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2000-957-Minutes for Meeting September 25,2000 Recorded 10/19/2000VOL: CJ2000 PAGE: 957 RECORDED DOCUMENT STATE OF OREGON COUNTY OF DESCHUTES *02000-957 * Vol -Page Printed: 10/20/2000 10:41:54 DO NOT REMOVE THIS CERTIFICATE (This certificate constitutes a part of the original instrument in accordance with ORS 205.180(2). Removal of this certificate may invalidate this certificate and affect the admissibility of the original instrument into evidence in any legal proceeding.) I hereby certify that the attached instrument was received and duly recorded in Deschutes County records: DATE AND TIME: DOCUMENT TYPE: Oct. 19, 2000; 4:47 p.m. Special Meeting (CJ) NUMBER OF PAGES: 21 MARY SUE PENHOLLOW DESCHUTES COUNTY CLERK KEYP NC EQ OCT 2000 6YOM60. ?57 MINUTES pop 19 Pit 4:47 MEETING OF MEMBERS OF DESCHUTES COUNTY Fi'� ASSOCIATION, FAIR BOARD, BOARD OF COUNTY COMM49 AND BUSINESS LEADERS -Mlp"�K MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 DESCHUTES COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS David Bishop, Chair of the Deschutes County Fair Board, opened the meeting at 1: 45 p. m. See Exhibits A and B -Attendees and Meeting Sign -in Sheets (2 pages) David Bishop introduced Jim Diegel and Lee Smith of the Fair Board, and Mike Schiel of the Deschutes County Fair Association Board; as well as all three of the County Commissioners. BISHOP: We have an awful lot to cover in a very short period of time. Ultimately, what we're all here for - I would hope - is to support the notion that it's not a matter of "if' but a matter of "when" we build these parking lots. We're going to build them sooner or later, because I believe that hosting RV events such as the Family Motor Coach Association that is under contract currently and scheduled to come here next August - it's not a matter of "if', but a matter of "must" of when we host those. Those functions have to be in our target marketing plan. We have 95% or more of the infrastructure already here - bricks, mortar and otherwise - to host those kinds of events. All we need to do is build a parking lot now. Who knows exactly what that cost will be. What I wanted to do today is not only receive your support, but allow an opportunity for any and all of you to give us some feedback about what we want to do as the County Fair Board. We want to let you know about where we are. Sign-up sheets are going around, and it's very important that we know who is here, and if you want to stay involved in the partnership. We'd absolutely love to earn your participation. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page I of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BISHOP (continued): So where are we and where do we need to go from here? From the simplest sense, we need to build a parking lot before we can honor the contract with Family Motor Coach. That's a given. So how do we build a parking lot? There are a couple of things, and I will ask the Commissioners to perhaps comment on these. We have to secure a building permit from the City of Redmond to move this ball forward. Last Wednesday afternoon the County submitted the pre -development review form, and I met with Bob and Chuck with the City last week. They have routed the form to a number of people, from the railroad, to the hospital, to the traditional county, city, police, fire, ODOT, and so forth. So they are fast -tracking this, and I want to thank everyone for their continued support. We need the project to be engineered. The feeling of the County Commissioners is that it must be engineered and we must be given the opportunity to have access to that engineering to do a whole host of things. There is engineering for the building and the construction of it, and there's also engineering of a traffic study that must be done, subject to the original agreement with ODOT. As luck would have it, there are engineering firms that have traffic engineers and design engineers on staff. We need that engineering report to continue to move the application through with the City; we need it if we are to apply for a loan/grant from OEDD; and obviously we also need that to be able to say that we have a commitment from the National Guard. If we have a commitment from the National Guard to help us, what part of that engineered equation do we want them to do, and when do we need them here. Finally, if we get an engineering report, we can continue with the application process and identifying funding alternatives, and then we can identify how much it is going to cost. Realistically if we are going to go to OEDD, we need to know what it is going to cost. I've heard all kinds of numbers - $400,000, $800,000; I've heard $400,000 since last September, yet Mike Daly and others did some improvements to 20 acres but the number stayed at $400,000. We have the opportunity of the National Guard coming in and helping out, yet the number stays at $400,000. We need to absolutely and certainly come up with a pricing schedule and a design for that. And we need to identify funding sources. We have met with OEDD once in Redmond; I think the climate of that meeting would be summed up as very supportive. It's not a done deal, but the application was incomplete because there was no engineering done. By statute, the application that was received couldn't even be applied for. