| Friday, October 12, 2007 4:50 PM CDT |
Farmer City, fair board OK 2-year deal
FARMER CITY -- Farmer City fair officials voted Wednesday night to enter into negotiations with city officials that could lead to a two-year extension of their lease on the 45-acre Farmer City Fairgrounds.
The Farmer City Council Monday had authorized negotiation of an additional two-year lease that would keep the Farmer City/DeWitt County Fair and raceway at the fairgrounds through November 2011. The city owns the ground, but leases it to the association. That lease is set to expire in December 2009.
"The vote was very one-sided," said fair board spokesman Rick Corneglio of the fair board’s vote Wednesday evening. "If it wasn’t unanimous, it was close."
Council members defeated two measures Monday that would have been more long-term solutions. The first involved a proposed land swap that would have seen the association gain ownership of the fairgrounds and the city net ownership of the fair-owned South Park. The 48-acre tract serves as a recreational facility.
Both of those votes were 3-2, but four votes were needed since land was being exchanged. The two-year lease extension received the same tally, but it only needed a majority vote to be approved.
The city is calling for provisions that include a lease payment that would at least pay for the real estate tax bill, and for the lease at South Park to remain intact until at least June 30 of 2010. The current lease payment is $1,000 a year.
The next step is for repesentatives of the city and the Fair Association to negotiate details of the lease.
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