ROCK SPRINGS — The County Fair Board meeting Tuesday evening consisted primarily of a discussion regarding the various projects for which the Sweetwater Events Complex needs to find time and money.

Marketing & Events Manager Kandi Pendleton went through a wish list with board chairperson Janet Hartford and the rest of the Fair Board.

Events Complex Executive Director Larry Lloyd asked board members to go over the list of proposed projects and number them 1-10, with “1” designated for the most critically-needed projects, in every board member’s individual mind, and “10” being considered the least important projects, with various gradations of priority in between.

Lloyd said that the project priority lists of the different board members would be used at the upcoming board budget workshop to compile a finalized wish list for presentation to the county commissioners no later than April 20, the deadline for submission.

Board member Roger Torgersen asked what day this important budget workshop was scheduled for, and Lloyd assured Torgersen and the rest of the board that the budget workshop would be held “pretty soon” given the upcoming deadline.

Lloyd and board members were unable to agree on a specific date for the workshop, although sometime between April 12-16 appeared most likely.
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Big ticket items on wish list

Pendleton acknowledged that the wish list consisted mostly of “big ticket items”. For starters, the roof at the Exhibit Hall needs $230,000 in repairs. “We’ve tried in vain to repair the roof (of the Exhibit Hall),” Pendleton lamented. She added that the roof has been patched up as best the maintenance staff can manage.

Events Complex Purchasing & Operations Assistant Tamara Musgrove said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that sometimes it is necessary to ask Exhibit Hall users to kindly ignore the barrels on floor collecting rainwater that leaks through the roof when there is precipitation.

A new water filtration system for landscaping purposes is also needed, Pendleton continued, at a cost of $55,000, since the current water filtration system allows too much sulphur content in the water. “Our landscaping water comes now from the city of Rock Springs, and it isn’t cheap,” Pendleton said.

Maintenance Coordinator Drew Dunn said that new lighting fixtures were needed at the outdoor riding corral  and at other locations around the Events Complex, at a cost of $4,000 per fixture.

Other Events Complex items needing attention included signage out front, audio improvements at the Exhibit Hall, the doors at the Indoor Complex (among other needed repairs there such as the gates and Americans With Disabilities Act access), restrooms that are close to anticipated future usage venues, grandstand work which would likely be paid out of horse racing profits, and multiple other infrastructure projects such as a new shop.

“We just have a lot of infrastructure here,” Lloyd said. “With regard to our facilities, sometimes I feel like I have to put 10 pounds of flour in a five-pound bag, and it just doesn’t work sometimes.”

Despite the needed repairs at the Exhibit Hall, “It’s what we have,” Lloyd said.
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“What if we gave you $3 million…?”

Sweetwater County Commissioner Reid West attended the board meeting and asked, speaking purely hypothetically to Lloyd, “If we gave you $3 million, how many of these projects could you get done in a year?”

“I’d say, a year and a half. I want to be optimistic, probably it would take us a year and a half to finish all of the projects,” Lloyd responded eagerly.

In no way was West’s comment intended as anything other than a hypothetical question which contained no promises. However, West did add a note of cautious optimism, with the total county valuation up and sales taxes up. “That was quite a surprise. We’ve been nervous about whether the increased sales taxes would hold,” West said. “But that’s encouraging. Things are looking a little better.”

Board member Rob Zotti did a quick search on his smart phone and said that sales taxes have been up 25% in March.