at all or what? I know we were going to ask Dan Manning
for an opinion.
AQUINO: So, I mean, I’ve gone back
through a lot, because this discussion has come up previously and I was reading
through a lot of minutes from like 2011 and 2016 and I think we can basically
do whatever we want, but we have to make a decision, in terms, because it’s not
really a county park. You know, we don’t have county park and rec staff to
maintain it as if it was a park.
DOUGAN: Can I interrupt for a sec?
AQUINO: Yeah, absolutely.
DOUGAN: So, Roy knows what you’re
talking about, Holly, because you guys have discussed it. We’ve discussed it
already, but everybody else in the room doesn’t know.
AQUINO: Right, the backstory.
DOUGAN: So, it’s the horse arena. So, we
rent the horse arena for certain events, but there are others, locals, I guess,
who are fairly close by, who utilize the fairground and the horse arena with
their horses, but during the day, at times and so that’s the conversation, you
know, you’re renting it to some, this group has invested some, because we rent
it as is, but, they’ve invested some to make the sand better for, specifically
for they’re doing.
AQUINO: Fixing boards.
DOUGAN: So, how do we handle others that
are using that same space without renting? Is it a public space? It is just how
to handle it?
AQUINO: Previously…
HOLZER: So, the individual that rented
it, we had them fill out the normal County rental forms?
AQUINO: Yes
HOLZER: Insurance?
AQUINO: Yes, absolutely. The situation
was, previously there were no locks on the gates there, so people could just
come over with their horses and use it whenever they wanted and this has been
going on for years and now there’s a lock on the gate and so people are upset
that there is a lock on the gate, you know. Previously, as people do go in
there, too, we can’t police what happens there, but you know, people do drink
while they’re doing those things and there were, quite often, beer cans and
liquor bottles left all around the ring, as well.
HOLZER: Okay
MONTY: For those that don’t rent, and
come in and use it, do they fill out any paperwork?
AQUINO: No, because there’s no security.
MONTY: To me, it’s bottom line, they fill
it out or they don’t use it. Whether they pay for it or not, they fill it out
and they agree to maintain no alcohol, because we are a public location, there
shouldn’t be alcohol. I mean we’re putting ourselves at great liability.
DOUGAN: Let me just, let me just make a
few other parallel. I don’t disagree, but let me make a few other parallels.
People come and walk the track, you know.
MONTY: But, they’re not usually
drinking.
DOUGAN: I don’t know, but so, it’s not
quite the same, but it’s similar.
HOLZER: Well, I think there’s a
difference riding a horse versus walking.
MONTY: Maybe we should have a sign in,
if you’re coming over to walk the track then you sign in.
AQUINO: So, that is another situation
that we should probably talk about, because there are no rules and regulations
that are posted there.
MONTY: So, we get rules and regulations.
AQUINO: Exactly and there are county
parks that have horse rings that are opened in the public and based on what Dan
Manning has said, previously, through other notes that I have read, any county
park, it’s kind of like a hiking trail, that it’s your own risk when you’re
doing that. Our concern or my concern is that, you know, the horse group as put
a lot time and effort into maintaining the ring and then if we allow the
general public to come in, they’re the ones that are going to have to continue
to maintain it and that’s kind of not fair to them. If it was opened as a
county park, with posted rules and regulations, I would to think we need staff
to oversee that and to maintain whatever happens when the public’s there, but
we’re not setup that way.
MONTY: My big concern is the liability
aspect. I mean that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
HOLZER: Well, it’s a double standard, if
we ask some to sign the forms.
TYLER: Well, even if you sign the forms,
you’re going to get a lawsuit, Jim.
MONTY: Yeah, I know that.
TYLER: It’s like those forms that they
use to play basketball over here at the gym.
MONTY: I understand, but again I agree
with Holly, that as far as, if you’ve got people renting it to use it and
they’re taking care of business and these other people are coming in and not
taking care of business, it shouldn’t fall back to us to take care of their
business.
HOLZER: Do we have any…
MONTY: And it definitely shouldn’t fall
back to the people that are renting it.
HOLZER: Do we have any signs there that
says, use of these facilities is at your own risk, for like the walkers and
stuff?
AQUINO: No, no
HOLZER: I know for like our bike track
in Wilmington, our insurance company wants us to plaster that. Even then, no
matter what we have, if we’re getting sued, we’re getting sued.
AQUINO: Again, because that is a park
that is opened in the public, where this is a fairgrounds,
which is technically, even though it’s owned by the County, a public entity.
It’s a rental facility, it’s not open as a park, but it kind of is.
HOLZER: So, my gut feeling on this and I
could be wrong and certainly anyone else can interject, but my gut feeling is
to get some kind of handle on it, whoever’s using it for the horses should have
to, you know, register and maybe sign the waiver, especially since we have a
group that’s renting the facilities, right now.
AQUINO: Right
HOLZER: So, there’s some kind of
accountability. So, the lock on the gate isn’t necessarily a bad thing, that’s
just me though.
PROVOST: Are the locals the ones that
are still in like, Moreen’s group and whatnot?
AQUINO: Some of them are, but the point is,
if you open it up to the public then you’re opening it up to everyone. If it
was just one or two individuals that we know, then that’s sort of a one on one,
you know, basis. You know, right now, I think Moreen wants to know, also and
people in her group, can they use it outside of the rented time or not? And if
we’re going to make people rent it out, they need to do the application, give
us their insurance and pay a rental fee and that is too burdensome for the
people who are using it, that just want to go in, in like the evening while
it’s still light and run their horse around the ring for an hour.
HOLZER: Do you know how many people
we’re talking about?
AQUINO: So, there’s probably about, at
least, 2 that we know of, that do it on a regular basis.
HOLZER: So, if they do it on a regular
basis and it’s only 2 people, would it be that cumbersome for them to go
through that process, just to cover us?
AQUINO: For all year long?
HOLZER: Well, just have a handle on it, because
otherwise we have a double standard here.
AQUINO: Right
HOLZER: So, if we’re going to do it for
one, we need do it for all.
AQUINO: Oh, we can absolutely do it for
all, it’s just that I don’t think those people would do it.
HOLZER: Well, then they don’t use the
facility.
AQUINO: Okay
PROVOST: Are those two, I’m pretty sure
they’re both part of Moreen’s group. Can they be considered on Moreen’s?