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 2 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BISHOP (continued): Now the County is the customer, the County is the owner of the project. If we choose to move forward on a grant/loan, the engineering and construction schedule and so forth must be pre -identified. The County may have some money; who knows? They may be willing to just pay for the property if they have it. The other issue is corporate citizens. If you're a business person in Central Oregon, it's going to be very difficult for your business to not indirectly or directly benefit from having the infusion of approximately $15,000,000 brought into the community. When I was Redmond Chamber president, they used to say that when a new dollar comes into the community, it circulates seven times before it leaves the community. If that's the case, every single business person in this room and in this region should benefit. So we're going to come to you, corporate citizens, and ask how you can help. How can you help coordinate the construction project; how can you help raise funds; those kinds of things. Finally, we will need to go out to bid and select a contractor to build the parking lot. If the parking lot is built, that is probably the last component, at least at this point, of securing and honoring the contract with Family Motor Coach. As I see it, currently the contract is not with the Fair Association or the Fair Board or the Commissioners; it is a contract with the community. You have a five -member volunteer County Fair Board, and its focus remains on getting the existing facility going. We've heard about lines of credit that need to be paid, checks that have been returned that need to be made good; we hope by the middle of next week that we'll have the results of the audit. We're going to be a lot more informed as we move forward. We heard that there were some 300 existing contracts on the books that we have to deal with, where perhaps the deposits have been spent; but it appears that number is significantly less than that. RICK ISHAM (Deschutes County Legal Counsel): There are approximately 40 signed contracts for which deposits have been received. BISHOP: Plus there are contracts that need to be written. You need to know that we, as your County Fair Board, are focused on keeping the going concern operational. We're going to ask you to help us run with the ball so we can achieve the design contract, the traffic study done, the application secured from the City, the funding mechanism identified, and then the parking lot built. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 3 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BISHOP (continued): The bottom line is the Family Motor Coach Association will be here next August. With that, I would like to ask in regard to parking lot engineering, construction project engineering, traffic engineering, as well as fundable resources that are out there, are any of the Commissioners willing to stand up and share some thoughts and ideas on those issues? DENNIS LUKE (County Commissioner): We've had a lot of discussions on this since the middle of last week. Until that time, we had thought that the Fair Association would be the coordinating influence on the Family Motor Coach Association's convention. We believe that it will somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 to do the traffic engineering. On top of that, we're probably looking at about $10,000 to $15,000 for the engineers to do the engineering on the parking lots. The problem with the County doing this is that this is a public facility, and it's all prevailing wage. You can do some things on personal services contracts, but the majority of it has to be bid. That is one of the constraints the County has. We had committed earlier to working with the City, the Fair Association and the Fair Board on bring the FMCA here. Some things have happened, but we are still committed to that; however, we need to know how much money we will have to put up if we do that and to help out the Fair Association and their current problems with their bills. We hope that is done fairly quickly, so we'll have a good idea where we're at. Until we get an engineering bid, we don't know what we're talking about on the parking lots. We can, at best, guess. The OEDD has told us that if we get a loan grant, you must spend the loan proceeds first. Finding the money in our budget to pay back that loan is a concern. It isn't a long-term concern, but is still a concern. Regarding the old fairgrounds property, over half the value of the property is committed already to paying back the $850,000, plus a settlement, plus $75,000 to the Arnetts to have that suit dropped. Until last week about $200,000 of the balance was going to be used for signs for the Fairgrounds; it looks like some of that money now could go back to paying off some of the debts. We are committed to working with everyone here to make sure we can get Family Motor Coach here, but there are some unanswered questions. