The County Commission and the City Council approved an agreement Tuesday that would allow county residents to use the fairground and its amenities, including the equestrian facilities, at the same cost as city residents. In return, the county will pay half the costs to maintain the fairgrounds and rodeo arena, as well as make Spanish Fork the permanent home of the Utah County Fair - at least until 2058. The county also agreed to deed more than 11 acres of land on the east side of the fairgrounds to the city.

"It's been a long time coming," County Commission Chairman Gary Anderson said. "It's a good thing for Spanish [Fork] and it's good for Utah County."

City Councilman Steve Leifson saw it as a homecoming of sorts.

"We'll get [the fair] back where it belongs," Leifson said.

The fair was a fixture in Spanish Fork until 1997, when the county pulled the fair in a dispute with the city over renting the fairgrounds. It went to the McKay Events Center at Utah Valley University until 2002, and then to Thanksgiving Point until this year, when it returned to Spanish Fork. The return was the result of fence-mending negotiations by Anderson and Commission Vice Chairman Larry Ellertson.

While Councilman G. Wayne Andersen said the commissioners have proven trustworthy, the agreement leaves nothing to chance.

"We have some stiff penalties for anyone who wants to get the hairs up on the back of their necks," Andersen said. For example, if the city chooses to break the agreement early, the land will revert back to Utah County. Likewise, the county will lose any improvements it makes if it breaks the pact.

For Pat Parkinson, the agreement means that the fair is back in the rural part of the county, rather than the urbanized north end.

"This has a the feel of the fair," Parkinson said. "It is just a perfect fit."

dmeyers@sltrib.com