West Fargo City Commission Mulls Annexation of Land Owned by Bonanzaville, Red River Valley Fair

The proposed takeover would mean operators would have to pay for special assessments

WEST FARGO, N.D. — A West Fargo city commissioner called for the city to annex the land owned by Bonanzaville and the Red River Valley Fairgrounds.

Eric Gjerdevig wants the operators of Bonanzaville and the fairgrounds to help pay for the city’s special assessment projects.

He says having both attractions help pay for special assessments should take some weight off the shoulders of taxpayers.

However, such a change could spell financial trouble for both organizations.

“We’re a non–profit. If you start getting hit with million dollar assessments, neither of us can afford anything like that, and we’d have to cut back on programming, cut back on staffing, which would cut back on the amount of events that we could have out here,” said Bryan Schulz, the General Manager of the Red River Valley Fair Association.

The city commissioners decided to table Gjerdevig’s motion at Monday’s meeting in order to gather more information.