SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — Proponents of a motor sports speedway in Kimball are racing to get their information to Kimball voters before a special election.
Kimball County voters will vote March 13 in a special election for an $8 million bond issue to fund construction of a drag strip and motor sports complex.
The drag strip is the dream of proprietors of the High Point Motorsports Speedway. The speedway group organized about five years ago, said Dick Cutshaw, a board member. Cutshaw said he came to Kimball after his son met some of the individuals involved with the speedway and recruited him to assist them.
Initially, speedway organizers had sought investors in the motor sports complex. Financing of the complex has been the biggest obstacle, Cuthsaw said.
"In western Nebraska, there are not a lot of millionaires who want to put their money into a drag strip," he said. "It was hard getting a lot of people to even talk about it."
As organizers researched complexes, he said they learned that many midsized drag strips are owned by the cities or counties where they are located. Cutshaw cited tracks in Pueblo, Colo., Julesburg, Colo., and Topeka, Kan., as examples.
Organizers have been working for more than a year, lobbying first for a partnership between the city and the county to fund construction of a motor sports complex. After that venture failed, they sought to put construction and funding of a speedway by the county to a vote. It's an issue that some have cited as divisive, including attempts by the proponents to recall three Kimball County officials last year.
A compromise on a petition drive to bring the issue to a vote resulted in the proponents withdrawing their bid to recall the officials.
The bond issue seeks an $8 million bond, payable over 20 years. Under the bond issue, a special levy of up to .13 cent per $100, or an additional $130 per year for the owner of a home valued at $100,000, could be assessed to Kimball County property owners.
"The biggest thing is that (the motor sports complex) would bring in so much revenue to the community," Cutshaw said.
He said spectators to the complex would purchase food, hotel rooms and other services and supplies. That "helps the community much more so than a private investor," he said.
In talking about the potential economic impact on Kimball County, Cutshaw pointed to a study he said was conducted by the University of Colorado on the Pueblo track. According to Cutshaw, a study showed that the track would have an economic impact of $2.5 million in additional revenues to the community.
The proposed Kimball track will bring in $400,000 in drag strip-related revenues for the facility, paid by racers and spectators. He puts total revenues at $1.3 million and operational costs at $900,000.
Using the Colorado study, Cutshaw said, "in five years, the drag strip is going to give us a little over $12 million in direct and indirect revenues to the community."
Kimball could serve as a hub for racers and other motor sports aficionados, Cutshaw said. He said current plans are that motor sports aficionados would hold at least 48 drag strip races a year, in addition to the motor cross activities held at the proposed site.
The proposed site for the drag strip, 320 acres located south of Kimball, already includes a motocross track. Last year, Cutshaw said, 250 racers competed at the track. Most of the riders were associated with Tri-State Dirtriders and came from Wyoming and Nebraska communities.
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