NIOBRARA – The Niobrara County Commissioners met for their second meeting of the month on March 19. The commissioners had a discussion about the Niobrara County Fairgrounds property. Chairman Patrick Wade said he had called Michael Bright of BRC Real Estate and Zack Policky of the Big D Oil Company. Presently, Big D Oil Company is attempting to purchase properties in Lusk for business development. Among those properties is one acre of the Niobrara Fairgrounds. Bright has worked with Policky’s family for over a decade and is currently attempting to broker the purchase of the aforementioned properties. 

Wade stated that he apologized because he thought that Bright and Policky were taken by surprise when they were confronted by a large audience at the last commissioners meeting. According to Wade, Bright and Policky stated that they were still actively speaking to a remaining property owner. Bright and Policky are hopeful to reach some sort of an agreement with the property owner.

County Attorney Anne Wasserburger said that she thought that the commissioners were pretty clear about the legal process surrounding the potential sell of a parcel of the Fairgrounds. The underlying concern is that it is done in the best interest of the county.

“What I am hearing is that it is not about money. It is about purpose,” Wasserburger said.

Wade said that there was a concern about one sale giving rise to rampant and reckless future sales.

“I think you guys are smart enough and I believe that that is undercutting your thoughtfulness,” Wasserberger said.

“In no way do the county commissioners feel that once you do it, that it will open the floodgates and now everything is for sale. It’s clear that’s not how it goes and how much time it has taken. But, this has been a very thoughtful process and it’s still going on and I don’t know where it’s going and I’m sure you don’t either. This is a very unique situation.”

“So, with my discussion with both Big D people, I think that it is important to do this so that the county doesn’t end up with a black eye over what it’s doing here and, in all fairness, I don’t think their business would want that either. I would think that, as a developer, they would want to get off on the best foot,” Wade said.

County commissioner John Midkiff, who is vice chairman, mentioned that he has been approached by more people who do not want to see the sale of any fairground property. County commissioner Elaine

Griffith, on the other hand, has heard from more people in the community who want to see the sale of the property.

Wasserberger said that another issue was the possibility of putting this decision up for a vote.

“Ultimately, it is up to the county commissioners to decide what is done as long as it is in the best interest of the county,” Wasserburger said.

“My greatest concern still is that the county cannot do anything that would put pressure on anyone that is still there to sell,” Wade said. “One more thing I have to say is how respectful people have been.”

The proposal from Big D Oil Company is for one diesel pump and several gas pumps. There will be no parking for semi-trucks and overnight parking will be prohibited.

There will be food. Some Big D convenient stores have partnered with Papa Murphy’s Pizza and Chester’s Chicken. Big D Oil Company would also be donating $5,000 a year to the Niobrara County Fair Foundation and open to other community donations.

B D Oil Company is a family-owned and family-ran business. They own convenience stores in South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Big D Oil Company began in Sundance, Wyoming in 1938 and they operate 40 stores. They still own and operate their family ranch in that area.

Big D should not to be confused with Maverick.

For now, the commissioners have decided to not take action but to table this matter until further information about the private negations that have taken place. The commissioners are planning on having another public meeting concerning this matter.

Road and Bridge Foreman Fred Thomas gave an update concerning upcoming projects involving the county roads. Costs have gone up on gravel and road maintenance.

Thomas stated that a belly dump load of oily dirt had been spread on 28-mile road. According to Thomas, the materials that were dumped looked like they had come from clean-up projects at either a construction site or a basement. There were no chunks, but there did seem to be concrete dust. It was only about 30 feet. The county did blade most of it off the road and covered it with fresh gravel. Thomas also said that he had been noticing a lot more trash that has been dumped on the side of the county roads.

The next County Commissioner meeting will be held on April 2 at 9 a.m. at the County Courthouse.