HOLZER: That would be a question…
PROVOST: Because, they have insurance
through their group.
HOLZER: That would be a question for
Dan.
AQUINO: Yeah, because the insurance
specifically has the dates that it’s rented. So, if they’re going to do it all
year long, you’re going to have to cover your insurance for the entire year,
like a blanket permit. Kind of what we’re doing with Cornell this year, it’s a
new thing that we’re doing with them, but they still have to come to us to say,
is it available.
HOLZER: Right now, I don’t think that’s
necessarily a bad thing. I wouldn’t mind sort of like the State and the County
looked at over by North Hudson, the horse trails, down the road, maybe we
should have more of that, at your own risk stuff, but the actual, like ring and
stuff, I think we, right now, anyways, I think we need to control it. So, the
easiest way, since we’re only talking about a couple of people, so to see if
they can be on the insurance, get you the necessary requirements, that are in
place, right now, otherwise we’re just reinventing the wheel. The biggest thing
is, I want to see the same standards for whoever’s using it.
TYLER: It should be a conversation with
the insurance company, ask them what they want.
HOLZER: Yeah, yeah.
STANLEY: I was going to say that, it’s
County owned, right?
HOLZER: Yeah
STANLEY: So, we have insurance there?
TYLER: Right
HOLZER: Well, we require, like people
that rent the facility to give us an insurance policy.
STANLEY: But, sure, if somebody’s not
renting the facility and wanted to use it the facility, there’s still insurance
there?
TYLER: Correct
HOLZER: Oh, yeah, like the walkers.
STANLEY: Like a town park.
HOLZER: But, we should still probably
look at, getting off track here, but we should still look at, like even for the
walkers, use of the facilities are at your own risk.
TYLER: Something that, the verbiage
should be through the insurance company, exactly.
HOLZER: I agree, someone smarter than me
on it.
AQUINO: But, in order to take care of
the situation with the horse ring, in order to do what you’re saying here, is
that Moreen’s group is going to have to resubmit their permit application to
cover the entire season that we’re open for renting and her insurance company
is going to have to cover every single date to cover these two other people? Is
the only way?
HOLZER: Then they do it. Then they do it
right now and then we, as you get more people, I just think that’s…
TYLER: That should be run by the
insurance company also.
AQUINO: Oh, absolutely.
TYLER: I mean who’s to say that if
somebody goes over there and they must assume at their own risk on a horse,
maybe an insurance company says, no, it’s a park or it’s a county owned
facility. I don’t know what the insurance company’s going to say, but before I
do anything in the Town of Westport, the insurance company and lawyer are the
first two people that I call.
HOLZER: And you already talked to Dan
about this; right?
AQUINO: Yeah, so he’s aware of it, he
did actually want to sit down and discuss it, face to face, I was hoping he’d
be here.
HOLZER: So, you’re going to have a
meeting with Dan on this?
AQUINO: Well, yes, I’ll definitely get,
since we know this is the route we want to go, I’ll sit down him and come up
with a way to get it done and the verbiage.
HOLZER: And it won’t, you know, building
upon what Ike just said, let’s definitely run it by…
DOUGAN: We’ll engage the insurance
company.
TYLER: I would say they have to be a
major player in this. It shouldn’t be what we make up, it should be what they.
HOLZER: It’s a combination.
AQUINO: Right, it’s both.
HOLZER: It’s a combination of both.
PROVOST: Well, see the problem that we
had ran into with the insurance stuff, is your rules and regulations on the
bottom says that you can get a waiver, there was no wavier.
AQUINO: Well, we did get it, finally.
PROVOST: Yeah, finally we got a waiver,
but it’s like, okay.
AQUINO: So, the way, to go back to this
situation with the craft fair, the rules and regulations have not changed, but
it is sort of the first time we’re making people adhere to them.
PROVOST: Right
AQUINO: So, it’s kind of an educational
learning curve for everybody. Whenever an event goes into the fairgrounds, so
Ag Society had the craft fair, Ag Society gave us an insurance policy naming
the County as additionally insurance. That was totally fine, but all of the
vendors are supposed to give us insurance, as well and I think there was a
misconception that your insurance company would cover your vendors that don’t
have insurance, but then their insurance company said, no, that’s not the case.
So, we said anybody who is not a real business, like mom and pop, crochet at
home, you’re having a vendor, Dan said, that we can do a waiver. Dan was
extremely busy, he was in litigation, I think at the time, so it took a while
to get the waiver. We finally got the waiver and anybody who said they could
not get insurance, signed the waiver. I think every single vendor signed the
waiver. So, there were businesses there that were actual business, who should
have had insurance and did not give us a copy and they signed a waiver. So, 37
waivers got signed, out of like 40 vendors and even the people who did provide
an insurance certificate, they were not endorsed properly, so a huge learning
curve there.
DOUGAN: So, yeah, we’re, I mean it’s, we
keep using the word growing pains, but as you know, you brought somebody on, that
their job is the fairgrounds and as we tackle all these things and the way, we
try and still work with the people that have used the fairgrounds the most in
the past, but at the same time put in certain rules, here as we go. So, this is
what we’re, you know, it’s growing pains that we keep coming across and a lot
of the events that we’re having are these really small ones and twos things and
so asking vendors for all the insurance is difficult, but at the same time, to
use Mr. Monty’s word of liability, it’s a tough place to put the County in for
those things, as well. So, I don’t know if we have an answer, we’re just,
today’s meeting, we’re talking more about our growing pains.
TYLER; I don’t think we need to reinvent
the wheel. There are other fairgrounds that are doing this and what are they
doing?
DOUGAN: They’re all run by an Ag
Society.
MONTY: Ag Society
DOUGAN: They’re not run by a county.
TYLER: All of them?
DOUGAN: All of them.
WESTOVER: That’s not true.
DOUGAN: Okay, well, our local ones are.
AQUINO: Well, Clinton County owns, the
ones in the surrounding area, here, yes.
CHRISTIAN: Clinton County is, part of
their grounds are owned by the Ag Society, part is owned…
DOUGAN: But, the rest of it’s leased by
the Ag Society the rest of the year.
AQUINO: They run and operate it.
CHRISTIAN: Can I make a couple of
comments on this?
