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PAPA

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  2. Possible end of quartermidget track at commanche park

    in Texas Auto Racing

    Posted · Edited by PAPA

    I just got a call from Pct4 and they sent this to me. Listen to Treys show in the morning around 7ish to hear from the commissioner himself on this matter.

     

    Mr. Fischer,

     

     

     

    Thank you for taking my call. Here is the information Commissioner Adkisson received from Ms. Bueche, Bexar County Facility Director. I hope this helps to dispel some of the rumors that you and I discussed. As I said during the phone call we will keep you in the loop as to the date and time of the meeting the Commissioner and County staff will be having. When a date, time and location have been selected you are most welcome to attend if you like.

     

     

     

    Thank you again for allowing Commissioner Adkisson and his staff to look into this issue and hopefully work out a solution that works for everyone.

     

     

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Mario Llano

     

    Chief of Staff

     

    Commissioner Adkisson Pct.4

     

    335-2614

     

     

     

     

     

    It is true that the group has not provided insurance nor payment since the agreement was established in 1991, both of which are required.

     

     

     

    Both the DA and the Risk Manager believe that continuing the agreement is too great a risk for the County, even with insurance.

     

     

     

    Additionally, there are two other quarter midget groups who have complained that they want a chance to "bid" to use the track, and that the County has shown favoritism by allowing only the Lone Star Quarter Midget group to use the track exclusively for decades without opening it to competition.

     

     

     

    The track was apparently built by A.J. Ploch and the group used it unofficially for a couple of decades until Bob Lee decided an official agreement was needed. The assistant DA at that time was Kelsey who believed then as she does now that the lease was done outside what would have been fair competition, and also that the risk to the County was too great. Consequently, the annual fee and insurance became requirements. The group has never complied.

     

     

     

    The immediate past -president was not cooperative in resolving the issues and the group also had internal problems with her. They have taken control away from her and elected a new President.

     

     

     

    Kelsey and I met with the new President yesterday after consulting with the County Risk Manager. It seems that nationwide Counties are ending agreements with Quarter Midget racing groups because of the liability problems.

     

     

     

    Therefore, we suggested that Kelsey might work with Joe Newton to potentially find a piece of property that has been acquired due to non-payment of property taxes and assist the Lone Star group with their going through the process of acquiring land that they would own themselves.

     

     

     

    Kelsey said she would know something for them by early next week.

     

     

     

    Additionally, their track is currently in disrepair. They want to continue using it as-is, but we are concerned that children traveling at least 40 mph on a poor quality track sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

     

     

     

    The new President is the one who said that the track needs to be totally roved, and re-built, not us. He has solicited in-kind donations that he says would have a value of approximately $45,000. Our recommendation is that they take advantage of those donations to construct a new track on property that they own. This would remove the County from the risk it now has.

     

     

     

    Jerry Smith and I made an effort to change the situation about 1-1/2 years ago with their immediate past-President, but she failed to comply with any of the things she agreed to do and which are required in the agreement.

     

     

     

    The next step was that we would go to Commissioners Court seeking authority to work through an orderly transition and ultimately termination of the agreement.

     

     

     

    Linda Billa Burke also phones me a couple of days ago to defend the group. After she heard the situation she understood and actually agreed that the liability issue for the County was too great. One of her employees is part of the Quarter Midget group and asked that she intervene on their behalf.

     

     

     

    We have submitted and Agenda Coordination Form for the November 15 Court requesting authority from Commissioners Court to proceed with the transition and termination. The President and his Son both indicated that they believe am orderly transition could be possible within a few months to a year. We told them we would be happy to work with them to make sure it would be done in a way that is coordinated and does not put them in a big bind.

     

     

     

    Please let me know your thoughts on this.

     

     

     

    Thank you

     

     

    Betty Bueche

  4. Possible end of quartermidget track at commanche park

    in Texas Auto Racing

    Posted · Edited by PAPA

    I have also sent an e-mail to Trey Ware asking if he could help. I just sent an e-mail to Barry Davis at KENS 5 asking he he would look into this. If you guys can think of others please contact them. If you dont have the time or info to send to some of these people the let me know who they are and I will contact them. We have to do something. This might just be a tiny little track but its a track just the same. We have lost way to many tracks over the years because of our elected officials.

  5. Possible end of quartermidget track at commanche park

    in Texas Auto Racing

    Posted

    I pulled this off the Bexar County website. Mr. Adkisson states in his "Bio" that he has a very strong belief in our history. This little track has a lot of history. I have never met the man but I've heard of him many times and he seems to be one of the good guys around here. Please contact him and tell him how you feel about the closing of the track. Try to be civil and friendly. We need him on our side with this. It will only take a few minutes to send an e-mail or make a phone call. Hopefully he can help save the track. If not.....then I have a lot of chain and locks and Im prepared to find the closest tree to the track and become one with the tree.

     

    http://www.bexar.org/commct/cmpct4/pct4.asp

  6. Possible end of quartermidget track at commanche park

    in Texas Auto Racing

    Posted · Edited by PAPA

    This is just wrong! That track has over 50 years of history. It should be considered an "Historical Landmark". I plan on making a few call, E-mails, whatever it takes. I just cant imagine why they would want to doze that little piece of the park. Something sounds fishy.

     

    Here is a place to start. Make those calls and e-mails folks.

    By Phone:

    1 (210) 335-PARK (7275)

     

    By Mail:

    Bexar County Parks Department

    233 N. Pecos la Trinidad Suite #480

    San Antonio, Texas 78207

    Business Hours: Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM

     

     

    By Email:

    PARKS@bexar.org

  9. Quarter Midget Racers from Late 50's/early 60's

    in Where are they now?

    Posted

    What about you Nick? You've been around this sport for a loooooong time. I know you have a bunch of stories and memories. You guys need to go to Radio Shack and buy one of those small recorders that fit in your pocket and carry it with you. When a memory pops up all you have to do is start talking into the little box. Maybe we need a "Random Story" section on here where people can just tell a story and all the stories can be put in a book and sold to help pay Nick for taking care of this site. I'd buy one or two.

  16. Memories of San Antonio Speedway

    in Texas Auto Racing

    Posted

    Nick

    Im going to go buy the VCR/DVD recorder this afternoon. That should do the trick. I'll let you know more latter.

     

     

     

    Scott

    I just applied the new paint to the frame, nerf bars, and bumbers. Should be able to start putting it together tomorrow. I'll start another post with the new paint latter.

  24. Don Fowler

    in Where are they now?

    Posted

    Don changed his number to 29 after the old PanAm closed down. He always drove a Ford and it was always Purple and white. I was told that he raced alot in Mexico and almost lost his life in a bad wreck over there. The last time I saw him race was at SAS. If you take all the names like Yantis, Doyle, Jerkins, White, Jett, Harper, etc. you will find Don Fowler. They all raced together back in the day and everyone of them could win on any given race. I wish we had Camcorders back then. Many of you never had the pleasure of watching these guys race. My memory is not as good as it once was but the memory of watching these guys race will never fade.

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