Fair Board Explains Decision to Eliminate Groundskeeper Position

The Washington County Times sat down with the Fair Board in a recent meeting on September 23. In this meeting, we discussed some of the questions and concerns regarding the recent elimination of the fairgrounds groundskeeper position held by Councilman Randy Lee.

“Based on what we see coming up in the future, we didn’t see the need for a groundskeeper anymore,” said Fair Board President Rose Anderson. “And so, all we did was recommend that to the commissioners. We sent a letter of recommendation to the commissioners to recommend that the position be eliminated. They are the ones that did all of that. All we did was send that letter of recommendation.”

“The main thing about this, is that there was a grant approved last year for the new 4-H building up here,” began Fair Board member Tom Day. “When that building is built, the Purdue Extension Office – which is currently down in the basement of the county building – is going to move into this new building on the fairgrounds. So, there is going to be someone up here every day. It’ll actually be their office location.

“My understanding is that the space in the basement of the county building will be used by the health department because they need more space,” he continued. “But yes, the new building here is where the new extension office will be moved to. So, there will be somebody up here every day.”

“And the county will control that,” added Anderson. “The county will do the cleaning, the county will do the rental, the county will handle all of that. So, there will be nothing for us or a caretaker [groundskeeper] to do.”

Tom Day went on to explain that the Purdue Extension Office moving to the fairgrounds was the biggest factor in their decision to eliminate the groundskeeper position.

“I’m sure there will be cameras on that building, and we’re also adding cameras up here to help with security,” he said. “That was the biggest catalyst in going ahead and doing away with the caretaker because we knew there was going to be someone here every day, and then they will probably just contract out the mowing. They [the county] did talk like they were going to give us some additional funds out of what the salary for the caretaker was, but we haven’t gotten anything in writing or anything guaranteed yet.”

In the August 19 commissioners meeting, Lucy Brenton claimed the groundskeeper position provides a salary of $20,000/year while speaking on Randy Lee’s behalf. However, Commissioner Todd Ewen claimed that Lee’s position offers $48,733/year.

When asked about what the cost discrepancy would be with contracting the fairgrounds work out as opposed to retaining a groundskeeper, Tom Day said they were only asked to obtain rough quotes.

“They [the county] asked us to get some rough quotes, and that’s all they were,” said Day. “Obviously, when this happens in the spring, it will be a hard bid. So, we just reached out to some folks we knew in the lawn care business. We gave them [the Board of Commissioners] two, and I think they got another one. There were just three rough quotes is all it was. There were no bids or bid processes because we’re at the end of the mowing season this year. And the county already said they would take care of it for the rest of the year, and then they’ll probably put it up for bid next year.”

Accusations have erupted across the county stating that this was a political retaliation against Randy Lee for comments that he made in regard to Mayor Justin Green and the cleanliness of Washington County’s water supply. The Fair Board says this is not the case.

“We had already presented the letter to him and told him his position would be eliminated the day before he took his letter about the water to the mayor,” said Day. “You can check the dates on that. We have a copy of the letter. He didn’t sign it, but we got it dated and we all signed it. And honestly, I’m not even sure why people think the county has any input on a city water issue.”

The Washington County Times is currently working to obtain the letter that the Fair Board presented to Randy Lee detailing the elimination of the groundskeeper position.

“We have no idea what they [the Board of Commissioners] discussed among themselves in regard to doing away with the position, you know, the financial part of it,” added Anderson. “All we did was we wrote a letter of recommendation and presented it to the commissioners. What their discussion was with it, we were not involved in.”

The Fair Board maintains that eliminating the fairgrounds groundskeeper position was a practical decision tied to the upcoming Purdue Extension Office move as opposed to political retaliation. However, questions remain about the financial impact on Washington County.