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2001-29-Minutes for Meeting December 14,2000 Recorded 1/11/2001VOL: CJ2001 PAGE: 29 RECORDED DOCUMENT STATE OF OREGON COUNTY OF DESCHUTES *02001-29 * Vol -Page Printed: 01/16/2001 08:27:11 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: Jan. 11, 2001; 4:34 p.m. Regular Meeting (CJ) NUMBER OF PAGES: 14 L 1� � 0 -, P.- �� MARY SUE PENHOLLOW DESCHUTES COUNTY CLERK MICROFl ED JAN 17 2001 KE_SNC ED J 6 001 Board of Commissioners 1130 N.W. Harriman St., Bend, Oregon 97701-1947 (541) 388-6570 • Fax (541) 388-4752 www.deschutes.org Tom De Wolf Dennis R. Luke MINUTES OF MEETING Mike Daly The Deschutes County Fair Board and the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 Chair David Bishop called the meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board to order at 3:05 p.m. Chair Linda Swearingen called the meeting of the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners to order at 3: 05 p.m. Deschutes County Fair Board members present were David Bishop, Don Miltenberger, John Leavitt and Jim Diegel; Lee Smith was unable to attend. Deschutes County Commissioners Linda Swearingen and Tom De Wolf were present; Commissioner Dennis Luke was unable to attend. Also present was Dan Despotopulos, Interim Manager of the Fairgrounds and Expo Center. No members of the Fair Association, the media or other citizens chose to attend. Fair Board Chair David Bishop noted that a quorum of Fair Board members was present. He then gave an update of the status of several items: 1) The agreements to be executed with the Fair Association. 2) The Oregon Department of Economic Development combination grant/loan for expansion of the parking lot. 3) Fair Association bills. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 1 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commis one' Thursday, December 14, 2000 u2ty Services Performed with Pride He stated that at this point a general list of bills came to a total of approximately $289,000, $18,000 more than previously estimated. A general discussion occurred regarding Cameron Clark and rodeo queen invoices. Commissioner Tom De Wolf stated that he is convinced that Cameron Clark needs to be paid; Commissioner Linda Swearingen replied that Rick Isham indicated he had questions on that bill. JIM DIEGEL: All bills need to be looked at in good faith. DEWOLF: What about the $17,000 bill from Attorney Greg Lynch? DIEGEL: I will not sign any agreement making payments to Greg Lynch. The taxpayers have no obligation to pay him. SWEARINGEN: Have some of Express Personnel's bills been paid? DEWOLF: I believe some of them were, to keep from being sued. SWEARINGEN: I will be surprised if the agreement is signed before January 31 ". We have not gotten anything from the Fair Association. DEWOLF: Finance is doing the exhibits, but bank statements come in and the numbers change. BISHOP: When we met with the Commissioners and the planners in Bend, Connie Worrell's attorney, Neil Bryant, came in. At that time Tom (De Woo said there was new information. My understanding was that Rick Isham said that the list of accounts payable was done, and the Fair Association was to verify the accounting back to when the County started examining it. This was supposed to be a joint effort; Jeanine Faria was to put the numbers together and the Association was to verify them. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 2 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 DEWOLF: The Fair Association was to put together the exhibit, but didn't. BISHOP: We need the assumption, termination and Fair operations agreements signed. December was to be the date the Fairgrounds operation agreement was to be ready. This plan was supposed to be submitted by the Fair Association by January 1, and I don't think they will make it. The State Fair Association people think we're setting ourselves up for a big problem. The Director of the State Fair said that beyond the date of November 15, you risk losing the good vendors, side acts and others for the Fair. We run the risk of compromising our Fair. If we allow the timeline to keep moving forward without demanding a response, what's going to happen is DCFA is not going to be able to put on as good a Fair as they could have if complying with the appropriate timeline? If we go along and keep backing up the Fair Association, our constituents in the County will ask why we didn't hold them accountable. We've moved the deadline five times already. If February 15th comes along and DCFA says they can't do a Fair, neither can this Board do a Fair at that point; no one could. It is incumbent upon this Board to set a drop -dead date etched in concrete. If they don't do it and get it done by then, they are out of luck. DON MILTENBERGER: The annual meeting is scheduled for January 15th. They will select all new officers at that meeting. Maybe the current ones are dragging their feet on this. DEWOLF: When we did have the previous meeting, I believe one of the things that was said was that Lee Smith was going to contact a couple of consulting firms about helping to write an operational plan for the County Fair, as well as a plan for the whole Expo center. I don't know if that was done. I made one call to Lindsay Stevens, who ran the small business development center at the College; he can get together with a small group of people from the Fair Association and put a plan together in pretty short order. The only problem right now is that if he or anyone else has not been contacted, that's a little bit of responsibility on our part. We're also going into the holiday season, too. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 3 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 SWEARINGEN: Rick Isham expressed some concerns about that, because Gerilee, who is still working here, has asked for a computer since she is responsible for putting the budget together. BISHOP: She's not responsible for putting the budget together; she just types up what they give her. SWEARINGEN: If in fact that failed, if they can't even get us a list of bills - if someone was going to pay all of my bills, it might take me a few hours but I'd have every one of them ready. BISHOP: In fairness to the Fair Association Executive Board, at least up to two weeks ago they were completely and totally unaware they were to create either the audit and/or provide this information - the exhibits on the payables. DEWOLF: How can that be? SWEARINGEN: We've discussed this since September. BISHOP: You talked with Greg Lynch. DEWOLF: And Ron Nelson, and Mike Schiel. BISHOP: Mike and Ron and I have talked, and they appeared to have no clue. They said Elton didn't know, either. SWEARINGEN: I'm concerned they are not able to run the Fair. Maybe Dan and his staff here should handle it. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 4 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 DAN DESPOTOPULOS: I got a list of key people. Funtastic Carnival assured us they would be here. There's a conference and trade show January 5th through 7th that is attended by all Fairgrounds in the state. MILTENBERGER: They set their fees then, too. DEWOLF: The problem is how to get the Fair Association to work toward a written plan and budget. BISHOP: We haven't gotten timely responses from Rick Isham lately, either. There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. Nothing would have happened at all except I talked with Mike Schiel on November 30, who told Elton Gregory, who spoke to Marty Wynne and learned the Association needs to do something. Communication has not been timely. Jeanine Faria has the best information available; we can't expect the Fair Association to duplicate this information as well. DEWOLF: Included in the agreement is a business plan and budget for the Fair to be done by January 1. They've had a draft of that agreement for months. BISHOP: We've been totally focused on getting the agreement signed, before they start planning. In fairness, Mike Schiel said they have started their business plan and budget already. I told him I wish the Association would only spend as much time in getting the agreements done as they have the operation of the Fair, but nobody is paying attention to what needs to get done in those agreements. So, here we are. DEWOLF: How do you get everybody in the same room at the same time on the same page, with the same agreements and the same deadlines? BISHOP: They don't have to be executed simultaneously. DEWOLF: We could have representatives of each group get together. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 5 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 SWEARINGEN: We could just go ahead and tell them that this is what we agree to pay, and if anything else comes in, Elton, Mike, Ron and whoever can get their checkbooks out and start writing checks. S WEARINGEN: You're right; this is better than anything they are going to come up with. We do need copies of their check registers so we don't duplicate payments. The business plan and budget for the Fair needs to be totally up to them. We're in a position where we can sit down and figure out what we should pay and what we won't. BISHOP: I couldn't care less about the payables. That's the County's job, and we've stepped back from that. What I'm concerned about is the execution of the three agreements. There's nothing I can do short of hiring an attorney to take the ball and run with that forward, as it is a legal process and there are attorneys involved, and it would be prudent. I think DCFA has been getting very poor representation by their attorney, and I think the Fair Board needs better support. I understand we aren't at crisis level, but there is a timeline here and Rick hasn't been able to meet our needs in this regard. DEWOLF: For the same reason that I don't want to force the Fair Association into bankruptcy, I think January 1 is an unrealistic expectation to have them complete a business plan and budget. If on January 2 the Fair Board says, that's it; we're looking for somebody new to run the Fair, that's our headlines. We're back in crisis mode, and that's not a healthy position to be in. BISHOP: I think it might be the lesser of two evils, though. DEWOLF : Maybe. Or maybe January 10 would be a better date. If you're looking at January 15th being a drop -dead date, we all could see the business plan and budget by then. We can point fingers but everyone is not doing their part. Everybody has been expecting somebody else to do things. Lee was going to pursue a consultant to help with a business plan. Ron Nelson, Greg Lynch and Rick Isham were to meet next week to go through the bills. