MAHONING COUNTY Put brakes on funding track, Sherlock says

The commissioner said Mahoning County can't afford to pay for the racetrack.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock says Mahoning County should pull the purse strings shut when it comes to funding a proposed indoor racetrack in Trumbull County.
"The county is just not in the business of building and owning sports venues," Sherlock said.
Her stance doesn't sit well with Commissioner Ed Reese and a local labor official, who said the county should at least help pay for a further study of the project's feasibility.
"A government has different roles to play," Reese said. "I think we've got to find a way of making this area a tourist destination."
The controversy centers on a proposal by Brant Motorsports of Wheeling, W.Va., to build a 40-acre covered racetrack somewhere near the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna Township.
Study
Mahoning and Trumbull counties already have split the $60,000 cost of a consultant's study that said the idea has merit and that the idea of a publicly owned racetrack should be explored further.
Both counties then were asked to pay for all or part of a second study, which would provide a more detailed look at market conditions and potential for the $300 million project.
Officials have said no decisions have been made about who would pay for the facility and who would own it after it's built.
But Sherlock said Mahoning County is too financially strapped to sink any more money into the project.
"If it doesn't work out, we're left holding the bag with one of the biggest white elephants in the United States," Sherlock said. "What are the taxpayers going to do then? Go out and drive their minivans around the track on Sunday afternoons?"
Sherlock said NASCAR already has advised local officials that it will not hold races at the track if it's built. Even if lower-level races are held there, Sherlock said she doubts such a venue would be successful.
"I think it's just time to say no to spending any more tax dollars," Sherlock said. "Let it be a private sector project."
Different view
Reese said the county should at least help pay for the second phase of the feasibility study, which he said would be helpful in marketing that area for development projects other than the racetrack.
"It's the cost of doing business," Reese said.
Commissioner David Ludt was not available to comment.
Don Crane, president of the Western Reserve Building Trades Council, said he is disappointed at Sherlock's stance because he believes the track would be a boon for the local economy.
"It's a shame that an elected official doesn't want that kind of progress," Crane said.
bjackson@vindy.com