News photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena County Commissioners Bill Peterson, left, and commissioner John Kozlowski prepare for a vote on a proposed project for the Alpena County Fairgrounds.

ALPENA — A proposed entertainment complex and improvement project at the Alpena County Fairgrounds, which may have invested millions of dollars worth of improvements into the property, has been dismissed by commissioners.

On Tuesday at the monthly Alpena County Commissioners Finance, Ways, and Means meeting, commissioners voted to cease negotiations with Blackwaters NE LLC regarding the proposed entertainment complex and leasing agreement at the Alpena County Fairgrounds.

Alpena County Commissioner Travis Konarzewski made a motion before public comment to cease negotiations with Blackwaters. Alpena County Chairman John Kozlowski supported the motion.

The motion passed with a 5-3 vote. Alpena County Commissioners Dan Ludlow and Lucille Bray voted to continue negotiations along with Vice Chair Brenda Fournier.

Before the public comment portion of the meeting, County Administrator Jesse Osmer asked board members if they were willing to move ahead with planning a town hall meeting in two weeks regarding the proposal.

Konarzewski then made the motion along with a few remarks.

“My personal opinion hasn’t really changed a whole lot,” he said. “I think if this were to go forward, as it were presented, I think it would be a good thing for the community and the fair grounds themselves, but it’s been really clear to me that the people that I represent in my district do not have any interest in this.”

“After doing some digging into a lot of other things, at this time, I’m going to make a motion that we end the negotiations with Blackwater(s) in relation to the fairgrounds property,” he added.

Alpena County Commissioner Bill Peterson supported the motion though noted that going forward, issues at the fairgrounds will have to be addressed in the future.

“I’ll say that there’s been a lot of eyes open and what’s going on at the fairgrounds,” he said. “It’s been brought to our attention and things that I didn’t know were going on over there … that’s going to have to be addressed down the road.”

Alpena County Commissioner Todd Britton said that he was initially in favor of the project but said he has to vote in line with what his constituents want.

“The people of my district who contacted me are overwhelmingly against it and I don’t have any other choice,” he said.

Bray told The News that she is disappointed that the commissioners chose to cease negotiations. She said she wished that the county would have waited two more weeks to hold a town hall, giving more citizens the opportunity to share their opinion of the project.

“I think it is a shame we weren’t allowed to go two more weeks to hold a town hall,” she said. “I’m disappointed it didn’t go through. I wanted the town hall for citizens to speak their minds.”

Alpena County Fair Board President Courtney Tauriainen provided The News the following statement via text message in response to the vote:

“The Fairboard is incredibly grateful to the commissioners who listened to the concerns of residents and voted against the Blackwater proposal,” she said.

“Today was not about winners and losers,” she added. “Today is about giving our community the opportunity to come together and build a stronger future. We look forward to working with the Commissioners and community to restore the fairgrounds to their former glory and ensure they continue to serve the youth and residents of our county for many years to come.”

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.