Council OKs fairgrounds agreement

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Council OKs plan for fairgrounds

GREENFIELD — The Hancock County Council has signed off on an agreement that local leaders hope will finally move forward efforts to build a new fairgrounds.

The council agreed to enter into a 50-year lease with the local agricultural association for county-owned farm land identified as a prime location for a new fairgrounds.

The agreement next goes before the Hancock County Board of Commissioners for final approval.

The agreement commits county funding from a proposed increase to the county’s 1 percent food and beverage tax, paid by diners when they eat out at Hancock County establishments — should that increase be approved by the Indiana General Assembly.

It gives the agricultural association until April 1, 2020, to raise the remaining funds needed to move the fairgrounds to a new location or the agreement will be terminated. The estimated cost of the project is $18 million.