JEFFERSON — For the first time, Ashtabula County commissioners took their Tuesday meeting to the county fairgrounds, mixing with noisy rides and sunshine beaming down on fair-goers.

With a backdrop of the “Welcome to Cinderella’s Closet” sign in the fair’s Expo Center, the three commissioners held center stage for over an hour.

Board president Commissioner Daniel Claypool thanked county fair board officials for opening up the Expo Center for the meeting. Claypool said it was an opportunity for the public to see and hear how the board conducts government business.

“We’ll probably do this again next year. Later on, we are judging the Ashtabula County Fair’s youth parade,” he told a group of a dozen people seated at the far end of the center.

A few people touring the center’s display booths wandered in during the hour-long meeting.

Reba Emerson, 78, of Monroe Township, interrupted the start of the session. Emerson walked up to the podium to greet Commissioner Joseph Moroski, giving him a big hug, as other commissioners and their staff watched. She later explained Moroski was her supervisor when she worked for Premix Inc. Moroski got a little red-faced and greeted Emerson. Then she sat down next to her husband, Leon, to take in the meeting.

As for their agenda items, the commissioners approved hiring the Aurora-based law firm of Christley, Herington & Pierce for legal assistance in their lawsuit with Ashtabula City officials. The firm will be paid up to $15,000, to be billed hourly, to assist County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini in the ongoing dispute. Attorney Norman Christley previously worked with commissioners in their purchase some years ago of the Consumers Ohio Water Co. water system, according to Claypool. The two parties are stalled in mediation, trying to settle litigation arising over renewal of joint sewer/ water agreements.

It was good news for the Ashtabula County Fair Board as commissioners approved the lease agreement with ERS Telecom Properties Inc. of Ligonier, Ind., to erect a 250-foot cell tower on the fairgrounds. Commissioners agreed to give the $500 royalty fees to the fair board directly, rather than having the check put into the county’s general fund. Claypool said that the fee will increase by 3 percent annually. The tower will be constructed 220 feet west of Poplar Street in the fairgrounds parking area. The fair board and commissioners jointly met last month with ERS Telecom Properties’ vice president Steve Woody to get a consensus to approve the tower project.