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Kossuth County sets staffing fees for AV8 rally, directs county to draft contract
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved a two-tier fee for the AV8 rally — $50 per hour for on-site coverage and $25 per hour for standby — and directed staff to draft a contract requiring event organizers to sign before coverage; the decision followed testimony about 72-hour staffing needs and overtime costs.
The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors voted to require a contract and set event-coverage fees for the annual AV8 rally, approving $50 per hour for on-site coverage and $25 per hour for standby. The motion, made by a board member and seconded at the meeting, carried after discussion about staffing demands and past unpaid responses.
Phil, a county responder who led the presentation, told the board the department currently staffs the rally across a 72‑hour period — "we cover the event from 7AM Thursday morning until 7AM Sunday morning. So it's 3 complete days" — and that the staffing pattern and overtime make relying on voluntary donations untenable. He proposed charging the same $50 hourly rate used for races and other standby events and suggested a lower $25 rate for standby when crews remain in town rather than on-site.
Phil laid out the math for supervisors: at $50 per hour for 72 hours the gross cost would be roughly $3,600; a $25 standby rate would total about $1,800. He said the department still incurs overtime in July and that even with the fee the staffing cost would remain substantial. The board discussed whether organizers would expect staff to be present if paying the higher rate and settled on a split rate so event hosts can choose on-site coverage or standby-only service.
The board also directed county staff to include contract language requiring event organizers to sign an agreement; a board member said Phil should work with Todd and contact Eric to finalize details. No public comment opposing the rates was recorded. The board carried the motion with no roll-call objections recorded on the transcript.
The contract and rate schedule will be prepared by county staff and brought back to the board or implemented by the auditor’s office as an administrative matter.
