AUGUSTA — State Rep. Thomas Winsor, R-Norway, said he is surprised by the attention an agricultural fair improvement bill he has proposed is getting.

Proponents are excited about the bill, which would provide funding for capital improvements at Maine’s 50 sanctioned agricultural fairs, such as the Bangor State Fair.

Building on that support, the bill has been tabled until February to allow Winsor time to work with agricultural fair presidents and the Maine Department of Agriculture to define the program more clearly.

LD 1425 is a concept draft, Winsor said, which means that when he filed it last year it stated a broad goal with no detailed language and therefore it was held over from the 2001 session.

Last week, at a hearing before the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee, Winsor asked for some time to research the bill’s projected impact and scope.

“I asked for and received the committee’s vote to table the bill until February so the commissioner of agriculture, Robert Spear, his staff, and I will be able to give the committee a complete proposal that has the consent and support of the fair community,” Winsor said this weekend.

“We will meet with the fair presidents on December 15 and then again at the annual fair meeting scheduled for the last weekend in January,” he said. The meetings should provide a clearer outline of what the actual needs for improvements are.

“My original purpose was to find a way to help the small agricultural fairs grow by providing them a source of money for capital improvements and marketing,” said Winsor. “I feel that these fairs are a very important part of Maine’s rural fabric, and with thoughtful marketing and capital investment they can have significant local economic benefit.”

Winsor said the fairs also have become an important way to educate the public about agriculture and local farming.

“As the number of farms decreases, this connection between producers and consumers has become even more important,” said Winsor.

The legislator maintains that although there is a critical need for these fairs to be able to borrow money to make capital improvements, the very nature of their income keeps conventional financing methods from being available to them.

“Usually they depend on setting aside a little money each year for a future project, and with significant local effort, make their improvements years after a need is identified,” said Winsor. “This works fine, but sometimes you can improve the fair and its revenue by making the investment earlier. We are thinking of things, like covering pulling rings to allow events to go on in rain or very hot weather, better drainage, waste removal, or improved water systems and sewer systems.”

A major component of the bill may be a commissioner-proposed revolving loan program tailored to the specific needs of the fairs. Spear has identified about $450,000 in cash that was turned over to individual states from a discontinued federal program that could be tapped for the fair improvement program.

Winsor said that the federal rules attached to the funding seem ideal for a fair improvement program. “But it will be important to create the program in a manner that will really meet the needs of the fairs without risking the principal amount. Currently the interest in this account is used to fund annual scholarships,” he said.

“This is the reason that we want to take the time to be thoughtful and to obtain the full support of the fairs,” said the legislator.