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The license was sought by Taste of Texas BBQ LLC. James Arp, president of Taste of Texas, told the council that a section of seating on the west side of the grandstands will be roped off as a designated area where alcohol may be consumed. Taste of Texas will set up an alcohol purchase tent behind the west end of the spectator seating area, staffed with at least one Taste of Texas staff member experienced in identification checking. In addition, wrist bands will be put on those who purchase alcohol.
Before approving the license, the council deliberated on a number of concerns, such as security and liability issues. Arp said he has been in contact with the Red Willow County Sheriff's Office to provide law enforcement and that Taste of Texas also will have insurance for the event. If spectators don't follow the rules, he said, staff will ask them to leave with law enforcement assisting if needed.
Making sure nothing gets out hand is a priority for Taste of Texas, Arp said, as the state could revoke his liquor license for any violations.
"The last thing we want is any problems," he said, adding that they would discontinue the beer garden if any difficulties occurred.
Fair board member and Red Willow County Commissioner Leigh Hoyt spoke up in favor of the beer garden. He said the race track has struggled to make a profit and that the beer garden was one way to raise revenue.
"But I guarantee you, if something happens, it will get shut down," he told the council.
The beer garden is set for April 2, 16, 30; May 7, 14; June 11, 25; July 9, 23, 29 and August 6 and 20.
Although the race track is owned by Red Willow County, approval for the license was needed from the council as it is within city limits.
In other business, the council welcomed new employee Rick Kinne at the McCook Recycling department and congratulated Mike Schoenemann of the McCook City Fire Department, who is now a certified paramedic. Schoenemann has been with the department full-time since December 2007, said Fire Chief Marc Harpham.
Schoenemann had to leave the meeting early before he was introduced, as he was called out on an emergency call.
Comments
LOUD RACE CAR DRUNKS AT REDWILLOW COUNTY RACES EQUALS LAWSUITS/DEATH FOR COUNTY TAXPAYERS TO PAY AND ONLY ADDED REVENUE FOR ONE PERSON SPONSERING THE RACES VS THE RISK INVOLVED WITH COMMISSIONER APPROVED DRINKING AT TAXPAYER OWNED PROPERTY. IT'S AMAZING NOW ALL FAN/RACERS CAN GO HOME WITH COUNTY COMMISSIONER APPROVAL TO BE DRUNK AND WHATS NEXT KILLING A FEW LOCAL KIDS GOING HOME?
This is great. We can go to the races, the watch a UFC fight break out. We can go to the races, then watch a demolition derby break out afterwards. We can go to the races, and watch an orgy break out in the pits. Can't wait to go for my morning walk and smell the stench of urine around the fair grounds. We can teach out children that the only way to have fun in McCook is to involve beer.
"Beer, the source of, and the solution to all life's problems". Homer Simpson
Before you decide to comment, you'd better get your facts straight. This is going to be a "controlled" area where people can drink - The amount of drinking will also be monitored. If it gets out of hand, it will be shut down. The area is away from the rest of the crowd so your kids won't be bothered. They will be shutting off the drinking before the races even finish. There won't be the "smell & stench of urine" coming from the race track since the drinking only takes place on the far west end of the stands right above the toilets - that's probably the dogs your smelling. Don't blame it on the races. Come on people...can't you find anything positive to say? Like I said in the beginning, before you go and blow your mouth off, you'd better know the facts, give it a chance (you aren't obviously helping the economics in town by trying to support anything) and see what happens. Responsible upstanding citizens are running this beer garden and race track this year...give them the benefit of the doubt.
I think that the first two comments are automatically jumping to unfounded conclusions. You would think that this is going to lead to some drunkin brawl and giant car wreck with people getting busy all over the place. I think this will be a nice addition for some people to enjoy a drink or two during the races. And to add some revenue to help keep a good attraction in town. Let's try to look at the positive for once!!!!
Am I to take it that McCook's economic future lies in beer consumption? Are we to believe this is going to be any different than any bar parking lot after closing? I truley hope I am wrong.
No it doesnt' lie in that!! You are reading too much into this. Lighten up and give people some credit that it will be run properly.
I am going to hold my tongue on a lot of the garbage I read in the comments above as they are just people jumping to conclusions. Seems to me that susanne and rural citizen are the only 2 who have so far made any sense on the issue.
My tax dollars go toward the up-keep of the ball fields that only a chosen few get to use. If the sale of a little beer keeps the track open, why not? Beside which, if a person has the money and inclination, he or she can put a stock car on the track and compete. Beats the dickens out of them doing it on the streets, as far as I'm concerned.
