Asserts nothing has caused a change in IGA; outlines problems for College if raceway approved
President Penelope Wills delivered a six-minute political speech about the proposed raceway to be located near the Yavapai College Chino Valley Center on November 14, 2017. She said she was speaking for the College, not the Board, and emphasized no Board members were present (unclear why this was her concern).
Early in her speech, Wills said that approval of the raceway was a matter “for the town to decide, not the College.” She then went on to say that nothing had changed that should affect the IGA. She said that of 300 emails received on this issue by her (or the Governing Board, it was not clear) that a majority of those voting “yes” for the speedway were from “outside the area.” A majority of those voted “no,” she said, were from the area.
Wills said an impact study authored by the College was not a reliable document because it didn’t drill down and focus on Chino Valley. She also said the amount of money coming to Chino Valley from the project was not significant, there were traffic issues on Perkins Road, an environmental study was needed, the raceway will use 1.12 million gallons of water annually, and the noise level could not exceed 70 decibels at the property line.
Wills indicated concern with the noise interfering with a number of outdoor classes. She reminded the City that the College had invested over $8 million in capital construction and hundreds of thousands of dollars in operating expenses at the Chino Valley Center.
After hearing her speech, a majority of the Council voted to sent their City staff to make a presentation to the Governing Board.
You may view the six-minute speech by Wills to the Council below.