Planes ready for liftoff on new runway
It was between 60 and 70 acres of trash, but members of a local radio control club think the old city landfill near Sunset Point Road is a treasure.
Even though city officials called it a developing city park, its name is not yet official and is debatable. While some hinted at naming it after former city aldermen Herb and Mary Graeser – second guessing that name because the site is a landfill – other officials have more seriously called it Sunset Point Park. Others joked it could be called Landfill International.
Whatever its name, members of the McMinnville Remote Control Club said the space, which they have been using and improving with private club funds and volunteer hours in order to operate model airplanes on a grass runway, will be available to all.
That comes after city officials were careful to point out their approval of $7,500 for a black top runway which would open the space up for public use. On Tuesday, they approved the bid for an estimated 500-foot-long runway to be constructed there.
In short, officials said the space that club members have been using for remote control hobbies for the past few years would become a municipal park if the city contributed financially.
“There are a lot of things to do,” City Administrator Herb Llewellyn told members of the Parks and Recreation Committee Tuesday before they approved the bid, “but this is step one in the development of this park.”
On site to see the results of that work, which was completed Friday, club president Tommy Hudson said he understands that and said he is ready to cooperate with whatever arrangements or regulations city officials may dictate.
There has been no official announcement of an opening date.
“It’s going to be more of a radio control park more than anything, but we’ve never turned anybody away,” Hudson said, also noting club members have spent between $3,000 and $4,000 on improvements there. “And they have a certain set of rules to go by,” he added of city officials.
Also on site Friday, Vice Mayor Billy Wood said the space is not usable for much else for another 27 years due to its status as a landfill.
“This is a park that has been developed with a specific purpose, and that is remote control,” Wood added of the new park, adding potential for a remote or radio-controlled race car track to be developed there in the future also exists.
Hudson specified the club plans to share the space despite their investment and due to the city’s help.
“It’s not like it’s for a select group,” he said. “It’s for everybody.”
Hudson also noted the nature of the land, where pipes vent the underlying debris, and said he doesn’t foresee any swing sets going up there any time soon.
“To me, it’s the idea that the city has 55 to 75 acres of property they can’t do anything with for the next 30 years.”