GREAT FALLS, MONT. ? Bill Ogg, who resigned as manager of the Kansas State Fair amid controversy over lumber he took from a building being demolished, is returning here to manage the Montana State Fair.

Cascade County commissioners early Wednesday voted unanimously to hire Ogg as manager of the fair and its home, Montana ExpoPark, approving an annual salary of $75,000.

Philadelphia-based SMG, the company managing the fairgrounds, told commissioners Tuesday that Ogg, who managed the fair before going to Kansas in 1997, was the top candidate from a pool of 12.

In an arrangement with SMG, the county commissioners have final say regarding the hiring of a general manager.

“The Montana State Fair and ExpoPark is a significant asset to the region, and I’m ready to go to work to increase usage and to maintain a good state fair program,” Ogg told the Great Falls Tribune Tuesday in a telephone interview from Minneapolis, where he was awaiting a flight to Great Falls.

Joseph Romano, regional vice president for SMG, said Ogg was to start work immediately.

Ogg, 49, managed the Montana State Fair in Great Falls from 1989 until 1997, when he left to manage the Kansas State Fair.

He resigned from that post in November after a series of closed meetings with fair board officials about his decision to take lumber from a building at the fairgrounds that was being demolished.

In a recent interview with the Hutchinson (Kan.) News, Ogg said the board gave him the option of resigning or being fired.

Former Kansas board member Bob Barker resigned because he was unhappy with the Kansas board’s decision to ask Ogg to leave. Barker said Ogg made a mistake, but he corrected his actions. The material was returned to the fairgrounds.