Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated that Teton County owned the Fairgrounds’ land. Buckrail regrets the error.
JACKSON, Wyo. — Stemming from a March letter from the Town Council requesting a 50-year lease, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners spent time this month discussing the future management of the Teton County Fairgrounds.
During the Sept. 9 and Sept. 16 meetings, the Board discussed their opinions about a response to the Council’s request to negotiate a 50-year lease of the Fairgrounds. The current lease between the County, who manages the land, and the Town who owns the land and contracts out the Rodeo concessionaire, expires in 2030.
The Town sent a letter to the County following a unanimous vote on March 18, asking for a 50-year lease for the property under the same terms of the current lease, to be presented to the County during a joint meeting with the Town.
The commissioners opted to respond to the Town at the Sept. 16 meeting, suggesting that renewal and negotiations should begin in the next fiscal year, July 2025.
The letter also stated that the County has asked the Teton County Fair Board to provide advice on how to manage the Fairgrounds during non-County Fair times, and to look at the possibility of moving the Fairgrounds.
“We wish to explore all of these ideas prior to sitting down and extending the current lease,” the letter states.
Opinions differed between the board members with Chair Luther Propst, Commissioner Natalia Macker and Commissioner Mark Newcomb agreeing that although it’s an important conversation, other more pressing issues should be addressed first, namely the task of revising the joint powers agreements (JPAs) for agencies that the County and Town jointly fund, including Parks & Recreation, START, Fire/EMS and Pathways.
Propst noted that he is not interested in negotiating a 50-year lease, calling it “bad government” and said he does not consider the issue a priority at this point because of the existing lease.
“To be clear, I have no intention of moving the Fair, or eliminating the Fair; unless they kick us off, I think we will continue the Fair forever,” Propst said.
“My concern is if we are going to focus on this, I don’t think it is going to be straightforward,” Macker said. “I think it’s going to be complicated, when we know we have until 2030 and we’ve set some other deadlines.”
Commissioners Greg Epstein and Wes Gardner supported having a conversation with the Town sooner rather than later; Epstein said stability as to where the Fairgrounds will be in the future is a community issue and Gardner urged the Board to engage in these conversations before JPAs are addressed.
“I don’t think [the Town Council members] are going to come with big surprises,” Gardner said.
County Attorney Keith Gingery weighed in on the discussion, noting that he wrote the original lease in 2003. Gingery explained that the current lease is slanted in the County’s favor, and the Town has expressed concerns that they do not have much control over how the Fairgrounds are used.
“My argument is that it’s a lease,” Gingery said. “Some ideas that have been thrown out there are that we would only lease it for two weeks out of the year and we would run the Fair, and the rest of the year the Town would operate it as a Fairgrounds.”
Marybeth Hansen, chair of the Teton County Fair Board, spoke on behalf of the Fair Board during public comment on the letter, noting, “We do not want the Town to take over the control, maintenance and management of the Teton County Fairgrounds.”
“This would ultimately split Teton County Fair and Teton County Fairgrounds,” Hansen said. “Our Fairgrounds are so small and we are operating in such a small space, it’s incredibly important that Fair and Fairgrounds stay together because we work together all year-round to coordinate this space.”
“Most counties in the state of Wyoming do control their own Fairgrounds; it’s not controlled by the town,” Hansen added.
Hansen explained that the Fair Board also does not want to be placed under Teton County/Jackson Parks and Recreation’s jurisdiction for the same reason they do not want the Town to take over management of the Fairgrounds.
“We would love to explore the option of relocation with the help of the County, and public and everyone else, and not just us and staff exploring that on our own,” Hansen said.
Relocation is not a new desire from the Fair Board. In 2022, when the current lease was signed, former Fair Board Chair Zach Vosika said, “The fairgrounds currently operate on 12.35 acres of land; the Fair Board has extreme difficulty planning the fair within the current footprint and more space would allow for increased opportunities.”
