Council given briefing on new fairgrounds building

Posted 10/23/14

The 16,000-square-foot building will be a multipurpose structure, including a 9,500-square-foot exhibit hall, two conference rooms with a potential to create a third, a kitchen, storage and other rooms and spaces.

The current exhibition space, …

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Council given briefing on new fairgrounds building

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The Powell City Council was given a virtual tour Monday night of the new $2.7 million building being erected on the Park County Fairgrounds.

The 16,000-square-foot building will be a multipurpose structure, including a 9,500-square-foot exhibit hall, two conference rooms with a potential to create a third, a kitchen, storage and other rooms and spaces.

The current exhibition space, Bicentennial Hall, is 5,000 square feet.

Fair Manager Jennifer Lohrenz and project manager Ron Yount of Plan One Architects of Cody offered a presentation on the new facility during the council meeting. Council members asked a few questions, including about landscaping. They were told none was planned. Electrical hookups, heat and cooling and potential expansion were also touched on.

No sound system is planned to be installed right now, Yount said, for budgetary reasons.

No furnishings have been purchased or budgeted for, including additional tables and chairs. Lohrenz said she now has 90 tables and about 250 chairs.

County Commission Chairman Bucky Hall said furnishings and a sound system will be added after the building is erected. They are just not part of the construction project, he said.

“We just want to get the thing completed before fair next year,” Hall said.

Councilman Josh Shorb also asked about fundraising efforts.

“It’s been a slow go,” Lohrenz said, saying it has been widely reported and was no secret. But she said more than $8,000 was raised for a grandstand sound system during the Smashtoberfest demolition derby and a fall festival may be held in 2015 to raise additional funds.

In addition, the Fair Board hopes to sell memorials on a wall and, if given permission by the County Commission, naming rights for the new building. So far, the commission has not supported that proposal, Lohrenz said.

The plan is to pour concrete in November, and the predicted date for completion is May 31, the council was told. Dirt work is underway at the fairgrounds.

In other agenda items, the council:

• Approved the Fiscal Year 2013-14 audit. James B. Seckman, a Powell CPA, conducted the audit and made a presentation to the council and provided a 40-page booklet.

The city added $100,000 during the fiscal year but retired $164,762 in debt, for a gain of more than  $64,000. The city also is rebuilding its reserve funds; ideally, it would have six months or more of departmental funds on hand, Seckman said.

The city has relatively minor debts, he said. It owes the Wyoming Department of Transportation $329,732 for airport hangars, has a $269,700 sewer bond outstanding, a $65,061 sewer loan and owes $95,000 for electric street lights.

“We don’t have a huge amount of debt at the city of Powell,” he said.

The city has a bank balance of $8.1 million, according to the report.

The city is also enacting proper financial security and has proper internal controls, Seckman said. He said Finance Officer Annette Thorington, who is retiring this year, does an outstanding job and does work that he does not see from other governmental entities, making an audit a relative breeze.

“It’s just unheard of,” Seckman said.

• Approved a request for barb-wire fencing at 1131 Adams St.

Hi Bar Energy Services LLC plans to put a fence around its property with a foot of barbed wire at the top. It is needed to protect vehicles, equipment, tools and materials that are stored there.

The fence would “closely resemble” the fence that encircles Summit Energy Services on Road 8, according to a letter from Barb Loyning, the company’s owner. She and her husband Buck attended the council meeting to make a short statement and field questions.

• Gave third and final approval to an ordinance revising trench detail requirements.

The city will mandate that the construction of streets, alleys, sidewalks and all public rights-of-way and easements adhere to the guidelines in the Wyoming Department of Transportation standard specifications for road and bridge construction, unless there are modifications made by the city.

City standards will be followed if the two codes differ.

• Was introduced to new Building Official Ben Hubbard, who started work on Oct. 15.

• Was told a new merry-go-round was installed at Washington Park; the old one was disassembled and junked. The roof of the city animal shelter is being shingled.

• Gave third and final approval to an ordinance amending the City Code to clarify what permits are needed for the removal of sidewalks, curbs and gutters, also known as a “street cut.”

• Approved a request for a malt beverage permit at the fairgrounds from 5-11 p.m. Saturday for the Alcyone Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.

• Approved paying $534,126.71 in bills and claims.

• Noted Councilman Myron Heny, who was in Iowa picking up a trailer for Powell Valley Recycling, was absent.

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