The Ravalli County Board of Commissioners on June 26 approved two contracts for projects at the county fairgrounds: a not-to-exceed design agreement for a new women’s restroom and a work-based learning agreement with Trapper Creek Job Corps to construct a pergola on an existing foundation.

The restroom design contract presented by a fairgrounds representative calls for construction drawings, building-code review, permit submission and two project meetings, with a net cost to the fairgrounds of $6,190 for the architectural portion and a combined design package totaling $9,990 "underneath the $10,000 cap we put into the authorization," a county staff member said during the meeting.

Commissioners said the restroom will be for women only and that the project will reuse an existing, structurally sound building by gutting it, adding a garage door and converting it to event storage after the restroom is built. "We're gonna take that building, gut it, put a garage door on the end of it, and use it for storage for the event center because we don't have a place to store tables and chairs," the fairgrounds representative said.

Separately, the board approved a work-based learning agreement between the Ravalli County Fairgrounds and Trapper Creek Job Corps for construction of a pergola on a former teepee-burner foundation. The fairgrounds foundation will pay for hardware and donated materials and the Job Corps carpentry instructor and students will provide labor and equipment, county staff said. "When they put in the cement inside the foundation, they brought out their own power equipment... They brought that themselves," a staff member said.

Commissioners asked that signatures for the Job Corps agreement include the company CEO or designee and the on-site work supervisor, and that the fairgrounds safety officer sign after confirming on-site oversight. The commissioners moved and seconded both agreements; after a call for the question the chair recorded aye votes and the motions carried.

The board also approved several routine fair contracts during the same agenda segment — including vendor and sponsor contracts and an MOU for the Bulls, Broncs and Barrels event — but did not alter or add policy language tied to those approvals.

The county said the restroom design work will be paid from the fairgrounds capital fund and that there are currently funds set aside for a ladies’ restroom. The Job Corps project will use donated materials, foundation funds for hardware, and Job Corps labor under the work-based learning agreement.

County staff said the Job Corps arrangement is intended to be ongoing so the same labor‑and‑safety paperwork will not need to be repeated for each Job Corps visit; the board agreed signatures and on-site oversight details should be finalized before work begins.