dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

The fliers did not have a written sub lease. The others did. They are still going to have to bring their facilities up to county code. This will be a considerable cost as it means putting sewer system and bringing all their buildings up to code. And someone will have to pick up all of the back rent and fees that Mathews never paid. I think the fliers are lucky they didn't get stuck with part of that. They have the money to go look for a new field.

F4u5

My Feedback: (81)

I feel your pain. We lost our premiere flying site here in the city in 2010. Our field was the premier field within a 100 mile radius, less 1 that is 60 miles south, but bureaucracy and the University of Minnesota cancelled our lease after 27 years. Today, the land sits dormant and unoccupied, simply weeding out. We too tried to fight city hall....but as they say, ya just can't win.

Regards,

Jeff

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

So the flying club was operating on that scale on simply a handshake deal  with no written lease agreement ?

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

Yes. The club pres insisted they didn't need a lease.
BTW the club obtained a license to sell beer and loaned it to Mathews. He held wet T shirt contest that a 12 year old girl was discovered attending.
That club pres and his sleazy friends have departed and the club is in good hands but have no place to fly.

mtnflyer14

Doesn't seem productive to me to air any dirty laundry that Speedworld RC may have. The issue is that for whatever reasons, which aren't important in this forum, they lost their field and we all wish them best of luck in either resolving the issue or moving on to a new location.
Regards,
Gus

essyou35

My Feedback: (11)

I think the details are important so we understand what truly happened and that this does not appear to be misjustice as originally indicated. The club had bad relations with the public it sounds like now.

-Loaned a liquor license out (***)
-12 year old girl at a wet t-shirt contest

Why does an RC club even have a liquo license, you ant drink and fly per AMA rules.

Thanks for the new information.

Chris Balling

A FINAL CLARIFICATION:

The property that Speedworld rests upon is owned by the State of Arizona. It is in the eighth year of a ten year lease to Mathews. Prior to his lease it had been repeatedly leased (10 year increments) to another individual who is now deceased. The RC field has been there the past 26 years and under a sub-lease to the individual holding the Speedworld lease. Unknown to the club members the State does not now, nor have they ever recognized a sub lease. Additionally, the RC flying club never approved, nor knew about any sort of Liquor permit, on loan to Mathews until approximately 2 years ago; as it had been done under the table and on a cash basis by a previous club president. The annual rent was also paid in a like manner until about a year ago when the new club leaders took over and cleaned up/eliminated that on-going mess. While it is true that the Speedworld lessee was recently cited for allowing teenagers access to both beer and admittance to midnight wet T-shirt contests; the club has absolutely no connection to either of these occurrences. With respect to our eviction from the flying site it is based on the fact that we've never had a sub-lease to our field that is recognized by the State. Two other entities at Speedworld share the same fate (Nitro cars and Paintball). It's a bit more complicated than Mathews simply paying for some permits, as the local media has reported that his back rent, permit fees, and fines for upgrades with appropriate permits total more than
$ 2.5M. It is also widely believed that the State has future intentions for using their property in some other fashion.
I hope this puts rest to this entire debacle, as this is the last post I shall make concerning this matter. The members of our club are being welcomed by other clubs in the area and we are getting back in the business of flying for fun and not putting out fires in the desert.

Chris Balling

warbird_1

My Feedback: (61)

i know this is going to rub someone the wrong why ,but i have to agree with the board. the deciding issue for me was the fact that building was done and grading was done with out permits . his point of not knowing if it's safe for the public is a very valid point . "Gerard said Speedworld should not be operating until it has completed the necessary construction permits. As a public venue, there is no way to tell if it's safe without following proper procedure, he said." besides The Arizona State Land Department is Speedworld's landlord . it's become a liability issue for the state too. it's to bad it couldn't be resolved and that a place that everyone loves has to shut down, but the blames has to fall on the business owner for not following the law.

quist

My Feedback: (198)

The areas that you are talking about has nothing to do with the flying field. The improvements were in other areas of the complex.

The flying club closing is collateral damage of Dan Matthews business practices. It gets confusing because it is all called Speedworld.

Chris Balling

Thanks Tony for making that point and let me apologize to our readers for not making that point. Aside from the FUBAR decisions made by our past president (once again unknown to our membership) our club has played by the rules. An example; following last years DJS we enlarged the pit area and remodeled our kitchen. All work was permitted, inspected, and exceeded code. In fact, the County Health Inspector awarded us a Gold Star for the improvements we made in our food service area. We're simply collateral damage for some terrible business decisions "gone south"

Chris

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

I'm not a big fan of having to secure permits for minutiae but it sounds like the owner was doing a lot more than just spreading some dirt around to fill holes.
That's too bad. Thanks for the clairification.

InboundLZ

My Feedback: (10)

IS this the same past prez that stepped on Jakes Bandit? If it is, it explains a lot....

cactusflyer

My Feedback: (4)

Chris, thank you for the info. I had heard similar "rumblings" in the past.....collateral damage is exactly what happened. With this in mind, considering the great safety record, popularity of the site, the sizable capital investment over the last few years and the recent record of exemplary code adherence by the club, would it be possible to lease the property directly from the state? It seems that The current lease holder has done enough non-compliance to warrant a modification to his lease. The physical description of his lease could be modified to exclude the RC field.......

Tailwinds,

John

warbird_1

My Feedback: (61)

i understand that ,but the article lead me to believe that the airfield was on the same parcel of property thus the whole parcel was shut down. ???

quist

My Feedback: (198)

It is the same complex, but the improvement that are under question by the county are not in the area of the flying club. It is a very large area.

When the original lease was written, the State specified how to use the property. Radio Control operations were not included. When they found out about the operations, they stepped in and shut it down. It looks to me that the reason they found out about the RC operations was because Dan Matthews(the lease holder) asked the state for permission to sublease to the flying club that already exists.

Chris Balling

John,

Our attorney, as well as the AMA attorney, has explored this possibility without success. We surmise that the State of Arizona is making a case against Matthews as to vacate his lease, thus allowing the total property to be used for something else. While we do have some supporters in State and County leadership, it does not appear, at this juncture, their influence is great enough to change the end game, whatever that may be.

Keep you post of any future developments.

Chris

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

Based on what was written it sounds like the lease was a typical 'special use" lease without a sub-lease clause. The lessee worked out a "deal" with the clubs president (at the time) for the field to be built there and as far as the club was concerned it was all above board  and not "under the table".  Someone in the government finally got wind of it, put two and two together and this is what happened along with the other two entities involved probably in the same manner. Too bad as the club membership was hood winked into thinking everything was good and put all the money and time into it. Maybe the permitted improvements to the food/kitchen area is what started it unraveling.

wahoo

My Feedback: (59)

Have you any experience with a motocross/atv track ?

The race track gets "graded" multiple times during an event. Imagine the permits required to run one weekend event !!

Sounds to me like someone wanted a little piece of the pie and didn't get it.

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

There's a difference with moving dirt for a track... and moving dirt to build on. And... That was a prob.


Regardless... it sounds like the owner was shady... and the state/county (whoever) needed a "Handle" to grab to try to prosecute. (kind of like the feds getting Al Capone on tax evasion)




To the Club: After reading though this again... I know that you can't get the field re-opened... but why not go directly after the "owner" to recoup your money that went into improvements? If you can get that back... you guys could buy/lease a hunk of land, and put in a new runway.

Flying Arrow

My Feedback: (6)

Life is tough without RC,

two things I learned from RC,

1. you should always buy land near where you fly.(it appreciates faster than you think)

2. it is a great trainer to makes long distances short.

I love RC .....keep movn