Developer Randy Hellyer gave presentation on proposed raceway

The developers of the proposed raceway north of Minonk got a rousing reception from local citizens who crammed into the Fieldcrest High School gymnasium Thursday night to view a presentation of the proposed development.  Developer Randy Hellyer told the crowd of over 600 people that he is delighted to have Minonk selected as the site for the development.  Hellyer said that he fully intends for the raceway to become an asset to the community saying, "In order for us to be successful, Minonk must also be successful in this venture."  Hellyer gave Bob Hakes of Alpha Community Bank credit for attracting the developers to Minonk saying that they met on New Years Day to discuss the proposal.

Mayor Mark Spencer opened the presentation saying that the proposed raceway will bring growth and jobs to the community and will also put away forever the specter of a landfill being located next to the city.  

Hellyer said that the local students and local residents will be considered first for the 295 seasonal jobs and said that the 6 full time jobs have already been filled but added that more jobs will become available as the raceway grows.  He said the raceway will offer free use of the tracks by the high school for drivers education training and will also make donations to the fire department. Operations Manager Joe Spence said that the raceway will have its own fire fighting equipment and will pay for any services needed from the local fire department and ambulance squad.   In addition, the community will be able to use the raceways facilities for its summer fest programs and can even schedule special races as part of the summer fest.  Hellyer said that the south end of the complex will be sold as commercial lots to other businesses and should generate additional tax revenue. 

Ron Colson, who was introduced by Mr. Hellyer as the guru of drag strip racing, told the crowd that Minonk was a super location for the raceway adding that there are over 10 million people within 120 miles of Minonk.  He said that the location allows large crowds easy access to the raceway without impacting local traffic in the city.

Scott Gardner was introduced as the new manager for the raceway by Hellyer.  Gardner was the manager at the Cordova drag strip for over 10 years and brings invaluable experience to the raceway project according to Hellyer.   Gardner said that the raceway will have something for everyone.  He emphasized the raceway will be family oriented that will be a clean and beautiful operation.  He added that there will be plenty of promotions for young people at the raceway including the possibility of car races for kids in order to get them off the streets and to give them something to do.

Tom Kreager, a representative from the IHRA, said that racing is a fun sport and is patronized by all kinds of people, including doctors and lawyers and not just auto mechanics.  Kreager said that Scott Gardner is one of the three top drag strip promoters in the country and that we should be honored to have him as the manager of the raceway.

After the presentation, questions were taken.  The first question asked was if the land was to be put into a TIF district. Mayor Spencer said that the ground qualifies as a TIF district because it is former mining ground.  City alderman Sean Cunningham said that only the land occupied by the raceway would be in a TIF district.  The commercial lots at the south end of the property would not be in the TIF district.  He said the proposed TIF was discussed with all affected tax body representatives and they all agreed to the arrangement.   Cunningham said that the property tax revenue will increase by 776%.   The TIF surplus will be given back to the affected tax bodies.  The increased revenue to the Fieldcrest school district would be over $41,000 per year.  The city stands to receive over $300,00 annually within 3 years of operation. 

Hellyer told a questioner that the construction of the raceway will be done by union labor from Central Illinois.  He said he won't be bringing in a big contractor from Chicago.

In answering when the races will be conducted, Hellyer said that the stock car races on the oval track would occur on Saturday night and are usually over by 10:00 pm.  The drag strip races would be held on Sunday afternoons and will be completed by 6:00 pm.  He said there will be an occasional smaller racing event held on Wednesday nights.

In response to a question about the noise level, Hellyer said that the prevailing winds in the summer are from the southwest which would help to dampen the sound since Minonk would be located south of the raceway.  In addition, evergreen trees will be planted to help dampen the noise.  Ron Colson said that a study of property values near drag strips shows that the values are not adversely affected and tend to appreciate at the same rate as other land in the area.

Hellyer said that construction of the drag strip and the first phase of the road course would begin this summer if the project is approved by the city council.  The oval course and the second phase of the road course would be completed the second year.

Mayor Spencer said that the city would buy an option on the land from the owner of the land, USA Waste Management.  The city would then sell the land to the raceway developer.  This was the terms requested by USA Waste Management.  The price of the section of land is $2 million.  Spencer said the city will provide the sewer and water hookup.  The mayor told the crowd that the sale of the land will be on Monday night's city council agenda and urged residents to let their councilman know of their feelings toward the proposed raceway.

The enthusiastic crowd convened on the floor after the presentation to talk with the developers and to review the brochures provided.  From the tone of the large crowd it appeared that the residents of Minonk are embracing the proposed raceway with open arms.

 
Raceway manager Scott Gardner, IHRA representative Tom Kreager, consultant Ron Colson