CHAFFEE CONSIDERS WHETHER STOCK CARS ARE `JUNK'

CHAFFEE -- The city's Ordinance Committee will consider what should be done with stock race cars in Chaffee.

Mayor Ron Moyers sent the matter to the committee at the Chaffee City Council's regular meeting Monday night after a Chaffee man complained that he had received a public nuisance notice from a police officer for "miscellaneous junk" and a stock car in the rear of his yard.

But the man, Paul Keller of 412 Dame, said he didn't see stock cars and their related items as junk or a public nuisance. He said that working on and racing stock cars is a hobby just as hunting is with people who keep unlicensed vehicles in their yard for such an activity.

Keller questioned how the matter could be a public nuisance. His neighbors aren't complaining, he said.

"We keep them sitting in the back, out of the front of the yard. We have to have stuff materials around to keep them going," said Keller.

"I don't know if many of the council members are racing fans or not," he added, "but it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of money. You just don't build a race car overnight."

Anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 or $12,000 can be put into the cars, he said.

Keller admitted that some of the materials, which include pipe and square tubing, may look like junk. But he said it's all kept in one spot. There is no way the material can be kept inside because of its length, he said.

Also, Keller said, he has his own personal vehicles in his garage and can't keep stock cars in it year-round.

Ward 1 Councilman Jerry Wolsey questioned whether an exception could be made for stock cars on trailers, just as with boats now. Wolsey, a past stock car racer and a strong racing supporter, said a racing facility was constructed in Scott County last year and draws 4,000 to 5,000 fans each racing night.

A lot of Chaffee people are starting to get involved in racing, he said. "We go on into the summer and there's going to be more race cars," he said.

On another matter, Ward 4 Councilman Brad Bader, chairman of the city's Solid Waste Committee, said a city compost operation could be ready to start April 18. Bader proposed at the council's last meeting on March 16 that such an operation be undertaken at the city's former sewage treatment plant from April to November.

Bader said the compost operation would be open for business from 8 a.m. to noon.

Council members went into closed session Monday to discuss personnel. Before the session, Moyers said the city's No. 4 well, located off Highway 177, was not producing water. The problem was discovered Monday, he said.

Moyers said the well would be inspected by the company that installed it. He said he didn't know how much it would cost to repair the well.