Youth Building Renovation Nixed

DAYTON - The Co- lumbia County Board of Commisioners voted 2-1 last week to not move forward with renovation of the youth building at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. Dur- ing their regular meeting on December 4, the motion to stop the project passed, with Commissioners Mike Talbott and Dwight Ro- banske voting in favor of the motion, and Commissioner Chuck Reeves voting against.

Talbott and Robanske both said they were con- cerned, not only about the cost of the renovation, but also about the cost of on- going maintenance. "The county may not have funds in the budget to maintain the building after the project is done," Robanske said.

Columbia County Engineer Drew Woods pointed out, however, that he pro- jected a significant annual savings in heating costs after the project was completed.

The project to renovate the youth building had been under consideration by the county for more than two years. It was the number one choice of the Fairgrounds Facilities Committee - a group of local citizens appointed by the commissioners - after they considered various capital improvement needs at the fairgrounds.

"The committee was tasked with choosing a proj- ect to move forward with, and this was their choice," Woods said of the project's inception in 2011.

According to Woods, the county spent about $18,000 in 2012 on preliminary ar- chitectural plans for the renovated building. The improvements would have included adding modern rest room facilities and install- ing a new ground source heat pump system to replace the existing oil furnace. The kitchen in the building would also have been moved to its east end, and all plumbing and wiring would have been updated.

The building, however, would not have been ex- panded, other than adding on rest rooms. Its group seating capacity is approximately 100, and would have remained so.

Woods said the estimat- ed cost for the expansion was between $450,000 and $500,000. The county was approved for a Washington State Public Works loan for up to $500,000, which would have been paid off over 20 years.

According to Columbia County Commissioner Dwight Robanske, the loan would have been paid off over 20 years using funds the county receives from the state for infrastructure projects to help economic development. Each year, 0.9% of all sales taxes col- lected in Columbia County are returned by the state to the county for that purpose.

During the meeting, both Robanske and Talbott said they had concerns about spending so much on a project that wouldn't increase the size of the building. Port of Columbia Manager Jennie Dickinson also spoke at the meeting, questioning whether the project was an appropriate use of the sales tax funds.

Roland Schirman, who is chair of the fairgrounds facilities committee, told the commissioners he was disappointed in their decision. "We were told that money was available for this project," he said. "And the fairgrounds desperately needs new restrooms."

Schirman said the committee considered the youth building project to be the first of a series of improve- ments that would hopefully be made to the fairgrounds. He said that other projects under consideration included improving the grand- stands and upgrading the pavilion with a new foundation and heating system.

During their meeting, the commissioners discussed the possibility of building a brand new community center that could serve 200 people or more and would replace the existing youth building and pavillion. "We would probably have to go out to voters with a levy to do that," Robanske said.

In a separate interview, Woods and Robanske dis- cussed the various improve- ments needed at the fair- grounds and possible funding sources to pay for them. Besides new rest rooms and an upgraded meeting facil- ity, the arena grandstands are in need of repair or replacement. The east grandstands are currently closed because they don't meet require- ments for emergency exits.

Woods said that he has looked at two options for the east grandstands. The first would be to add on stairs and ramps to improve egress; the second would be to replace them with modern alumi- num bleachers. He said that new bleachers would likely not be covered, but that they would require virtually no maintenance. The current grandstands have to be re- paired and painted regularly, he said.

Robanske said that, be- sides using sales tax funds or voter-approved levy funds for fairgrounds improve- ments, there may be funds available when the county receives sales tax revenues as part of the new Port- land General Electric wind project being built north of Dayton.

"At this point, we don't know how much that will be or whether the fairgrounds is the best use of those funds," Robanske said. "It's just something we'll consider." Robanske said the county should learn next year how much sales tax revenue it will receive from PGE's purchase of equipment and services for their new wind project.

According to Robanske, the commissioners will like- ly ask the facilities commit- tee to re-address the needs at the fairgrounds and consider other projects, including grandstands improvements and a possible new commu- nity center.

During the commissioners' meeting however, Schirman, the committee chair, said that he was con- cerned that many committee members may lose enthu- siasm for continuing their work, now that the youth building project they pro- posed has been stopped.