Board looks at use of Bigger Better Barn

A large audience was on hand for Tuesday’s Great Northern Fair Board meeting, and there was a lengthy discussion concerning the use of the Bigger Better Barn.

The barn is leased by the local Barn Users Association through the winter months. Association members were concerned they would lose some of their lease this year, however board members said they were not planning on cancelling the lease.

The board also wants to regulate who is using the facilities on the fairgrounds and have everyone on some sort of insurance plan, especially concerning rodeo participants.

Fair board member Scott Doney said that insurance is something that needs to be looked into.

“I definitely think we need to address the insurance. We need to come to terms on whether we have insurance or we are covered under (an) umbrella policy,” he said.

Additionally, the fair board agreed that barn users will lease the barn from Nov. 1 through the end of April for $600 per month, plus utilities.

Board member Gus Sharp said the board is actively seeking someone to live on the facility and take care of the fairgrounds.

“We would like to find somebody that wants to live on the facility up there,” he said. Sharp said that this individual would ideally have a lot of free time.

Lights were donated to the fair board by Triangle Communications, and board members are planning on setting them up in the Bigger Better Barn once board members gather information on the cost of maintaining the lights.

Kenny Erickson of E-1 Towing, which holds a demolition derby at the fairgrounds each year, requested that his business have a Saturday date of Sept. 19, 2015, for its event. This date may interfere with Montana State University-Northern's College Rodeo Day.

“We’re trying to bring events to the community… where we know we can get a crowd to help support it,” Erickson said.

Doug Kallenberger, Northern’s college rodeo coach, said he would call his regional director and see if his team could possibly switch weekends with Miles Community College’s Rodeo.

“I’ll look into it and see what I can do,” he said.

Collectively, the board agreed the budget would need to be reviewed more in-depth in the future. The fair board plans to meet on Oct. 30 to further discuss the budget and insurance aspects of the fairground.