HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-06-minutes-rodeo-board-letter-2017-11-06 MINUTES 1
COMMISSIONERS' MINUTES
KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
COMMISSIONER’S CONFERENCE ROOM
SPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY 3:30 P.M. NOVEMBER 6, 2017
Board members present: Chairman Paul Jewell; Vice-Chairman Laura
Osiadacz & Commissioner Obie O’Brien.
Others: Mandy Buchholz Deputy Clerk of the Board II; Jill Scheffer,
Event Center Director and members of the Ellensburg Rodeo Board:
Jeff Faltus, Jerry Jensen; Jerry Doolin, Mike Hajny; Rick Cole and
Bob Crowe.
SPECIAL MEETING ELLENSBURG RODEO BOARD LETTER COMMISSIONERS
At 3:30 p.m. Chairman Jewell opened a Special Meeting to discuss a
letter the County received on 10/10/2017 from the Ellensburg Rodeo
Board (ERB).
Jeff Faltus, ERB President indicated that the grounds for the 2017
Ellensburg Rodeo were in the poorest condition that they have ever
seen. He stated there was an unprecedented amount of man hours, work
and money put into this year’s event in order to bring it up to at
least the minimum condition that is expected for one of the top ten
rodeos in the world. He stated that the County received notice of
short payment of the ERB and Kittitas County Lease Agreement until
the concerns outlined in the letter can be addressed and solutions
put forward that are mutually agreed upon. He stated his letter also
outlined expenses they were deducting from the rent totaling
$6,928.82. He stated that they had multiple pieces of equipment
break down while performing work around the grounds that the ERB
feels should be being done by the KVEC.
ERB Directors Hajny, Cole, Doolin, and Cole all expressed their
frustrations and concerns for the grounds relating to how the dirt
gets worked (not often enough), cleanliness, electrical issues and
weeds (nothing they had burned up two weed eaters). Jeff Faltus
indicated that the Ellensburg Rodeo can actually be shut down if the
facility is not up to par. He stated that there are judges that walk
the grounds and can pull the plug on the event if certain
expectations/requirements are not met.
Chairman Jewell indicated that a few years ago the County contracted
with a company to come and do an energy efficiency study and then
complete the work to bring the County facilities into a more energy
efficient status. He stated that the Event Center was reviewed at
that time and recommendations were made, however and the Board was
told that the ERB was not interested in having changes made to their
2017-11-06 MINUTES 2
equipment located down at the Event Center. Rick Cole stated that is
not a decision that should have ever been made without going before
the whole ERB, as the Board itself would have been all for that.
It was determined/agreed to that the ERB and the KVEC would arrange
for ERB Director Carl Jensvold to show Event Center Staff how to
work the arena on off days while it’s not being prepared for a
specific event; a rotation schedule would be created for treatment
of weeds on and around the KVEC; the County would work on seeking
and energy conservation grant to address lighting and electrical
concerns. There was discussion on the pre and post walkthrough
process that’s been implemented at the KVEC and how it’s been
working.
Additional concerns about events coming in after the Ellensburg
Rodeo and benefiting from the work that the ERB put into the
facility were expressed as well as the facility being double booked
during the ERB rental period.
Chairman Jewell stated that in the future “threating” letters are
not necessary. They will happily meet at any time and would actually
like to have pre and post meetings with the ERB. He stated that the
only times the two Boards have met was to renegotiate their contract
and then this meeting. He stated there are better ways to get the
BoCC’s attention and withholding payment isn’t the best way. He
stated that the County is very hopeful that the concerns discussed
today and outlined in the letter will not be an issue in the future
and certainly not to the extent that they were this year and that
the County would like to continue to improve the communication and
relationship with the ERB.
Meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.
KITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DEPUTY CLERK OF THE BOARD KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Mandy Buchholz Paul Jewell, Chairman