Circuit of the Americas Development Updates

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by priller

Hmm, that's gonna be hot.

It could be if we don't see the end of this drought. If the drought ends by next Spring, it may not be bad at all. Temps during mid june would be between 91 and 94 at the high end. Granted if we have a normal year the humidity would be high but June is typically our second wettest month of the year so it could be wet and rainy. I just hope we see some sort of tropical system or two come in this summer. It should be an above normal year from tropical systems.

[Armybrat]

Guess it depends on La Nina.

[KevinFromTexas]

It was 103F today.

[Spaceman]

It could be moved to October...but it probably has to be around the time of the Canadian GP....Montreal in October would also be pleasant. A chilly GP would pose new challenges for the cars, especially the tires

[electricron]

Using the fund to pay the F1 sanctioning fees isn't the fund's purpose. It's purpose is to cover the city's extra expenses required to host events. Things like private security, transit providers, traffic cops, firemen, emergency medical technicians, etc - including their overtime pay.

[Spaceman]

The city is balking on paying $4 million to partner with the track....I'm not a financial wiz but $4 million for a potential of many millions seems like a smart move...After living here for nearly 41 years I never cease to be amazed by the absolute ignorance of trhis city's government..No wonder no one votes..The general populace has given up and said"F--k it." When tovo gets into office there will be no limit to the damage she and her lackeys will do...Bye Bye Formula One....It could have been the biggest thing to ever happen to this city....$4 million bucks, unbelievable!!!! Those idiots will pay that much on consultant fees for unknown projects this year...

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

The city is balking on paying $4 million to partner with the track....I'm not a financial wiz but $4 million for a potential of many millions seems like a smart move...After living here for nearly 41 years I never cease to be amazed by the absolute ignorance of trhis city's government..No wonder no one votes..The general populace has given up and said"F--k it." When tovo gets into office there will be no limit to the damage she and her lackeys will do...Bye Bye Formula One....It could have been the biggest thing to ever happen to this city....$4 million bucks, unbelievable!!!! Those idiots will pay that much on consultant fees for unknown projects this year...

The Formula 1 race isn't going to leave because the city won't pay $4.0 million.

[BevoLJ]

The problem I have with how crappy the city is handling it is they just don't seem to understand how it works. It really is not that complicated, and I know the goof balls are not dumb, so why are they acting or pretending like they are unable to understand how it works and why the city doesn't pay a dime. I agree with the city that it would be best for all involved that the city was not named here for that $4 million. But what they don't understand is Austin is the one that makes all the money from this event, not Elroy. Elroy is not going to pull in $4 million in taxes to force the roll over account. Austin will. The non-profit group set up to pay the cities share of the $4million is not going to raise $4 million in taxes. Austin does. That is why that money becomes legally "Austin's" money and why it seems Austin is in name "paying" $4 million. But that is $4 million that was raised from the event. On top of that anything over that the city can put to whatever it is they want. They can put it to building urban rail if they felt like it (ya right, as it that would happen...lol).

With out even going into the fact F1 is paying for the extension of the sewers and all of that for the city (to be reimbursed by taxes earned later), the other aspect of this I don't understand why the city is so worked up about is the cost for security and traffic which by they way is payed for out of this trust fund not by the city. They seem so concerned that they will have to pay to provide police and traffic stuff. Is providing police protection not a key function of the city? I mean this trust fund even reimbursed them for that cost, but even if it didn't why would or should that be such a concern for the city? That is their job! The city is SUPPOSED to protect us. How or why can the city counsel not understand that if they do agree to annex this in order to tax the tickets and property taxes that they should provide police protection and such basic service that any city in the world should provide its citizens. That is why we form city governments to provide a structure to create, oversee, and provide those specific services for us. We are already paying them taxes, why should we also pay for the city for the basic services those taxes are expected to be used to provide for us?

BTW for those who missed it, here is the city counsel meeting.... http://austintx.swagit.com/player.php?refid=06072011-28 Warning it is LONG!

[BevoLJ]

Oh, and here is the kicker that really blows my mind. That $4 million that is raised doesn't actually go to pay for anything each year, it just goes right back to the city! Each year $4 million of the taxes it collects from the event is deposited in the fund and then the state matches it 6.25 times with the $25 million they raised. The $25 million that the state raised from the event goes to F1 and the city takes the $4 million that was put "in their name" into the fund. So the city gets all of that $4 million it "in name" puts into the fund.

It is like they are trying as hard as possible to not understand something quite simple just to be difficult. They are behaving like a bunch of entitled spoiled 6 year old girls acting dumb for attention.

[KevinFromTexas]

Not to mention the city plans to annex that area and will gain new tax dollars from it. It'll also open up new development possibilities since it would be under the City of Austin's direct jurisdiction. I know it's sprawl, and I usually hate it, but in this case it's a huge plus for city and is something truly unique. Much more than simply another subdivision where cows used to poop.

[Somnio]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

The city is balking on paying $4 million to partner with the track....I'm not a financial wiz but $4 million for a potential of many millions seems like a smart move...After living here for nearly 41 years I never cease to be amazed by the absolute ignorance of trhis city's government..No wonder no one votes..The general populace has given up and said"F--k it." When tovo gets into office there will be no limit to the damage she and her lackeys will do...Bye Bye Formula One....It could have been the biggest thing to ever happen to this city....$4 million bucks, unbelievable!!!! Those idiots will pay that much on consultant fees for unknown projects this year...

It probably would've made more sense to make another one of your sensationalistic posts after they've actually voted on whether or not they will offer their support, because you know, they haven't actually voted yet.

