Link to article on Lincoln Journal Star.com
The rumble of a top-fuel dragster and the screech of a pro-stock motorcycle
blasted through the meeting room.
The sounds roared through two large speakers, holding the attention of
committee members tasked with deciding whether motor sports have a future in
Lancaster County.
One after another, the brief bellows filled the room at the County/City
Building on the command of acoustics expert Dominique Chéenne, who stood at
the controls of the PowerPoint presentation.
This was their education.
And they learned.
They learned about decibels and pitch and the sound spectrum. They learned
noise carries farther on hot, humid summer days. Grass and soft ground can
muffle certain sounds, but not all.
And the most important lesson, perhaps: Sound and noise are not the same.
"The definition of noise, and we have to agree on that one, it is unwanted
sound," said Chéenne, director of acoustics in the Audio Arts and Acoustics
Department at Chicago's Columbia College.
That kind of education is essential as the committee goes about
understanding all of the impacts associated with a motor sports facility,
said committee Chairman Russ Bayer.
The task force is midway through its two-month study of potential economic,
environmental and social factors. The County Board created the committee in
December to gather more information before the board decides on a proposed
drag strip in northern Lancaster County.
Greg Sanford wants to build the drag strip along U.S. 77 between Branched
Oak and Davey roads.
The committee, made up primarily of citizens, has until March 1 to complete
its report.
It has formed subcommittees to take on specific issues, sending them to pore
over maps and regulations and assemble experts for briefings.
Members are planning a day-trip to Topeka, Kan., to tour a motor sports
complex. Next week, they plan to roll out a survey at www.lincoln.ne.gov to
gauge demand for motor sports.
"We have a long way to go in the next 30 days," said Bayer, who has
previously acknowledged the two-month study would be a challenge.
The committee also is considering a recently released report that measured
the potential economic impact a drag racing facility could have on Lincoln
and Lancaster County. The study, commissioned by Sanford, was conducted by
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research and showed a
drag racing center could bring nearly $10 million a year in local spending
and create 200 jobs paying a total of $3.5 million a year, by conservative
figures.
Bureau Director Eric Thompson is scheduled to address the report with the
committee Feb. 14.
The committee understands its role as information gatherer, Bayer said, and
its members know the final decision falls to the County Board. It will work
to close as many gaps in understanding as possible before March 1, but there
questions could remain, he said.
"I think we at least owe the board something," he said.
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