Agenda - 04-01-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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24 1 think. She said the planner will have a sharp learning curve, and for this first time planning 2 process the County would need a full time person for the full year. 3 Commissioner Rich asked how much money Hogg Day made. 4 Margaret Cannell said she has run Hogg Day for 12 years, and the most money it made 5 was $30,000. She said that was a year when pork producers donated $13,000 worth of meat. 6 She said that figure does not account for staff time. She, taking into account staff time, there 7 was a profit of$7,000 this past year. 8 Commissioner McKee asked if Hogg Day gets grants from corporations. 9 Margaret Cannell said Hogg Day had sponsorships, but it was difficult to get them. She 10 said for a start-up event, this would be the first task the event planner would need to do. She 11 said this could be easy if the planner has good networking in place, but the economy also plays 12 a huge role. She thanked the Board and other County staff members who have supported 13 Hogg Days over the years. She noted that several organizations are trying to pick up the event. 14 Commissioner Pelissier said there are a lot of possibilities set out here and a budget 15 nobody really understands. She said while this is a great idea, her main concern is Blackwood 16 Farm and how this would play out with moving Blackwood Park forward in the future. She 17 would like to wait another year or two until Blackwood Park begins development. 18 Commissioner McKee said costs with the schools are getting ready to come up again, 19 and there are continuous state cuts to the school systems. He said he is concerned with how 20 these cost factors will be accommodated, and he feels that this event will be a competing item 21 in the budget. He said if there is going to be an increase in expenses it should be for school 22 systems and core services. He is uncertain that that can even be done without a tax increase. 23 Commissioner Rich said there was some conversation about this event at the Visitors 24 Bureau end of the year meeting. She said one conversation was about the idea that this could 25 start small with a music venue at the farm's amphitheater. She said there was also some 26 concern expressed about some of the property on Blackwood Farm not being stable. 27 Dave Stancil said that was true at one time, but there has been about $100,000 worth of 28 building stabilization done over the past several years. He said this should not be an issue. 29 Commissioner Rich said there was also concern about the integrity of Blackwood Farm 30 being compromised with heavy machinery. 31 Commissioner Gordon said what the Board is being asked to do is to move forward with 32 a project costing $187,000 -$243,000 and include improvements to the Blackwood Farm. She 33 said she has concerns about this financial commitment in the face of so many uncertainties. 34 Commissioner Dorosin emphasized that this model is made to be revenue neutral or 35 revenue positive event. He said the goal for tonight is to get the authority to hire an event 36 planner to help determine the viability of this event. He noted that Hogg Day was revenue 37 positive every year. He believes there will be a large volunteer base to help mitigate staff time. 38 Commissioner Dorosin said a smaller event is possible, but at some point there will still 39 be costs associated with improvements and other items, regardless of the size of the event. He 40 said the event could be shortened, but there are economies of scale to consider. He said 41 vendors would be charged less to come for only one day, and schools could not be involved if 42 the event is only on a Saturday. He said the goal is to draw as many people as possible, so the 43 diversity of the event is important. He said it would be better to scale everything down, than to 44 pull just one section down. 45 He said that the idea of having a park but not going into it is counterintuitive. He said 46 this farm is a jewel of the county and this would be an opportunity to show it off. He said there 47 is a lot of excitement about this, and it will be fun. He said County government has to be about 48 more than just maintaining the status quo and this is a real opportunity. 49 Commissioner Rich asked if any of the local vendors and restaurants were interested in 50 being involved in this.