LIMA — The Allen County Agricultural Society has narrowed its field down to two candidates for the fair manager job.
The board held a late executive session after its regular meeting Wednesday to discuss the hiring and met again in a closed executive session meeting Thursday to interview the final two candidates. Board president Dan Kimmet said 11 applications were received for the position. The board would not disclose the names of the final two candidates.
The position will become vacant Nov. 30. The board announced in September that it did not intend to renew the contract of current Fair Manager David Grimm. Grimm agreed to stay at the position until the expiration of his contract in November, saying only “I put a tremendous amount of effort into the fair. I will continue to do so while I am there until Nov. 30. I wish them the best of luck.”
During the October meeting, The Lima News made a verbal public records request of all applicants who had applied for the position. The request has not yet been fulfilled. The board accepted applications for the job until Oct. 31.
Kimmet said the board would like to have someone hired by the time Grimm’s contract expires, but they do not want to push it through too quickly solely for that reason.
“For something this important, we want to conduct interviews and discuss it,” Kimmet said. “We have four new people on the board, and they will have a lot of questions. We will have someone as soon as reasonably possible.”
Board member Brad Hoy briefly updated the board on the installation of wi-fi on the grounds.
The first phase of the project was completed in August. The last two phases will finish the project to include the majority of the grounds. Hoy said after the project is completed, the majority of the grounds will be covered, including the campgrounds and most other areas inside the fence.
