I met with Bart Wagner and Greg Froslie from Lake Havasu City this afternoon. It was a very productive meeting as we were finally able to meet each other and talk face to face about ideas and goals for the track as far as it being non-profit, the hopes of forming a club to better manage and maintain the facility, possibly more community involvement, and gearing it more towards the kids and hobbyist. They seemed very happy about that. A lot of questions are not totally answered yet but the three of us felt we are moving in the right direction finally. The first thing I fought for was either staying at the current site and doing improvements (replacing or painting the scoring booth, fixing the fence, repair lights, etc;) they said that probably wouldn’t happen but they would check into it. Then I asked if that didn’t work could we get an extension so that we could hold races and events to try and help raise some funds while we worked on a new facility. They told me that was a possibility, and would check and get back to me. But it just may be part of the growing pains we have to deal with just like the skate park. So the current location may not be totally done yet but it is defiantly on the way out. So we need to keep that in mind and work on getting money in to prepare for the move. As for the current location and anything that is there and is useful the club can take before the city tears down the track or demos anything when that time comes. The location is still up in the air but because of decisions prior to my involvement, Sara Park my be the only thing we get. I voiced my concerns with that and they made note of them. They will look into other locations in Rotary but made no promises. One reason and idea I through out why Rotary would be good is that we could still keep it open to the public certain hours of the day the maybe a few nights a week have paid practice nights where a club member is at the track from say 6pm to 10pm keeping the area clean, watering and grooming the track and to have the timing equipment running. They really liked that for the fact that someone would be on site keeping up with things and keeping an eye on stuff. Now this is were it is important to have a club, because if we can’t deliver on that then Rotary could be out of the question all together. Then the only option would be the Sara Park location which in turn will pretty much require you to be a club member or have set hours the track is open due to it having to have personnel from the club there to unlock and lock the facility. But I told them how grateful we would be with anything. Because if we had to go out and purchase private property it would be a lot more difficult…. Beggars can’t be choosers. Again I don’t have all the answers or possible scenarios that can or can not work, but I will get to that later. Whoever leases the property will be responsible for the insurance whether it’s just dirt, work is being done, or the facility is up and operational, at least at this time. I brought it up that it’s going to be hard for someone to justify paying for insurance on a piece of dirt for however long it takes to raise funds for the completion of the track. Again they will look into it, but it may be one of those things, no way around it. City to provide water, but electricity is on the leaser. And the length on the lease was 5 years with a question mark. Bart seemed pretty sure but would let me know. I asked if they had a time limit for completion, Rotary Park possibly, Sara Park probably not. As for city participation, they will help in what ever capacity they can. Bart was going to check on the lights that the city had planned to put in the current location and if they are around he would see if we could possibly get them. Another thing I stressed for is somewhat level ground, stating that any earth work would just about kill the chances right from the get go due to the expense. But they are willing to help and that’s great. I asked about permits, and again they could work with us on that. We would just need to let them know what we are doing. And everything has to be ADA compliant, no way around that, it’s a must. So when building a track it will need to be kept in mind on how tall the drivers stand will need to be to give a good view of the track and budget accordingly for an ADA compliant ramp. The Memorial plaques that are down at the track now can be moved to the new location, we just need to do it in a fashion that is respectful. Like I said I don’t have all the answers or scenarios to make this happen and give the city what they want, we all need to get together and make a list of what we want in a track/facility come to an agreement the best we can. Then I will give that to Bart they will review and see if they can give us a location that suites our needs. At the end of the meeting Greg Froslie said to me “lets make this model project to follow in the future for all other projects like this”. I was encouraged by that and I can’t do without your help. So I’m planning another pizza party at Pizza Hut on Swanson at 7:30 pm on July 11th. No food or drink will be supplied and if you do order anything please make sure to pay before leaving. So that’s it for now, you know what I know. Hit me up if you have any suggestions or ideas. Thank you, Scott Welte On side note, the contributions that have been coming in or the people contacting me has been crazy. So far these are some the people that have offered up something for the 4th of July race. Dino Dyer- DRP Products Herchel Cecil Trevor Butkus- Jack in the Box Lake Havasu City Steve Brokate- At Your Service Janitorial Hot Rock Hobbies Mike And Becca Companion Todd Borlase
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:40:48 +0000
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