I've been spending a lot of time in the Ossipee Lake area this summer and recently had a chance to talk to a few locals about the new track situation up there (My stickered-up H2-yellow Suburban daily driver/race hauler tends to be a conversation starter at places like gas stations). Anyway, they saw my truck, asked me about it, told them I used it to tow a race car trailer, and they asked me what I knew about the new track. They proceeeded to give me a real education about the local opposition to this thing. I've copied a few editorial letters I came across in the local free paper, 'The Conway Daily Sun' and some related web addresses. I haven't seen any of this discussed here in this forum and thought it would be worthwhile to toss it out here for everyone to chew on. Seems like there is more local opposition to this thing than many of us realized. Letters to the editor follow, with the web addresses at the bottom.

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Citizens of Tamworth need to wake up

—To the editor:
CMI has gone too far — again.
First it was the backhanded way they used to remove and negate local town ordinance control of their operation by sponsoring SB 458 and getting it quietly passed without notice. Now they want to negate our right to vote!
At the Tamworth Planning Board meeting last July 21, CMI demanded that two of our town's elected representatives on the planning board recuse themselves from participating in any matter before the board involving CMI business. These are our elected representatives who express and promote the views of the electorate of Tamworth. Just because CMI doesn't like their views and actions does not give them the right to remove our voting rights to have our elected representatives conduct business on our behalf. Next they will be demanding that some of our state and national senators and representatives recuse themselves if they don't agree with CMI tactics and goals. What is voter representation all about if our elected officials cannot represent us?
CMI has even gone so far as to ask the court to slap an injunction on our two elected representatives "to enjoin the defendants from participating in any way in the consideration of the Plaintiff's application," et cetera.
When is the Town of Tamworth going to realize that CMI wants only to use us for their own personal profit and doesn't give a d___ about the town or its people!
Citizens of Tamworth: Wake up. We are being used!

Joe Binsack
Tamworth

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How will CMI come up with the money?
*To the editor:
It's too bad the residents of Tamworth have been forced to spend thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars debating a racetrack that probably can't be built.
It's a shame Tamworth has been divided into pro-track and anti-track factions by a project that is simply too expensive to build and was an ill-conceived business concept from the beginning.
Is anyone else wondering how Stephan Condodemetraky, CEO of Club Motorsports Inc. (CMI), thinks he can raise $40 to $50 million to build CMI's proposed racetrack development?
CMI's projected costs have skyrocketed since the company first announced its plans for a $14 million development in July 2003. Even if CMI eventually succeeds in obtaining all the necessary federal, state and local permit approvals necessary to begin construction, it is not at all clear that CMI can raise the necessary money to finance its proposed race track.
After being forced to redesign its track to minimize wetlands impact, CMI announced in April 2004 that the total project cost had doubled to $28 million. Now it appears that the total project cost is going to be over $45 million.
Craig Lizotte of ESS Group, CMI's engineering firm, has reportedly told Condodemetraky that the cost of building CMI's redesigned racetrack will be above $32 million. When you add other upfront costs outlined in CMI's original business plan, the total cost of CMI's proposed race track development skyrockets to over $45 million.
Haley & Aldrich, an engineering consulting firm that has extensively reviewed CMI's new track design, estimates that 500,000 cubic yards of bedrock would need to be blasted and over one million cubic yards of soil would need to be moved. James Barrett of Haley & Aldrich estimates it would cost $15 million just to fracture the rock which would still have to be excavated, hauled and crushed before it could be placed elsewhere on-site, or trucked off-site at additional cost.
How does CMI plan to raise that much money? CMI’s original plan was to raise $5 million from equity investors and $15 million from member initiation fees. CMI targeted selling 1000 memberships during 2003 and 2004 at an average price of $15,000 each.
But between July 2003 and March 2004, CMI only sold 225 memberships at an average price estimated at $4,000 to $5,000 (CMI's current list price for a membership is $5,000). That’s only about $1 million from initiation fees so far.
Even if CMI manages to sell the remaining 775 memberships at $10,000 each (twice CMI's current Bronze membership price), that’s only another $8 million. CMI would still need to raise over $37 million from equity investors.
Can Condodemetraky convince new equity investors that CMI's race track will generate enough profits over the next 10 years to generate a positive return on their $37 million? It’s unlikely. Under CMI’s original investment model, a $5 million equity investment yielded a modestly attractive positive 27% return over 10 years. But that $5 million isn't enough anymore * it has ballooned to $37 million after the track redesign. Unfortunately, a $37 million investment yields equity investors a unacceptable negative 3.4 percent return over 10 years.
Investors will also see that none of CMI’s management team have any prior experience building, marketing or operating a racetrack.
Over the past 18 months, CMI has only raised an estimated $4 million in total capital from founders, equity financings, land mortgages, and membership initiation fees. In April 2004, CMI said it had commitments for about half of a new $3 million Series B equity round, but these funds appear to be in escrow and unavailable to CMI until the company has all necessary permit approvals to start track construction.
My calculations indicate that CMI has probably spent $3 to $4 million to date on land acquisitions, management salaries, public relations, marketing and sales, lobbyists, lawyers, Web site development, racetrack design, engineering consultants and permitting consultants.
If my calculations are correct, CMI may soon run out of money to pay critical expenses. It’s unclear how CMI can continue funding its current level of operations through Nov. 13, the date by which the Army Corps of Engineers must issue their decision on CMI's wetlands permit application. CMI will also soon need additional funds to refund deposits already paid to reserve 27 dates during 2004.
Condodemetraky doesn't have long to raise the necessary $40 to $50 million, either, since CMI has promised to refund members their initiation fees if the racetrack isn't open for racing by Dec. 31, 2005.

Alex Moot
President, Chocorua Lake Association


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