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 4 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens MIKE DALY (Local businessman and candidate for Commissioner): Sun Country Engineering did some preliminary work already; we have a map from them already. Is there something additional that needs to be engineered? LUKE: Yes. There has to be a detailed engineering study for cost. Everything that Sun Country has done has not dealt with cost. We did get a breakdown from W.H. Pacific, based on City of Redmond approval specifications; those have changed. We need to go out for bid. One of the problems with Sun Country is that they had those people in 10 x 20 spaces, which is too small. We were told originally there would be about 5,000 motor homes, now about 4,000, which changes the acreage needed. We need 35 motor homes per acre maximum, if the acreage is fairly level. Economic Development requires engineered specification on how this would work, as well as the cost. They have been very helpful and encouraging. AUDIENCE MEMBER: How flexible is the Economic Development loan? BEN WESTLUND (State Representative): Very flexible. Your payments can be made every other year. The repayment schedule can be matched up with the revenue from the events that are scheduled. Ultimately, the County must make good on the indebtedness. They will tailor the loan to fit the project. MIKE JACQUE (Beaver Motor Coaches): I would like to put a couple of questions on the table regarding the FMCA. You framed the issue by talking about the engineering study and the actual construction. I'd like to add the issue that the FMCA is tentatively planning on using this site at least every three years. Concerns regarding a return on your investment, which is $15 million to $30 million from what I've heard, every three years - not just a single event. I want to emphasize the importance of this. The other thing is there are time frames involved. I have spoken with Jerry Yeatts, and no one is certain they will come at all. A year is needed to complete the process, and they need concrete answers as soon as possible. We can't dilly-dally on this for six months. Frankly, I would be surprised that if you don't have some concrete answer or formal letter to FMCA by this Friday, stating that regardless of the source of funds and work, we will get it done, even if in the end we have to pick up the tab to assure them that it gets done, otherwise we will lose it. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 5 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BISHOP: We were thinking Thursday. There are a lot of other things to be considered in this. The construction project is really the bottleneck here. MIKE DALY: I can muster up another volunteer effort to maybe get some work done. Those are maybes, and so is the National Guard. We need to figure out how to factor this in to the engineering cost study. TOM DEWOLF (County Commissioner): All of this takes 100% commitment. If the motor coach folks can say "We're going to bring x -number of dollars to the plate", that has to be an absolute commitment. If volunteers say they are going to do specific things, that has to be ironclad. We have no time to dally; we need a firm commitment from everyone. One hundred percent guarantees are needed, specific and quickly. BISHOP: Volunteer help would be wonderful, but if for some reason they can't do it, we need to know the cost of hiring it done. WESTLUND: I want to compliment David Bishop on his opening comments. We can answer those questions; those questions have solid answers. It is beyond the scope of "should this be done" - it's "has to be done". Not only for the FMCA, but the other contracts that need to be honored as well. This is a black eye for Deschutes County and this region if we can't follow through, not only on our written contracts but our moral commitments to various groups. That has to be done. Beyond that, there are two first things that must be done. You can't separate these by importance. One is, what is this really going to cost. What is the true cost of this in terms of doing is professionally - hiring it all done. From that we can subtract what the volunteer groups are willing to do, the work of the National Guard, and so on. By the way, I just received another letter today. The National Guard is coming; they just need to know when. The next first thing, of equal importance, is to come up with a mechanism or agreement to assure the FMCA, who has been beyond patient, that this is really going to happen here. I spoke with Director Scott of the OEDD again this morning. Over the weekend I began thinking that this is Central Oregon, this is Deschutes County, this is us and we've got our name on the line here. