The township comittee voted for final approval last night

http://www.thedailyjournal.com.../1002

 

Hope it gets going - Summit, VIR, Beaver, and now Thunderbolt - that's a good selection.

 

Here's an article from the AC Press:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity....html

I went last night, and found myself getting chills.

Also from talking to some of the people in the "know", the last hurdle of acquiring FAA approval is very close to being complete.

 

An unexpected punctuation to the end of the night was as we were leaving the meeting we saw an all stickered-up, Showroom Stock Mini driving away.

This is going to be so excellent!

 

YES!!!

I may have to start doing track days again in the new Civic!

Will their facilities be large enough to hold national-level autocrosses? From the map it seems so, but I don't know if plans changed.

 

Woot! That's great news! Considering Thunderbolt would only be 1-1.5 hour drive for me instead of 3+ hours for the other tracks

 

You guys like to count your tracks before they're driven on. Salisbury NC approved the Highrock International Raceway. We even have preliminary 2007 dates for it. It's D.O.A.

"I'll believe it when I'm driving on it."

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">acquiring FAA approval </TD></TR></TABLE>
Now I'm confused. I thought this was a racetrack, not an airport....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MaddMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You guys like to count your tracks before they're driven on. Salisbury NC approved the Highrock International Raceway. We even have preliminary 2007 dates for it. It's D.O.A.

"I'll believe it when I'm driving on it."</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, but with luck, at least one of the several planned mid-Atlantic tracks will see daylight.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now I'm confused. I thought this was a racetrack, not an airport....</TD></TR></TABLE>

I they want to buy/use land previously used as part of the local municipal air strip.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Coach Crack Monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yeah, but with luck, at least one of the several planned mid-Atlantic tracks will see daylight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, like Rausch Creek near Harrisburg, PA; Liberty Bell Motorsport Parl near Pottstown, PA; that new one near Allentown, PA; and of course Thunderbolt. ALL of them are significantly closer to people in this area than Summit is.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MaddMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You guys like to count your tracks before they're driven on. Salisbury NC approved the Highrock International Raceway. We even have preliminary 2007 dates for it. It's D.O.A.

"I'll believe it when I'm driving on it."


Now I'm confused. I thought this was a racetrack, not an airport....</TD></TR></TABLE>

What specifically Killed the Highrock track?


Seriously though, Harvey Seigel and Lee Brahin are not "light-weights", they are the folks who ressurected VIR from the cow pastures, and have won over the town of Millville, an entire county, the Delaware Port Authority, various Labor Unions... etc.

If and when this track becomes a reality, I think a great many people will feel like I do... like we've just won the lottery. I'm not counting the track before it's hatched, just realizing that one more requirement has been met.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing..." StarWars ref

 

Hell yeah. It really is like we have won the lottery. I can't wait until this track becomes a reality.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by emwavey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What specifically Killed the Highrock track?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The guy fronting the money is incompetent.

-fights with his contractors
-fights with the county on permits, etc.
-fights with the course designer

 

Complete opposite of the mentality of Havey and Lee ...
They didn't have to agree to a 55db level, legally industrial sites have to comply with an 80db level between 8am to 10pm. However because they are interested in keeping peace with the community, they went above and beyond. Not just on this, but on just about every single item thrown their way.

As one board member said, thank you for your patients. Yes that right, the town thanked them.

However this is all mute until the FAA approves the deal. I'm sure they will have issues to address as approach light confusion, noise iterference, and whether or not the longest straight-away can be used as a landing strip in an emergency.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As one board member said, thank you for your patients. </TD></TR></TABLE>

OK, is it a racetrack, an airport, or a hospital??

Didn't realize Harvey was involved. That certainly goes in the plus column.

Hope it gets done...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The guy fronting the money is incompetent.

-fights with his contractors

</TD></TR></TABLE>

My favorite is the company hired to remove asbestos from the buildings they have to tear down. They specialize in asbestos removal and have been in business for 15+ years doing...asbestos removal. He didn't like their work (not specific) and refused to pay them. Like he's an asbestos removal expert or something.

Then there was the Alan Wilson fiasco. Now, I'm not at all a fan of Wilson's typical track designs, but if the man took time to come out to see me and draw up a preliminary design, I believe I'd pay him for his time. This guy apparently coudn't be bothered to do that....


Modified by MaddMatt at 5:14 AM 11/23/2005

 

great news, can't wait to drive 40 minutes to the track instead of 4 hours.

here's for hoping the FAA give it the "green flag"

 

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I can't wait for this to be a reality.

 

Any new info regarding this from people who might be watching it on a personal level in the vicinity of the area???

-Jalal

 

Yeah, an update would be great. Their website says that it's all approved, though no schedule is in the works.

Damn, Honda day is Aug 11th. Who pissed them off that much for them to schedule it then?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MJ23FE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any new info regarding this from people who might be watching it on a personal level in the vicinity of the area???

