By Meredith Gardner and Robert Pore
The Independent

Representatives from Grand Island's State Fair recruitment group met with State Fair board members and state Sen. Philip Erdman, chairman of the Legislature's Agriculture Committee, on Monday to discuss the details of Grand Island's State Fair package, said Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce.

Nothing was decided during the meeting, she said, as the local group is still looking for ways to modify its proposal. It would cost an estimated $45 million to $52 million to move the fair to Fonner Park, and the group is searching for more ways to fund the move or reduce its cost.

"We are still doing some work on the numbers," Johnson said.

Grand Island representatives are trying to coordinate their plans with a number of local and state groups, including the University of Nebraska. And in addition to funding, they've also been discussing how the fair would be governed in Grand Island and what new structures would have to be built at Fonner Park, among other issues, said Don Dunn, chairman of the chamber's board of directors.

"There's just a lot of pieces and parts that have to be put together," Dunn said.

The Grand Island group, which has consisted of representatives from the city, chamber of commerce, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., Heartland Events Center, Fonner Park, state Sen. Ray Aguilar and former mayors Ken Gnadt and Jay Vavricek, is expected to report back to Erdman and the fair board on its progress by the end of the week, Johnson said.

In the meantime, state leaders say Grand Island continues to stand out as the best alternative location for the State Fair.

According to news reports, Gov. Dave Heineman said on Tuesday that he believes the State Fair "train" has headed out of Lincoln and is well on its way to its new home of Grand Island. The remarks were reportedly made at a state chamber of commerce function.

The governor's communications director, Jen Rae Hein, said she could neither confirm nor deny whether Heineman made the comments. The meeting in question was a private one between the governor and state chamber of commerce representatives, she said, and his remarks weren't prepared.

"The governor has mentioned before that he sees the fair headed toward Grand Island," Hein said. "And certainly the governor isn't alone in that."

Jay Rempe, Nebraska Farm Bureau state director of governmental relations, said there have been a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions concerning the future of the State Fair.

"From what I'm hearing, it seems that Grand Island is gaining momentum," Rempe said. "I hear a lot of buzz that Lincoln has lost it and that Grand Island has put together a pretty good proposal to make it work."

Discussions about moving the fair began after the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced its hopes to convert the neighboring State Fair Park into a public-private research park.

Since then, the Legislature's Agriculture Committee has been working to determine the "highest and best use" of State Fair Park, whether the fair should move and, if so, where it should move to. A site in East Lincoln and Fonner Park in Grand Island have been the frontrunners for the new State Fair site.

However, State Fair board members have generally rejected plans to move the fair to the Lancaster Events Center in East Lincoln, citing the high cost of the project and the floodplain that exists on most of the site.

In an effort to provide an alternative option, Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler put forth a $110 million plan earlier this week to develop a new State Fair site in Lincoln. Beutler also hired former state senator Kermit Brashear last week to lobby to keep the fair in Lincoln.

Grand Island has had a State Fair lobbyist of its own since February.

Trent Nowka of Cutshall and Associates in Lincoln is being paid $10,000 in chamber and EDC funds to be the city's "feet on the ground" at the capitol building every day, Dunn said.

Erdman has been adamant about resolving the issue this legislative session to allow all involved parties to move on. However, the ag committee must first finalize a bill regarding the fair's location and forward it to the floor for debate. The last day of the session is scheduled for April 17.

Dunn said he would expect the ag committee to meet on Friday or Monday to finalize a bill.

"I think we're inching along, and a lot of people would hope that we're sprinting along, but we're not," Johnson said.

But if the slow movement is what's in the best interest of Nebraska and the State Fair, "It's worth the inching, I suppose," Johnson said.