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 6 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens WESTLUND (continued): We have all been wondering how little we can do this for; why not raise the bar? Why don't we make Central Oregon the premier coach destination in the country? Why not have hookups at every site, electricity, cable TV? Let's do it right. Along those lines, I spoke to Director Scott and told him that we need to talk about doing this a little bit better and bigger. We need to push this application to $1 million - $500,000 grant, $500,000 loan. There is a way to do it; we can figure something out as to how we can get industry and local business participation; we can figure out that loan piece. We have a commitment from the National Guard - it's in writing. I have a verbal commitment from Economic Development, who can rush this application through within 30 days, once we get them the application. That's the real challenge, the engineering study - what it is going to cost, and when we have to pay it. MIKE DALY: I think that what Ben said is great. I think the Fair Board needs to find one person to work full time on coordinating this process. RICK ISHAM: There is a variable in this process is with the City of Redmond. This site is all within the city limits. Two issues existing - the timing process for any permitted improvements; and, if we increase the scope of this project with hookups and things like that, one of the killers of proposing that in the past has been the cost of the SDCs charged by the City. Maybe we can hear from the City regarding both the timing and the how to approach the up -front cost of the SDCs. ED FITCH (Mayor of Redmond): I can't commit to anything specific. We fully support the project. We have some issues out there, and I'll leave it at that. We advised the County we will construct 19th Street to the south for better traffic circulation. There are a number of issues that the Fair Board, the City and the County can cooperate on. BISHOP: I feel that this may be something that we work down the same time line as the preliminary leveling of the land and the construction of the property in the parking lots. I donit know, being not in the construction industry, realistically if we can fast -forward it, get water and sewer in, and those kinds of things. If we can, great. We can look at it moving forward. But the focus is to honor the contract that has already been made. We need to do these things long-term. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 7 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BISHOP (continued): Mike Daly has suggested that we need one person to coordinate this to run it forward. Anyone out there have any ideas? LUKE: This is not a volunteer position; it's a paid position. It's a very short time line, and it takes someone who is willing to dedicate almost all of their time to this right now. BISHOP: The Commissioners have stepped up and agreed to do the traffic and parking lot engineering, to get to a point where we can determine costs and make application for financing, as well as the permitting process. That's a huge step. What's the time line on that? ISHAM: The time line for putting out the RFP is tomorrow; with a deadline of having an engineer start on the work in two weeks. Results could be expected within three weeks after that. We'll have to specific the tight time frame of the project, and that the engineering must be done by Wednesday, November 1. BISHOP: So by Friday, October 6, an engineering firm will be hired. Then it will be fast - tracked, and within three weeks after the contract is signed, we will have the numbers. LUKE: I suggest that two Commissioners and two from the Fair Board be on the selection committee. BISHOP: If for whatever reason the project is not completely finished in time, do you have any ideas? Carrie Novick has agreed that the airport can provide a staging area. We need a backup plan, and need to assure FMCA that it's available. DALY: The gravel crushing has already been contracted; they need to start very soon. BISHOP: Remember that the Fair Board has no revenue; this should be handled by the Fair Association and the Board of Commissioners. