Fair association outlines vision plan: plaza, power upgrades, farm expansion and stormwater work

Jerome (identified in this meeting as CEO of the Alameda County Agriculture Fair Association) walked committee members through the vision plan projects the association has prioritized, describing a mix of near‑term permitting and longer‑term capital work.

Jerome said the association completed a PG&E power terminal replacement after a 2.5‑year effort and is advancing an OTP facility remodel (now in permitting) with an estimated remodel cost of about $1.2 million. He outlined a phased grandstand plaza and wine‑garden project estimated at roughly $1.8 million across three phases and said the first phase will be budgeted in 2026. Jerome also described a farm project already in phase 1 and engineering work to locate utilities for future garden phases.

He discussed compliance and sustainability: "We're working with the county right now to actually create, to the south end of our RV campground, a bio retention planter down here that's going to accommodate 88,000 square feet of treatment for us," Jerome said. He added the stormwater approach will provide credits toward future projects and help meet C3 requirements. Jerome acknowledged some projects (a potential pickleball complex and certain rebrands) remain conceptual and that all will proceed through permitting and county review.

Why it matters: the work affects ADA compliance, visitor experience, utility capacity and the property's ability to host larger events. Committee members probed tree removal counts, costs and permitting timelines; Jerome said permitting is underway for several elements and some initial engineering budgets have been spent.