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Scott Knisely
Mill Hall
I am Scott Knisely, the "interested party" identified in the Dec. 5, 2024 Express article. Due to the paper's word constraint policy, and advice of Attorney Robert Englert, I cannot respond to all the misinformation printed in The Express and allowed to be spewed out, by the cyberbullies, on the Clinton County Speedway website. However, all statements about us wanting to "shut the racetrack down" is completely fake news.
The current situation for township residents is that the races are louder and longer than the agreed upon hours stated in the old township ordinance. During the meeting, promoter Jason McCahan stated that the races have never run over the times during his tenure. This was an untrue statement. A formal complaint was filed by a resident, now plaintiff, on July 30, 2021, regarding the race ending later than 11:45 p.m. McCahan lost the appeal that included $500 in fees. The township received additional formal complaints. One in 2022, they say they could not find and two more this year, they chose to ignore.
The promoter and the supervisors' attorney ignore the fact that Pennsylvania adopted a Nuisance Law, which exempts Interstate Traffic and Commercial Transport Vehicles. Excessive noise from racetracks is not permitted and has held up in the courts. The Bloomsburg racetrack case proves that.
Some drivers are from outside central Pennsylvania and travel from 2-3 hours away. One travels from Vermont. The promoter stated the reason for the later 7 p.m. start time was to give those drivers time to get here. Thus, the reason they start later and end later. Therefore, hundreds of residents are impacted to satisfy the desires of a few. This does not seem rational to most.
The ordinance also states in Section II, (2), an evergreen vegetating screen shall be planted prior to the racing season for noise attenuation. The vegetation screen was removed and never replaced. Hence, a believed reason for increased noise.
Since the township has no "noise ordinance," the promoter believes the rules do not apply to him. Data shows if the promoter had enforced the muffler requirement, the decibel levels would have immediately dropped 8-9 decibels per car. Implementing this one change would probably satisfy the noise issue. The Express stated their research showed a typical car today has a decibel level of 70-90 decibels. What they did not say was that is a car traveling at 60 miles per hour. There is not a road in the township with a speed limit that high except Interstate 80.
Supervisor Chappell went on a rant stating selected portions of the proposal, provided by our attorney, were ridiculous and the reason he ran for office was to prevent things like this. Unfortunately, he did not realize that the proposal provided was a combination of the Bloomsburg ordinance and the Pa. Nuisance Law. In the spirit of trying to avoid legal actions, Attorney Englert clearly provided the information, in a PDF format, so as to avoid starting from scratch when we were supposed to meet at the Special Meeting in January 2025.
When we were notified, the informed Speedway Facebook caretaker encouraged people to pack the meeting. Along with personal threats, my attorney rightfully said if I went it would be more disruptive. I emailed all plaintiffs and suggested, based on Facebook comments, they not attend the meeting due to safety concerns. The end result was the fans heard what they wanted and the township attorney stated "it is a civil matter" and "we are not involved." They will see our attorney believes differently.
After the meeting, some race fans decided to celebrate with honking horns and shouting obscenities, which was caught on my home security system and was preserved for court if necessary.
Since the Express articles came out, I have received calls from citizens, and verified with a county commissioner, that most people believe the Clinton County Fairgrounds are connected to the taxpayers and run by the county, as is the golf course next door. It is not.
Citizens have said they have not complained about the noise in the past, because they believed it benefits the taxpayers.
It does not.
The Clinton County Fair is a privately owned non-profit and the county receives no real estate tax revenue from the fairgrounds or racetrack.
When does common sense kick in? If a homeowner has a loud heating pump that disrupts the neighbors frequently and a fix is available for $200, why would you not make the upgrade to be a good neighbor? The IMCA, that the racetrack operates under, has a muffler requirement that the promoter chooses to ignore, because the township has no noise ordinance. The IMCA has mufflers designed that can be installed for under $200 per car. The IMCA rules were again mandated for the 2025 season. Why would the promoter not be required to implement the rule?
I ask you to decide who the unreasonable citizens are here.
Finally, based on the township's actions to date and no response by the fair board and racetrack, Attorney Englert said it appears he will be preparing for a protracted legal action and we are advised not comment further or attend any further township meetings.