July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

X-Plex concert a go (5/6/05)

Planning commission approves May 14 event

By By Rachelle Haughn-

People holding tickets for a Saturday, May 14 concert scheduled at X-Plex Extreme Competition Park can breathe a sigh of relief — the concert is a go.

The large crowd in the Portland Fire Station meeting room Thursday evening erupted into applause and cheers after the Portland Planning Commission approved an amendment to the final plan for the park, allowing concerts and other events to be held there.

Park developer and rural Portland resident Glynn Barber was all smiles after the decision was made.

“I feel supported by this community, like I’ve felt all along,” Barber said after Thursday’s meeting. “It’s a wonderful thing that (the commission) allowed this to happen.”

The Drowning Pool concert, scheduled for May 14, had to be approved by the planning commission before it could be held because it was not listed in the final plans for the park.

Barber said ticket sales came to a halt Saturday when the community learned the concert was in jeopardy of being canceled.

Commission members unanimously approved the amendment Thursday, which adds four-wheeler and snowmobile racing, live concert series, an arcade, auto circle track racing, United Rockcrawling and Off-Road Challenge events, skateboarding, clinics and safety training, to the park.

Before voting on the amendment, commission member Bob Loucks asked if each time Barber added an event to the park it would have to be approved by the commission. If so, Barber might feel as if he can’t do anything at the park without the commission’s approval, Loucks said.

“I feel like we’re splitting hairs here,” Jay County Development Corporation executive director Robert Quadrozzi said.

The land and spec building lease agreement Barber has with the Portland Economic Development Corporation has several protective covenants and restrictions, as do all of the businesses in the Industrial Park, he said.

The lease agreement was signed Thursday, city attorney Bill Hinkle said after the meeting.

Those restrictions allow the PEDC to govern what happens at the park, beyond what the commission can control. Restrictions on Industrial Park businesses include among other things dust control, noise and flashing signs. If anything goes on at the park that the PEDC doesn’t approve of, the group has enough power to stop it, he said.

Jay County resident Lisa Holcomb was one of only a handful of audience members who spoke Thursday evening.

Holcomb said her 14-year-old daughter, McKenzie, has tickets to the concert and has been looking forward to attending. Holcomb said she feels comfortable sending her daughter to the concert because she knows Barber won’t bring music with a large amount of profanity to the community because his reputation is on the line.

The night of the concert, the park will open at 6 p.m. Other bands set to perform are Dry Kill Logic, Opiate for the Masses and 10 Years. The show will start at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets went on sale April 22.

The stage will be located northeast of the spec building, which is located east of Qualtech Tool and Engineering and Moser Engineering.

For this concert, the stage and equipment will be rented from a company in Berne. Parking is available in the grassy area next to the concert area. There is a fee for parking.[[In-content Ad]]
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