GIDA Meeting Goes to the Dogs

By a vote of 5 Woofs to 0, the Grove Industrial Development Authority board voted to waive all fees for use of the Civic Center for the Northeast Oklahoma Kennel Club Dog Show April 13-15.
Travis Taylor, chairman of the show, brought his highly trained dog "Adam" along to the meeting Monday as a backup. Adam sat patiently throughout the meeting, yawning occasionally, as did the four humans in the audience.
Taylor told the Board that his organization was tax exempt and will bring some 1200 canines to the show this year, at a fee of $22 per entry, and would bring a $320,000 treat to the city in money spent.
The Board also reversed its recently approved fee structure for Civic Center rental and voted to waive rental fees for up to three days of setup and tear down, previously approved at a half-day's rental. Normal rental fees for use of the Center are $500 per day for the full building, $250 per day for half the building.
No one was at the meeting to represent the city's taxpayers, who take a licking for $200,000 a year in expenses to operate and manage the building.
A request for funding of GroveFest from the Grove Chamber of Commerce was delayed until a later date, perhaps to search for a dog to make the presentation, or as some thought, to wait for a different breed of City Councilmen to be elected.
The Board took note that a double wide home has squatted on the Civic Center lot and Lee's Home Sales owes the city $740 in rental fees; the home was put on the lot Jan. 26 and was to be herded out right after the boat show. A representative from Lee's had told city officials that the building could not be moved this week "due to the forecast of rain," which brought howls of laughter from the four person audience, and even Adam.
The Board also set April 9 as the deadline for organizations wishing to line up at the taxpayer's bowl to get grant money from the city.