The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg City Council was encouraging but said there was no way they could approve the 17-page Equestrian Use Proposal and corresponding community work day presented by the Friends of the Waitsburg Fairgrounds Committee at the council’s regular Sept. 20 meeting.

Council members were impressed with the proposal, but called it conceptual and said there were many questions that still needed to be addressed, especially legally and contractually between the city and the proposed fairgrounds co-op entity.

Equestrian Committee Chair Suze Wood presented the three-phase plan, which would include creating an equestrian recreational facility with indoor and outdoor arenas, a horse hotel/layup facility, and year-round horse boarding.

The facility would be available for individual use, riding clinics and seminars, and small local-level schooling shows and competitions. It would also be available for 4-H, FFA, and other organizations to allow kids access to recreation, mentoring, and learning opportunities.

It was proposed that the equestrian center be founded as a co-op where members will purchase shares of the business and get a say in the control of the operations. The relationship and financial agreement with the city was undefined in the proposal, but a lease contract was suggested.

Several audience members spoke up with concerns about the proposal. FFA and 4-H leaders were especially concerned about the impact the proposed changes could have on their programs and access to the fairgrounds.

Dayton resident Lisa Tonney asked about costs and upkeep. Wood said that, with volunteer help, she expected renovations to the north end of the arena to cost approximately $25,000. She said the covered arena would cost a minimum of $100,000.

“This would be absolutely wonderful. It would have been great if it had happened 20 years ago. I question our equine base and the cost to the community,” said Waitsburg resident and 4-H leader Sandra Farley.

Farley said that for many years, kids used the Don Thomas building as a covered arena for horse shows and clinics.

“It wasn’t ideal, but it has done well. But now we can’t even access that. It concerns me if I can’t even bring what 4-H kids are here to that existing facility . . . If we can’t even handle that, how is this going to be handled?

Farley also asked about water, fencing, insurance, liability, and what aspects of the renovations, such as the type of fencing used, the city would have a say in.

Waitsburg Commercial Club president and Fairgrounds Committee member Joy Smith said that the plans were created in such a way that nothing is intended to change the historic use of the fairgrounds.

“We can’t start without approving a vision. This leaves plenty of time to massage and modify that vision. But we’ve got to start somewhere,” she said.

Friends of the Fairgrounds Committee Chair Lane Hill said the committee is not trying to “ramrod anything,” and appreciates all the community involvement it can get. Hill stressed that the equestrian center is one aspect of the master plan.

“We’re just trying to get moving so we don’t wait another year and have something else fall apart,” Hill said.

Smith said they needed approval so that they could utilize the volunteers and skilled laborers, such as electrical and paint contractors, that had been lined up from the Walla Walla LDS church as part of an Oct. 22 Make a Difference work party.

“I think, realistically, we can aim for about 300 volunteers, which is 1200 man hours,” Smith said. “If we’re not going to approve the equestrian center I need to know, because we’re going to have to redline a lot of this and probably send the church to another community, quite frankly.”

The council asked if it would be possible to utilize the crew for basic clean-up, without making permanent changes at this time.

“There are a lot of great things to look at in the proposal, but it’s a lot to buy into at this time,” said council member Kevin House. “Anything the committee would be interested in doing in this north area that we could use the volunteer day for would be great, but as far as doing the whole thing, that’s a lot right now.”

Wood said she didn’t want to invest resources in one part of the renovation without at least some guarantee that there would, at some point, be covered and outdoor riding arenas.

Mayor Dunn said that it wouldn’t be possible to approve a document that is conceptual in nature and doesn’t include necessary wording regarding legal situations, insurance, lease dollars, responsibility of the city, etc.

House moved that that the fairgrounds committee be encouraged to continue exploration along the lines they have been going, but that the council wait on a more specific fairgrounds master plan and fully support whatever can be done during the work day without making permanent changes to the facilities. The motion passed unanimously.