Caleb Warnock - DAILY HERALD | Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 11:00 pm
American Fork Riding Club members say the city is forcing them from their training facility.
On Sept. 24, Mayor Heber Thompson sent club members, who have stabled their horses at the city-owned racetrack and training facility since at least the 1970s, a letter ordering them out by Jan. 1. The property will be used to construct a reservoir for the new pressurized irrigation system.
The city has not provided a place to go, said club treasurer Chris Mitchell. In addition, the concrete stables now at the racetrack training facility, built and paid for by the club more than 30 years ago at a cost of $6,000, cannot be moved and will cost more than $100,000 to replace, even if the city identifies property where the club can rebuild.
Father and son team Jeff and Jason Kendall, who train and board 13 horses at the facility that are run in races around the nation, said the club believes the property housing their stables was given to the city as a donation or bequest and is required to be used for equestrian purposes.
In a letter dated Oct. 17, club members asked the city to find another location for its reservoir and leave the training facility intact, something Thompson told the Daily Herald "will just not happen." In addition, the club suggested the city expand the existing two dozen stalls with another 50 to 75 stalls and help the club expand its program.
Club members said neither their group nor the city can find a copy of the property lease for the training facility and no one knows when it expires, but Thompson said the city was provided a copy of the lease by the club and the lease had expired. Club members said when they went to pay their annual dues this year, the city refused to take the money.
City Council members said in a recent meeting that they have offered the club a one-year lease on property below the existing training facility, but they cannot offer a long-term lease because the city is unsure what its future plans for the land are. Mitchell called the suggestion unreasonable, saying the club cannot build $100,000 stables on land with a one-year lease.
Thompson said he has suggested the club move to the North Utah County Equestrian Center, and that the city may be willing to pay for stalls to be built there. But club members said they want to remain at the racetrack, though they admit no races have been held in five years because of the expense of organizing races and offering a purse. Two separate golf course construction projects over the past two years have left rocks on the track and the club has not organized a cleanup because they are unsure if more construction is imminent.
Club members said American Fork's racetrack is the last in Utah Valley, and if it is shut down, it will be the end of a Utah Valley and American Fork tradition.
"It used to be that races were held there and that has been discontinued and now it is an exercise place for some horses and I don't know if that is the best use," Thompson said, noting the City Council may consider tearing the track down to use the land for other purposes.
The city and the club agree that only about a third of the club members are from American Fork, making a bid to preserve the training facility and racetrack an even harder sell for the American Fork council, which would like its money to benefit its residents, Thompson said.
The city and the club will meet on Thursday to discuss the club's need for $100,000 for new stables at a new location with a long-term lease.
• Caleb Warnock can be reached at 443-3263 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.