97403
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Speedway developers begin push for
‘activity tax’ in North Morrow County
Steve Brucker, Sr. V ice President of Oregon International Speedway, gives a presentation
to the Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Croup and members of the public on
March l.OIS is proposing to build a NASCAR style speedway near Boardman.
VOL. 125
NO. 12
8 Pages
Wednesday, March 22,2006
On May 16 Morrow
County voters will be asked
to approve a sales tax that
will be used to pay for road
and utility improvements at
a proposed speedway to be
built near Boardman.
O nly
p eople
a tte n d in g ev en ts at the
speedway would pay the tax,
which would be levied on
g oods
and
serv ices
p u rc h a se d w ithin the
speedway activity district, a
4,000-acre parcel west of
Boardman adjacent to the
Tower Road exit on 1-84
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon where the racetrack would
be built.
Developers say the
speedway will be a motor
sports complex designed to
accommodate major league
racing, including NASCAR,
drag racing, truck and other
types of motor racing.
The tax would be 8
percent levied on certain
goods and services, with .5
percent of the tax going to
Morrow County to pay for
collection costs, and the
other 7.5 percent being used
to pay off bonds sold by the
developm ent com pany to
construct roads and other
infrastructure. Neither the
taxing area or the amount of
the tax could be changed
without voter approval.
M orrow C ounty
C o m m issio n e r
John
Wenholz said several weeks
ago that if voters turn down
the tax, the speedway would
not be built, however Bill
Gardner of DiGard Racing,
an investor in the racetrack,
said it would “make it more
d iffic u lt" to lo cate the
speedw ay in M orrow
County if the tax were not
ap p ro v ed . G a rd n er said
o th e r sites are under
c o n sid e ra tio n for the
speedway, and incentives are
being o ffered by those
locations.
Oregon International
Speedw ay (O IS ) is the
corporation building the
speedw ay,
and
representatives have been
atte n d in g m eetin g s in
Morrow County to explain
the speedway and proposed
tax. Steve Brucker, sr. vice
John Ballard announces
DA candidacy
Leprechauns were everywhere in Heppner over the weekend during the 24th
Annual St. Patrick’s Day in Heppner Celebration. More pictures and stories inside.
City defers log truck decision to committee
The Heppner City
Council put off a vote on an
amendment to an ordinance
which would officially allow
truck owners to park their
trucks at their residences and
instead opted to form a
com m ittee to attem pt to
settle a dispute between log
truck ow ners and th eir
neighbors.
The
city
had
a ttem p ted to rev ise the
ordinance to bring it in line
with current practice. Law
enforcement had declined to
take action b ecause the
ordinance had been routinely
ignored.
Differences between
the truck drivers and some
neighbors became apparent
when Mike Bergstrom of 20
Canyon Drive in Heppner
complained to the city about
early morning noise in his
neighborhood caused by a
log truck owner who parks
his vehicle at his home in the
v icinity.
B ergstrom
presented a letter to the
council asking that the city
not change the ordinance
reg ard in g
tru ck s
in
residential neighborhoods.
He said that the noise
c re a te d by the tru ck s
“disrupts the quality of life
as well as the sleep o f
residents” and added that
m any
stre ets
are
“substandard” or in "poor
repair” and many are too
narrow for tru ck s. He
suggested that the truck
owners park their vehicles in
other areas, such as the grain
elevator on Riverside Street.
He also said that his property
has had some landscaping
damage as a result o f the
truck.
B ergstrom 's letter
was signed by around 20
people, however, according
to Heppner Mayor Tim Van
C leave, several called to
have their names removed
from the list prior to the
meeting.
Bergstrom said that
his complaint was "never
meant to be personal" and
added, "I'm sorry it's gotten
this far out of hand."
Truck owner Donna
Ball. 240 Summit Drive, said
that she had asked numerous
families in her neighborhood
prior to estab lish in g the
trucking business that she
and her husband, Gary, own.
She said that they try to be
c o n sid e ra te
of
th eir
neighbors and most of their
neighbors told her that they
John Ballard
John L. B allard,
Attorney at Law, has entered
the three-way political race
for the position of Morrow
County District Attorney.
Ballard has been an attorney
since 1997, bringing with
him nine years of experience.
Ballard presently is in private
practice in the firm of Ballard
and Gushwa. LLP. He has
experience in criminal and
family law.
Ballard received his
Ju ris
D octor
(w ith
distinction) from University
of North Dakota School of
Law and his bachelor of arts
(summa cum laude) from
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continued page two
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Ballard is seeking the
position of District Attorney
for Morrow County because
he feels there is a desperately
needed
change
of
administration. Ballard has
seen the last eight years
increase in problems with
M etham phetam ine in the
sm aller E astern O regon
towns. He feels the police
are do in g the jo b , the
prosecutors there were not.
Ballard wants the citizens of
M orrow C ounty treated
equally and fairly, bringing
strength back to the district
attorney's office.
Ballard is known in
the legal community for his
straight talk, down to earth
presence. He will stand up
for the com m unity and
citizens of Morrow County.
If elected d istrict
attorney, Ballard stated he
plans to work closely with
schools and senior citizens to
help protect the county's
most vulnerable citizens. "I
will place a special emphasis
upon vigorous prosecution
of drug crimes, burglaries,
id e n tity th efts and w ill
protect the rights of crime
victims. My work in the legal
field has ranged from traffic
violations to M easure 11
crimes,” said Ballard.
president of OIS, along with
Bill G ard n er o f D iG ard
Racing, both principals in
OIS, attended the Willow
C reek V alley E conom ic
D evelopm ent
G ro u p
meeting March 1, putting on
a program and answering
questions about the raceway
and the proposed tax.
Oregon International
Speedw ay is a group o f
m otor sp o rts in d u stry
investors led by Gardner,
form er N A SC A R team
owner and owner of DiGard
R acing.
G a rd n e r’s
NASCAR career include his
1983 NASCAR W inston
Cup C ham pion win with
Bobby Allison as his driver,
his 43 NASCAR Cup Series
wins and his 1982 Daytona
500 win. DiGard lists its
offices at 4040 Galt Ocean
Drive in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida.
OIS has entered into
an agreement with the Port
of Morrow for OIS to either
purchase or lease several
parcels of land in the Tower
Road area of Boardman. The
land w ould be used to
d ev elo p not only the
raceway, but other possible
d ev elo p m en ts in clu d in g
restaurants and hotels.
D evelopers o f the
race track say the facility will
benefit Morrow County by
providing new jobs. OIS
says phase one of the project
will add between 100 and
200 full time family wage
jobs in the county area for
operation of the facility, and
w ill also c reate 750
construction jobs for three
years w hen construction
starts. OIS also says the
speedw ay w ill a ttra c t a
variety of related businesses,
such as motor sport-related
manufacturing, retail outlets,
tourist attractions and motor
sport-related entertainment.
OIS says that phase
one o f the p ro ject w ill
include an 81,5 0 0 seat
grandstand with 60 luxury
suites, a 1.2 mile banked
speedway, a 5/8 mile oval
race track, 2.5 mile road
course, drag strip, go kart
track , RV park and
campground, space for retail
stores and restaurants, plus
utilities, infrastructure and
road development needed to
support the speedway. They
estimate that the facilities
w ould
be
used
approximately 200 days a
year.
OIS believes the first
phase of the project would
be completed in late 2008.
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