County will help purchase sign
Auglaize County commissioners are making an offer to help the Auglaize County Fair Board with purchasing new electronic messaging signs.
The proposal calls for the commissioners to pay the full $ 120,000 upfront from the 2021 budget.
Commissioners met with Fair Manager Ed Doenges Monday, and said the proposal also calls for the fair board to reimburse the county $ 30,000 over a five- year period. In addition, the county’s annual grant to the fair board will be $ 10,000 less each year for five years.
The commissioners would cover the remaining $ 40,000 of the $ 120,000 cost for the two signs.
The commissioners had tried to construct a similar deal with the fair board before COVID19 delayed the project and put the fair board in “survival mode.”
The commissioners had recently expressed they wanted to stay away from financing the project or paying interest.
Commissioner Doug Spencer hoped the cash flow from the sign would allow the fairgrounds to pay at least $ 6,000 per year back to the commissioners.
Commissioner John Bergman said the fair
board should still be setting aside some funds for long- term maintenance.
Doenges had wanted to have the signs ready to go by the spring and told commissioners there is a three- month lead time for installation.
Commissioners offered to help put the bids out in December so payments could be made in early January.
Doenges plans to take the proposal to Monday’s fair board meeting.
“I don’t know how we can not accept this offer guys; you’ve been very generous too us again. It’s very workable and we appreciate that,” Doenges told commissioners.
He reported that 38 trailers are in storage so far and he is receiving multiple phone calls about available rental space. He said they also had 60 campers on the grounds.