Fair board seeks clarity on role going forward

The Big Horn County Commission met with three members of the county fair board, including Chairperson Rebecca Bates, Tim Allen and Tracy Haley, along with fair manager Catherine Foss, during its Oct. 7 meeting.

Bates said there have been a lot of problems this year. Three board members resigned, and it has been hard to find new board members. 

“I think it is just time to address those problems and see if there can be any changes or where you guys see this heading, then where we see this heading,” said Bates. 

Later in the meeting, Bates asked the commission if they had talked to the board members who resigned. Commissioners Bruce Jolly and Dave Neves said they had spoken to two of the three. Bates continued that the fair board shows up monthly for meetings, but has no say or control. 

When Bates asked for her perception of the fair board’s role, Commission Chair Deb Craft said, “You put on the fair. That is your responsibility, and you have all the say on the fair, with the exception of the budget.” 

Bates said that is somewhat true, but it is more than just the fair. “We are the face of the fair. So when there are problems at fair, we’re the ones people are coming to.” 

This year there were a lot of complaints about the fairgrounds and why they weren’t being taken care of. “The barn situation was better thanks to Catherine and her crew that went and painted. That’s the best they’ve looked in a long time,” Bates said.

She noted there is a fairground maintenance budget, but the board never sees it. They can’t answer people’s questions about where that money goes and what is being done.  “It is a pretty good-sized budget.” There is not a maintenance person that comes to talk to the board or come to the meetings. She wondered what is the point of having the board. 

Haley agreed. “Because the budget is published people have gone on there and said there is a full-time person in the fair maintenance budget. Why are our fairgrounds looking like this? She tells them the board doesn’t have an answer for them.” 

Bates added the board is not privy to that information. People may recognize that the board makes sure the fairbook goes out and makes sure everything gets done. She said it was Foss who makes sure the fair book goes out. “She did a fantastic job.  We did get a lot of positives. We got negatives but we got a lot of positives about how the fair was run.” 

She said Foss has many bosses. The commission tells her things. The board tells her things they think. It seems like there is a chain of command issue. It is also an issue when people come to the fair meetings and ask questions the board is unable to answer. “How do we take care of this situation when we can’t have full autonomy over the fair?” She wondered why the fair board can’t be the one that hires the manager, be the manager’s boss and hires the full-time maintenance person. She said there are tiles falling in the office and wondered where the money is going for maintenance. Foss brought to this meeting a folder with workorders for items at the grounds. 

Haley credited Foss for digging into the job. However, there is not a lot of direct supervision. There is no training, per se, other than Showorks. She feels whoever is the manager is set up to fail. 

Craft noted that when Foss comes to the commissioners it is to apprise them of what is going on. The county provides the budget for the fair. The commissioners haven’t said yes or no to things the fair wants to do. 

Bates explained that this year the fair board did look at the budget and put in a proposed budget. Craft responded that every county department does a budget for their office. Because tax assessments were down, the county was short of funds. The budgets were sent back to the department heads to cut. Every department was cut. 

Bates stated that the fair is something for the entire county and that the taxpayers pay money into the fair. She wonders how things can be made better. How do they make the fair something more people want to attend?  Bates added the fairgrounds is the face of BHC. 

Craft said the only complaint she heard was the grass that had been planted where the vendors were. Plenty of people commented positively on the pig barn. She added that the buildings are old, and the county maintains them the best they can with the budget it has. She has talked to commissioners in other counties who are experiencing the same thing. 

Bates again wondered why the full-time maintenance person wasn’t at the fairgrounds full time and talking to the board about what needs to be done. Craft explained that the full-time person reports to the maintenance supervisor, Jeremy Pouska. The same person communicates with the fair manager on work that needs to be done. She asked if work orders have been put in and denied. At the end of this meeting, Foss handed in a folder with workorders. 

Haley again stressed the heartburn for the board is that people ask where the budget money is going. If something is coming out of the fair maintenance budget, then it needs to be focused on the grounds. A 40-hour a week position needs to be at the fairgrounds for those 40 hours.

