A number of years ago a group of individuals built a cement track just north of the baseball field in Callaway to be used for offroad motorsports, primarily go-kart racing at the time. However, the track has not been used for some time and has become overgrown with weeds and small trees. Now a new group of community members is stepping forward to revitalize the track and make it usable once again.

Lawrence Paulsen is spearheading the effort to provide young people with a safe place to drive their go-karts and motorcycles. He brought the idea to the Village Board, which he serves on, at their Aug. 8 meeting. As concerns were raised by some citizens in the community about the safety of the young riders on the streets, Paulsen said he was approached by some parents with questions about just where the kids could ride.

“The go-kart track was brought up, so we decided to look into it in terms of liability for the Village. In reaching out to our Village attorney we discovered that we kind of have a blanket of protection under state law,” Paulsen explained. “That was the main concern for the Village. Now that we have that some local parents have volunteered to get the area mowed and cleaned up, and they will maintain it.”

The only responsibility of the Village is to erect a sign that releases the Village of any liability. The attorney did outline the verbiage that is needed for the sign which makes clear that the property is for recreational use, and users do so at their own risk.

“They are not allowed to ride their motorcycles or go-karts to the track; we’re still frowning on that,” said Paulsen. “We hope it is something that is beneficial for them and gives them a place to ride safely.” Paulsen is working on getting the sign made, and once that is in place and the cleanup is done the track will be ready to use. The village will not charge a fee for usage of the track. “It’s nice to be able to provide some form of entertainment for kids, something for them to do. Farm kids can ride their motorcycles anywhere. Town kids don’t always have that opportunity,” Paulsen added. The Village Board did have to do their due diligence in researching all of the rules and regulations of reopening the track prior to making a decision. “Our city attorney, Julianna Jenkins, did the research on the law and found the state statute that allows municipal governments to offer facilities that people enter at their own risk for recreational purposes,” explained Board member Ken Pitkin. “So the Nebraska code does allow municipalities to offer that without liability. It’s a great way for us to be able to offer this.” Though the policies and procedures will not be formally adopted by the Board until the September meeting, the parent group was given permission to begin the cleanup and tree removal to get the track ready for use again.