Worthy Of Debate

The current Waitsburg City Council has thus far kept a steady hand on "the ship of state," and we support their fiscally prudent management of city affairs.

Its members have conducted public hearings on pro­posed, albeit small, tax increases and solicited public input on other agenda items, plus contributed thoughtfully to other decisions before the city.

But we need to respectfully ask the council to take an­other look at an important item on which they acted, at least in our opinion, too hastily during their last public meeting.

On Nov. 17, the council voted to deny the use of a previ­ously designated piece of city property for the proposed development of a BMX track. The agenda item was worded "BMX Track Location - Discussion; Action." There was virtually no substantive discussion before council members voted unanimously to reverse a decision made by the previous council after that council had conduct­ed much research, committee work and public deliberations. Councilman Scott Nettles, who owns property near the track, participated in the vote.

It was not until after the Nov. 17 vote ended, when a member of the public asked about the council's reasons for the denial, that a brief discussion took place covering some of the objections behind the vote.

Members of the council expressed concerns about up­keep and maintenance, liability exposure and the possible lack of long-term interest among prospective users.

They saw two other community youth projects, the RC track at the Fairgrounds and the current BMX track off Main Street, go by the wayside. They said they prefer to designate the existing Main Street track for the project. Plus, they said they had not heard from advocates Greg Tawnya McVey for a while, though a picture of the McVeys receiving a 5,000 grant check from Wilbur Ellis for the project had just appeared in the Times two weeks before. The McVeys were taken completely by surprise by the vote. Parents of four and not regular evening council meet­ing attendees, they had missed the fact their project was on the agenda, and they had not been contacted by anyone from the city.

They have since started a petition campaign gathering nearly 350 signatures in favor of the track's development on the previously allocated site, which they say would become nationally sanctioned facility on a regional circuit with other major tracks drawing racers and spectators from far and wide - a potential economic and recreational asset for the community. They plan to reintroduce the council to their plans during the public comment period at the upcoming Dec. 15 council meeting and bring their supporters with them. But instead of squeezing the McVeys' presentation into the public comment period, we propose that the mayor and council put this item back on the agenda and consider taking new vote on it on Dec. 15 or at a designated future meeting soon after. Here's why: The public comment period is not the right vehicle for the full-fledged public discussion that we feel this BMX pro­posal deserves. The council members need to fully articulate their reservations about the plans in a broad public setting and let the McVeys respond to their objections.

The McVeys need to have time for a proper presentation of this project before the current council because they have demonstrated widespread public support for it. The council needs to hear the McVeys' objections to the use of the cur­rent track off Main Street and the research conducted by the previous council. The current council is fully in its right to decide on the use of any city-owned land. We understand its members have some real concerns about the track's proposed loca­tion, and they may still decide to vote exactly as they did before. However, the point here is that a real discussion needs to take place about this popular initiative. A project that has had a personal commitment from the McVeys for two and a half years, has the backing of a petition with nearly 350 supportive signatures (including those from Waitsburg children), has a history of thoughtful deliberation and study by previous council committees, has private-sector funds and in-kind donations to help develop and has the potential to be an economic and recreational benefit to the community is worthy of a bona fidepublic debate.