Jengel451

Just recieved this and posting, I won't be able to attend due to me not being mobile enough yet, but would ask any and all to attend if possible:

Folks,
On Oct. 7th at 6:30 pm Mark will be speaking at the Airway Heights Council Chamber. This is a workshop forum regarding the wants and needs of Airway Heights citizens re: economic development and the raceway track. Located at 13120 W. 13th ave., Airway Heights.

It has come to our attention that Bonnie Mager and a bunch of her “non-track” supporters will be arriving at this meeting. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please send and email to all your race track supporters to get the word out to come to this meeting! My database is large, but I am not sure who all is involved in the racing community. We need to keep this as a “positive” forum on how we can keep and continue the race track as a “positive” for the Airway Heights community!

Your help is appreciated.

Airway Heights Workshop – re: economic development and raceway track for Airway Heights
Oct. 7th, Airway Heights Council Chamber at 13120 W. 13th Ave. – 6:30 pm.



Lucy DeVleming
Volunteer Coordinator
535-7329
701-3404

www.richardforcommissioner.com

DONATE NOW AT OUR WEBSITE! https://www.richardforcommissioner.com/Donate.html

fastfoodfred

That sounds like Wednesday night.

Bump!!

JohnnyM

Check again Fred...the 7th is tomorrow...

JohnnyM

Oh, and anyone from my neck of the woods interested in attending? I'm thinking we would be leaving about 4:30 to make it in time...supposed to be gusts of winds tomorrow up to 45MPH, so plan accordingly...

Avboden

Unfortunately i'm scheduled for some service down at Macs so i'll be heading the other way. I really hope you can get some turn out!

JohnnyM

Dude, 30-40 MPH winds with gusts to 45 tomorrow...watch your ass on the way down, lest you end up in the ditch or on the side of a semi...

We'll see if this pans out...right now word is they will be OK, but if I have enough interested parties I'm up for the trip anyway.

fastfoodfred

Good catch. My internal calender was set for yesterday, not today.

Avbo, skip your service. You can do that any time. Stuff like this doesn't happen that often.

nocontrol74

I'm in. Need to tell the wife she is stuck with the kids though..

nocontrol74

I went to this meeting last night. There was a huge turnout by the motorsports community including drag racers, the Porsche club and others. I was the only motorcyclist there.

The bulk of the discussion focused on the development of the additional parcels into a sports complex. Pop Warner football, little league, youth soccer and others all voiced their opinions on how important a sports complex would be.

One interesting thing to note was that the track brought in just over $100,000 in revenue from usage fees for the short season in which they operated. The overall economic impact was even greater. These financial results were very good and the response to this news was well met by all in attendance (except for Bonnie Mager who seemed much chagrined)

SRWitt

100k in a short season, is that after expenses were paid? If so, why the hell is she so opposed, get some big events in there and 100k is a drop in the bucket. A few big events over a couple of seasons and the place could easily be payed for.

Dirk Digler

A poorly maintained track with out the luxury or potable water or indoor plumbing pulling in 100k in revenue in less than half a season. That should shut alot of people up.

JohnnyM

A little more two-wheeled representation would have been nice. Ken and I were prepped to go, but Lucy said they would be OK attendance wise without us making the 150-200 mi round trip...kudos for driving cross-town to attend, Jason! At least one of us was there...

james1300

Why was there only ONE motorcyclist there?
If you expect this track to be available to Motorcyclists, you may want to start showing up to meetings and having a voice in what is happening with the track.
Everyone whines about loosing this track, yet you locals, dont even show-up for meetings,
except one.

Dirk Digler

This wasn'tmade know till the last min. I wouldn't have even know about it if I wouldn't have checked the forum before I left work. I agree that there should have been more that one rider there but don't even try to flame us for not being able to attend on such short notice.

THE FLAMING LIPPS

Cheers to Jason!!!!!!!!!! You are one cool MF'er!!!!!!!!! $100,000 guess that Winch is under the tire now!( No pun intended). No water at the site needs to change. I'm sure the ball will roll now. Let us know of any future hearings. I bet some of us will make the trek from the west side with enough notice.

SRWitt

Step off the soap box dude, this was a last minute posting, and some of us do have lives outside of motorcycles and tracks.

JohnnyM

...or prioritize it much lower than others to the point of apathy...

...just sayin'.

cee-jay

Coug91

While I don't race or do track days, I do support the choice of those of you who do so both at the ballot box and in spirit.
I see see the race track complex as more than a race track - I envision a sports complex with little league and softball diamonds, football and soccer fields, a LEO training facility (maybe with a range open to the public), potentially a hotel & restaurant site.

PS - I was in Salem the 7th & 8th.

nocontrol74

Article from the Spokesman about the meeting for those who are interested:

Motorsports park offers many opportunities

Jeslyn Lemke
Correspondent
October 16, 2008

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – People from all walks of life huddled in the Airway Heights council chambers Oct. 7 to let fly a multitude of ideas for what the Spokane Motorsports Park should eventually look like.

A sports complex, the current drag-racing track and a law-enforcement training center are some of the basic options being considered by Airway Heights and Spokane County.

A crowd of more than 35 parents, drag-strip racers, BMX bikers and even one man interested in growing grain on the property all weighed in throughout the meeting.


"We want everyone to have a stake in this," said Mayor Matthew Pederson, who answered citizens' questions alongside Spokane County Commissioners Todd Mielke and Mark Richards.

Many citizens were interested in the options behind the sports complex, which could potentially have fields for youth sports like soccer and baseball. The sports complex, said Pederson, will have a lot of acreage for things like that.

The meeting also brought out a large crowd of people in the drag-strip racing community. "I've driven a lot of tracks, and I'd say Kent is fun, but Spokane has a heck of a track," said Bob Westmoreland, a racer from Spokane.

Richards said one of the county's biggest interests is having an outside company operate the track, "getting the private sector to pay for people, taking the burden off taxpayers."

Spokane County was the highest bidder for the park in April, offering about $4 million. Also in April, it was discovered that a well on the property contained trichloroethylene, a chemical thought to cause cancer. Today, park receiver Barry Davidson has hired a local firm to conduct tests on the ground.

"Until they clean it up, they have to know why it's there, where it came from and how extensive it is," said John Botteli, Spokane Parks and Recreation Special Projects manager.

The county is deciding on an operator for the park and will make its suggestions to county commissioners by Thursday.

The park had four races this season and hauled in quite a bit of money in a short time.

The city of Airway Heights netted $283,000 during those events from people using services such as hotels, restaurants and gas stations within the city. Thousands of people poured in to watch the races, the last of which was Sept. 27 held by the Spokane Pro Gas Association.

"I'm very excited for the next season, to see what we're looking at for full operations," Pederson said.

Races are closed for the season. Volunteers had a cleanup day for the park in September and IRS Environmental hauled off barrels of oil and other debris.

As far as moving forward with their feedback from citizens, city officials said they are working on putting together a group of key stakeholders by November.

Some groups on this board would be Airway Heights, Spokane County, Spokane County Sheriff's Department, representatives of different Spokane racing associations, representatives from youth sports, and the Kalispell Tribe of Indians.