GREENSBURG, IN — The Decatur County Tourism Board on Thursday heard from county commissioners, who voted to dissolve the Decatur County Fair Board this week.
Commissioners Mark Koors and Chuck Emsweller said they took the action because they had asked the Fair Board for several years’ worth of financial records but did not receive any, and they feel the Decatur County Fairgrounds have fallen into disrepair.
County Commissioners would like to transfer management of the Fairgrounds to Decatur County Tourism.
“They (Tourism Board members) have a lot of questions and we have a lot of answers to find for them,” said Board of Commissioners President Mark Koors. “We’re hoping that they will do it. It fits kind of under their umbrella and we hope that it will work out, so it’s kind of an ongoing process.”
Before committing to the takeover request, the Tourism Board wants to hammer out a Memorandum of Understanding and receive a financial audit.
“It’s not something that’s going to be resolved tomorrow, next week, or even maybe next month,” said Decatur County Tourism Executive Director Philip Deiwert. “It’s something that’s going to take some time while we work through it, both as an organization and then as we bring in some of the other partner organizations.”
The dissolved Fair Board was made up of 21 members. County commissioners are calling for a five- to seven-member board once the transfer is complete.
In addition to Koors and Emsweller, other elected officials in attendance at Thursday’s meeting were Decatur County Councilmember Deanna Burkart and Greensburg Mayor Joshua Marsh.