I have to laugh at this thread. Talk about irational people jumping to conclusions and the evocation of "the children". Quoting homer simpson? He isn't a real person chunky.
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Ben Franklin
yeah chunk, what about personaly responsibility? Do we want the government telling us we cant drink at this event? Are you relying on the government to teach your children right and wrong?
I would like to see the county plant trees all around the fair ground to help absorb the noise down. You can heard the loud races blocks away. The trees would also hold down the dust. Glad we have the reaces but something needs done to reduce the noise.
Here we go again about the noise. People should think about this when they purchase their homes. Twelve evenings out of 365 will you be inconvenienced by having to shut your windows because of the "dust and noise". These evenings will also be no later than 11 PM. There are kids that drive through these same neighborhoods with their stereo's blaring and tires roaring alot more nights than just these 12. GIVE THESE PEOPLE A BREAK! Let's look at the positve that these drivers and spectators are bringing to our community before we complain about them. Just because you're a little inconvenienced or bothered, doesn't mean that it's wrong. Compromise TWELVE nights out of 365, please.
OMG, the noise thing again? Has anyone ever pulled out a calculator to figure out how many hours there are in a YEAR, and then figure out how many hours there are that these are actually running full throttle for 20 laps? My God there is nothing that is good enough.
Then we have the you guys and your "beer is going to kill everyone speech."
Well, if beer is that bad and you feel that way, why are you not pressuring the city to start issuing more DUIs as the bars get out. When I see a parking lot full of cars every night at the local bar, I have a hard time believing that no one is driving under the influence.
And if you haven't smelled the urine on Saturday morning then you're not going to. There's enough beer being drank in the pits that it should be muddy there the next morning. A beer garden by the stands is not going to change that, but you think whatever you want.
I do have a couple of question what happen to the county and the fairboard input on this because if you are going to have a beer at the stock car races than what about all of the other events that go on up at the fair grounds? Like the rodeo that is coming up in July at our county fair because we will have races also during the fair..Also is the county going to see profit from it also or is it just the city??? Beings it is on county ground.
It was approved by the fairboard first.
Alcohol and race cars...seems like we are in another state....Alabama, Georgia, etc. They have it there, why not here?? Also, let's get a new jail built. There is going to be road checks because of this and we will need the room. I'm sure they will regulate what a person consumes. I do believe it will have fights and the such. Just another problem waiting to happen. I hope it doesn't happen, but time will tell.
Thats to bad, with that decision they lost a fan. I dont drink and dont care to be around people who do.
City council could shut them down anytime dennis with noise levels being tested in the past years way over acceptable and legal levels. Its just that Klein and fairboard gang run over the city council/residents and past city manager crumbles everytime and refuse to enforce exsisting laws and only in mccook. Now we get to have them drunk driving home after the races with beers flowing. I suppose they get free passes on drunk driving also like they do with the noise.....???
If you all think there isn't any alcohol consumed after the races in the pits in any track in Nebraska, think again!!!!
Races are stereotyped by rednecks, rednecks are also stereotyped as alcoholics/drunks....hahahah I've known all the racers drank since I was a child...and would often go to the pits after the races. Who cares if people want to drink, it is legal...if you disagree so much, lobby it like you do on the less harmful drugs/mind altering substances....
You are so right marlin!!!!!
OMG, you people are so ignorant it defies reason.
This won't make racers drunk. There is already and has been since the 1st race race...as much beer as you want to drink in the pits, we haven't had a problem yet, have we?
I suppose those of you who don't like to be around people that are drinking never eaten at El Puerto, Taste of Texas, Coppermill, Looking Glass. You've also never been to Eagle Raceway and I'm guessing I-80 Speedway either. How about a NASCAR track?
You never been to a Hockey game, a Concert at a big venue like the Pepsi Center or Qwest center?
I'm not a drinker either, but you people are getting way too butt-hurt over this!
By this logic we need to outlaw guns because they cause crime, outlaw cars because they cause accidents and outlaw Alcohol because it might hurt the children.
Reminds me of Casablanca, "Gambling at Ricks?"
Perhaps they could rope off an area for "minors only" drinking. What better way to teach responsible alcohol consumption than first hand knowledge.
Will the Beer Garden be behind the grandstand or in the grandstand? I have heard both places and I really need to know as My children and I normally sit where someone told me the beer would be at. If the beer is in the grandstand and in the West end section this will put us out of our good seats. If we lose our good seats to the drinkers my family will go to North Platte and watch races where we can sit and not have to put up with drinking and what goes on when people have to much.
