Fairboard to hold public meeting on fire event Jan. 30

The Board of Directors for The Great Darke County Fair is issuing this press release to update the public regarding the fire that took place on the evening of Friday, December 27, 2013.

The State Fire Marshall’s Office and Insurance Company investigations are ongoing and incomplete regarding the fire at the Darke County Fairgrounds that affected the 60' by 240' Beef Palace; the 60' by 240' Dairy Palace; the 50’ by 50’ connector and the 12’ by 20’ Cattle Office. These areas remain closed and cannot be accessed until these entities grant permission to do so. No one was injured and there were no events taking place in the affected areas at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The next step is to set a group examination date for the fire damaged area with respect to the area of origin so all interested, affected insurance parties can be present to avoid any spoliation issues. This event will take place sometime between January 30 and February 7, 2014.

Per Ohio Revised Code 1711.24, “The board of county commissioners of a county in which there is a county agricultural society shall insure the buildings on the grounds of such society for the benefit of such society”.

Based on this ORC code, the process moving forward will be as follows. When the initial investigation is complete, the structure insurance carrier will forward a check for the actual cash value of the structures to the Darke County Commissioners for distribution to the Fairboard. The Fairboard has 24 months from the date of loss to replace the structures. The Fairboard shall submit the winning replacement bid to the Darke County Commissioners. The Darke County Commissioners will submit the bid to structure insurance carrier for evaluation for like/kind/quality. Once the evaluation is complete and barring any exclusions, the structure insurance carrier will send a check to the Darke County Commissioners for the depreciation left out of the actual cash value payment.

On Friday, January 17, 2014, the Fairboard was informed that the company providing the structure insurance on the buildings had declared the structures a total loss. The total insured replacement value of the affected structures is $959,653.00. The Board will now prepare a demolition Request For Proposal and send them out to prospective bidders once the Fairboard is given permission to access the affected areas. Per the policy with the structure insurance carrier, demolition and debris removal is an extra expense covered. Demolition and debris removal is in addition to the actual cash value and depreciation payments. The Fairboard will need to submit the winning demo/cleanup bid to the Darke County Commissioners for submission to the structure insurance carrier.

The Fairboard wants to assure 2014 exhibitors and fairgoers that the cattle shows will take place at the northend of the fairgrounds during the 2014 Fair.

A moderated, time limited public comment forum has been scheduled for Thursday, January 30, 2014 in the Youth Building. Junior Fair Members only can provide moderated, time limited public comment from 5pm to 6pm. The general public can provide moderated, time limited public comment from 630pm to 830pm. Further information regarding this event will be available no later than Monday, January 27, 2014.