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Steamboat Springs — Routt County commissioners supported some, but not all, of the Fair Board's recommendations regarding fairgrounds fees Monday.

Facing a tight 2009 budget, the Board of Commissioners directed Fair Manager Jill Delay to build a fee structure for use of buildings and materials at the Hayden grounds. The commissioners made suggestions Monday on Delay's draft proposal but won't make a final decision until they get more input from the Routt County Fair Board.

That board discussed the issue last month. Members recommended waiving fees for scheduled, instructional 4-H activities for which a 4-H leader presides. County commissioners compromised, Delay said.

"What we did do was waive fees for what I would call long-standing 4-H programs that have operated at the fair," Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said Tuesday. "When I say long-standing, I mean before the construction of the covered arena," the Multipurpose Building.

The commissioners want 4-H members to pay for use of that building. Delay's draft includes four fee levels: commercial/nonresident, Routt County resident, Routt County nonprofit group and Routt County youth nonprofit group. For the Multipurpose Building, 4-H groups would pay the county youth nonprofit charge. That ranges from $15 for an hour to $175 for a day.

No fees would apply during the Routt County Fair, and community groups would be allowed to meet at the grounds for free in most situations.

The Multipurpose Building has stood at the heart of the issue. The commissioners have said the building was meant to pay for its own operating expenses. Families and 4-H members have said it is unfair to charge them because they helped raise money and construct the building.

"That was where we felt the 4-H groups had to be treated the same as any youth nonprofit," Stahoviak said.

The county, facing a budget year in which it must dip into reserves, plans to give the fairgrounds $160,000 in 2009. Commissioners directed Delay to find a way to make whatever additional money the fairgrounds will need: about $28,000, she said last month. In the past, the county has made up that deficit.

Delay researched other fairgrounds' fees and created a draft structure. She expects the final schedule to be similar to her draft. Delay plans to present the revised fee schedule proposal at the Jan. 14 Fair Board meeting. She hopes to take the plan to commissioners for final approval Jan. 20. Fees wouldn't go into effect until February at the earliest, Delay said.

She said she was satisfied with the commissioners' response to the Fair Board's recommendations.

"I think they actually compromised pretty well, and everything was very positive, and they wanted to make it work," Delay said Tuesday. "One of 4-H's biggest concerns was the shooting sports in the Exhibit Hall; they aren't going to charge for that."

4-H members won't pay to hold shooting sports, the Town Kids Project or the annual livestock judging contest, for example, Delay said. Those will be considered special use programs, she said. But, Stahoviak said, 4-H members will be responsible for setting up and putting away equipment for those programs.

Routt County 4-H Agent Jay Whaley and Routt County Extension Agent CJ Mucklow gave their input at Monday's discussion.

Some 4-H horse classes, working ranch horse programs, dog classes and roping classes in the Multipurpose Building would carry a fee under new rules, Whaley said Tuesday.

"They interpreted the issue the way they needed to financially, and that was the decision they made," he said of the commissioners.

Stahoviak said she was pleased with the outcome of Monday's talk.

"I think we came up with something that treats everybody fairly, and I think that was our goal," she said.

- To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234 or e-mail bterrell@steamboatpilot.com