A resolution that would have seen increased fair admission prices for children and seniors failed to gain traction with the Grays Harbor County commissioners on June 26.

Admission for those two groups would have increased by $1 each (from $6 to $7).

According to a cover letter attached to the resolution provided by the fairgrounds, “The increase is necessary due to naturally rising operational costs in several areas including, but not limited to: fair entertainment and related services, utilities, grounds repairs/maintenance and salaries/wages.”

After the meeting, in a brief telephone interview Mike Bruner, fairgrounds and county tourism department manager, reiterated that the increase is necessary.

“We review our rates periodically,” Bruner said. “We’ve done it in the past, and it was time for review. The senior and youth rates was where we felt we had room to do a rate increase. Last time we increased adult rates by $2 in 2012, and we increased youth at that time by $1. We felt like we were at the high end of where we want that to be for adult admission.”

Bruner said the fairgrounds aims to keep admissions on par with similarly sized fairs throughout the state.

At the June 26 meeting, none of the commissioners made a motion for the resolution that would have increased admission. With no motion, the resolution failed.

Commissioner Wes Cormier said he would have seconded a motion to approve if one had been made.

“I don’t want to say that I wouldn’t have voted for that, because I would have,” Cormier said. “There’s a day on Sunday where kids can come into the park for free. So my feeling is this doesn’t come out of the general fund. The difference between this kind of fee is we solicit people to come in. We need to attract a lot of people to the fair in order to maintain the fair as it is, but not increase the fee so much that we negate the fact that we’re attracting people to the fair. … There is a margin where the fee is going to be too much.”

Commissioner Randy Ross felt he needed to do more research and would have liked to hear other options.

“It will only make a difference of maybe about $5,000 for the year. I think we need to look at some other things. The fair is one of those fun things that families get to enjoy and the more affordable we can make it, the better off we are,” Ross explained. “I put a quick spreadsheet together, but that doesn’t tell the whole picture. … I’d like to have a conversation with Mike Bruner.”

Commissioner Vickie Raines said there wasn’t enough time to consider the resolution. The resolution was added to the commissioners’ packet late last week.

“I’m not opposed to adjusting the rates — I just think that we needed a little bit more time,” Raines said. “It didn’t provide for us any time to ask Mike any questions or do any homework on it. I don’t want to just arbitrarily make a decision that’s going to impact the public in that fashion without a little bit more discussion and awareness on the public’s end.”

Commissioner Cormier noted that the fair is self-funded and does not rely on the county’s ailing general fund.

The commissioners agreed that if enough information is provided, the resolution could come back before the commissioners in the coming weeks. The commissioners did not hold a meeting on July 3 — the next opportunity to consider the resolution will be on July 10.

Bruner said he plans to keep advocating for the admission increase in the coming weeks.