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 8 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens SWEARINGEN: We did not sign that contract; we'll have to let legal counsel deal with it. MIKE JACQUE: I feel that "backup" means that we may not make it. I don't feel that we need to spend time on a backup plan - it needs to be all up front. A backup plan indicates to the FMCA that there are some risks here that aren't already on the table. DEWOLF: People can't assume all of the money is going to come from the OEDD, the City and the County. We need an absolute, firm commitment from everyone. MIKE JACQUE: I will speak for the Beaver Motor Coaches. I'll pledge ten percent to kick off - that's $25,000. We're in this; and it is still in the interest of the County to do this. It takes less than five percent of the original bond measure to assure $15 million to $30 million going into the local economy. I'm not suggesting that the County should pick up the whole tab; but ultimately this is a County property, and the investment put into it comes back to the County. It's the proper decision for the County to say they will cover it if they have to. We're not talking that much money. Don't approach this as being a risk. DEWOLF: There's not a question as to whether we want to go forward. However, it's not in our budget, so something else would have to suffer in order for this to come to fruition. We have a couple of issues. First of all, we don't know the condition of the Fair Association's finance yet. Also, we need the final engineering study to know the full costs involved. The County has to have full knowledge to make any commitment; we answer to the citizens of Deschutes County. We can't make that decision today, but we're all in this together. MIKE JACQUE: Perhaps it would be fair, then, to ask what others in this meeting feel. How much maneuvering room do we have? Six weeks is a long time; and it would be a major mistake to lose this project because you don't feel you've got the authority or enough information to make that decision right now. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 9 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens S WEARINGEN: Which deputy sheriffs would you like us to lay off? Which mental health assistants would you like to see gone? What Tom has explained to you is that this isn't in the budget. We are now looking at running this fairgrounds facility. We're looking at as much as $1 million this next fiscal year. So you tell me, whom do we lay off at the County so that we can host this event? - We're here in a partnership effort, but it's going to take money to build that facility. We're willing to take out the grant from the state, but we're going to need individuals to partner so that we can go ahead and have it built. That is the reality. We have a budget, and we have to live and die by it. We can't bounce checks. JACQUE: Okay. We've put ourselves on the table here. Chairman Bishop spoke about being able to get extraordinarily flexible terms in dealing with it. Are you suggesting, then, that the County does not have the option of borrowing the money from either a consortium or some bank that would be willing to offer flexible terms, funding this with some long-term payback based on the revenue that is coming? In this case, you wouldn't have to lay off anybody. BISHOP: The real answer is, we may have this ability if we can show that we will make a profit from the FMCA contract - and I'm not convinced that we will at this point. If we can convince the Commissioners that we will have money to service debt, then maybe that's the prudent thing to do. We can't get there from here, but we're working towards that. That's part of the other side of the equation, the Fair Board working to make sure that the financial integrity and the going concerns stays up and running. We don't want anyone to be laid off either. But we do need your help. Period. In more ways than just financial. BOB LEE (President, Commercial Council for FMCA, and Country Coach): I will go with Mike in the pledge in putting some money into the deal. But we don't have a lot of time, because we, as FMCA, have to make a commitment to go somewhere else; in fact, it's way late at this point. DEWOLF: I full respect that. We just don't know all of the facts. We're fully committed to working with not just the people in this room but others as well to make this happen. