Kristine Johnson commented on the public input that came before. She urges staff to be creative in how they engage with the public around these issues. It would have been beneficial to hear comments like these from the public at the time of the hearings. She also had questions related to the Weed Management Plan approval.
Staff Response: We are preparing an update on the IWMP approval and plans for the annual reports and will present that to POSAC. We've asked three experts to evaluate our continued use of Indaziflam and we will also report those results soon.
Paula Fitzgerald asked that staff involved in the public process regarding the Fairgrounds decision see if any lessons can be learned and if outreach can be improved upon.
Drew Adams asked where were there are gaps in the outreach regarding the Fairgrounds Manual Update and cancelling the open ride. He also asks for the exact costs of keeping the arena open for riders.
Response:
Joe: I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but the arena seats about 1,500 people, with restrooms and two different types of heat. To do the needed work in the arena, we use approximately 1600 gallons of water and use a tractor to level the ground and make it safe. We need staff working 12-hr days. The arena needs to be prepared for multiple events Friday and Sunday with staff sometimes working late at night to get it ready for the public sessions. The average amount of revenue generated for the open ride season $1,547 or $5.37/hour to operate the arena. This is far less than what it costs to keep it open. In addition, our staff can't be available for these smaller activities (equestrian and dog events). When the arena is almost constantly in use, we aren't able to keep up the needed maintenance.
Therese: Several things come into play in deciding where the county spends money. Recently the county did an equity budgeting assessment. We were given direction to put the information from that assessment into practice, including increasing fees at the fairgrounds to cover costs and to look at who we are serving. When only 10 users come in for a 12-hour day, that is not serving a broad enough community to justify the costs. Open space sales tax money cannot be used to support the fairgrounds and there is a lot of competition from other departments for county funds.