Kootenai County board prefers alternative to fairgrounds lease

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County commissioners fielded questions from the public about the county’s future at a town hall meeting Tuesday night. 

About two dozen people attended the meeting at the Kootenai County Administration Building, where topics ranged from how to handle population growth and the strain it puts on county infrastructure to whether commissioners will accept a proposed 20-year lease agreement between the fair board and the county. 

North Idaho State Fair leadership recently unveiled a $280 million master plan to rejuvenate and expand the fairgrounds, set to unfold in phases over the next 30 years. But they cautioned that vision won’t become reality unless organizers and investors receive assurances that the fairgrounds won’t move from its current location in Coeur d’Alene. 

Commissioner Bill Brooks reiterated his support for a long-term lease for the fairgrounds, in the range of 25 to 50 years. He said the response from county residents at recent town halls and meetings makes it clear that the community supports it, too. 

“That is fairground property, and it should always remain fairground property,” Brooks said. 

Commissioner Bruce Mattare said he believes the county should commit to giving the fair a home at its current location for the next 15 to 20 years. 

“Would I say forever? I don’t think that would be prudent,” Mattare said. 

Even after the expansion to the Justice Building is complete, Mattare said, the county will eventually outgrow its existing campus downtown. In the future, perhaps decades from now, county operations or the Kootenai County jail may need to expand their footprints onto the fairgrounds. 

For that reason, Mattare said, he’s reluctant to attempt to bind future commissioners with a long-term lease. 

Instead, both he and Commissioner Leslie Duncan said they favor a memorandum of understanding with fair administrators. 

“I am considering a (memorandum of understanding),” said Duncan, who called in to the town hall. “I have to see it before I can agree with it.” 

A memorandum of understanding is a nonbinding agreement between two parties that outlines each party's intentions for a transaction or partnership. County legal counsel is working with fair administrators on such an agreement. How that might affect the fairgrounds in the future is not yet known.

Commissioners also weighed in on how to approach long-term planning for the county. 

Duncan said in past iterations of the board, commissioners have attempted to create such plans but never acted on them. She attributes this partly to turnover on the board. With two commissioner seats up for election every two years, priorities and visions for the county can shift frequently. 

“It’s something that can be done and will be done, but the likelihood of it coming to fruition is kind of sketchy because of commissioner turnover,” she said. “It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” 

The community should weigh in on any such plan, she said. 

“I think this board is interested in a countywide master plan,” she said. “If we decide to embark on that, we can put a capital improvement plan in place.” 

Mattare said he believes a capital improvement plan would increase transparency in county government and give Kootenai County taxpayers a better understanding of where their tax dollars are needed. 

“Most folks are OK if they know their tax dollars are going to worthwhile causes,” he said. 

Long-term planning would enable county government to be less reactionary and more proactive, Mattare added. 

Duncan said she believes it’s best for the county to go out for bond when it comes to big-ticket items like new buildings. For example, in the early stages of planning the Justice Building expansion, before American Rescue Plan Act dollars became available to fund the project, she said she favored a bond in order to let the voters have the final say. 

“Government has to remain reactionary because we don’t want to tax people today who may not see the benefit,” she said.