City, county in harmony about fairground renovations

Annexation issues delay final decision at city council meeting

There are many things that the Moses Lake City Council and Grant County commissioners agree on.

One is that the Grant County Fairgrounds needs renovations in order to preserve the economic future of both entities.

Another is, as Fair and Facility Advisory Committee chair Bob Russell told city council members at the meeting Tuesday evening, "As you can see, we need a lot of bathrooms."

But even with all that agreeing going on, the city council decided to wait to make a formal decision on the fairground renovations until some issues could be ironed out.

The FFAC and supporters went before the city council Tuesday to request that the city extend its sewer and water throughout the fairgrounds without annexation.

Mayor Ron Covey said that the city council had formed a committee to work with county commissioners to discuss the issues involved, and had determined it to be a "win-win-win situation" for all concerned.

Covey said there was no validity to concerns that Grant County residents would feel that the city of Moses Lake had taken over the Grant County Fairgrounds, or the Grant County Fair, because the fairgrounds are in city limits.

He said that the committee had also addressed commissioners' concerns about taxes that would be gained from the fairgrounds, which he said could be worked out through interlocal agreements, and about building code enforcement inspection and impact fees, which he said could be handled without difficulties and the city would ask the county to come in and take care of.

"In compensation for that, we would give them all of the impact fees, all of the permitting fees — they can have it all," Covey said. "We're not there to make any money."

Covey said a committee of business and community leaders had also called together a meeting to share and discuss concerns.

"We let them know that it's do-able, it can be worked out," Covey said. "There is nothing that cannot be negotiated between the two entities."

However, the stumbling block, according to Covey, is annexation.

Last week, Russell said that by not annexing, the city would not have to provide fire, police and other services for the tax revenue that would have been generated from the fairgrounds, and the concern was that Grant County citizens would resist putting tax dollars into the fairgrounds and then giving it to the city.

City councilman Richard Pearce said that he was not interested in extending city sewer and water to the fairgrounds without annexation, and said there was no detriment to annexation.

Covey said the city council was all in favor of making the renovations work, and that annexation did not have to be a problem.

City manager Joe Gavinski told the city council that a policy has been in effect since the 1980s that says if property is adjacent to the city of Moses Lake and utilities are desired and requested, annexation is required to obtain them.

"There is no exceptions, there are no variances," Gavinski said. "It's a hard, fast rule."

The council decided not to make a decision until all entities could further resolve the issues, but moved to draft a resolution supporting the renovations so that the Chamber of Commerce, the group working on a proposal to keep the 2006 Washington State Potato Conference and Trade Show in Moses Lake, could say that the city and county were working together on the project.

Bids for the conference from the Tri-Cities were the reason the FFAC pushed conceptual plans for the renovations of the fairgrounds.

Russell said he felt great after the meeting.

"What I see is the council unanimously agreeing that this is a great project, we're needing to work with the county and they'll work out any of the details," Russell said. Regarding the city council's position on annexation, he said, "Sometimes you've got to compromise."

Russell said the next step is continuing to accept public input and possibly proceeding with feasibility studies, engineering plans and to start moving ahead. Bathrooms on the Kenny Ardell Pavilion and working on the infrastructure are the priority, followed by prioritizing the need of other buildings on the fairgrounds, he said.

Grant County Fairgrounds fair and facilities manager Al Holman said he has been very pleased to watch the whole community band together behind a concept and move in a positive manner. He called the meeting a positive step.

"Obviously, it's a preference of the county to not go with that particular methodology, but that's something that will have to be determined by the county commissioners," Holman said of the annexation issue. "They're the ultimate authority in that realm, so it's just something that we'll have to see, over time, how we work through those particular issues."

"I think our concerns need to be worked out and hopefully we both can come to terms," county commissioner Tim Snead said.

Alan Heroux, president of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce said that both the city and county were willing to work with each other. The key issue would be the interlocal agreements that need to be discussed and agreed to by both entities.

"Our discussions with county commissioners, is they're willing to make things work," Heroux said. "Since we've talked with them, the city council has come up to the table and said they want to do whatever they can to make this happen."

Heroux said that Moses Lake's proposal would be put together with the concept that everything will be worked out and there will be sewer and water services for the 2006 potato conference and beyond.