But you know, whatever floats your boat.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...e-1525354.html

F1 funding process worked in reverse

By Eric Dexheimer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:50 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The City of Austin's deliberations Tuesday over whether it wants to get involved with Formula One racing raised an intriguing legal question: Did Comptroller Susan Combs leapfrog her statutory role last year when she seemed to promise F1 organizers that the state would contribute a $25 million taxpayer incentive to support the race?

Central to landing F1 in Austin was local race promoter Tavo Hellmund's ability to obtain state support through its Major Events Trust Fund, which is administered through the comptroller's office.

[KevinFromTexas]

You know while people are scoffing at what it'll cost taxpayers to build this, other projects that offer nothing to the community at large are being paid for by all taxpayers.

That Austin Colony subdivision southeast of Austin along FM 969 is a traffic nightmare. The "neighborhood" only has one way and out. Traffic there in the mornings and afternoons is really bad. Some of the residents have to leave at 6 am so that they can be at work at 8 am. So the County is looking for ways to fix it. One is to add 2 lanes to 969, and also to extend another road out of the subdivision to connect to 969. The price tag? $17 million. And this is for a single neighborhood tucked away southeast of Austin. It's something that is great for those people who live there, but offers nothing to any of the residents of the rest of the county except for traffic if you happen to be driving through there. It's a bit maddening that the city is having trouble with a $4 million price tag for the track when we know it'll benefit the entire metro and bring in around $5 billion over 10 years.

[SecretAgentMan]

Don't worry, it's just CYA. Council is simply asking staff to make sure they have covered all bases so that it is a safe yes vote. If there had been no controversy, they would be falling all over themselves talking about how great this is. The urgency of the vote is because Tovo would vote against it, and Morrison and Spelman probably as well. Riley might be on the fence. If they wait for Tovo to be elected, it probably would fail.

[Spaceman]

Dear somnio, one can never be surprised by the decisions this city makes...I hope you are correct in your faith in this project.But don't be surprised if it fails...This city is poisoned by the hardcore no-growthers and this will never change...The business and real estate groups have been inept in fighting this fight...I used to be a realtor and the joke amongst realtors was that the support of the Austin Board of Realtors was a kiss of death for any candidate seeking election...The pro-environmental movement was smart to "embrace" the environment to foster their cause which has nothing to do with the environment...They have created a class warfare against any signs of affluence and have done a superd job doing it....It's ironic since wacko Robin Rather's dad is a million...

[KevinFromTexas]

Of course this is only talking about jobs created directly from the track. It would likely be more than that since there will be more supportive development around it, such as hotels, grocery stores and restaurants, etc.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...reate-300.html

Formula One track would create 300 jobs in Austin, officials say

Austin Business Journal - by Vicky Garza, Staff Writer
Date: Thursday, June 9, 2011, 12:34pm CDT

The proposed Formula One track in Austin could create as many as 4,000 jobs on race day, representatives told city council members on Thursday.

Steve Sexton — president of the track dubbed Circuit of the Americas (COTA) — said the facility expects to hire 300 full-time staff and up to 4,000 temporary employees on major event days, which will not be limited to the Formula One races. (Click here for nonprofit events proposed for the track.)

[Armybrat]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Of course this is only talking about jobs created directly from the track. It would likely be more than that since there will be more supportive development around it, such as hotels, grocery stores and restaurants, etc.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...reate-300.html

The local food & drink vendors will certainly do well, as will the established hotels & restaurants in Central Texas. But I don't see the business feasibility of building hotels next to the complex (although my property would certainly be available ).

[KevinFromTexas]

There were some articles today in the paper about the race in Montreal. It was even front page news in today's paper. The comments sections are buzzing with discussion, too.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...formula_austin

Montreal getting ready for F1 party

By John Maher | Wednesday, June 8, 2011, 12:55 PM

MONTREAL — The checkered flags are waving from some of the trendy bars and restaurants on Crescent Street in anticipation of the big weekend party for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Crescent Street, with its gabled, stone buildings, looks like a fun place to party any time. But for the F1 weekend the city shuts down traffic on it and several nearby streets. One person associated with the festival said that over three days as many as 500,000 people will have stopped by to be part of the fun.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...formula_austin

Montreal F1 race in the wet

By John Maher | Sunday, June 12, 2011, 09:20 AM

The rain held off long enough Saturday for Montrealers to get in some serious partying.

Today’s a different story. It’s about 60 degrees and a drizzle comes and goes. The track is wet and slippery. No chance of drying out before the Canadian Grand Prix begins at 1 p.m. here, which is noon Austin time.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/sports/form...inglePage=true

Bienvenue a Montreal: F1 city offers possible road map for 2012 Austin

By John Maher
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 7:24 a.m. Sunday, June 12, 2011
Published: 10:18 p.m. Saturday, June 11, 2011

MONTREAL — Nondas Baibos, the manager of the M Café in downtown Montreal, took a deep breath of the fragrant summer air and observed: "Some people like Formula One. Some people don't like it. See for yourself. Last year, it was huge for the city."

Baibos was standing only a block away from Montreal's Crescent Street, which is transformed into party central every year for Formula One week.

Long before the finish — or even the start — of today's Canadian Grand Prix, checkered flags were waving from Crescent's turreted bars and restaurants, beckoning for business.

Austin, which is scheduled to host the U.S. Grand Prix on June 17, 2012, will brace, and hope, for much of the same F1 atmosphere, crowds, international exposure — and revenue.

"It's everything for the merchants on the street. It will make or break the year," said Sandy Greene, the director of the Crescent Street Merchants Association. "It's half a million people on two blocks over three days."