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Turlock vote on bike track postponed

By MERRILL BALASSONE
mbalassone@modbee.com

last updated: July 23, 2008 02:15:32 PM

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Tuesday night's Turlock City Council meeting was a bummer for a group of teenage bikers who came to City Hall hoping to get the green light for a BMX-style bike park.

Councilman Ted Howze asked to delay the vote, now set for Aug. 26, until he returned from an Alaskan vacation.

Turlock High School student Dominick Rufo, 15, brought his electric blue dirt-jumping bike and an entourage of friends in support of the park. Dominick said he e-mailed DJ Fransen — owner of TurlockCityNews.com and one-time mayoral candidate — two years ago to help him get the process started.

"I was hoping to have (the bike park) by the summer," Dominick said, adding he was "disappointed" the vote was delayed for one absent councilmember.

Dirt jumper bike parks are short dirt tracks with hills and jumps. But not everyone is smitten with the idea.

The parcel, near West Christoffersen Parkway and North Walnut Road, is near a site set aside for a school. The school district has said it is worried that dust, noise and traffic congestion will hamper the future school and the district's newest school, Walnut Elementary Education Center, which is adjacent to the proposed park.

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