First on the agenda was the appointment of Jeff Hetfeld as District 4 Supervisor. This position has been left vacant for the last nine months since Ramona Pampuch resigned last September. Hetfeld was also appointed to the Land Information, Conservation & Extension Education (UW-Ext.) committee, Social Services and the Public Property committees. Pampuch’s resignation had left these three committees short one member, making it difficult to maintain quorum for official meetings.
Along with approving a representative for District 4, the County Board also voted to approve the request for proposal (RFP) for the grandstand of the Lincoln County fairgrounds. The RFP provides information on what the county is looking for in a replacement grandstand, including details like which materials would be used and how many seats the structure should hold. By approving this RFP, they are now able to publicize it and start taking bids from interested parties.
The previous grandstand was damaged by a storm last summer and deemed unsafe for further use. Lincoln County will receive about $1.2 million from the insurance claim to replace the grandstand with a like structure.
Although the County Board approved the RFP for the grandstand, they are open to considering proposals for building an expo center on the fairgrounds. The Board decided to allow the Fairgrounds Marketing and Usage group to present their ideas for the expo center at June’s County Board meeting.
“I think it’s a great opportunity and I’m glad that the County Board is willing to listen to us,” said Pete Annis, Fairgrounds Marketing and Usage group member and vice president of the Lincoln County Rodeo Association, Inc.
The Fairgrounds Marketing and Usage group was created by the County Board with the intent to better utilize the fairgrounds for the county and to provide more revenue. The group at first focused on making small improvements to the fairgrounds, but the destruction of the grandstand allowed them to consider newer and larger possibilities on how to market the grounds.
The proposed expo center would cost at least $7 million to fully complete, but the possibility of building it in phases would break that amount up over a longer period of time.