County to spend roughly $15,000 to repair Fair Park horse arenas before the fair

Washington County’s Executive Committee approved a plan to repair and regrade all three horse arenas at Fair Park, allocating about $15,000 this year in addition to approximately $16,000 spent last year.

Scott, a county presenter, told the committee that last year’s work relieved ponding in the Western Arena but freed up uneven sand depths — “anywhere from 7 to about 8 inches of sand” in places — creating inconsistent footing for draft horses and other users. Scott described a collaborative process that included Fair Park staff, 4-H participants and draft-horse owners, and said stakeholders committed roughly a quarter of the project funding and worked to secure donated materials.

The project would finalize improvements to the warm-up ring (between two barns) and the Eastern Arena and use sand purchased last year to top-dress surfaces. Scott said the intent is to avoid recurring ponding and provide consistent footing for shows and parade events; he said the sand stockpiled from last year can be used for top dressing in future years.

Supervisor Kelling and others emphasized the importance of draft horses to the fair’s agricultural portion. County staff member Aaron told the committee the strategic priorities balance has about $278,000 and that staff could identify money in that account to pay for the arena work if the committee approved. The committee voted to approve the allocation by voice vote.

Scott said the planned work, combined with stakeholder contributions and previous investments, should “solve that problem for many years to come” but acknowledged ongoing maintenance needs.

The committee approved the funding and asked staff to proceed with the repairs and report back if additional work or funds are required.