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 10 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BOB EBERHARD (local businessman): We don't have a high room tax; perhaps we could raise the room tax and dedicate it to this project, and not have the money go into the general fund. DEWOLF: The general fund does not get any of this money. TOM LUERSEN (Sunriver businessman): We can't speak for the entire lodging community; however, Sunriver pays about sixty percent of the room tax in the County. ,The people voted for the Fairgrounds bond, but it does not do a lot of good for Sunriver. We'd rather pledge help toward the short-term solution rather than a long-term tax. That's my personal opinion. WESTLUND: If we have EODD willing to loan money, will the County sign soon? We need to know what FMCA needs from us to go forward. GERINE REAGAN (FMCA representative): We need 140 acres to park the motor homes. Hookups would be nice in the future, but they are not needed at this time. You have a top-notch facility, and we can use everything you have here. We need to leave today knowing the parking lot will be done and ready for us for August 14, 15 and 16. DEWOLF: What about dumping facilities? REAGAN: We can pay at RV parks, if necessary; also at the city dumps. BOB LEE (FMCA): A commitment from Deschutes County that it is going to happen is what it will take. There can be no "ifs". It must be absolute. REAGAN: We have so much to do to get ready at this end, it must be certain. Any "ifs" brings about negativity, and this is what has been hurting us. BISHOP: The deadline is Thursday. Everyone's supportive. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 11 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens LUKE: There's a misconception that the County is overflowing with money. We are at 6 to 7 cents under what we can appropriate, but the budget process is over for this fiscal year. Representative Westlund is on the Ways and Means Committee, and he knows we cannot freely commit public funds. Private industry needs to step forward. The County was told in the past that its help was not needed, until it was too late. Also, regarding a room tax, this is something that the taxpayers must vote upon. TOM GROVER (local businessman): What do we need to do today, as business people, to help seal this deal? We can talk about the construction all day long, but what do we need to do now to make these people feel that it's going to be done? BISHOP: I believe that if we raise $250,000 today, they would be willing to accept the grant for the other side of it. Short of that, I have a sense that they're willing to absorb debt service to pay for this. We have this week to figure that answer out. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Is there someone assigned today to solicit corporate funding to help meet the $250,000 objective? Is there a plan of action for someone to take on that responsibility? BISHOP: Perhaps the person who was successful with the airport task force could take this on. We need corporate American to step up and help out in a number of ways. WESTLUND: I know everyone is committed - the County, City and government entities must use some blind faith that the business community will step up. Economic Development will commit one-half the money as a grant. Then away from that we will take National Guard contributions, contributions from private industry and volunteers - at some point we need to provide something from the County to FMCA to show that yes, we are willing to go ahead with this, and we're willing to assume responsibility. This will be needed before everything can be worked out. Remember, the EODD loan package is flexible, they can delay payments and interest. You won't get that anywhere else. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 12 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens DEWOLF: Let me ask a question, then. If we get an acceptable application submitted, are you saying that this money is guaranteed? WESTLUND: I'm saying that this money is as guaranteed as any money you're going to get. (There was a lot of discussion occurring among those at the meeting, so a five- minute break was suggested, and was taken at this point). BISHOP: It was asked earlier why a backup plan is needed. It is because Jerry Yeatts (of the FMCA) asked for it. Regarding leadership, one of the things that we don't have as a community is some person or entity to run the day-to-day events that must be handled to get this project done. In the short run, COVA has stepped forward to help. They already have a relationship with FMCA, and hopefully credibility with them. We need to earn their business and their trust, and that's a huge turnaround from where we were a couple of weeks ago. What I'd like to do is to see if there is an opportunity for us to have a corporate citizens committee to coordinate some of the conversations that we've had in making commitments. The opportunity cost of not doing this is huge. The legal bills of not doing this could be huge. There are 2,000 motel rooms that are already booked. The contract probably has some kind of penalties involved. There is a lot that has gone on behind the scenes. There is something going on in Lane County the week before. Beaver Coach has another rally the week before hand at Mt. Bachelor. If we don't have the commitment to get this done by Thursday, all of those things start to fall away in a ripple effect. It would be an absolute, huge black eye in this region for this kind of event. We have 95% of it here right now, built and ready to go, to host this thing - not just this one time, but every time forward. I'd like to steal a little thunder from OEDD. They realize that it isn't going to specifically create a whole bunch of new jobs. It's going to help with an infrastructure in bringing this event to at least Central Oregon once every three years, and it opens up a huge target market for us to continue to do this. