THIS image shows possible future uses for 19 acres to the east of the present County Fairgrounds in Hotchkiss. The county is buying the parcel for $700,000 with the deal expected to close this week.

The commissioners’ final approval of the purchase Monday came on a 2-1 vote. District #2 Commissioner Bruce Hovde balked at the deal and voted “no,” saying the $700,000 purchase price is too much to pay, particularly at a time when real estate values “have not stabilized.”

The county has received a $200,000 grant commitment from Great Outdoors Colorado to help with the purchase. The county plans on making up part of the difference with $160,000 in other lottery money that will come to the county over the next two years. A two-year lease/purchase agreement is being set up with a local bank to bridge the receipt of those funds.

The balance of the money to buy the land will come from the county’s Capital Improvements Fund, explained Susan Hansen, county administrator.

The county’s Capital Improvement’s Fund is comprised of three-fourths of one percent of the county’s sales tax receipts. The county’s 2010 budget allocates over $2.2 million of expenditures from the fund earmarked for various capital needs. The money is budgeted this year for General Fund departmental capital expense, Road and Bridge Department capital spending, major capital projects, and other present and future capital needs including the library district and the fairgrounds.

The 19-acre parcel, known as the Maloney property, is bordered by the current fairgrounds, by Hwy. 92, and by the North Fork Gunnison River.

The county administration has been eyeing the 19-acre property for some time as a likely site for future fairgrounds expansion. The land became available only recently, and because it fits with the county’s fairgrounds ten-year master plan the GOCO organization approved the $200,000 grant.

Immediate plans for use of the parcel will include providing a second fairgrounds access off of Hwy. 92 and for additional parking.

A steering committee which in 2008 completed a 10-year plan for the fairgrounds complex is being reactivated to work with the Delta County Fair Board and update the plan, including provisions for longer-term and permanent uses of the new 19 acres.

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