More training, less paying

Thanks to a new lease agreement with the Spokane County Raceway in Airway Heights, county sheriff’s deputies will be gaining nearly 100 training days a year on the track in exchange for a reduction in the raceway’s annual fees.

The Spokane County Commissioners approved the agreement last week, dropping raceway operator Craig Smith’s payment from $32,500 per year to about $10,000.

“This was a way to get the fee reduced and bring in more police training, which is good when you sit around and look at all the crime that’s going on around us,” Smith said.

Under the 2018 contract, law enforcement employees were allowed about 60 days on the Super Oval track, many of which were scheduled during the off-season in the dead of winter. Now, they’ll have the run of the track three days a week — every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all year around.

That’s an increase of 96 days annually to work on training and vehicle pursuit.

“What this allows us to be able to do is go out and do driver training and emergency vehicle training in a safe environment where we can practice everything from pursuit to radios to certain maneuvers and do it safely,” Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Mark Gregory said.

On top of the added training days, the sheriff’s office will also be allowed an additional 20 days to be requested as needed. Six of those fall on days of the week normally scheduled for raceway operations — primarily Thursdays and Fridays — during the main season, which takes place May through October, and will need to be requested far in advance. The remaining 14 as-needed days are during the winter and are easier to schedule.

“They may not utilize them all the days they have available, especially in the winter, but it opens the door,” Smith said. “If they need to, they can call me and get on the schedule, where before they were limited.”

Part of the new 2019 contract dictates that some of the trainings may require five days in a row, but will be worked out on a case-by-case basis.

At the end of next year, the 10-year contract the county has with the raceway will be evaluated and potentially renegotiated. At that point, the county will decide whether or not it will pursue a five-year extension.

Smith anticipates almost zero effect on racers’ day to day operations as a result of the new lease. The deal has been in the works for four months, and was originally slated to be signed, sealed and delivered on Oct. 1.

“It’s not going to affect our regular folks at all,” Smith said. “It’s a good trade off and a win-win for the community and for racers, because if it wasn’t for me doing this thing it’d probably be a golf course.”

Another piece to the puzzle in creating the 2019 contract came in the form of infrastructure issues with the oval track seating area. The area was recently evaluated by the county Risk Management Department, which found that the seating was “not suitable to accommodate spectator events in 2019 without work being done,” according to county officials.

Primarily these issues had to do with meeting ADA requirements. The concrete surfaces in the seating area have “no major structural issues” but due to its cracking and crumbling could potentially prevent wheelchair wheels from rolling, Spokane County Parks, Recreation and Golf Director Doug Chase said.

“When we look at that reduction in rent, there are two notable drivers,” Chase said. “One, the increase usage for the county, and two, adjustments to the oval track facility that affect the contract.”

These issues will factor into the extension evaluation at the end of next year, but for now the concrete seats on the oval track will be, though the track itself can be used as normal.

The loss of the area for use in spectator events contributed to the drastic fee reduction. Under the 2018 contract, Smith was required at least 10 events a year on the Super Oval, whereas the 2019 contract requires just one.

The new agreement is a boon to the raceway since many locals are employed in related industries, Smith said.

“There are a lot of people in this area that live off the backs of the racetrack in some capacity – engine builders, hot rod makers,” Smith said. “It’s a vital asset in our community.”

According to local law enforcement officials, sheriff’s deputies have wanted to do more training at the raceway facility for a long time. This contract will allow them to do so with a full staff instead of one or two select officers.

“It’s one of the biggest problems we have and one of the biggest liabilities we have because we drive so much,” Gregory said. “It takes up a lot of room, and that’s one of the great things about the raceway park.”

Under the new contract, sheriff’s deputies will be able to access the road course and its pit, the drag strip pit and the restrooms.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].