DOUGAN: Sure
CHRISTIAN: 30 years’ experience, I’m not
trying to talk to anybody, you know, I know that I don’t know everything,
because I don’t, but I’ve been through this procedure and probably everybody
knows that at the end of the year, I’m done with the fair, but I would like to
see it continue and I think the County’s done a tremendous amount of work on
the grounds and I think we’re at the finish line here and we need to work out a
few small things. I was the past President of the New York State Association of
Fairs, I’ve visited all 52 fairs in the State, some during the fair, some not
during the fair and our grounds are tremendous. The County’s put a ton of money
in there, going back 25 years ago or 20 years ago. We started with the
grandstand. We redid the campground, the campground bathroom, 200-amp service
in the middle of the track, buried. New Egglefield building, new bacon burger
building, new bathroom, handicapped bathroom. The Fair built the sugarhouse. We
got a $100,000.00 member item grant from Stafford to do Floral Hall.
TYLER: Tear down some old buildings.
CHRISTIAN: We tore down some old
buildings, the County built a new show ring, built a new cattle ring. We put
all new electrical in where the old carnival area was. All new water system,
things people can’t see. The facility is there, everything is good, I mean it’s
top notch, you go to some of these fairgrounds and they’re still using little
shacks for bathrooms and got their own septic system, we’re on the town septic
system now, town water. Leaps and bounds have been made with the power. So,
with all that being said, going back to the craft fair with the insurance,
number one thing with fairs, people sue at fairs is trips and falls. We’re in a
litigation, right now, the County is for 3 or 4 years ago, somebody tripped and
fell.
HOLZER: At the fairgrounds?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, at the fairgrounds. So,
and that’s not just our fairgrounds, that’s every fairgrounds.
So, when you say every vendor needs insurance, you know, when somebody’s in
Floral Hall, during fair or not during fair, selling something craft that they
made at home, there’s a very slim chance that anybody is going to hold that
vendor liable for anything. I can see food vendors when somebody might get
sick, something with a mechanical ride or somebody selling bigger goods, but I
mean to be honest there’s going to be a slim chance that, you know, somebody
that’s making mittens or making signs is really going to get sued, because what
are they going to do to the public?
HOLZER: A lot of times all this
liability stuff, like Ike says, get ahold of the insurance company, it is
generated from the insurance company. I’ll just give you a quick example of
this. We have a fishing derby, up at Whiteface Memorial Highway and this year,
ORDA has a team of lawyers handling their liability issues. They wanted three
different types of insurance policies and one of the coordinators, get this, to
have sexual harassment certificate training, for a fishing derby that serves
like 20 kids. So, as a result the Fish and Game Club pulled out of it. But,
this is an example of the way we’re coming as a society, is the insurance
company makes all these recommendations to organizations and the County and municipalities.
That’s where it’s getting crazy, right now, Scott.
CHRISTIAN: And I know that and everybody
in this room knows if something happens at the fairgrounds, the County’s
getting sued.
HOLZER: We all are, we all are.
CHRISTIAN: They aren’t going after the Fair
that’s got $20,000.00.
TYLER: They’re going to sue the County,
they’re going to sue the Town, they’re going to sue everybody they can.
PROVOST: People are sue
happy.
AQUINO: And Scott, I don’t think anybody
disagrees with what you’re saying. I mean it is burdensome. It really is, but
we can’t just say, okay, well, we just won’t do that. We have to go by what our
County Attorney says and what the insurance company says and it stinks, but.
CHRISTIAN: And just to say that
everybody’s getting insured, Orange County, everybody knows where Orange County
is. Orange County Fair, last year, somebody got hurt in a carnival ride and
they hired a lawyer from New York City and they actually put a lawsuit against
New York State Association of Fairs, which has nothing to do with it. They’re
just a member of ours. They googled it, New York State Fairs and that came up
first, so they put us on the lawsuit, as well, so we had to get a lawyer, you
know.
MONTY: I think, in respect to what you
said, Scott, you’re right. The County has done a lot to upgrade to where we
are. We need to do more, which we’re trying to do, but it’s the aspect of
people coming in and using things without permission, without notice and just
covering ourselves. I mean, I know if somebody comes to me and tells me my
sidewalk’s bad, they’ve given me prior notice, I fill out a prior notice form.
That way I have it documented that, if the next person comes in a day later and
says, look, I tripped and broke my ankle. Well, look, there’s a prior notice
form, we filled it out, my highway guys are working on it. Not that it’s going
to exonerate me from being sued, but it’s going to look more favorable on the
fact that I have been notified of it and I’m doing my due diligence and I think
that’s all we’re trying to do with the insurance is do the due diligence and I
think, going back, you know, 15 minutes ago, when we were talking about the 2
people from Moreen’s group that use the horse ring, what happens if they’re not
part of the horse group? Because, Moreen’s group isn’t going to want to cover,
if I decided I wanted to buy 2 horses and bring them down there, if I’m not
part of the group.
HOLZER: Well, regardless I’d like to
find a way.
MONTY: Well, I agree.
HOLZER: Whether they’re part of Moreen’s
group or if they’re just people from all over the county that want to use it.
AQUINO: See the thing is, I think if,
you know, word can get around that it is open to the public and maybe there are
people that just assumed it wasn’t, but now they know it is and now they could
start to come. I don’t know, but you do open up that possibility.
MONTY: I know that we have a tremendous
group that comes down from St. Lawrence County, twice a month to ride the
horses at Thrall.
MASCARENAS: So, when you guys talk about
lock, are you talking about the actual ring is locked or the gates that we
installed?
AQUINO: The gates in the ring, just the
ring. Anybody can still get through the fairgrounds, just the ring is locked,
so you can’t put your horse in there.
DOUGAN: And even, any of the gates that
are on the road, even if those are locked, the way that they were just barriers
that were installed in other places; which were just 6x6 posts, and so somebody
can still ride a horse or walk through all those other areas.
MASCARENAS: Sure, sure
DOUGAN: So, it’s just, to try and
balance both situations, we’re asking for a little bit of help in creating some
kind of policy and you’re right, the signs would help us, we’re also going to
get sued anyhow, but we’re still, we’re trying to make this Committee aware
that we need to have some kind of policy, because it’s, it can be black and
white, it can be, if you don’t have a permit and you don’t have this insurance,
we can say no to everything, I guess or it can be white that it’s a free for
all.
HOLZER: So, as soon as you meet with Dan
and find out the insurance…
TYLER: I would, the insurance is the
main thing.
HOLZER: Let’s do those two-fold,
together and go from there. I think that’s the easiest way to, or the most
realistic.
TYLER: We don’t know what we need there
or don’t need there, the insurance company does, though.
MONTY: Our insurance is from NYMIR?
MASCARENAS: Yeah
HOLZER: And believe me, they come up
with a lot of extra stuff.
MONTY: Yeah
DOUGAN: So, another topic, if we’re
ready to move on, is we did, it was kind of last minute, just before your
event, that we did, finally, get the DOH permit. Some of that is the startup of
water and cold temperatures that we still had and trying to start everything up
is a little bit of a balancing act, but we do have the permit to operate the
fairgrounds with, I guess, it’s still that list, I don’t know that anything’s
been added.
AQUINO: No, not beyond the 24th.
DOUGAN: We may have to amend that
permit. The one thing that we don’t have permitted, right now, is the
campground; okay? The campground, prior to Covid, maybe Dennie
knows how many years exactly, there were a couple of gentlemen who rented the
campground, and who basically keep the campground, kind of held that permit
going; okay? And so, since we have nobody out there to really manage the
campground, we don’t have a permit for the campground, right now. When the Fair
comes, I know the Fair’s going to want to use that campground, so we’ll work
with them to get that permit issued for that, how many days.
HOLZER: How many people do you usually
have use the campground?
DOUGAN: It’s full.
WESTOVER: It’s full
HOLZER: It’s full and how many sites is
it, Dennie?
AQUINO: It’s like 13.
WESTOVER: I want to say 15 sites and
we’re allowed 30 campers. You can double them.
HOLZER: When you guys did that before,
when you had the two guys doing it, what kind of arrangement was that?
AQUINO: I think that was through the
County.
DOUGAN: It was through the County, it was our lease.
WESTOVER: It was through the County.
MASCARENAS: They had a contract.
DOUGAN: They had a contract, they leased
it.
MASCARENAS: We bid it out.
HOLZER: Were they the only one that was
interested? Because, I was talking to Jim the other day about this. I think it
would cool to revisit that, as a possibility, to get private enterprise in
there to the campground and see if we can get something going in there, again.
MASCARENAS: Yeah, we bid it out. They
had it every week, except for the two weeks, I think, prior to the Fair.
HOLZER: I assume they didn’t make any
money, financially, I guess.
WESTOVER: They did alright, I guess.
AQUINO: And our lease agreement was
like, the amount they paid us was extremely small.
MASCARENAS: Yeah
HOLZER: Okay
TYLER: Well, they did a lot of work
there, too.
MASCARENAS: Yeah
TYLER: That was in the contract. They
worked there, they put the building up, they did a lot of stuff.
HOLZER: How complicated is us doing the
campground thing?
DOUGAN: I think we can put it out to
bid, sure, why not?
MASCARENAS: It’s been done, really, we
did it before, so we have it.
TYLER: Jim, what about the sewer dump
there, is that just still wide open, anybody can come in and use it?
DOUGAN: It’s still wide open, right now.
TYLER: We got to fix that.
DOUGAN: I mean it’s still there. It’s
not policed.
HOLZER: What do you mean, wide open?
TYLER: Well, I have just witnessed in
the past, people pulling in there with their campers, dumping for free, instead
of going to a campsite where they have to pay.
HOLZER: Oh, okay.
MASCARENAS: Yeah, that was a pretty
regular occurrence.
HOLZER: Like a dump station?
DOUGAN: Yeah, it’s a dump station. It’s
not policed.
TYLER: Yeah, but I know some people that
who own the campgrounds will tell people to do it at the fairgrounds, because
it’s free.
HOLZER: Is there any way that we can
charge for it?
TYLER: You got to have somebody, I mean…
MASCARENAS: You got to know about it.
DOUGAN: You would have to have somebody
there.
TYLER: I think it needs a lock of some
sort on there and then just open it when we have somebody there using it.
DOUGAN: Yeah, we probably could put some
kind of lock on it.
HOLZER: Well, let’s do that right away.
DOUGAN: We can do that right away,
absolutely.
TYLER: You’re making people from
Westport pay for people from Connecticut or Long Island sewer.
AQUINO: Right.
TYLER: I’m not really big on that.
HOLZER: Well, you don’t know what
they’re dumping in there.
So, getting back to the campground
leasing, were there any pitfalls to it when we were doing that? Is there any
reason we wouldn’t want to do it again? I mean…
AQUINO: The only caveat is the month of
August has to be reserved for the Fair.
HOLZER: So, we write it into the
contract.
MASCARENAS: Yeah, that’s what we did.
TYLER: There’s some nice campsites there
and there’s some nice views.
HOLZER: There’s some awesome views,
because the last year, when I was hanging at Dennie’s
beer tent, he pointed out, that if we like cut a bunch of trees it would open
up a pretty good view of Lake Champlain.
AQUINO: It really is the only spot from
the fairgrounds that you can see part of the lake.
MONTY: Is the brewery staying open?
TYLER: Oh yeah, new ownership.
MASCARENAS: I mean it does put eyes
there for us.
DOUGAN: Exactly
MASCARENAS: In a way that we don’t have
now.
HOLZER: Yeah
MASCARENAS: There’s always somebody
that’s running the campground facility, they’re there, at least.
HOLZER: So, would we need a full
resolution from the Board to make this?
MASCARENAS: We can put it out without a
resolution, to award we would have to get a resolution.
DOUGAN: I can ask, we can ask, today.
HOLZER: Okay
DOUGAN: If you want it.
HOLZER: It would be interesting to see
what would come out of it. Does anyone have any issues with that? And how about
the Fair?
WESTOVER: That’s a good idea.
STANLEY: Would there, in the future,
would this, if the County ran the campground, would that help offset, like a
full, part-time person out there to help take care of the fairgrounds?
AQUINO: No, you wouldn’t make enough
money and to keep it open, the permit, according to the Department of Health,
requires that a person be there when it’s occupied. So, that’s the biggest
thing and with any campground, you’ve got to make sure people are hooked up to
the sewer properly, so there’s no spillage. You’ve got to make sure you’re
maintaining trash. You’ve got to clean the restrooms.
MASCARENAS: Yeah, it’s not a campground,
like you think, as a traditional campground. It’s a campground set up for the
Fair, really.
HOLZER: What was the time period for the
old lease you guys had?
MASCARENAS: We had a normal.
