 Tuesday evening at the committee of the whole meeting of the Lincoln
City Council, aldermen heard about the flooding in Peoria and were
asked for a special favor.Norm and Yvonne Horn of Lincoln
Speedway were in attendance, bringing with them Kevin Snyder, who
was there to speak on behalf of the American Motorcycle Association
Holeshot Series.
Snyder told the council that the Peoria Speedway is underwater
and much of it is ruined. When the water does go down, the track
will have to be reconstructed; buildings and structures will have to
be rebuilt. Because of this, it may be several weeks if not months
before the track is back in operation.
In the meantime, the track had a big show scheduled for the
weekend of Mother's Day. The AMA Holeshot Series would have been a
two-day event starting on Saturday morning and ending on Sunday
afternoon, Snyder said. The event would include approximately 300 to
350 entries in around 30 different heats.
Kevin Snyder said he was there to ask the city to consider
allowing Lincoln Speedway to host this special event. He told the
council that with the entries in the races come racers, their
family, friends and fans, most of whom will stay for both days.
He said he had already been in touch with two Lincoln motels that
will offer special pricing for racers, and he felt confident that
the event would fill at least three motels for Saturday night. He
also said there was a good chance several would come in on Friday,
so there could be two-night stays involved.
Snyder said he had contacted Horn late last week and had come
down to view the track. He told the council he was very impressed
with the county fairgrounds as well as the track. He said he felt
the AMA participants would also be impressed.
He told the council that if they allowed the event to take place,
it would be good for Lincoln Speedway, but it would also be good for
the city. He noted the opportunities for shopping and sightseeing
that some of the racers would take advantage of while in town.
Snyder said the current schedule would be for the races to begin
at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and run to 10 p.m. They would then resume
on Sunday morning around the same time, and run through the
midafternoon.
When the floor was opened to discussion, Jonie Tibbs commented
that this was an opportunity to be neighborly, to do something good
for someone else.
"They are in a time of need," she noted. "They've come to us
asking for help, and it's also a good time for us to show off our
city. I think it would be a wonderful thing to come forward and help
our neighbors."
[to top of second column] |
Other discussion revolved around it being the Mother's Day
weekend and about the Sunday morning racing interfering with local
church services.
Snyder said the group would happily respect the local churches.
He said they could stop the races during church service time if
there were any churches nearby that might be bothered by the noise.
He also noted that motorcycles are not as loud as cars.
A quick search of the Internet by Melody Anderson resulted in
finding one church in the immediate area that might be offended by
the noise. She told the group that the information she found said
church services started at 10:30 a.m.
Snyder said they could stop the races at 10:30 for an hour or so
out of respect to that church.
As the discussions continued, Anderson offered her insight on the
situation.
"We've had a number of conversations with regard to the budget
and tourism," she said, "and one of the aspects of tourism that we
are trying to encourage is the ‘heads in beds.' This is what we're
talking about. So as far as I'm concerned, I think we need to put
our vote where our mouth is."
Mayor Keith Snyder explained that the council was in an odd
situation as this is a five-week month with no voting session on
April 29. The next voting session will be the Monday before Mother's
Day. He said this wouldn't give the AMA and Peoria Speedway enough
time to get the word out about the change. He wondered if the
aldermen would be willing to give an indication of how they would
vote on this request, so that if it were favorable, the racers and
Lincoln Speedway could move forward with what they had to do.
Anderson voiced her opinion, saying she was in favor as long as
the races are not running during church services. Jeff Hoinacki
echoed that, saying he would approve, providing there was not
objection from the church.
Mayor Snyder then said that in looking at the head nods around
the room, it appeared the council would give their consent when the
question comes to a vote.
The mayor told Kevin Snyder and Horn that the question will be
part of the consent agenda for the May 6 voting session.
In general, when an item is placed on the consent agenda, it is
an indication that it will be approved without further discussion.
However, the council can at any time remove an item from the consent
agenda for the purpose of discussion and a separate vote.
[By NILA SMITH] |
