County Council: Dubois County park and fairgrounds in need of expensive repairs

The cost of maintaining the Dubois County 4-H Fairgrounds and Dubois County Park weighed heavy on the county council at Monday’s meeting.

The council received requests for about $1.325 million in improvements for the two properties.

First up was Dubois County 4-H Council President Bret Collignon who asked for the council’s consideration in replacing the grandstand at the fairgrounds for about $1.2 million.

Collignon and County Engineer Brent Wendholt told the council the grandstand would need to be replaced within the next one to two years. According to Wendholt, the pillars were in poor condition. “All the creosote is pretty well gone from the pillars and they are beginning to rot,” he said.

Wendholt assured the council that it was safe for this year but the grandstands would need replace after next year’s 4-H fair.

Colignon and the 4-H council would like to update the grandstands to attract more events to the grounds but with the conditions of the grandstand now, he can’t land any events.

Collignon presented a quote for an aluminum grandstand with a roof which he stated the commissioners have agreed would be a good addition. The proposed grandstand would seat about 2,100 people compared to the estimated 1,800 the current stands will hold.

Collignon explained the addition of a roof would make the fairgrounds more attractive for events due to the protection from bad weather. Additionally, the roof would save the fairgrounds money by preventing the need to purchase rainout insurance for events.

Of the $1.2 million estimate presented to the council, $550,000 would go towards the new roof and according to Collignon, the 4-H council had added about 18 percent to the estimate for any contingencies.

The council asked about saving money by building the grandstands with intentions to add the roof later. Wendholt explained the foundation for the roof would still need to be constructed in the grandstands and wouldn’t save much money on the project.

“Do we have to go with this type of bleachers,” councilwoman Charmian Klem asked. “Is their something else we can do that would allow us to have events based around 4-H without having to expand the entertainment venues?”

Collignon told her that the county commissioners had balked at the idea of replacing the 1960s era wooden grandstand with another wooden grandstand. He stated the annual $10,000 in upkeep was part of their decision to build the aluminum and steel structure.

The council decided to hold off on allocating any money to the project and asked Collignon to attempt to bring the overall cost down. “Can you bring back some costs for the grandstands with or without the roof, and an estimate to build it with intentions to add the roof later,” Kendall asked.

Wendholt and Collignon will bring those estimates to the Monday, July 6, meeting for a potential decision.

Dubois County Park Board president Jason Schmitt fared better with his request for $125,000 to park’s road which starts at State Road 162 and loops around the campgrounds.

The 4-H council has allocated $15,649.48 for their shared portion of repairs for the entry road and Schmitt told the council the parks board has allocated $25,000 to the project estimated to cost about $145,000.

Schmitt told the council that the highway department’s efforts at applying Band-Aids to the road have been good thus far but the road was in need of more extensive repairs.

Kendall noted that he didn’t want the road to deteriorate and cause any injuries to campers. He asked what the annual income was from the campers’ fees for the park and Schmitt estimated it was between $21,000 and $23,000 a year.

The council approved advertising for $140,000 to cover the cost of the repairs and paving with intentions that any left over funds would revert back.

The council also took the following actions.

–Approved $20,000 from the cumulative capitol development fund for new fuel pumps at the Dubois County Highway Department. Highway Department Superintendent Steve Berg reported that the pumps are used frequently and have begun to break down. He also informed the council he had about $109,000 left over from $200,000 allocated for the purchase of new tractors. A portion of those remaining funds will go to the new pumps.

–Dubois County Sheriff Donny Lampert informed the council the Dubois County Security Center is in need of a new furnace, water heater and gutters. Lampert is still collecting information on the cost of the replacements but he estimated the cost at about $140,000.

–Approved advertising for $100,000 from the cumulative capital development fund for refurbishing and upgrading the county’s 96 polling booths. According to Dubois County Clerk Bridgette Jarboe, the machines are about 13 years old and have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years. She informed the council that with the current election schedules, the dated machines are at capacity for the number of different ballots that have to created. Each machine can be refurbished with an expanded memory for about $1,000.