DOUGAN: I think it was 3 years.
HOLZER: 3 to 5 years?
MASCARENAS: I think it was renewable.
HOLZER: Okay
DOUGAN: And it might of even, because
they did do some work, as Ike had said, I think it was, it was set up as an
original 3 or 5-year term, because they were doing some investment.
HOLZER: Well, I know if I was, as a
business person, looking at it, I would want more than a 3-year agreement.
DOUGAN: Then, as I recall, there was a
renewal for 2 or 3 years.
AQUINO: I think you cannot lease
anything more than 5 years at a time.
HOLZER: Okay and entrance to it?
DOUGAN: Was next to Nutrition.
MASCARENAS: Yup
HOLZER: Okay, so one thing that I wanted
to revisit and you and I have talked about this before. I think I have asked
you what your zoning rules where, but we need some kind of better signage out
there. When you arrive there, people arrive there, it should say, we’ve
arrived. I know you guys have a plywood sign.
TYLER: I have people questioning that
all the time.
HOLZER: An electronic sign, maybe?
TYLER: It could be possible.
HOLZER: So, how would we go about, like
if Holly and I wanted to attend your Planning Board meeting and get permission,
how would we do that?
TYLER: The first step would be to see
George Hanier and get the requirements for it. Then
you would know if you need to go to the Planning Board. You might not even need
to go to the Planning Board.
AQUINO: It is all specified in your land
use code.
TYLER: I’m sure it is.
HOLZER: But, the whole idea, when Jim,
originally, when we first started the whole Fair Committee, it would be nice to
have an electronic sign out there where we could put special messages.
MONTY: I think, wasn’t it a few years
ago, you guys wanted to put in and it was shut down?
TYLER: No, we just had a few negative
comments on it, we didn’t shut it down, did we, Jim?
DOUGAN: No, well, we talked about it at
one point and we did some work. We even put some cost estimates together. At
one point it was something that we talked about using the fairground money, but
you guys had other projects. It was mixed in there a little bit and it kind of
petered out, I think after that. There’s been some work on some other
electrical upgrades and stuff like that, first, but, we got a cost estimate.
HOLZER: But, whether it comes from
fairground money or not. I think it’s important enough that it’s fine to look at
and it’s important to preview all these policies and stuff, but I think we need
a couple things that we can physically point to, like a new sign, dressing up
the entrance, the curb appeal and saying, okay, we’re really making some…
DOUGAN: We got a cost estimate, at
least, from a vendor; okay? And Holly had, a month or two ago, a meeting or two
ago, had provided a copy of Westport’s zoning law.
HOLZER: So, we would probably have to
talk to them about a variance?
AQUINO: Yeah
DOUGAN: We would have to get a variance.
AQUINO: Yeah, definitely.
TYLER: George would walk you through
that.
HOLZER: Because, Holly, you and I could
go to their meeting and make our case.
DOUGAN: Yup
HOLZER: On behalf of the County or I’ll
do it myself.
AQUINO: Yeah, you got to keep in mind,
it is, I believe, designated a historic district and what kind of a sign is it?
I think you need to find out exactly what type of sign you’re asking a variance
for.
TYLER: Yeah, there’s some work that you’ve
got to do, before you go there.
HOLZER: Yeah
TYLER: And I’m not saying that it’s
something that can happen. I’m just saying, just do what you’ve got to do and
if you can, you can, if you can’t, you can’t.
DOUGAN: Let me schedule a meeting with
George; okay? And see how much more information he would need then what we’ve
got. We’ve got some colored renderings and stuff that are just general.
HOLZER: Are you going to organize the
meeting and then let me know?
DOUGAN: Yeah, yeah.
TYLER: Jim, just give George a call and
he can answer all those questions for you.
DOUGAN: Yup, yup and then we’ll know
what to submit.
WESTOVER: Wouldn’t that be a good use
for ROOST money? Promoting tourism.
HOLZER: Well, I think we can find the
money somewhere, because I think we can make the case to the Board of
Supervisors that it’s important enough. We need something that’s going to say,
you know, we need a visual accomplishment that people can look at. A new sign,
dressing up the entrance, the curb appeal, in my opinion, Dennie,
as a business person, is really important and even though the plywood sign may
have worked back in the day, we just need something else. And I love the idea
Jim had with message board, because if we put different messages there, it’s
all the more reason, as people are going by to look at what’s on it today, you
know.
PROVOST: And to see what’s going on at
the grounds.
HOLZER: Right and it might be revenue,
because if you wanted to say, happy birthday, Ike, you pay $10.00 to have your
message go out there, you know or something like that. We need revenue out
there to do other stuff. Okay, so we’ll set up that meeting then.
DOUGAN: Okay. I would like to bring up,
back in November, before weather got cold, we were going to make another site
visit with this Committee, if you think that’s a good idea, again?
HOLZER: I do
DOUGAN: I think we’re back to good
weather, we’re a couple months before the Fair, itself and maybe.
HOLZER: Why don’t we just do it at our
next month’s meeting. We’ll pick another day, because this is usually a pretty
busy day for us, pick another day, that will be our meeting for June. We’ll do
it right over to the fairgrounds.
AQUINO: And at the next meeting I would
like to discuss winter storage, because that will be upon us quicker than we
know, to come up with some real rules and regulations for that, because right
now, it’s been mostly just verbal reservations, nobody signs anything, people
are supposed to have their boats by April 30th, but most people
aren’t even back from Florida or wherever they are by that time. So, right now,
we still have quite a few boats out there.
HOLZER: We do, right now?
AQUINO: Oh, yeah. So, it’s really
difficult to rent the fairgrounds, the whole facility when there are boats
taking up spaces.
HOLZER: Gotcha
AQUINO: But, I have a feeling, if we
make it by April 30th, people are not going to rent, because they
know they’re not going to be back. So, it’s kind of a…
MASCARENAS: Are they paying the
additional?
AQUINO: No.
HOLZER: That’s one of the reasons we
raised the rate last year, is we didn’t want to compete with private enterprise
on being a storage facility.
MASCARENAS: Right, but our rental is
through April 30th, not through May 30th.
AQUINO: Right
HOLZER: So, we should probably contact
them.
AQUINO: Right, but people are not going
to expect that at this point. So, if we make those rules now, so that next year
and I do, I think I have the contact information for most people who are out
there. I just don’t know who owns which boat, but to contact them and say, this
is how it’s going to work next year and you need to sign this and be okay with
these terms and conditions before you bring your boat out there.