-Jalal</TD></TR></TABLE>

Andrew posted this on another board:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-....html

 

I heard a couple of the financiers had backed out and that is why it is taking so long to break ground on the project. Supposedly they are trying for sometime this spring.

Actually i was just looking at the website and found this:
http://www.njmotorsportspark.c....html

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lawmakers pass special tax for Millville motorsports project

By JOHN MARTINS Staff Writer,
Press of Atlantic City

December 15, 2006

MILLVILLE — Local officials were breathing sighs of relief Thursday after both houses of the state Legislature approved a bill to allow the city to collect tax money earned from sales conducted on its ambitious, and long-awaited, motorsports park development.

The legislation, which passed in the state Senate on Thursday by a vote of 32-6, would allow Millville to levy an additional 2 percent sales tax on goods and services sold by businesses within its Sports and Entertainment District.

According to officials, the future of the motorsports park project — seen by many as a potentially huge economic engine for the region— was dependent entirely on the passage of Thursday's bill.

“This was a linchpin for the whole thing happening,” Mayor Jim Quinn said. “It certainly is a great day for Millville and the motorsports park that we've been waiting for such a long time to come to fruition. We're really excited.”

Consisting of 707 acres adjacent to Millville Airport, the sports district would be occupied entirely by facilities and businesses associated with the proposed New Jersey Motorsports Park. As planned, the park will be bordered by Buckshutem and Dividing Creek roads.

According to the bill, which officials said will cross Gov. Jon S. Corzine's desk today, the revenue earned by the increased sales tax would go solely toward infrastructure improvements on the property.

Joe Savaro, the proposed development's manager, said private funding for the three-phase New Jersey Motorsports Park project, which he said will cost more than $100 million to complete, was contingent upon the state approving this increased sales-tax plan.

The primary lenders that were being solicited to help finance the project required the state's Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, or CRDA, to contribute money to the project, Savaro said.

In turn, the CRDA required that Thursday's legislation be passed for it to be able to invest its own money, he added.

Now that the bill has passed its last hurdle before being signed into law, the motorsports park, which has been many years in the making, can finally begin to move forward.

“This really was a terrific effort by the legislators,” Savaro said, singling out Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic, and State Sen. Nicholas Asselta, R- Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic. “Those guys really helped us put it through. To get it through, even under the time frame we had, was remarkable.”

Van Drew said the bill was very difficult to get through the Legislature, adding that it met a certain degree of resistance. Its passage in the Assembly on Thursday was by a vote of 48-30, a narrower margin than the Senate vote.

What turned the tide, Van Drew said, was that Senate President Richard Codey, D-Essex, threw his support behind the bill and sponsored it in his own legislative house.

“It is one of the biggest economic initiatives that have occurred, literally, since some of the casino legislations,” Van Drew said. “Hopefully, it will create thousands of jobs and increase the ratable
base in the county.”

Officials touted the economic potential of the development, saying it will bring sorely needed economic activity to southern New Jersey as a whole.

“This creates the last piece of the puzzle for the revenue stream for the developer,” said Asselta, who added that he has worked on the bill since 1998. ‘I'm glad it's getting done. It's a major project.”

The multiuse plan will be anchored by four different motorsports facilities to be constructed in different phases. The first phase calls for the construction of two tracks: one, dubbed Thunderbolt Raceway, will be a four-mile road course, while the other is a karting facility.

Final phases include an all-terrain vehicle course as well as a ¾-mile tri-oval racing track.

The plan also includes space for 800 hotel rooms, a 100,000-square-foot conference center, numerous restaurants, seasonal housing units and 400,000 square feet of industrial research and development space.



“It's not going to bring 150,000 people twice a year,” said Don Ayres, Millville's director of economic development. “We're talking crowds of five to ten thousand coming 45 weeks a year.”

The project's general contractor, Bertino Contractors of West Atlantic City, is currently reviewing bid packages for the project's initial phases.

The city is now waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration to release 139 acres of land currently being used by Millville Airport. Ayres said the city expects to hear from the FAA in the next two weeks.

Construction on the park should begin, he added, in the spring. If all goes well, the motorsports should be open for business by spring 2008.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Modified by JV at 6:51 PM 1/29/2007

 

open for spring 08 huh? that would be cool...lets see if it happens

any one have any idea what its going to look like?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ1Rider &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">open for spring 08 huh? that would be cool...lets see if it happens

any one have any idea what its going to look like?</TD></TR></TABLE>

go to their website for plans

spring '08 is a longshot and a half. I would think more along the lines of spring '09

 

Damn, well even if it takes longer than planned, I REALLY HOPE it gets built. It just looks amazing and would be great to race on!

-Jalal

 

ya looks awesome, and hey i wonder if E-town's road course will be done soon so we have something to race on in mean time in state