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Kenosha County Fair representatives protest new EMS fee for DosFest; village president orders review
Summary
Representatives and attorneys for the Kenosha County Fair told the Salem Lakes village board that a newly issued contract tripled the event EMS charge to $7,500 and said the state confirmed the fair's permit. Village President said she was not notified and asked staff to route future communications to her before sending them to the fair.
Attorney Michael McTernan said Wednesday night that he represents the Kenosha County Fair and told the Village of Salem Lakes board the group had cooperated with village staff while seeking approval for DosFest. "Nothing's changed, except the village decides to send a new version of the contract to my client demanding that the $2,500 quote that was provided by the village fire department wasn't enough. It actually was $7,500, 3 times what was provided," McTernan said during public comment.
Several fair board members echoed that complaint. Mark Edquist, identified as a member of the fair board, said the group believed it had complied with the village's requests and relied on earlier price estimates. "We sat here for hours and listened to what we needed to do ... and then all of a sudden now we come up with this other proposal that does nothing more than triple what it's costing us," Edquist said.
Chris Leaker, another fair board member, said the fair's emergency medical responder (EMR) license covers the entire fair property and that state staff expressed irritation at repeated village inquiries. "The EMR license is licensed to Kenosha County Fair Association for the entire property," Leaker said.
Village President Rita Buecher said she had not received a copy of the revised contract before it went to the fair and acknowledged the group's frustration. "I did reach out to staff to ask them if you could, in fact, provide your own EMS or supplement ... I wish that the response would have come back to me before it went to you, and so I'm going to ask staff from now on that any and all communication with the fair comes to me first to be discussed before it goes to the fair," Buecher said.
The board did not take formal action at the meeting. Buecher said the item will be placed on a future agenda for board discussion so members can decide how to proceed and clarify whether the fair may provide its own EMS coverage or must accept village-provided services and charges.
The public comments and the president's pledge to review the matter together leave the immediate disagreement unresolved; fair representatives said they intend to press for the earlier $2,500 figure, while village staff will return to the board with a proposed course of action.
