The Missouri Valley Fairgrounds may soon be under new management as the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District has come up with a proposal putting it in charge of the property by April 1.

District Director Steve Neu told board members at a special meeting on Tuesday that draft proposals have been sent to the Burleigh County Commission, Burleigh County Park Board and Bismarck City Commission for consideration. The management plan took on its present form following a meeting of the Missouri Valley Com-Plex Authority last week.

The proposal is similar to the district's agreement with the city, school district and colleges to manage the Bismarck Bowl, according to Neu.

The county is providing most of the funding, having committed $270,000 to the fairgrounds over the next three years for operation and development.

Burleigh Commissioner Claus Lembke told the Park Board after reviewing the proposal that he liked what he saw.

"It's a true partnership and not one-sided," Lembke said. "I know the county has the biggest burden when it comes to the budget. But you need to put this in perspective, sometimes you need nothing or very little for the fairgrounds, but other times you end up needing five pieces of equipment and 10 people. Well, the Park District has access to these resources. I think it is very generous the Park Board and city are willing to enter into this partnership."

Lembke said he thinks the fairgrounds have been wasting away over the past five years. "I get calls all the time from five or six groups that want to do something out there and now that zoning is in place we can. I can't think of a better thing than having the Bismarck Park District managing it. I see good things in the future."

Park Board member Mark Zimmerman, who sat in on the Com-Plex Authority meetings, urged the district to move ahead with the proposal.

"There are several groups that want to have events out there, but we've had to disappoint them because we didn't have the mechanism to move ahead," Zimmerman said. "There is great opportunity in that property. With all the development in that portion of Bismarck and housing in Lincoln, this is the opportune time to move ahead. Perhaps this summer might be too soon to expect anything, but we need to move ahead."

Zimmerman made the motion that the Park Board support the proposal and it was approved.

Neu said he expects that all the partners in the fairgrounds will soon review the proposal and take action on it over the next two weeks. The Burleigh County Commission and Park Board will take up the issue at their meetings scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)