Council Denies BMX Land Use For Second Time

WAITSBURG - Saying they support Waitsburg's youths but couldn't see the viability of Tawnya and Greg McVey's BMX track concept, the city's council voted for a second time to deny the use of up to five acres of city land for the project last Wednesday.

"I don't think it's fiscally responsible for this council," Councilman Orville Branson said .

After a relatively short public hearing at which a handful of local residents (including Tawnya McVey) and a Walla Walla man formerly associated with the track there spoke about the pros and cons of the concept, council members raised a long list of concerns and questions.

They included:

-The proximity of an existing track in Walla Walla, whose dwindling group of regular users has a membership of 35 in a city with a population many times larger than that of Waitsburg and surrounding communities.

-Insurance coverage and costs for outside events specifically sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association.

-The lack of demographics and other requirements, such as the proximity of a large-enough airport, to qualify as a nationally sanctioned BMX under American Bicycle Association conditions.

-The challenge of policing its use outside racing practices and events, and the possible need and expense of building a fence to keep clandestine ATVs or other ORVs from tearing up the track when it's not in use by cyclists.

-The possibility of flooding in the corner of the industrial land approved by the previous council for consideration of the track's development.

-Weight restrictions and safety issues on Taggert Road, which would be used as the principal traffic arterial for BMX track users and visitors.

-Limited city revenues from the use of the land as a BMX track compared to its current income as leased farmland.

-The expense of making the land accessible from Taggert Road across a railroad track and a part of the old Mill Race.

-The parcel's lack of water essential to maintaining and operating the BMX track.

-The expense of track facility generators, portable bathrooms, computerized ticketing and the project's initial development costs estimated between $20,000 and $33,000.

-The lack of sufficient lodging and accommodations in Waitsburg and surroundings for regional or national BMX events.

-The lack of an organized body to facilitate the BMX track's development, maintenance, city relations and year-round operations.

A former representative of the Walla Walla Valley BMX track said that facility's use has declined in recent years. While membership was at about 200 eight years ago, it's now down to 35.

Though the hearing format and speaking order did not give the McVeys much of a chance to respond to the council's concerns or answer its many questions, Tawnya McVey said many of them can easily be addressed.

As far as the future of the BMX concept on the cityowned parcel is concerned, the point is moot for the time being since neither the council nor the mayor raised the possibility of any further research or study of the proposal in the near future.

Later, during their regular meeting, after many of the residents interested in the BMX case had left, the council and mayor said they regretted they could not see a future in it for Waitsburg.

In a later interview and information exchange, Tawnya McVey said she appreciated some of the research done by the mayor and council members who picked up the phone to talk to officials from the American Bicycle Association and several BMX tracks in the state, among others.

But she also said she can counter most of the council's points, further strengthening a business or project development plan she might pitch to any interested private landowner or to a future council inclined to look into the concept further.

Her responses included:

The Waitsburg track would complement the one in Walla Walla since BMX riders would end up using both to earn points for larger races.

Once the American Bicycle Association sanctions a track for racing, the facility is covered under a $5 million insurance policy that's in effect 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Organized practice sessions carry an insurance cost of $20, while race insurance fees are $1 per rider.

Few, if any, BMX tracks are fenced, and a local BMX group would have to keep an eye on the facility to prevent inappropriate uses. The public would have to be educated about the facility, but in the end, ORV owners bent on destruction can find a way to tear up any facility in town, including the current Main Street BMX track, which isn't fenced either.

Studies conducted for the once-proposed Waitsburg Estates housing development indicate Taggert Road can handle the additional traffic resulting from BMX track activities.

As far as Taggert Road's safety is concerned, the poor visibility from the bend in Highway 12 just where city speed limits take effect has been an issue for years and needs to be addressed with or without a track, possibly by moving speed limits further out from the intersection to allow more time for drivers to slow down before they get to the gas station.

The city currently receives $1,000 from leasing the 20 acres of industrial land to a farmer. A single event on just five acres, or one quarter, of the larger parcel would generate more than $200 for the city. The American Bicycle Association would require at least 20 events during the racing season. The BMX track operator would negotiate a contract with the city, ensuring minimum revenues from the track.

The Waitsburg Prescott BMX group (not associated in any way with the school sports combine by the same name) would raise the private sector funds or in-kind services to develop proper access from Taggert Road to the track, cover the cost of the facility's utilities and materials.

Participation in any sport depends in large part on a group's leadership. The new Walla Walla track operators are working hard to bring back membership numbers to where they were eight years ago. Though BMX racing can be expensive, the Waitsburg-based group would raise funds to lease out racing equipment so it can bring down the sports' costs for families who couldn't otherwise afford it.

Although additional funds will be needed for the track's development beyond the $5,000 grant from Wilbur Ellis, the McVeys and other supporters have already secured in-kind services and other donations to help get things underway.

Many racers have their own campers, while others can be accommodated in town just like the participants in the Tour of Walla Walla, which brings hundreds of traveling cyclists to town each year.

The Waitsburg Prescott BMX group has a board of 10 directors, according to the McVeys.