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 13 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens BISHOP (continued): When I think about discretionary income, all the demographics say that age 55 and older, retired or pre -retired, have a lot of discretionary income to spend. When they come here, they will spend a lot of money at restaurants and grocery stores, on rental stores, on a lot of things that bring money into the community. We must get it done. Right after this meeting, I would like for anyone who is willing to explore making a financial commitment to stay behind if possible. AUDIENCE MEMBER: The way I understand it, if $500,000 is needed, but the County does not have to come up with any of those funds to actually fund the project itself; the development council funds it all up front. So there's no current budget issue at all. Half of it becomes a grant; half becomes a loan over some period of time. It's tied to the events, so payments would not have to be made for a year. A $250,000 loan spread over 25 years is just a couple of grand a month. We are talking about small change. It would be pretty hard to go to the citizens and tell them that we turned away $15 million or more this next year and perhaps forever for what works out to be a few thousand bucks a month. I have a hard time with that. BISHOP: The County will be responsible for any up -front fees - the engineering, the traffic study and so forth. Just to clarify that, there are no in-kind contributions that can count toward the total project - the volunteer work and so forth. But the costs directly associated can be reimbursed to the County. There are issues in the short run that will be budgetary issues. AUDIENCE MEMBER: I think we can help them. It's a big step. I'm sure that as far as us chipping in 10% of this to start, our concern is that we want to know that you are going forward with the grant. Once we've got that, we'll know the project is going forward. I'm pretty confident we can use our funds to repay what you did. SWEARINGEN: We've heard from your group that this event being held here will save you $250,000, because it's to be held here on the West Coast. We've also heard from Chris Eck that the industry might pick up about $100,000. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 14 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens SWEARINGEN (continued): We appreciate the $25,000 commitment, but for an event that is going to save your businesses $250,000, it would be nicer to have a larger commitment from those who are going to benefit the most from the function being held here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'm glad you brought that up, so the issue doesn't stay on the table. That number was our total cost for the rally, including the cost of the dealer incentives, the cost of the vehicle transports, the whole ball of wax. When it comes back down, yes, we'll save some money, but not $250,000. If that were the case, we'd just sit down and write out a check for the $250,000 right now. We are not trying to be cheap. ISHAM: For the construction part to go forward, we need to select an engineer. I have not seen the FMCA contract. Is the budget for the promotion of this event adequate? What else is to be provided? This has not been examined at the County level. BISHOP: I have no idea regarding the promotion part. I will make sure you get a copy of the contract today. REAGAN: We do most of our own promotion through our magazine, which goes out to 275,000 members. Some companies will be doing their own promotion as well. CHRIS ECK: We need to keep in mind that what is going to be built is not just for the FMCA. There are lots of potential future users. ISHAM: We also need to examine what is already in place that is not related to the parking lot. We need to know what the deliverables are. MIKE SCHIEL (Vice President, Deschutes County Fair Association): The potential is great for other groups. I know the details are difficult to work out, but this is so important to the future of the facility and the region. We will all work to move this forward. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 15 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens LEE SMITH (Deschutes County Fair Board member): We don't want to look at event management separately; we need to look at all contracts regarding the cost of operating the facility. DEWOLF: We also need to know if something else is needed besides parking. SMITH: We need a fundamental cash flow analysis; need to identify any gaps in funding; and need to look at options for revenue flows. S WEARINGEN: We're estimating $300,000 or more is already owed; the Fairgrounds lost $1 million this year. Any costs would be on top of that. We're not the responsible party; we're stuck in the middle. That's why we're asking for the help of the business community. DEWOLF: The FMCA is a huge deal. We can partner, but we also need to make sure everyone is helped. LUKE: What can be done, will be done by the County, but the County cannot do it by itself. We'll do our part in providing time, money and expertise. We are negotiating with the Fair Association on how it will be managed, and believe it will be favorable. BISHOP: We need a commitment in spirit by Thursday that the County and the local corporate community will assure FMCA this will happen. LUKE: We will arrange for the engineering study and submit the application. We'll need the cooperation of the City on this. DEWOLF: We need some exact numbers and review of legal counsel. We would not be here today if we weren't committed to the FMCA project. We are calling on all of Deschutes County to help with this. Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 16 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens David Bishop adjourned the meeting at 3: 30 p. m. - End - Respectfully Submitted, Bonnie Baker Acting Recording Secretary Attached Exhibit A: typed list of meeting attendees (pages 18 and 19), based on the sign- up sheets Exhibit B: handwritten sign-up sheets (2 pages) of meeting attendees Minutes of Joint Meeting Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens Page 17 of 19 Pages September 25, 2000 Name Carrie Novick Jim Snavely Tom Grover Linda Swearingen Rep. Tim Knopp Rep. Ben Westlund Tom DeWolf Eric Sande Bob Eberhard John Brenton Pat Daly Teri Hisaw Brenda True Greg Hodecker Chris Crownover JoAnne Sutherland Frank Ballantyne Larry Kimmel Chuck McGraw Bob Quitmeier Ed Fitch Gary Lynch Keith Shipman Nancy Devine Meeting Attendees Address City of Redmond (Airport) Jerry's RV Service West Coast Paper Co. Deschutes County Commissioner P. O. Box 6145, Bend 20590 Arrowhead, Bend Deschutes County Commissioner Redmond Chamber of Commerce 729 NW Canyon Dr., Redmond Blue Sky Mailing, Redmond Crooked River Dinner Train Crooked River Dinner Train P. O. Box 329, Redmond P. O. Box 488, Redmond High Country Disposal City of Redmond Beaver Motor Coach 2628 Scandia Loop, Bend City of Redmond City of Redmond, CDD City of Redmond, Mayor City of Redmond, Counselor Horizon Broadcasting Group Sunriver Resort EXHIBIT A, PAGE 1 Phone 5043496 3822372 9239761 3886570 3896570 3834444 3886570 9235191 5485181 5482344 5488630 5488630 5487079 5482311 5484984 9237711 3173625 3890614 9237722 9237716 5482151 5486178 3833825 5934680 Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 18 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens Dennis Luke Deschutes County Commissioner 3886568 Mike Daly 3651 NE Walnut Dr., Redmond 9230263 Barney Lerten barney@bend.com 3858454 Chris Eck 42 NW Greeley Ave., Bend 3833755 Michael Jacque Beaver Motor Coaches 3173604 Jim Howard 3152 Conrad, Bend 6178750 Bob Lee 1081 Quince Drive, Junction City 9983720 Rick Breeden 3190 N. Highway 97, Redmond 5485254 Jeff Colburn P. O. Box 1215, Redmond 9232453 Alana Audette 63085 N. Highway 97 #107, Bend 3898799 Martha Tiller 1777 SW Chandler Ave., Bend 3832381 Linda May 210 S. 5t' St., #2, Redmond 5485036 Barry Jordan 154 SW Sixth St., Redmond 5042200 Greg Cushman 61067 River Bluff Trail, Bend 3893044 Tom Luersen P. O. Box 3207, Sunriver 5934682 Bonnie Fleming P. O. Box 1551, Redmond 9232414 Ken Purkey Sun Country, Bend 3828885 Bob Johnnie Recycle Aggregate, Redmond 9235414 Rick Isham Deschutes County Legal Counsel 3886625 Gerine Reagan P. O. Box 69, Scotts Mills, OR 97375 503 5103205 NW Area V.P., FMCA Mike Schiel, V.P. Deschutes County Fair Association 9230045 Mike Maier Deschutes County Administrator 3886565 Jim Diegel Deschutes County Fair Board 5488131 Dave Bishop Deschutes County Fair Board Chair 9238848 Lee Smith Deschutes County Fair Board 5933963 EXHIBIT B, PAGE 2 Minutes of Joint Meeting Page 19 of 19 Pages Deschutes County Fair Board, Fair Association, Commissioners, September 25, 2000 Local Business Persons, Representatives of the Media and Other Citizens _ _ - - - _ ' ✓�' 39- Z zz._._ �p_A-X ro_ ` 5 - �-eldl lqr'' /3,c,,, 4 oofrt vrv_,D_ .ZOS"70 �4- .nowN � ��+i 13w15 Oq of - - _ -- _ Cod_ -- - 3$ $ -GS Zb 3727-h, _ _--►`- - yU/ _ _y8 z3 3Y? - - - - bay Y7� <s X7? 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