MASCARENAS: The May rental, in my
opinion, and we’ll get into that next time, I don’t want to take, should be
higher.
AQUINO: But, then we come into the part
where it’s like, how do I confirm if somebody wants, if 4H wants to use their
own dairy ring and there’s boat in there in May and they’ve got an activity.
MONTY: Make them move them, get them
out.
DOUGAN: Again, growing pains, let me use
those words, again, okay? So, right now I have a good plan, instead of
springing it on people who were already renting, per se, from Lynn, before Holly
got here, the old way; okay? Now that we’re trying to get more events sooner in
the year and all these things, so we’re going to have these rules up, get them
to the renters; okay? My engineering staff has already taken the buildings and
we’re starting to segment space, so that when these come in, she can actually
say, you’re going in space A12 or whatever it might be.
HOLZER: To control it a little bit.
DOUGAN: And people who, if they come to
us ahead of time, say, well, I’m not going to be able to get out there until
May, we might be able to put it in a spot that we don’t rent; okay? And charge
them for it.
HOLZER: Makes sense.
DOUGAN: But, but, this Committee just
needs to be aware of it, that, again, it’s another one of those…
TYLER: And the thing that they sign,
Jim, if they’re not out by April 30th…
AQUINO: They don’t sign anything, right
now.
TYLER: Then you tell them what’s going
to happen, if they don’t.
DOUGAN: Exactly, but that hasn’t been
done in the past and I don’t want to spring it on anybody, unfairly, who’s used
to using it.
TYLER: Agree.
MONTY: Unfortunately, it’s the County
way, unaccountability. It’s the County way, we don’t hold anybody accountable. And
I think, getting back to that letter, I agree, it should generically go out to
everybody that’s on our rental list and not just boat owners, just generically
send it out to everybody.
AQUINO: Which, by the way, we did not
have a rental list until recently, so now we do.
MONTY: But, again, growing pains. But,
it would be a suggestion, instead of trying to specifically pick up who’s boat
is what, we just send it to everybody who has rented space.
DOUGAN: We’ve done a couple of things,
even this last month, like all the bathrooms. We changed out all the locks to
passage lock sets; okay? Because, Scott had some keys, didn’t have other keys
and so we changed them all out to passage lock sets and then we put a little,
just a little latch and a key, which is basically the same key as the gates, so
that when it comes to Ag Society, you guys, itself, okay, now you just take
that lock off and you’re not struggling for 50 different keys. We’re trying to
do a few other efficiency things, too, here. It’s hard, all these small events
and somebody coming out and wanting it on Saturday and Sunday, you know, if by
chance somebody walked by on Friday night, a door we unlocked and they happened
to turn the thumb latch, then, now, the next day the bathroom’s not open. So,
we’re, it’s just more growing pains as we’re still trying to have access, until
we get to the point that it makes sense to have somebody out there, full time
or part time, all summer long.
HOLZER: Okay, thank you. Alright, that’s
it for this one, guys. Thank you.
WESTOVER: So, do we get a chance to ask
our questions?
HOLZER: Well, certainly, Dennie.
WESTOVER: We’ve going to be getting a
new office, probably a larger Amish shed and we wanted to discuss with this
Committee on where to put it, if they had any choices or wanted to hear our
choices on places to put it, because, as you know, we lost the Cornell, the
office space in the Cornell Building and then we moved the Fair Office into the
Treasurer’s Office, so therefore we have no Treasurer’s Office. We’ve used the
camper, one year and last year we used Scott’s shop.
DOUGAN: Yup
WESTOVER: And we wanted our own lockable
Treasurer’s Office space.
DOUGAN: Okay
HOLZER: How big is the building?
WESTOVER: We’re thinking 12x20, 12x18,
something.
HOLZER: What’s the normal procedure when
we allow a building to go out there?
DOUGAN: Couldn’t tell you.
MASCARENAS: We show up and it’s there.
DOUGAN: So, this is a great first step,
that we’re going to talk about it. So, I don’t know if you want to wait until
this next walk through?
WESTOVER: We can add that into the walk
through and give you our ideas of where would work best for us.
DOUGAN: Yup, are you going to try and
bring power to it, I would assume?
HOLZER: I would think they would want
it.
WESTOVER: Yeah
AQUINO: Is it the type of building where
you put it down, but you could also move it at some point, if you needed to?
WESTOVER: Yeah, it’s going to be an
Amish shed, so I don’t see why not.
AQUINO: So, that gives you a little bit
more flexibility.
HOLZER: Right, but it also depends what
kind of power needs they’re going to have and the equipment that’s going to be
in there and stuff like that.
WESTOVER: Yeah, it wouldn’t require a
bunch of power, you know, maybe enough for air conditioning to run, would be
the biggest thing.
HOLZER: What would you have for a
restroom, just have a port-a-john outside the building, like you have them
through the fair?
WESTOVER: There’s no restroom now.
PROVOST: In our current one.
HOLZER: Okay, so you’re walking anyways.
I don’t have a problem with a building going out there. We’ll just coordinate
it.
DOUGAN: We’ll just coordinate it, yup.
AQUINO: What’s that little white
building that’s out there, now, that says, Fair Office on it?
WESTOVER: That’s the Treasurer’s.
PROVOST: That’s the Treasurer’s Office.
WESTOVER: That was the Treasurer’s
Office.
AQUINO: So, is it going to be used for
anything?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah
WESTOVER: Yeah, we’ll still have it for
an office for the Fair Office or put the Treasurer back in there.
AQUINO: Okay
DOUGAN: So, you don’t think you’ll need
Scott’s maintenance area, this year, if you get that?
CHRISTIAN: No, we’re not going to.
DOUGAN: Okay, that didn’t work out?
WESTOVER: It was a little difficult with
people coming and going.
CHRISTIAN: We’re trying to get somewhere
to keep people, you know, when you’ve got $20,000.00, it’s too accessible.
HOLZER: That makes sense.
WESTOVER: The ice maker, where do we
stand with the ice machine, because we really need an ice maker this year,
because one of our vendors that’s coming, that was part of the agreement, that
we made with them, is that we would supply the ice for him.
DOUGAN: Okay
WESTOVER: And plus…
PROVOST: Other people buy it.
