After a lengthy discussion that touched on everything from reducing red tape at city hall to helping non-profits to legal ramifications, mayor and council approved WL Forestry/NAPA Thunder Mountain Speedway’s request to help repair a patch of broken asphalt on the race track so the club does not have to cancel the race it plans to host Aug. 26.
An area of about two feet by two feet is breaking up and is in desperate need of a three-inch thick patch four feet long by four feet wide, vice-president Bob Lowen told the Tribune prior to the Tuesday, Aug. 23 council meeting.
“It just happened at our last race meet,” he said. “It was chunking out pretty good and is a good sized pothole now. We have to fix it because it’s right in the travel lane of the race track.”
Lowen sent a letter to the city, dated Aug. 10, asking for assistance that was received at the meeting.
His letter noted that he and some other volunteers could prepare the area prior to the city crews arriving with equipment and operators.
“Time is crucial as our next race is scheduled for Aug. 26 and we will be forced to cancel until the surface is repaired.”
For the tri-race the plan is to have competitors race in Williams Lake on Friday, Aug. 26, Quesnel on Saturday, Aug. 27 and Prince George on Aug. 28.
The race in Williams Lake gets underway at 6 p.m.
In 2017, a similar spot was repaired on the track just a bit further up, Lowen said.
As the speedway is located outside the city limits, the city’s director of municipal services Rob Warnock prepared a report to accompany Lowen’s letter, noting any work the city may undertake has to be approved by council.
There is an existing council policy that stipulates “if there are services or infrastructure utilized outside the City’s boundaries, there is to be no cost to the city taxpayers.”
Warnock provided council four options to consider.
They included 1) going with the policy, 2) using grant-in-aid funding to cover the cost which Warnock estimates would be approximately $1,260, 3)in-kind support or 4) approving the request, which would mean the city policy would need to be waived by resolution.
Coun. Scott Nelson requested the policy be repealed, however, that was denied by council. Instead, it was amended so city staff could fix the pot hole.
Lowen said the pothole was schedued to be fixed Tuesday and the Friday night race will go ahead as planned.
READ MORE: Thunder Mountain Speedway heating up for Stampede races
news@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter