Fair board wants more help from city and county

So, if it’s the Steele County Free Fair (SCFF), what role does the county actually play?

And if it happens in the middle of Owatonna, what role does the city actually play?

Perhaps more specifically, could they both do more?

The questions came after a short discussion with Steele County Commissioner John Glynn, who was at last week’s SCFF Board of Director meeting as a liaison for the county. The county owns the fairgrounds on the south end of Owatonna.

“The amount of money that we actually get from the county – by the time we pay (Sheriff) Lon (Thiele) and our help at the Four Seasons, that money’s gone,” said Director Bruce Busho. “We give that back to the county, for wages and security. We really end up at zero.”

The Steele County Sheriff’s Office provides security at the fair each August. The directors emphasized their gratitude for the safety of the event and the quality of protection. There is no issue with the services they’re paying for – and paying with the stipend provided by the county.

“We’re just swapping money, I know,” Glynn said.

“All the money we make pretty much goes back into improvements,” Busho said. “We put it back into (maintaining and repairing) buildings, and in the end, the buildings are still the county’s. So the more we get from you guys, the less we have to put in ourselves – which in turn lets us do more projects.”

Fair Manager Scott Kozelka said he was told the cost of blacktopping the fairgrounds will run somewhere between $900,000 and $1 million.

“That’s great; but we use the fairgrounds for a week,” he said. “Look at it right now: It’s packed, and none of the cars that are parked (in spots reserved for fair business and the disabled) are from the fair.”

The night of the meeting, there was an Owatonna High School girls hockey game at the Four Seasons Centre, also owned by the county.

“It’s a community thing, and that’s fine,” Kozelka said, “but when the fair gets penalized… when we ask the county about potholes getting filled. (The fair’s) budget is $34,000, and we know how well $34,000 does in hard surfaces.”

In addition, the fair pays the city for water run-off fees – with a 3% increase planned in 2023.

Jim Abbe, a SCFF director who’s the head of the grandstand admissions and a Steele County Commissioner, said appropriations from the county to the fair have gone up in the last five years.

He agreed with Kozelka, saying, “it’s not just the fair that benefits. Probably the biggest beneficiary of fair week is the city of Owatonna; there’s people buying gas at every gas station, going to the grocery stores, all the hotels are full.

“You’ve made that point multiple times – it’s just getting the right people to listen,” Abbe said.

“Should we have a liaison from the city at our meetings?” Kozelka asked.

Director Brent Svenby, who is also a member of the Owatonna City Council, said it might be a good idea.

“I think it’d be good to maybe meet twice a year with the council,” he said, “like you do with the county board.”

No formal action was taken.

“I’m just asking the questions,” Kozelka said. “We need to widen our horizons, and work together.”