Flaming Gorge Days burning out?

Editor's note: This story was changed to reflect a correction made to a misprinted name. The original story identified Scott Varley as the treasurer for the Flaming Gorge Days Committee but, the actual treasurer is Andrew Varley. The Star apologizes for the error.

After losing approximately $53,000 during the 2014 Flaming Gorge Days celebration, the committee in charge of setting up the yearly event is in a position where a similar loss this year could kill the long-running weekend of fun.

“If we lose money again, we don’t believe we’ll be able to put on the event again,” Andrew Varley, treasurer of the Flaming Gorge Days Committee said to the Sweetwater County Commissioners Tuesday morning.

The committee approached the commissioners for additional funding outside of the usual $3,500 allocation granted to them. In total, they sought $100,000 from the county -- an amount that was met with surprise and shock from the commissioners.

“I thought it was a joke when you asked for $100,000,” Commissioner John Kolb said. “You can’t possibly expect the Board of County Commissioners to fund Flaming Gorge Days.”

Deli Frantzen, chairman of the committee, admitted that the initial requests were to help get their foot in the door with the county government to make additional requests for the event.

The problems the committee faces involve decreasing returns from the annual event and, this year, difficulty in lining up sponsorships. Dawn Trujillo, another member of the committee, said most of the event’s sponsors are from outside the area now and many longtime sponsors haven’t renewed their sponsorships for the upcoming 2015 event. Specifically talking about Halliburton’s involvement, Trujillo said the oil field company was a major sponsor during previous Flaming Gorge Days celebrations, bringing in 45 volunteers along with their sponsorship. With recent developments and layoffs in the oil industry, Trujillo said she isn’t sure if the company will continue its support.

“It’s kind of scary this year,” she said. “It’s hard to keep current sponsors, let alone recruit new ones.”

However, declines in oil and gas impact the county as well. Sweetwater County Treasurer Robb Slaughter said the county is currently projected to lose $4 million in revenue for the 2016 budget if the price of oil and gas remains at their current states. Oil provides for 40 percent of the county’s revenue and with a 40 percent decrease in the price of gas and a 50 percent decrease in oil means the Flaming Gorge Days Committee isn’t the only organization impacted.

It also puts the commissioners in a tough spot when considering funding request.

The commissioners have already fielded a request from the Green River Arts Council earlier this year to make a donation for the statue it wants to place in the Mining Memorial Park. They decided not to act on the arts council’s request citing a precedence taken by previous county commissioners in not funding the “Clearing the Haul Way” sculpture in Rock Springs.

The commissioners also question where they would stop providing financial support to nonessential projects if they begin to fund requests similar to Flaming Gorge Days or the mining sculpture. With requests to feel-good projects inundating governing bodies and businesses throughout Sweetwater County, Commissioner Reid West wonders if fundraiser burnout is beginning to take hold.

“There’s something going on every weekend,” West noted.

The committee does receive an advertising grant from the Sweetwater County Joint Travel and Tourism Board for promotion outside the area, but only for $3,000. It’s an amount West believes is too small.

“I would think their share should be far in excess of what you’re asking us,” West said.

The committee has informally approached the Green River City Council to hear their requests. Last night, the council discussed hosting a workshop to hear the Flaming Gorge Days Committee’s request after Councilman Ted Barney brought the issue up during his report to the council. The council scheduled the workshop to take place Tuesday.