NEW Florida Fast Electric Club

[ron1950]

iam with u jeff i got the racing bug now.....

[osprey21]

Is the new potential lake in Sarasota or Manatee County?

It's in Manatee County.

[RayR]

I drove by Bennett Park yesterday. Major construction site, all roads closed.

[osprey21]

I drove by Bennett Park yesterday. Major construction site, all roads closed.

Yep - not even close to being finished.

[bill34207]

After looking at what Manatee county has planned for the area don't think we'd be any better off on that lake. It's a big wide open area right now but between the soccer field, future softball area and salt marsh looks like parking/pits would be pretty much nil.

[sailr]

Somebody that lives down that way should contact the Manatee County Parks and Recreation Department to explore whether the use of that park is feasible.

[tiqueman]

Depending on if there's room or not, could be great exposure for us. I played a lot of soccer and ball, mostly we played ball during the week unles it was championship stuff and soccer was usually saturdays. Even the fields up by me are usually pretty quiet on sundays except for "park" people. A talk w the county couldn't hurt. I will get in touch w parks and rec this week. May still be worth looking into, again esp for the exposure. That's probably the best feature it has. Compared to our current location where we have almost none.

Ill make some calls this week and or go down to the county w a flyer etc. Sometimes a face to face is a bit better

[RCKong]

Being that Bennet park is in its early stages, there's a good chance they would allow it.
One other thing too, is if Sarasota county is willing to help out Ackerman with stairs, what else would they be willing to do to improve the facility.?
Heck If we changed the rail fence to a picket or shadow box style on the East side like I've seen in other parks, It would cut alot of wind from that side of the lake, and would help that site tremendously. It would be worth checking into, plus we can see if there is any progress with the stairs. After all we are "Grandfathered"in at that lake.

[tiqueman]

Id bet they won't go for the fence. It would block the view from the park. And if its taking this long to get 4 or 5 steps, I seriously doubt we will see anything else. Not trying to be neg. Just facing the facts. If we wernt grandfathered into that location, id bet sarasota county would have kicked us out by now.

[bill34207]

It's getting time to start thinking about which boats to prep and packs to charge. What classes are we planning to run this Sunday?

[sailr]

I'm bringing OPC Tunnel, LSH, P Mono

[sailr]

You are correct. Personally I think it's amazing they have been as accommodating as they have. Regarding the 'grandfathering', they couldn't find any previous record of that so they are going along with us because they like the activity. At least that's what the lady from the county told me. I'll call her today for an update on the steps.

Id bet they won't go for the fence. It would block the view from the park. And if its taking this long to get 4 or 5 steps, I seriously doubt we will see anything else. Not trying to be neg. Just facing the facts. If we wernt grandfathered into that location, id bet sarasota county would have kicked us out by now.

[sailr]

Remember, Bennet Park is in a totally different county. They may have completely different attitudes than Sarasota. Anyone that wants is welcome to contact them. Maybe they have another lake somewhere. Looking at the design for Bennet, I would doubt seriously we could be allowed there. As a former Parks and Recreation Director myself, I know I couldn't fit it in to a park that I had designed like Bennet. But go for it if you wish.

Being that Bennet park is in its early stages, there's a good chance they would allow it.
One other thing too, is if Sarasota county is willing to help out Ackerman with stairs, what else would they be willing to do to improve the facility.?
Heck If we changed the rail fence to a picket or shadow box style on the East side like I've seen in other parks, It would cut alot of wind from that side of the lake, and would help that site tremendously. It would be worth checking into, plus we can see if there is any progress with the stairs. After all we are "Grandfathered"in at that lake.

[sailr]

I'll continue to keep the membership rolls, etc. for now but on the 26th you should all discuss who is going to take it over. There has also been discussion about assigning different duties. Those of you who are relatively new don't know that we tried that before and it went nowhere so I did most of everything. Kudos to Chris and Bill for taking care of the retrieve boat! That was a big load off me. I also have a radio/cd player for the club but Ray Rankl said we didn't need it since he has one. Unfortunately, Ray hasn't been able to attend a few times. I would be willing to bring the unit with me on Sunday if somebody down that way would take responsibility for it and have it at our meets. I don't know if it has a mic input or not. I'll look. If not, it may have an AUX input and a small PA amp could be plugged into it I would think. The Unit I have has some pretty big and loud speakers! I know radio shack sells a small PA amp and a mic is pretty cheap.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3032567

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2348188&clickid=prod_cs

Maybe we could find something cheaper. Ebay? Craigslist?

Here's two in Bradenton:

http://sarasota.craigslist.org/ele/2434889725.html

http://sarasota.craigslist.org/ele/2434880367.html

[tiqueman]

Bennet Park is out. According to the county, the project went belly up. They are out of fundage and asking for donations to get it finished. They want no part of Boat Racing on thier pond. Typical manatee County, If its safe, fun, legal and draws crowds, you cant do it. The search continues...

I will check into a few other things I have in mind this week.

Jim, let us know your findings, as Im sure you will. And perhaps get a feel of what they think about our expansion and using that lake for larger events that would require more necessities. (ie restrooms or portolets, etc.... and parking and or course changes to allow us to run N/S when need be.)