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 6 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 S WEARINGEN: We don't want to nit-pick through this. Cameron Clark is the only question I have, but we need to complete this. I would like us to tentatively approve this list. Then comes the business plan. BISHOP: They chose January 1St. The industry imposes these deadlines. If the DCFA does not perform, we won't have a Fair at all. Is that worse than hiring some contractor? DESPOTOPULOS: They meet on Mondays at the OSU Extension Office here, and have asked for access to the files so they could prepare some of these budgets. They only have one more Monday this year, and haven't even seen the files yet as they've just been copied for them. They also can't really list their bills, as they don't have the information. Jeanine probably has the best information of anyone. SWEARINGEN: Even though they said they would. Someone needs to make some decisions by January 5th because of the trade show. DEWOLF: If they submit a business plan and budget by January 31 st to the Fair Board, what if you don't like it? BISHOP: Don't get me wrong; I still feel they are the best ones to put on the Fair. By the same token, though, we would be irresponsible if we allow the timeline to go past what industry officials have cautioned us should be a final date. DIEGEL: We need to put the bills to bed by December 31St. DCFA needs to submit their plan and information by January 1St. If this is unacceptable to them, do we go find another? They need to make a good faith effort. If the plan and budget are incomplete, they can be modified and refined. S WEARINGEN: They should not need us to provide a staff person. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 7 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 BISHOP: In my mind, we need the agreements done by January 1St. If we can hire a businessperson to help with a plan, we would be better off. DEWOLF: I'll ask Lee if he's talked with Lindsay Stevens or someone with similar expertise. JOHN LEAVITT: If we have a deadline, it needs to be communicated to all Fair Association members. DIEGEL: I would say that January 1 st should be the drop -dead date for signature of the three agreements, and January 15th for an acceptable business plan and budget. S WEARINGEN: Dan, you should attend the trade show on January 5th through 7th to work on bookings. DESPOTOPULOS: Should someone from the Fair Association attend? There is a $600 fee for this. The Director of the State Fair Association said that I could go as a representative of the Fairgrounds. That organization must have a business plan in place for fairs, and they should also be able to suggest individuals who can step in and operate a fair if necessary. S WEARINGEN: The Fairgrounds should join and be in a voting position. You need to be a member. MILTENBERGER: I move that Dan Despotopulos join the State Fair Association on behalf of the Fairgrounds. DIEGEL: I second. FAIR BOARD VOTE: Unanimous "ayes". DIEGEL: So we're going to look to have the agreements signed by December 31 St and get that all behind us. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 8 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 BISHOP: According to the agreements the deadline is January 1St. We are willing to extend that to January 15th provided that the three agreements are executed and done with on or before January 1St. Otherwise, DCFA is out the door; we will investigate other options for the operation of the 2001 Fair. BISHOP: This needs to be mailed to each of the Fair Association Board members. We want all members of their Board to know. LEAVITT: I so move. DIEGEL: I second. SWEARINGEN: I'm extremely disappointed in Greg Lynch. We've talked about this on more than one occasion. They need to be assured as to what is on the list of bills, because it is their Board that will be personally liable for any outstanding bills that aren't covered. They need to be working on these things. Where were they when we were talking about this? DIEGEL: I find it unacceptable that we should pay Greg Lynch. DEWOLF: I'll play the other side of this. If I'm on the Fair Association, I'm a volunteer. The Fair Board is all volunteers, and has access to legal counsel paid by the County. They have to have someone responsible, although I'm not so sure I agree with the amount that's being charged. However, there are a lot of things that are unacceptable in this issue. DIEGEL: I still don't think we should have to pick up the costs for their impropriety, posturing and delays. It seems like an extraordinarily high amount. S WEARINGEN: Why would we pick up on any of the costs here? It's $18,000 now. It's probably at the point we'll have to go ahead and get it signed, and put it behind us. Some of the bills in here go back to June and July. It appears most of them are pretty legitimate. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 9 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 DEWOLF: There are things in here that I think are ridiculous. MILTENBERGER: There are surely some who have stuck bills in now that they know the County will pay them. DEWOLF: We will go through each one to make sure they are justified; and I personally want Greg Lynch to justify the amount of his bill. BISHOP: Have they executed to sign these agreements? SWEARINGEN: They've agreed in concept to do it as soon as the exhibits are put together, but they haven't made any effort to do the exhibits. Our exhibit is certainly a lot more trustworthy than anything they are likely to put together. The problem is, there may be other bills coming in; I guess that's going to be their tough luck. This is it. Here's the good news, though. The old fairgrounds property is escalating in value. The latest appraisal is $1.8 million. As development in the area continues, and we work on perhaps some other zone changes later, we are going to pick up some of that value back. BISHOP: We need to vote on the previous motion. FAIR BOARD VOTE: Unanimous "ayes". A general discussion then occurred regarding the results and findings of the Moss Adams audit that should be released soon. A discussion then took place regarding the cost estimate for the parking lot expansion project going from approximately $600, 000 to about $1.4 million. DEWOLF: Eight to ten months ago they said $800,000 was a good number, when they analyzed Sun Country's estimate of $400,000. Then they came in with $651,000, and the next thing we know it has more than doubled. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 10 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 SWEARINGEN: I don't think Hickman Williams considered the topography, which is why they ended up changing their figures. There still may be some other things they can do to reduce the cost. DIEGEL: The week before, it was just an estimate. The latest was fully loaded. We have a plan, and we have to get an application in based on a plan. What are we going to do? If we reject it, we then have no parking lot. BISHOP: My understanding is that we went back to what he previously reported to us at the first meeting. S WEARINGEN: We're still going out for bid. The bad news is that the National Guard can no longer be a player; they can't do the work they could have done during the time it needs to be done, and they now have budget issues to deal with. A general discussion then took place regarding cost differences and what items can be eliminated. (Fair Board member Jim Diegel had to leave the meeting at this time - 4: 30 p. m.) DEWOLF: Going back to the letter, I think the order needs to be modified to December 26th for the agreements to be signed by the Fair Association. That will allow the Board of Commissioners to sign it by December 27th, the last meeting of the year. A letter needs to go out to Fair Association members with the following deadline dates. ■ December 26, 2000 - the three agreements - the assumption, the termination and the Fair operation agreements - need to be signed by the Fair Association. ■ January 15, 2001 - an acceptable business plan needs to be presented by the Fair Association to the Fair Board for the operation of the 2001 Fair. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 11 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 S WEARINGEN: We need to talk next week with Columbia River Bank about their loan. The Fair Association doesn't care about them; they just want off the hook. MILTENBERGER: I move approval of the deadline date for the Fair Association's signatures on the agreement documents to December 26, 2000. LEAVITT: FAIR BOARD VOTE I second. Unanimous "ayes". SWEARINGEN: We will call a meeting tomorrow with Rick Isham and Dennis Luke to advise them this is what needs to be done. The agreements are all drafted and ready to go; we're just waiting for the exhibits. (A discussion occurred regarding notification to go to the members of the Fair Association and a press release to the media.) S WEARINGEN: I would like to compliment Dan Despotopulos on the work he has done. Even before the new Fairgrounds opened, we would get complaints every month. We've had absolutely no negative calls since Dan moved in here; and, in fact, we've gotten good comments on how he is running things. DESPOTOPULOS: The PRCA wants a contract by the end of the year. When I provided them with a worksheet, they were amazed at what the building actually costs. I feel the facility can be successful once a proper balance has been found. DEWOLF: Jeff Blosser has not been returning phone calls. So we'll find someone else to help develop a long-term plan for the facility. DESPOTOPULOS: I would like to present a business plan. I feel I'm more than capable to operate this facility. I have convinced many users about our pricing after having had a chance to explain the value of the facility and the actual costs for each building. Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 12 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 A general discussion then took place regarding: ■ marketing and sales; ■ the need for brochures; ■ the return on renting out the facilities; ■ contracting with events planners; ■ bookings needing to be done now for years in the future; ■ caterer contracts; ■ season ticket holders; ■ Bull and Boogie event for New Year's Eve; ■ negatives of the area, such as a lack of larger hotels nearby; and ■ outsourcing event management. DESPOTOPULOS: I would like to be able to work beyond the original contract deadline date. There is a 30 -day notice clause already in the contract. I've only been here eight weeks. I feel I could put on the Fair if necessary; I know the right groups and people. The more I see, the more I realize there is so much more that can be done. I'm finalizing the NBA contract, which will be excellent exposure. DEWOLF: We know we've been dealing with the immediate crisis of the annual Fair. As soon as we've come to closure on this situation, we can look at the whole facility, with a goal of seeing no subsidies after three to five years. BISHOP: Regarding Dan's contract, I would like to recommend a ninety -day contract extension through March 31, 2001, with a thirty -day call clause that can come from either party. LEAVITT: I so move. MILTENBERGER: I second. FAIR BOARD MEMBERS: Unanimous "ayes". Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 13 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000 Being no further input required or offered by the Board of County Commissioners, Chair Linda Swearingen adjourned the meeting of the Board of Commissioners at 4: 45 p.m., and both Commissioners then left the meeting. Being no further input offered, Fair Board Chair David Bishop adjourned the meeting of the Fair Board at 4: 50 p.m. - End - Respectfully Submitted, (favw-�'� ��� Bonnie Baker Recording Secretary Meeting of the Deschutes County Fair Board Page 14 of 14 Pages and the Board of County Commissioners Thursday, December 14, 2000