Warrenton aldermen heard a variety of concerns last week relating to dumping and storage of a wide range of items at the Warren County Fairgrounds.

Reva Mays, who lives in the Orange Blossom Estates subdivision, a 55-and-older community adjacent to the fairgrounds, addressed the Warrenton Board of Aldermen at their Oct. 20 meeting, bringing up numerous issues with the condition of the property.

“I’m here today to request the board of aldermen’s assistance in persuading the Warrenton (Warren County) Fairgrounds to remove the junk, debris, manure, from the northeast corner of their property, which abuts to Orange Blossom’s common ground and the building that I live in,” Mays said.

Other miscellaneous items stored at the fairgrounds property include chain link fencing, concrete blocks, culverts, telephone poles, various construction material, piles of gravel and rotting wood, and “a large old rail car,” according to Mays.

All this debris and junk provides a breeding ground for rodents and flies, Mays said, along with “termites, snakes, and God only knows what other unwanted creatures might be hiding there.”

Items previously stored at the fairgrounds have also included toilets, although these were removed after Mays complained about them to an alderman, as well as an abandoned vehicle with no license plates, she said.

Following Mays’ comments, Warren County Fair Association President Paul Owenby spoke, addressing some of her concerns, including the abandoned truck that was recently removed from the property.

“When it was left from the carnival company three years ago, we had reached out and the city police department told us we couldn’t do anything with it for three years,” he said. “Prior to getting rid of it, we made contact multiple times, they never came back and got it, but at the three-year mark, which was July 7, we were able to take possession of it and get rid of it.”

Besides the list of items stored on the fairgrounds property that she found objectionable, however, Mays also mentioned instances of questionable conduct by fairgrounds staff. One of these occurred following an event involving pigs at the fairgrounds, she said.

After the event, workers hauled items to the dump site including a front-loader filled with manure from the pigs, according to Mays. 

“I was outside and I asked them why they were bringing in more junk, as I’d been told the fairgrounds were cleaning it up soon. And the worker driving the front-loader said he hadn’t brought anything new there, that he was just leveling out the other two mounds of dirt, he said. And we knew that wasn’t true, as the new quote ‘dirt’ was a totally different color than the other two mounds. And I said that it sure looked new, and he just went off at that,” she said.

“So the guy that had the front-loader, he began shouting at me and started dropping F-bombs. He yelled that they always placed their stuff there, and they would F’in’ always keep putting it there, and it had been there long before I moved there and it was F’in’ staying there, and he was going on with the F’in’, and if I didn’t F’in’ like it, I could just F’in’ move,” Mays added.

Another issue, she said, is that every spring, fairgrounds workers burn large debris piles, generating huge plumes of black smoke.

“So in the spring of last year, the fire was roaring and it was about eight or nine people who were standing around watching it,” said Mays. “And then suddenly loud popping sounds came from the fire, and it sounded like maybe it was small explosive or gunshots, and they all took off running.”

Mays said she has researched city ordinances and believes the fairgrounds are in violation of regulations relating to offensive annoyances; offensive smell; manure and other debris which might harbor rodents; manure or other offensive matter; grass, weeds and debris; trash; and open storage of inoperable vehicles.

Aside from noting that the abandoned vehicle previously located at the fairgrounds has now been removed, Owenby also disputed other claims made by Mays, including that there was manure and rotting wood stored at the property.

There has been no manure dumped at the fairgrounds since July 2025, “so, I mean, to say that we’re dumping manure from the livestock is not correct,” Owenby said.

“And we spread that out on the parking lot a couple years ago to get rid of this straw and chips and, yes, a little bit of manure,” he added, “but it wasn’t a dairy farm or anything like that. It’s what 300 animals produce in a week’s time.”

Owenby said the various items stored at the site are all things that the Fair Association has a use for.

“There’s nothing that’s per se derelict or whatever, just junk that I would say I’d want to get rid of,” he said.

“I mean, there’s 30-plus acres that are wrapped in chain link fence, so it’s handy to have a 50-foot roll of it around,” he added.

“I know that it’s useful stuff, it would just be nice if it were stored out of sight somewhere,” said Alderman Roger Romaker.

Mays said the first Warrenton alderman she approached with her concerns about the property was Brandon Lang, and that was several months ago.

While Lang and Romaker both suggested to Owenby that the Fair Association find somewhere to move its storage items where they would be out of sight, Owenby said there were few options available.

“We would have to constantly move it from one spot to another, because if we go to the west with it, it gets moved into the camping area. That’s always kind of been our barren area up there to stockpile rock, extra cinder blocks, bleacher boards, you know, stuff like that. I mean, everything is on pallets,” Owenby said.

“I call it organized compared to what it was 15 years ago,” he added. “It was a mess back then.”

Mayor Eric Schleuter noted that despite their personal opinions of the cleanliness of the fairgrounds, there were limits to what aldermen could do to address the issue.

“I don’t believe we can tell anybody to move any of their items,” he said. “We can ask nicely to be a good neighbor, but I don’t believe it’s breaking any ordinance the way they have it stored if it’s on pallets and in use.”

Alderman Christine Wait also said, however, that aside from Mays, other neighbors of the fairgrounds had brought the dumping issues to city officials’ attention.

“You’re not the only one who’s complaining,” she said.

Mays, for her part, said she believes the community deserves better from the fairgrounds.

“They host the Warrenton Spring Cleanup every year,” she said, “and yet they come and dump their junk next to residents’ places where we live.”