WESTOVER: Other people buy it and we had
such problems, we couldn’t even get ice last year. They weren’t making our
deliveries to us when they were supposed to and there was just, the mobile
station in Westport and the little local stores around, they didn’t have any
either.
DOUGAN: We let you use an ice maker that
we had leftover. The Nutrition Program had a fairly new ice maker they bought,
just before the moved, we put a new ice maker in there and then we let you use
one, until ours broke down. We left it at the fairgrounds and when ours broke
down at DPW, we moved it out and put it over here. So, I’ve never planned to
buy a new ice maker for anybody. The ice maker is only necessary during the
Fair, so I’m not sure why I’m…
HOLZER: How much is a new ice maker?
WESTOVER: We’ve discussed this ice maker
before. I thought that there was one in the plans that they were going to try
and get us one back.
AQUINO: I saw that it was mentioned in
the minutes for one of the meetings for the Ag Society, but I don’t think it
came before us.
PROVOST: I bought one for our fire
department, it was $5,000.00.
MONTY: You’re definitely going to need a
commercial one.
HOLZER: Would we have a need for an ice
maker for other events out there, Holly?
AQUINO: Not what’s currently on the
calendar.
DOUGAN: Maybe in the future, but what’s
currently on the calendar, no.
HOLZER: So, if they don’t have an ice
maker for this year’s Fair, how are we going to coordinate trying to assist
them with like getting some freezers out there for bags of ice, ahead of time
and stuff? Because, we did give you some ice from the Nutrition.
PROVOST: The Nutrition Center.
HOLZER: Because, I remember us, my going
out there and having an 11th hour need.
WESTOVER: Well, this is what I was told,
I was told that that was kind of a partial, it was a partial deal. We bought a
commercial ice maker and then the compressor burned up on it or something, but
then the County had one, so they took, we took parts off of theirs and we made
one between the entities. The one that was in there, so for a while, we thought
it was our ice maker, correct, Scott? Am I speaking out of turn?
CHRISTIAN: We thought it was ours.
WESTOVER: You know, we thought it was.
HOLZER: Are you guys in a position where
we could split the cost of a new ice maker? It’s $5,000.00, I’m not saying the
County, because everything I tell you has to be approved by 17 others.
CHRISTIAN: So, if we could get some help
with a grant, we got $10,000.00 Covid Relief and I know that, sitting there, we
talked about it. We just don’t have anybody on our Fair that has the time to
every time we get into the Gateways and we get it all figured it out, by the
time, we get kicked out.
HOLZER: Are you talking about the bigger
grants?
CHRISTIAN: No, it’s a $10,000.00 Covid
Relief Grant.
HOLZER: Who from your group could we get
to be your rep to Community Resources, if we’re able to set something up?
Because, that would be a perfect use of your $10,000.00, instead of giving it
back.
CHRISTIAN: Well, I’ve talked to somebody
about it, but I don’t want to say until they definitely say they’ll do it.
HOLZER: And as soon as you know, you
email both Holly and myself, maybe we can move that along. Because, to leave
that money on the table to give up that money, it’s crazy not to utilize it and
that could take care of buying the ice maker.
CHRISTIAN: Right, for sure.
MONTY: You might want to research where
you would get an ice maker and how long it would take to get one, too.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah
MONTY: Because, right now moving into
this heat that we’ve already had, they’ll be going fast.
PROVOST: Yeah, it took me 6 weeks to get
the one that we just got.
HOLZER: Could you check on the
availability, well we won’t know until the money, but could you check on the
availability of it?
PROVOST: Oh, yeah.
DOUGAN: That’s something that’s usually
under State Contract and there’s a big discount on kitchen equipment when it’s
under State Contract. The Nutrition Building, most of the equipment was on like
a 52% discount; okay? When we bought all that, so we can work, I can work, I’ll
ask Linda Wolf to help a little bit. I can ask her to find that, also and see
what both availability and the timing through State Contract.
WESTOVER: So, therefore the County would
have to purchase it?
DOUGAN: Probably the County would have
to purchase it, at that rate. I’m not telling you we are. That’s not my
decision to make, but I can research it.
CHRISTIAN: Right, so with that being
said, when we had Community Resources help us before, when they’d call down and
say they were from Essex County and blah, blah, blah.
HOLZER: Yeah
CHRISTIAN: The Ag Markets, oh, it’s the
Fair’s grant and whatever. Well, administration, has changed where we deal with
Ag Markets. It’s Kelly Young, now, which was in the Horse Breeders Association,
before and she was on our last district meeting and she is very understandable
about different situations. I think she’s going to be a lot,
they’re going to be a lot easier to work with. She actually did a handout of a
checklist and stuff where we couldn’t get before, you have to be registered in
the Gateway before they talked to you and if you don’t know how to do it, you
don’t know how to do it. So, I think we have a better shot at doing it and I
think $10,000.00 is a more number where, not a $100,000.00, you know what I
mean? So, it’s more, we can doable, you know, if we had to pay and wait for our
money we could, do you know what I mean? I just don’t know how we’re going to
get money back to the County.
HOLZER: Let’s do this, let’s see how
much a new machine would cost and maybe it’s something that we can coordinate a
cooperative type deal, to just get the ice machine.
CHRISTIAN: Right
HOLZER: So, let’s try that.
MONTY: So, if it was an issue, can’t
Community Resources be the administrator of that grant?
HOLZER: Not under, no.
MASCARENAS: No
HOLZER: So, under the big grant they
got, they were a huge pain in the neck, the State.
MASCARENAS: Local governments weren’t
eligible. They were granted directly to the 501c3.
HOLZER: Yeah
MONTY: Gotcha
MASCARENAS: So, being a volunteer group,
it’s difficult; right? To put in the time, whenever Community Resources would
contact Ag and Markets on that, they just wouldn’t work with them, because they
weren’t a representative of that agency.
HOLZER: Well, some of the bureaucracy of
that stuff is complicated for us, so I can’t imagine being a volunteer trying
to figure it out.
AQUINO: But, there may be other
organizations that can help you with grant writing, like try the Cloudsplitter
Foundation, because I think they have people that would kind of help walk you
through it.
CHRISTIAN: It’s non-competitive. So,
it’s not really the grant writing part, it’s just to do the paperwork.
MONTY: It’s the administrating the Grant
Gateway, which is a nightmare.
