The manager of the Old Spanish Trail Arena recommended Tuesday night that the horse racing track at the facility be closed due to unsafe conditions and other related issues. But members of the Grand County Council were unwilling to immediately take that action after some race track users pleaded with the county to keep the track open for warm-up purposes, if not for racing.

After hearing the comments from track users as well as some possible alternative solutions, the council voted unanimously to postpone making a decision for one month while staff and council representatives meet with user groups and the Grand County Recreation Special Service District to see if a viable solution can be hammered out.

Arena manager Jeff Foster told the council that the track is in disrepair and both the announcement booth and bleachers are unsafe for use and have been condemned. Various track users have violated their contracts and have been abusive to staff, Foster said.

“For a variety of reasons, we’re not sure [the track] benefits the county... other than being a cost,” Foster said. “A lot of racers are hard to deal with.”

He described the track as more of a liability than a community asset.

The Old Spanish Trail Arena lacks the funding and staff needed to keep the track in good repair, according to Foster. Abusive language and attitude on the part of track users have created “safety and well-being concerns for staff,” Foster said.

He said evidence of drug activity has also raised concerns among staff members “It is not uncommon for staff to notice remnants of drug and alcohol use in the track area,” Foster said.

Over the past many months, Foster said, locks have been cut, rents have gone unpaid, and horses have been abandoned at the facility. He said the Grand County Sheriff’s Department has been called in several times due to a number of other concerns related to the track. In addition, arena staff members were pressured to groom the track this winter while it was still frozen, resulting in damage to the grooming equipment, Foster said.

He said two attempts – announced on the arena’s website – to arrange meetings with user groups were met with no response from the user groups, and the recreation district had little comment about the situation when asked for opinions.

But several track users showed up at the council meeting, and several asked the council to keep the track open. They said that even if the track is closed for horse racing, it provides a needed venue for many horse enthusiasts to warm-up their horses.

Local equine enthusiast Ethel Krist, told the council she as been associated with the arena for “50 some years.” Krist said the track at the arena was never intended to make “gobs” of money, but rather to bring people to Moab and to create recreation opportunities for local residents.

The community does not need a “great” track, Moab resident Danalee Welch said. Welch, who spoke to the council on behalf of four groups, including Grand County 4-H, which often use the arena track, said that her groups do not race but they do use the track for pleasure riding and warm-up purposes. She said the track provides a “safe place” for her young daughter to horseback ride outside.

Moab resident Art Head told council members that individuals who own expensive horses and have spent $10,000 to 50,000 on training them are not going to risk injury on a substandard track. But, Head told the council that all the different horse shows use the track for warm-up, and he asked council members to keep it open until a final solution is reached.

“County employees should not have to suffer abuse as part of their jobs,” council member Bob Greenberg said. He suggested removing the announcement booth and bleachers and keeping the track open.

Council member Gene Ciarus said perhaps the recreation district could be induced to pay for portable bleachers that could be moved to other venues when needed. Council member Chris Baird agreed to pursue discussions with the district board.