Town Of Fairplay Plans For BMX Track
geneb
Fairplay, CO -- 03/09/2008
http://theflume.com/SiteImages/Article/4983a.jpg
Photo - BMX Leaders Tommy Miller (left) and Saam Golgoon
appear at the town meeting to discuss the proposed BMX track
in Fairplay.
Plans to build a BMX track in Fairplay were unveiled
Feb. 25 at the meeting of the Fairplay Board of Trustees.
BMX is an acronym for Bicycle Motocross, which features
specially designed bicycles racing on earthen tracks.
Saam Golgoon, representing the South Park Recreation Center,
and Tommy Miller, director for the proposed South Park BMX track,
appeared before the board to ask the town for use of five acres of
land located near the Silverheels subdivision, close to the ballpark
north of Fairplay.
They explained that Outlot A of the Silverheels subdivision was
previously deeded to the Town of Fairplay. Golgoon later told The
Flume that the town owns 29 acres there, and it would need to
conduct a survey to decide which five acres of the 29 would be
used for a BMX track.
Miller enthusiastically explained his plans to build a BMX track for
bike racing events to be held during summer months and said he
envisions the first race to be held on June 7 of this year.
Miller presented proposed track diagrams and an estimate of the cost
to build the track. The track would be 1,000 feet to 1,200 feet and
would
have three turns. Because of the altitude at two miles high, which would
make it "the highest BMX track on the planet," the idea would be to have
the track fairly short but difficult, he later told The Flume.
Golgoon pegged the cost of the track at "close to $21,000" with a 20
percent cushion included in that number above the cost estimates they
produced. The town would retain ownership of the land and lease it for
some nominal amount like $1 a year, he told The Flume.
The town board did not vote on the matter because first the property
needs to be surveyed, he said. But it did agree to write a letter
indicating
support for the use of town land for the track. The letter would then go
to
the American Bicycle Association in a step in getting the track
sanctioned
as an ABA BMX track.
The track would help keep bicyclists out of the recreation
center's skate park, which is really too dangerous for bicycles.
"It was built for skateboarding and not for biking," Golgoon said.
In addition, it would provide an outlet for kids with not enough to do.
Miller, who is 38, told The Flume that he raced BMX for 11 years
on a national level and traveled all over the country with his father.
"It was an excuse for my dad and I to go out and play," he said.
"As a result of that relationship, my dad and I are best friends."
"BMX is a great way for a family to spend time together," he added.
Miller, who lives in Alma and works in construction in Summit County,
noted that there is no BMX track in Summit County, and he foresees a
lot of old BMXers getting out and reliving their glory days on the
Fairplay
track.
BMX will be a sport in the Olympics in Beijing
this summer and will get lots of exposure, he said.
But BMX may not be the only use for the five acres.
The track itself will only take up about an acre and could be built in
a week while the registration booth and announcement tower might
take two weeks to build, said Golgoon. That leaves other acreage for
a potential track for mechanized winter racing in the snow.
"We are actually looking to race snowmobiles and have snocross
events," Miller said. "There's nobody in Colorado that's doing that."
With respect to the BMX track, as of now, the plans are to have the
track in Fairplay open five days a week. Practices, in which kids can
have mock races, would be two times a week and would be free to
members, who will probably pay about $35 a year. If a non-member
came out to ride, the cost would be $5.
A program for kids who can't afford to pay for a bike,
helmet and membership is also planned, said Miller.
He stressed to the board of trustees that the organization was not
asking the town for money, but it simply wants to get their approval
to use the land.
The group also would like to use the 'Fairplay Foundation' nonprofit
organization that has been formed but thus far not been used. The
use of a nonprofit organization helps to get grant funding for such
projects.
Golgoon said a lot of potential sponsors are lined up, but they want to
provide the money once the track is built. So they may try to get the
recreation district or the town of Fairplay to front the money, with the
idea of repaying it with sponsorship money once that flows in.
Town Attorney Lee Phillips recommended that a license agreement be
executed between the town and the BMX group, and he also suggested
that the agreement contain wording that commits the group to at least
five years of use.
That, according to Phillips, would give the group
no taxable possessing interest in the land.
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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