A new board will meet for the first time next week to begin the heavy lifting for the Buchanan County Agri-Business Expo Center.

The project that began with an idea for a fairgrounds is under the wing of Dan Hausman, Eastern District commissioner.

Mr. Hausman on Friday announced the board had been formed and would be introduced to the public sometime after next week’s meeting. He also said the meeting would not be open to the public, so the board members can meet each other before being “thrown to the wolves.”

“We don’t want to be secretive or private,” Mr. Hausman said. “We want to be right out in the open.”

But he also said the board is not a public body. Board members are appointed by the county, they’ll consider using county land for the project, and they may pursue a county hotel/motel tax, but Mr. Hausman said they’ll be a private, 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation that can choose whether to provide public notification and information.

“It’s appointed by the county, but it’s not a county board,” Mr. Hausman said. “They’re independent. It’s a (nonprofit). It’s people that really want this to happen.”

Buchanan County Agri-Business Expo Center Inc. was organized by county counselor George “Scotty” Murray and currently lists its board of directors as the three county commissioners, as of last year — Mr. Hausman, Royal “R.T.” Turner and Harold “Bud” Crockett — according to corporate filings with the state of Missouri. Mr. Hausman said he’ll be a non-voting member of the board.

Mr. Hausman said the board includes nine very knowledgeable people who came to the county with an interest in serving. Based on their expertise, he predicted the board will earn public buy-in.

They’ll determine everything about the facility and its operations, including location, construction funding, business plan and what type of events it would target.

Private donations from outside St. Joseph would cover the majority of the expenses, but some local fundraising and perhaps the hotel/motel tax increase could be necessary, he said.

“The goal is two years to raise the funds and also in that two years to do the design of the project,” Mr. Hausman said.

He said taxpayers — aside from the hotel/motel tax — would in no way pay for any construction or ongoing operations.

“If we can’t raise the money, we’re not going to do the project,” Mr. Hausman said. “We’re not going to burden the taxpayer.”

Mr. Hausman announced the development at the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce’s “St. Joe Rising” breakfast Friday.

Chamber President Ted Allison congratulated the county for moving forward with the project, saying “The vision is excellent.”

He also addressed the debate about whether the community should support both the ag/expo center and a Downtown convention center. Mr. Allison said the two facilities are not competing,

“Can you build all of it? Yes. At the same time? No,” Mr. Allison said. “The question is when and how.”

Mr. Hausman said the ag/expo center wouldn’t be a competing facility, and “The county is totally supporting the Downtown convention center.”

Joe Blumberg can be reached

at joeblumberg@npgco.com.