Staff reports

The Agriculture Committee's Tuesday public hearing on a series of bills pertaining to the State Fair will be televised on NET2, committee chairman Sen. Philip Erdman announced.

It will be broadcast from hearing room 1525 of the State Capitol Building beginning at 1:30 p.m, where the committee will receive public testimony on the five bills introduced this session.

The committee will take testimony simultaneously on LB861, LB1044 and LB 1116, all of which are related to the location of the State Fair. Groups have been developing solutions for accommodating the State Fair at what have emerged as viable locations, including: Fonner Park in Grand Island, the Lancaster Events Center in southeast Lincoln and the existing State Fair Park.

Erdman said he anticipates that these groups will present updated information to the committee during the joint hearing.

Grand Island's State Fair recruiting committee has consisted of representatives from the city, Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., Heartland Events Center, Fonner Park, Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island and former mayors Ken Gnadt and Jay Vavricek. Members of that group will be in attendance at Tuesday's hearing.

The ag committee began exploring alternative fair sites after University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman, who is on the State Fair board, spoke in August about his hope to use the current fairgrounds for public and private research.

That suggestion has sparked debate about whether the fair should be kept at its current location or moved elsewhere within Lincoln or the state.

The Legislature hired a research consultant to study and deliver a report on the "ideal" Nebraska State Fair. Suggestions included finding a site with at least 1,500 hotel rooms within five miles, a minimum population of 300,000 within 30 miles and at least 450 usable acres of land, among others.

The ag committee then allowed Nebraska communities to voice their interest in becoming alternative locations, and Grand Island was among the many that threw their hats into the ring.

In December, Grand Island representatives traveled to Lincoln to present a proposal on what the city has to offer. Soon after that, State Fair board members came to Grand Island to tour the Heartland Events Center and Fonner Park.

While the fair board would prefer to stay put, it has said Grand Island's site and facilities are superior to another option in East Lincoln.

Discussions surrounding the future of the State Fair have generated considerable interest statewide, Erdman said.

"I am pleased that Nebraska Education Television will provide this opportunity for the public to view the hearings on the legislation that I hope provides a resolution to the question of the location of the Nebraska State Fair," he said.

LB1114 and LB1115 will be heard separately following the hearing on the prior bills. Testifiers will be asked to confine their prepared testimony to five minutes.

In addition to showing on NET2, the State Fair hearings will also be Web cast on NET's Web site, www.netNebraska.org/. All that is needed is access to the Internet and a free Windows Media Player program. Webcasting of the program is a free service of NET.