A hearing was held Monday in Circuit Court regarding the track
ESCANABA -- Two races have already been held on this track of ice that's become such a hot topic. The money raised from the races benefits local charities.
The Barron family says the track is a donation to the community for kids and families to enjoy.
But Monday in Delta County Circuit Court, Escanaba Township officials pointed out what they consider to be noncompliances. One of the issues is the noise from the ATVs and motorcycles.
Carol Shepeck lives across the middle of the track and did decibel-level monitoring about three weeks ago. But she never took the readings from inside her home, she told the judge.
The Escanaba Township Supervisor sees an issue with the Barrons' remedy to cut down on noise. They’ve positioned semi-trailers to deflect the noise and soil berms to absorb it. And the family doesn't intend to slow down.
The Barrons still plan on having a race this Saturday and continuing on with their normal racing schedule through March 17. As for Escanaba Township Supervisor Kevin Dubord, he says he doesn't think the board will ever completely drop the case. In fact, they're planning on bringing up a third ordinance sometime in the future.
It's called a Blight Ordinance.
“They have several 40-foot semi-trailers, and all these round bales of hay,” said Dubord. “And it's just unsightly and it's on the right-of-way on the road."
The biggest hot button issue is that the property owners never applied for a site plan, according to Dubord. Barron said they were told multiple times they didn't need a site plan, otherwise they would've gotten one.
They do have a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality.
“We feel we've done nothing wrong,” said Barron. “We've been given the green light going back to 2006. This has been a dream of ours and a dream of ice racers all over the community."
The court will have the track's verdict this Wednesday.
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