BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Bradford County — now owner of the fairgrounds — has questions about 8 acres of land south of Market Road that was transferred to a nonprofit by the fair board during last month’s transition period.
The county acquired the fairgrounds in exchange for paying off a loan and saving the property from foreclosure. That agreement including dissolving the former Bradford Fair Association in place of a new board that will be established later this month when the county approves its slate of additions to the board.
In the meantime, County Manager Scott Kornegay is serving as interim fairgrounds manager, a position he will eagerly retire given the headaches — including the discovery of the fair board deeding those 8 acres to the nonprofit Friends of the Bradford Agricultural Fair and Youth Shows without the county’s knowledge.
According to Bob Milner, former president of the fair association and nonprofit, the fair association created the Friends group to award youth scholarships and financially assist the swine and cattle associations with their annual shows. Milner, who said he was no longer involved, claimed no knowledge of what the Friends nonprofit intends to do with the land.
Originally, the fair association envisioned an RV park there to host campers for fairgrounds events with potential for longer stays, he said. The cost of running utilities to the property for 50 or 60 campsites was much more than they imagined and more than they could afford. Milner said it’s the nonprofit’s now to sell and raise money for scholarships and the animal associations.
Not so, according to Kornegay, who called the property transfer into question via an email Tuesday morning to Milner and former fairgrounds manager Dale Woodruff. In it, Kornegay recalls the agreement signed April 11 by the county and fair association which dissolved the fair board until a new board is seated. That won’t happen until May 15, the night of the scheduled county commission meeting.
Kornegay wrote, “Any action taken by any individual(s) after April 11 on behalf of the Fair Association is considered null and void. After consulting with our law firm, Bradley, Garrison and Komando, it is the position of Bradford County that the conveyance of the property south of Market Road on April 17 and recorded in the Clerk’s office on April 22 was inappropriate and without authority.”
The county manager then advised them to consult with their attorney and rectify the situation.
Reached for comment, Woodruff — who still serves as executive director for the Friends nonprofit — said he was unaware of the email. He reached out to the fair association’s attorney and confirmed that — along with two pieces of equipment — the Bradford Fair Association board voted on April 7 to deed the property to Friends of the Bradford Agricultural Fair and Youth Shows.
Asked about the fair association’s April 7 meeting, Kornegay wanted to see the meeting’s minutes. That would have been before the April 11 agreement between the county and the fair association. However, the deed wasn’t signed until April 17 by Milner and Chuck Kramer, the president and treasurer of the fair board dissolved on April 11.
While that issue was not settled as of press time, Kornegay had made progress in another area. He said the fair association had until Wednesday of this week to vacate the fairgrounds. When it was apparent on Monday that they hadn’t started and would not meet the deadline, the county’s public works and inmate crews got it cleaned out.
“We got everything moved out, all the trash thrown away, and all the documents and important things are now in the courthouse across from my office,” he said.
