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Residents ask Calistoga to upgrade fairgrounds cooling as city reports strong turnout and revenue from Vermeil Classic races
Summary
Speakers urged upgrades to air conditioning at Calistoga Fairgrounds buildings after Labor Day heat; interim city manager reported the race weekend generated about $41,000 from RV parking and increased fairgrounds revenue to about $49,000, and thanked staff and volunteers for emergency staging support during the Pickett fire.
Residents asked the Calistoga City Council to prioritize air-conditioning and heating upgrades at fairgrounds buildings after Labor Day weekend heat and a recent fire response, and the city manager reported the Vermeil Classic races produced substantial fairgrounds revenue and required broad city involvement.
During public comment, a resident identified as Miss Yount said the Tubbs Building had been used as a cooling center during the weekend and urged the council to “prioritize improving the air conditioning, heating systems in all the buildings.” She noted the fairgrounds have been used as a CAL FIRE staging center, an evacuation center during floods and a cooling site, and said improved HVAC would help both event attendees and crews.
Interim City Manager Mitch Laya summarized recent emergency activity and the race weekend. Laya said the Pickett fire burned about 1,600 acres, involved roughly 2,700 personnel and that evacuation orders were lifted earlier the day of the meeting. He introduced a new fairgrounds maintenance hire, Charlie Sakai, and thanked staff and volunteers for the race weekend effort.
Laya provided preliminary revenue figures from the races: “there was about 41,000 that was, revenue generated just for the RV parking spaces alone,” and he said total fairgrounds revenue was “up to about $49,000” as receipts were still being tallied. He also reported a small number of arrests for fighting, a few heat-related medical aids and two or three noise complaints tied to the event.
Why it matters
Council members and public speakers framed the fairgrounds as critical community infrastructure for emergencies and major events. Improving HVAC in specific buildings — the Butler Building, Tubbs Building and Tucker Building were all mentioned during public comment — would expand capacity for cooling centers and better support emergency crews and event visitors.
Next steps and council remarks
Vice Mayor Lopez Ortega and other councilors thanked volunteers and staff. Laya said staff is coordinating follow-up work on infrastructure and that Parks and Recreation registration is open for upcoming community events. No formal action was taken at the meeting on funding for HVAC upgrades; residents asked the council to consider the issue at a future meeting or through the fairgrounds advisory process.
