Headworks Update

By Dan Nitzel, NOHVA Business Manager

Have you noticed the port-a-potties at Headworks?  After the spring jamboree it was noted that people were pooping in the parking area.  My half coon hound (or poop hound?) dog Brandy sniffed out several deposits of it and obligingly rolled in them to let me know of her find. 

After picking up some trash, I discovered that poop was ALL OVER the parking lot.  Apparently people had problems finding their way to the toilets in the Weir Park.  After some discussion among Headworks Chapter officers, we decided that this was not healthy and we decided to order some portable toilets.  The toilets will run NOHVA about $1000 a year, not including the $1200 toilet rental for the jamborees.  

There has been some discussion that maybe we should build some concrete toilets for the parking area.  The current concrete toilets in the camp grounds at Headworks cost Loup Power about $30,000 each.  We don’t really have the funding for one of these and also we don’t have the man power to clean them.  The portables get cleaned and emptied weekly, and restocked with TP, which sounds like a pretty good deal to the chapter officers who would probably get stuck with the task of cleaning the concrete ones.  The portables seem to be a more reliable answer and Niemann's Port-a-Pot of Columbus does a great job of servicing them. 

We hope people are enjoying them and we hope that some of the non-members who use the area will support us as well with a membership. 

While we have not had any problems, please note that if the portable toilets suffer an in-tolerable amount of vandalism, we will remove them.  There was some confusion that they were blown up by vandals a few weeks ago.  After some investigation with the sheriffs department, some youths did set off an explosive device in a toilet, but the incident occurred in the Genoa City park.  The youths were apprehended as two deputies were sitting in the park at the same time of the incident.  There was no damage to the stainless steel privy or the concrete building, how ever the youths are in a considerable amount of trouble.  Blowing things up on with explosives is a much higher concern now after 911. 

In another note we would like to thank the riders who have been helping with picking up the trash.  We have received some requests for trash cans at the area instead of dumpsters.  While we appreciate the input, someone would have to empty the trash cans into the dumpsters.  We’ve had a few very kind volunteers offer to empty the trash cans, but we already have someone to empty the dumpsters and Bud’s Sanitation does a REALLY GOOD JOB of keeping them empty.  I’ve watched people stand within five feet of a dumpster and drop their trash on the ground and I think we would still have a problem with people dropping trash next to the trash cans.

On another note, we hope to have some sand dumped into the area around the entrance trail again before clean up.  A while back I received a request to fill the entrance trail with new sand so that people would not get their ATVs dirty when there is mud on the trail.  To complete a project like this along the entire length of entrance trail, the existing fence would have to be removed, we would have to hire someone to haul sand to the trail, and someone would have to be hired to come in and smooth it out.  The problem is that every time some one travels down the trail, sand has a tendency to stick to the undersides of fenders and people end up taking the sand home with them.  The ultimate solution to clean up the entrance trail is to pack the trail down with rock or pave it, but I’m sure people would end up complaining that the new surface is wearing down their paddle tires.

In addition to asking to dump some sand into the entrance trail, people have requested that the muddy areas in the parking lot be drained or filled.  I know some people enjoy these mud pits, however some what them gone.  To those mudders who enjoy the pits, I’ve happened across a time or two where people dumped their RV tanks in those pits, maybe that’s where they get that peculiar smell?  We will look into filling these mud holes with sand, but to make a drainage path for them is may not be feasible as it would take a considerable amount of earth work. 

Other than the poop problems, dirty entrance trail and the mud in the parking area, things have been going very well at Headworks.  There have been very few complaints or enforcement issues at the Sheriff’s Department.  This speaks well for an area that has little or no supervision.  Most areas like this in other parts of the nation experience considerably more problems.  We are truly blessed with people who exhibit responsible behavior and try to keep the irresponsible riders in line.  Thanks to everyone who ride there who help make the area work so well!!

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This page was updated on Monday, February 19, 2007