CHRISTIAN: Because, it seems like
anytime we get there and then, oh, our Workman’s Comp, so you have to restart
it and nobody uploads those forms in a timely matter.
HOLZER: So, Dennie,
do you have anything else?
WESTOVER: Yeah, we’re basically running
out of inside space. So, we also wanted to ask permission about, possibly, in
the Egglefield’s building, where the two garage doors
are, if possibly, if need be, about building some temporary walls between
those. So, that would be more inside, sellable space. We wanted to get the
County’s permission.
HOLZER: So, how do we normally work
that?
AQUINO: Can we park boats in there, if
you do that or no?
WESTOVER: Well, it could hinder you or
it could help you, really. You know, because they do have the doors on them.
AQUINO: I have seen, because right now
they’re kind of parked this way and I have seen photos where they are parked
this way, depends on the size of the boats. We have some really big ones in
there that fit nicely, but they wouldn’t fit the other way around.
WESTOVER: Well, if they became a
permanent wall in there, basically, maybe, what you could do is somebody that
had a classic car. You know, it could become lockable.
AQUINO: They use the dairy barn, now,
for that. We only have 2 classic cars that get parked out there.
WESTOVER: Well, you used to be a lot
fuller, until you took all your space with the County buses and that’s a fact.
CHRISTIAN: It was designed to put a wall
there, when it was built.
HOLZER: So, what would be the normal
procedure, Jim, for allowing a wall through there?
DOUGAN: We would take a look at it, at a
plan or something and this Committee would say aye or nay. I mean, last year,
you guys built the washing station up by one of the horse barns, so basically
came to this Committee, this Committee said, okay, you know and then basically
that’s what’s that it would be.
HOLZER: Before I say either way, just
mine, when we do walk through, you can basically show me.
WESTOVER: It could benefit the County,
as well.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it should just be a
portable wall.
WESTOVER: It could be portable or it
could be, you know, something to divide that up, so the County could, you know,
you would be renting your own space. Maybe you could charge more for square
foot for it or something like that.
PROVOST: Our boat raffle that we just
did, they want, we did it with the Fish and Game League and they want to do
improvements down in the conservation area and they gave me a list of what they
would like to do. The money that we raised is not going to cover all of this.
So, we may get some sponsorship or whatever. But, they want to fix a roof on
one of the buildings. They would like to put, like, a cement walkway around the
outside for the handicapped to go to all the buildings and I know there’s like
a handicapped ramp on the buildings and whatnot, so I’m not sure if we’re
allowed to do that and then something about they want to fix the fish tank
building; which I don’t even know what that is. So, we would help them with the
money that we raised to try and fix all of these things, if it’s okay to fix
them.
AQUINO: I assume the fish tank building
is that one…
PROVOST: It’s kind of open.
AQUINO: They’re mostly lean-tos.
PROVOST: Yeah
AQUINO: But, there’s one that’s actually
enclosed and it has this wooden thing that looks like a wooden fish tank, but
it’s very dilapidated. So, I’m not sure that’s what that is or not.
PROVOST: I mean the most expensive
things are going to be the walkway and the roof of the building, because that
building leaks and we raised them $1,500.00 to get started.
HOLZER: That’ll get you a bundle of
shingles.
PROVOST: Yeah, so needless to say, but
apparently they have some money that they can put in, as well, but they’re
limited, as well, that’s why we raised the money to help improve that area.
HOLZER: So, in the past do you getting a
written plan from people like that and then?
DOUGAN: We should have some kind of a
plan. For something like that, it sounds, even if it’s a scope of work,
probably is fine, a sketch and we can work with that. Regarding the
conservation area, Holly’s been trying to get a key from people that have the
conservation area.
PROVOST: That would be George Tefoe, Jr.,
AQUINO: Yeah, he said he would get me a
key.
DOUGAN: She’s called, she’s called and
she’s called.
PROVOST: I’ll get it.
AQUINO: Okay
DOUGAN: And so, you know, are they our
buildings? I’m assuming they’re our buildings.
PROVOST: They’re on the grounds.
HOLZER: Yeah
DOUGAN: So.
AQUINO: We should have access.
HOLZER: If you don’t get a key, just
change the lock then.
DOUGAN: Okay, it’s just.
HOLZER: So, just one final thing,
anytime you want to like, to make sure I’m prepared for the meetings, just jot
me an email, text me.
PROVOST: You got it.
HOLZER: Saying you want to talk about A,
B, and C, just so I’m a little bit more heads up on stuff, because I wasn’t
aware that you wanted to talk about the ice machine and all of that. Which I
don’t have a problem with it, I would just like to be a little better prepared.
PROVOST: So, I mean, because there’s other
improvements that need to be. I mean the State Police Building looks like it’s
going to fall off a brick, because that’s all that’s holding it up is a cement
brick and I brought it to the State Police’s attention, last year. So, they’re
aware that that building is not really safe.
HOLZER: Were they the ones maintaining
it before?
PROVOST: No idea.
HOLZER: Okay
AQUINO: And also do you have plans for
Sire Stakes money, because don’t you every year, you reinvest that into
something?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, we’re going to do a,
I’ve talked to Jim about it, a lean-to to park the manure bin in, because it
has to be covered.
DOUGAN: We talked about this before.
Some kind of coverage, at one point we talked about.
CHRISTIAN: It’s going to be similar to a
wash rack.
DOUGAN: We talked about a concrete pad,
slab and then that. But, we should finalize that, but that’s what we talked
about, yup. That way you can keep it covered.
CHRISTIAN: That’s what I’ve asked for
the money for.
AQUINO: So, next meeting, next month, I
think we were scheduled for Tuesday, June 20th, because the 19th
is a holiday.
HOLZER: We’re going to kick it a day or
two beyond that.
AQUINO: That week, hopefully?
HOLZER: I want, kind of, just to be,
that’s our morning, not trying to do like 3 other committee meetings.
AQUINO: Right
WESTOVER: So, you don’t have a date
picked?
HOLZER: We’ll pick one, Holly and I and
we’ll make sure you’re aware.
PROVOST: Along with the walk through?
HOLZER: That’s what we’re going to do,
it will be the meeting and the walk through down there.
AS
THERE WAS NO FURTHER DISCUSSION, THIS FAIRGROUNDS TASK FORCE WAS ADJOURNED AT 9:27
AM.
Respectively Submitted,
Dina Garvey, Deputy Clerk
Board of Supervisors