Bates asked if this was possible so that person can come to the board meetings and work with the manager on what needs to be done. Craft noted that that position reports to Pouska and does other work for the county. She isn’t sure if the county can afford to have a full-time person that is dedicated just to the fairgrounds. Bates pointed out that it reads that way in the budget and asked, “So you are not doing what you have written into your budget.” Craft said she didn’t know. 

Bates asked why the fair board couldn’t hire the manager, the maintenance person and have them both report to them. 

Foss presented a printout to the commission showing the income that was brought in and the expenses. Haley said that the cost of the signs should have come out of the sponsorship money that was brought in. 

Neves explained that the money that comes in from the sponsorships, events, etc. goes in the next year’s budget. The fair has always gotten more money from the county than it has generated on its own. 

Haley said she believes that last year the fair brought in enough money that it was only $20,000 away from the budget the county gave them. Neves said the numbers he is looking at showed that the fair was in the hole. 

County Clerk Lori Smallwood suggested that the commissioners and treasurer’s office review the spreadsheet provided by Foss. Bates noted that Foss has done a phenomenal job on the bookkeeping. Previous fair managers have not done this. 

The discussion continued for some time with fair board members expressing that they had discussed these issues with the commission previously. Nothing really changed. If there are going to be changes, they need to be now. They also expressed they had asked for maintenance items to be done that weren’t done. These included the grass and the sealing of the wooden fence. 

Allen added, “It is tough when we don’t know what the whole budget is. Especially for me when I run a business. If I didn’t know what my whole budget was, I couldn’t do a damn thing. So, it is very tough that way. Stuff happens where you are not going to have a budget. That is tough as well. For me, where I do run a business, and I am kind of the face of that business, it is hard to be at the fair board meetings and be over budget. Then get told of the whole budget for the fair board is these. There is a lack of transparency. Where it all comes from. Where it all goes. We don’t know. We would like to know to get a better understanding of what we can do, what we are supposed to do and how to do it.” 

Craft told the board that there needs to be a work session. She noted that it has always been the fair board putting on the fair so there is a fair budget. Then the manager has a budget for office supplies and payroll. The grounds belong to the county who pays for the maintenance. 

Haley pointed out that she believes that the fair made money on every event this year but there will always be expenses that will never be recovered. Examples include the free stage and premiums. 

The commission would like to do a work session with the fair board. Jolley said he would like them to know that the county budget is going to be more lean next year due to property tax cuts. He would like to have the board brainstorm with the commission about what a county fair looks like without the money to support it. 

COUNTY FENCE POLICY

Jolley asked that the county fence policy be added to the agenda. He led the discussion by saying he doesn’t believe that the county should change its policy. It basically states the county doesn’t do fences. “But I think sometimes maybe we need to look at these, case by case. Dive into what the situation is. I can think of two that have kind of become a big deal.” 

He continued that the situations are not anyone’s fault. He referred to a case a few years ago when the county upon request moved a cattle guard decades ago on Davis Lane in Shell area.  It is believed that the county moved the fence to the cattle guard. 

  Most recently, the issue of fencing came up on Sand Hill Road. Like the case in Shell, the fence is on BLM land. The land is owned by the BLM but is leased to livestock owners for grazing. In this case, the county put up the fence decades ago due to safety concerns about vehicles versus livestock collisions. 

Neves wondered if the commission should wait until Road & Bridge and Engineering staff are available to include in the discussion. Jolley agreed. 

Deputy County Attorney Jen Kirk said she had spoken to county engineer Willie Bridges a few weeks ago regarding Sand Hill Road. The fence in question predates the county’s fencing policy. 

Craft said she has concerns about the county opening that door, wondering how many others would come with similar concerns. 

The commission will discuss the matter further at a future commissioner meeting. 

OTHER  BUSINESS

• After an executive session the commission voted to accept a letter of resignation from fair manager Catherine Foss. 

• An executive session was held with BHC Attorney Marcia Bean and Sheriff Ken Blackburn to discuss security. 

• County maintenance supervisor Jeremy Pouska gave a department update. He reported on equipment/facilities at the detention center, the north annex, and the north senior center. 

• The commission and BHC 250th committee approved a letter of support for the Historic Red Shell School Foundation’s application to the state for a grant.