Organizers of fairs in other Indiana counties have told Morgan County Fair Board members that weather has cut their income in half this year. That revelation has local organizers nervous as they prepare for the Morgan County Fair set to begin July 31.
During the board meeting Tuesday, Director Jim Lankford, who is also a member of the Indiana State Fair Board, said he had been to seven fairs this year and because of weather problems, their income was off about 50 percent.
Secretary Pat Gregory said she had been talking with people from a fair that ended a couple of weeks ago and they were down because of the weather. She cautioned board members about spending on projects.
“We cannot touch our CD until November,” she said.
Besides the weather, schools’ early start and the Indiana State Fair could cut into the attendance and profits, Director Larry Maxwell said.
“We are going into an uncharted area because school is starting so early,” he said.
The concerns were raised during a discussion of a report that was done about the fair’s compliance with the American With Disabilities Act.
Board members asked an expert from Purdue University to review the fair and see what changes need to be made to bring it into compliance. Director Kevin Greene spent a day walking Stephen J. Swain around the fairgrounds. Greene told other board members about the report.
“It’s a people issue,” he said. “The fair needs to be accessible to everyone, no matter if they walk, are on crutches or in a wheelchair.”
Greene said for years, any improvement, new construction, or change, has been made with an eye to meeting the ADA requirements. That showed in the report from Swain. Greene said the local fairgrounds is in better shape that some other fairgrounds. Most of the changes needed, he said, are simple fixes and will not cost much money.
“This is a master plan that may take a couple of years to complete,” he said.
The plan, Greene said, shows the fair takes the requirements of the ADA seriously. It includes:
• Wrapping all water pipes under sinks, both hot and cold, to keep someone in a wheelchair from being injured he said. Greene said that is already being done.
• Painting the handicapped parking spaces blue needs to be redone as the paint is fading.
• Making sure different surfaces are even for people in wheelchairs.
• Reducing the force needed to open doors to five pounds of pressure or less. All doors must have handles and not round knobs.
Greene said the report states that most of the buildings on the fairgrounds meet ADA requirements with little or no changes.
The most complicated and potentially expensive problems are in the fair’s food court. The report talks about the need to have lower serving windows, not more that 32 inches tall, in the food court. Not all windows in a food stand need to be lowered, only one window per stand. Greene said there are options to having a window that meets the requirements.
Also, the report discusses the need to have better access to the food stands. The loose gravel or stone does not meet the requirements according to the report. There needs to be a hard surface for wheelchairs.
The same accessibility goes to other booths at the fair — the Antique Machinery building, the information booth, and WCBK’s building.
There was a discussion on trying to improve access to the food court area. Director Bill Rumbaugh said he had a quote to install a hard surface in the food court area. The quote was for about $3,500, which some board members said was acceptable.
A motion was made to have the work done. But then Gregory made her comment about finances.
The fair’s accounting system runs from November to October. So far this year, with county tax funds, the fair has had an income of around $66,000. Expenses for the same period of time have run more than $117,000.
The fair has spent around $9,300 on water and sewer, $8,600 on electricity, and more that $20,000 on building improvements. Insurance for the fair costs $27,000.
Money, from rental fees, is coming in, but at a slower pace than last year.
The financial statement shows that at the end on June, the fair had about $25,400 in checking, $13,500 in savings, and $62,600 in a CD.
Gregory said that, should the fair have weather problems like the other fairs, it could be a rough year financially. She said no one knows what is going to happen because of the early start of school.
Board members decided not to make any more improvements until after the fair.