Oh yes, I did hear thru the grapevine that Mr. Arp and Dennis never talked with the Sheriff Dept. about security at this event before the meeting with the city council. They promise the City Council security and then hope they can get it. I really hope all those with children think twice about taking their children to the races here.
Go to North Platte just because you MIGHT have to move seats? Oh what an imposition! Way to support your local community!
Amazing support and for what?? just a dollars for bigger race purse for only the few locals and mostly out of county/state racers vs now the McCook general public getting to dodge the drunk drivers going home after the races. The value of just one innocent life must not be very high with city council/County commissioners/Redwillow fair board for approving this stupidity. If just one time a drunk driver tries driving from taxpayers owned land on the fairground on a race night and not private property where most races have drinking is it worth it?? ...I hope the (promised race car beer drinking security team does not miss just one drunk driver and miss taking his keys away before they get to their car and kills a local family/individual going home? Who wants to live with that guilt for a few more dollars to be paid to racers??
If you don't like it don't go.
I wonder if all these people were at the meetings when they discussed this and approved it.
If you self righteous fools are so upset over what you think will be all these drunk drivers running you over after the races, why are you not upset over the people that sit at the bars all night long getting wasted and then allowed to get in one of the many cars that fill the parking lots at the bars to drive home?????
You people are absolutely bonkers!
I don't advocate drinking in order to have fun or people who have to drink while they do everything, but it's people like some of you here that defy reasonable debate. You come up with argument that are so stupid, no one is likely to take you seriously!
If you're so concerneed about drunk drivers, then why the hell did you wait THIS long to complain about it? What about all the other kids and mothers that have died at the hands of repeat offenderes? What about all the bars being packed every weekend and a lot full of cars? DO THOSE people not drink and drive as well? Are you too cowardly to take them on, or is it just too easy to berate James and Dennis here in the anonimity of the bloggoshpere?
If you're that concerned about you're family and your kids then I suggest you start going to city council meetings, writing your representatives about DUI laws and such. Quit being a chicken and do something about it!
I will be covering myself in bubble wrap and hiding in the corner of my basement every Friday night in order to stay away from the drunken, noisy, piss in public race car drivers that are coming to town to spend endless amounts of hard earned money to put on a great show and give Southwest Nebraska something to do on a Friday night. You people are so SIMPLE!!!! Thanks to Dennis and crew for giving me the opportunity to stay home to race on Fridays, I would hate to have to travel and spend all my money somewhere else. I don't advocate drinking and driving but come on people. I have been to many tracks and almost all of them serve beer.
First of all Rural, probably 60% or more of the people in the neighborhood of the fairgrounds purchased their homes long before the races started. Many of them have the right to complain, the noise at times is very very loud, and there are times that the races last past 11pm.
I try attend as many races as possible, but if I can't, I personally "try" to ignore the sound, close all the windows to keep the dust out of the house, turn up the tv, or turn on something to make a little "white noise" to mask the sound from the track. But I will not chastise the people who bought their homes around the fairgrounds long before the races started. Also the time "curfew" could be enforced better.
As far as the beer garden goes, some of you puritans need to get a life. If it is controlled like Dennis said it will be, it should not be a problem. I feel that the first sign of trouble of any kind, Dennis will shut down the beer garden, or at least the troublemaker will be escorted out of the area, and hopefully to our wonderful jail! I do not think the owner of Taste of Texas will jeopardize his license and serve a drunk.
This is all about the race purse not big enough so Klein and his race friends/fairboard figured that racing fan beer drinkers could help them out period....Klein and friends needs to be honest with all of us and instead of throwing beers out to fans in the beer garden section is to raise money for a bigger racing purse is to dig into their own pockets to pay off the out of area racers that win most of the races or payoff any victims of drunk drivers they put on the road this summers 13 race weekend in McCook or maybe they should quit doing something that must not working from the revolving door of promoters and emergency meeting of Klien/ racers this winter this must be there last stand to annoy locals on the track noise/ and now beers ....and with out regard to costs of just one drunk driver coming from the tax payer owned land the races are allowed on for now....???Also for the record i have found not one other public owned land that a race track has beer flowing in the area only privately owned tracks.... Solution is Klein could put a track on his land north of town and have all the beer you want for race fans and his liability vs ours/taxpayers on the fairgrounds public land
Beatrice, Norton, Doniphan, even the STATE FAIR serves alcohol at the races. I am sure I could think of a lot more but those are a few pubic owned tracks that I could think of off the top of my head. Give it up!
