1. No mention of the shoots that will be there other than the grand. 2. No IDNR Director. 3. The governor was a no show for the second time. 4. No lease agreement in place now nor is there a guarantee that there will be a lease agreement. 5. No guarantee that shooting will be done at all in 2016 or 2017. 6. No guarantee there will be a budget before or after April 15. 7. No guarantee that if there is a budget the place will not be shuttered. 8. No mention if they will be able to use the $2.1 million HOF building. 9. No mention of hiring a director for the WSRC. ______________________________________________________________ So what is in the message delivered? Gipson may still have his $2500 a week job with the ATA. He may still be one of the trustees for the HOF that squandered the $2.1 million for the building that is now owned by Illinois. He still thinks this is a fantastic direction.
What announcement. There is nothing on the ATA site front page. And I can see why. The memorandum of understanding contains no agreement terms. Heffley said that’s because “we cannot negotiate the terms before the April 15 date. So will the fool in charge please tell me what will happen if they can't reach a negotiated agreement.
All that was said is (TRUST ME). Now we know who is supplying the kool-ade. It is very hard to trust any thing that has to do with the state of ILL. Their past record is hard to justify placing trust in them. How did we ever end up in this cluster gang bang? Roger C.
The State of Illinois did not commit because they cannot commit, with Elections coming in November no body in their right mind would want their signature on anything that could even remotely suggest adding to the State's already fractured financial situation ... There was nothing said for anyone to hang their hat on so for now people can only sit back and wait until nothing happens ... If someone, anyone pays the tab, the State has nothing to lose and they will be assured of that legally, this you can hang your hat on ... That being said either the ATA or the Co Sponsor will have to guarantee the State that the State is excluded from any financial obligation for what ever time period they agree on ... The negotiations could go on for quite awhile unless concessions are made to benefit the State because they have nothing to lose one way or the other ... The ATA has showed no back bone by agreeing to agree to anything (nothing really) rather than agree to nothing and close the negotiations ... The legal document (lease) the ATA has in hand is not enforceable and the State knew that when they made that agreement, anything that has been said since means even less and none of it is enforceable ... "IF" there is a grand in Sparta, there will not be enough people to make it worth while opening the gates for ... The ATA does not need a ED because he has done little to nothing to this point, so they are wasting $2500 a week on having Gipson the" talking head" hang around ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
If the State of Illinois had granted another lease at that meeting, so what, they didn't honor the initial lease so why would they be forced to honor any new lease ..? The State had pretty much exempted itself from any legal actions, when to impose the actions would only add to the States deficit as it has for the past 11 years ... The court can look at past practices and clearly see and predict what would happen if the State (IDNR) hosted the grand at the WSRC .... The State wants to be separated from all ties with the facility to prevent adding to the financial strains the State of Illinois is subject to if they are involved ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
I seriously doubt anyone with much common sense and can think logically would consider investing in such a loser as the WSRC has proven itself to be, but you never know you know .. ! Trumps business is to make money not gamble it away and he is good at what he does, even his loses have turned out to be gains ... The ATA was desperate for a place to go and the only place left was the WSRC in Sparta, Ill after other who made offers were treated like a bastard step child ... The ATA got what they bargained for, the State turned out to be the big loser in the deal and that will not change any time soon if for no other reason than location, location, and or location ... If accurate numbers had been given about attendees and visitors the State never would of bought the package and laid out the money to construct the facility and it gets worse every year ... Based on all of the tabulations and claims that have been broad cast they need 3 x's as many shooters to attend or they need to triple the amount each one pays per event to come close to breaking even, which would only drive more shooters away ... The WSRC is not going to pay for itself or become self supporting, let alone make a profit any time in the future if it or any one is depending on trap shooters (Trapshooting) to balance the scales ... There were a lot of people who had it figured out before they turned the first shovel of dirt, to this day some still think all is going as expected and doing well (new math .? ) ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
It looks like no budget will be forthcoming as it will be part of a democrat platform in the November 2016 election.