While much uncertainty still surrounds what this year’s Lyon County Fair will look like, the Lyon County Fair Board is continuing to plan ahead for the annual event.
To that end, Fair Board President Larry Rust and Vice-President Jeremiah Corpening presented the board’s 2021 budget request to Lyon County Commissioners during their weekly action session Thursday. The total request of $60,000 is a flat sum from previous years, however, Corpening says some adjustments were made to certain line items for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corpening says in terms of what events could be taking place for this year’s fair, there are some plans in motion, however, nothing is set in stone at this time. He says the board is currently waiting to see what the county does following the expiration of phase three of its reopening plan come Jul. 9.
The Lyon County Fair is currently scheduled to take place from Aug. 5 to Aug 15.
In other business, commissioners discussed the potential construction of a new bridge on Road K7, also known as Olpe Lake Road. A previous request came to commissioners seeking the construction of a new bridge due to floodwaters constantly rising over the current bridge whenever heavy rainfall occurs in the area.
According to Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods, the estimated cost of constructing a new bridge would be between $80,000 to $90,000, not including dirt work and the installation of an alternate route around the worksite. Commissioners agreed something needs to be done to help reduce the impact to travel during flooding events, however, Commissioner Scott Briggs does not believe constructing a new bridge would be an adequate solution.
Commission Chair Rollie Martin is planning to attend an Olpe City Council meeting in the near future in order to try and discuss alternate solutions. An exact time for when those discussions would take place is currently pending.
The Lyon County Commission will reconvene next Thursday for their weekly action session at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse.