Hey spirit you want to peddle beer on county public property vs your own private property dont expect us non race fans to rollover and support your beer drinking buddies for money increased purse mentality and no regard for the rest of us who do care about drivers who drive drunk every day and we taxpayers dont need to make it any easier for them ...Just look at front page of the McCook paper tonight to see what drinking and driving gets you 1 dead mom in Arapahoe and a now remoresful idiot that liked to drive his race car carmero fast on a county road.
What a stupid comparison Jlake. To say that anyone who has a beer at a race is equivalent to this criminal is silly.
Were you at the council meeting when they decided this?
So why not outlaw all alcohol? Why not oulaw the cars that cause this kind of death and destruction after all a drunk on a bike or on foot can't do this kind of damage. if it only saves one life...
jlake,
You last post is deplorable. How dare you bring Kasey Jo into your stupid whinning?
That POS was drinking in a BAR ALL DAY! OUTLAW THE BARS! What kind of a moronic claim is that? You're bascially calling anyone who picks up a beer a Kasey Jo killer. You need your head examined!
Did you get fired from Kleins or something? You sure have a case for Klein.
I can't figure out what Kasey has to do with this. Herchel Huff was on his second DUI offense. If anything is wrong it's the spineless county attourneys not doing their jobs! Or how about the State Patrol? They were probably too busy out busting small businesses that pay lots of taxes for minor violations and tail lights not working while this drunk scumbag was out drinking and driving.
Frankly, you "research" is anything but! Your comments are shameless. Your reasoning is idiotic at best. You need to stop disparaging Don Klein over this, and you need some help!
I don't advocate drinking either. But it's a free country and people should be responsible enough to act out their rights. What you want is tyranny. You want control of everything so that we can't be free.
If there is anything wrong with this country or society in general it is that the punishment for lack of personal responsiblity is not severe enough. No one is shameful for doing bad things anymore.
I agree with you to a certian extent about using alcohal as a means for fun, but the way you are on here disparaging anyone you don't agree with and trying to be the moral police and punishing people who are not to blame is just pure stupidity and you need to stop.
I still think you have an alterior motive behind your rants about this alcohol, because you are just spouting out pure fiction and ignoring too many facts.
I think this has more to do with the disdain for race fans and the noisey race track.
Well put, Justin76! I think that jlake should call it quits in here. With the comment and comparison to Kasey Jo is simply going over the top. He is obviously a moron with a very self centered opinion and really isn't even worth arguing with. Get a life, jlake! If you don't like what's going on here in our USA than maybe you should try living in a country where tyranny and corruption are the rule. Don't go to Germany though, I hear they serve alot of beer over there too.
Well put McCook Supporter!!!!!
The question would be if this beer garden would be ran in a respectable manner to avoid the type of incidents that everyone is complaining about? It will most likely be operated like every bar in town, and there will be a few people driving home that have had too much to drink. But this would most likely happen with or without the beer garden. Some of the race track patrons are legally drunk before they arrive; just like the local bars. It is my opinion that the people driving home from the races drunk, would most likely be driving home drunk from some place else anyway. It doesnt matter if the track has a beer garden or not; the drunks will drive drunk, one way or the other. I would propose that a sobriety check point be set up by the local police and make a few arrests. Eventually, the drunks will either stay sober long enough to get home, and those who want to see a race and enjoy an acoholic beverage in moderation can do so without having to deal with the drunken behavior.
I think some people need to realize that its not the drink that causes the problem, its the drunk, and that drunk will be a problem regardless whether the drink is sold in a beer garden, in the stands, at the bar, or if they have to get tanked before the race, or bring thier own. The best solution is to attack the drunk, not the drink.
McCook citizens are getting the noisey races tossed in our face regardless and now you need more money for racers winnings so your solution is beer sales to do it.??? I am sure you will be putting drunks like Huff/race fan on the road with your newest money raiser on public property for your car racers so what ever happens in Arapahoe county roads with any drunk driver will happen some night after the races in McCook and I hope you all will so proud of yourselves in promoting beergarden racenights and see how you respond when one of your drunk fans takes out a local family on race night going home...
Jlake, the comparision to the tradgedy near Arapahoe is appalling. In fact there is no comparison at all between the beer garden at the races and the actions of Mr. Huff. And that's all I will say about that.
Furthermore, if you don't like the races, don't go. I for one intend to go and take my children and enjoy them, with or without having a beer. And when you think about it, there is pry no more danger going home from the races than there is any other night of the week when the bars are open.
If you are going to quote some one atleast get it right....
"To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." Homer J. Simpson
outsidethebox,
Sorry, I was drunk at the time.