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River Falls Race Track,” which in two weeks has more than 1,000 members, and an online petition, which as of Monday, Aug. 8 had more than 1,100 signatures. The members are from Ellsworth, Martell, River Falls and the surrounding local area, Kretzmann said.

When Kretzmann and his wife spent the first night at their new home, they sat on the front deck enjoying their new-found peace.

“I legitimately thought I lost my hearing for a moment, because I heard nothing,” Kretzmann said. “No bugs, no road noise, no animals. Tabitha started to cry. It was the first kind of peaceful moment that we’ve experienced in a living situation.”

The night he heard about the proposed development, which would light up the night sky like a small city just north of his property, he couldn’t sleep. Nor the next night.

“It would literally ruin everything that we moved to this community for,” Kretzmann said. “Our daughters cried. Everything that we’ve learned to love here, our plans for the future, all of a sudden were a big question mark, what does that mean for us? My son said, ‘we’re going to move, right?’ This is our forever home. We have no plans of moving again.”

Kretzmann said he’s not naïve; he knows people have a right to do with their property what they want, that development happens and he knows the Moodys have been trying to sell that property for years. But out of 100 projects he could come up with, he’d score the proposed track as the worst possible.

“It will have a negative impact on everyone within 10 miles,” Kretzmann opined.

“The light pollution, the noise pollution, the literal pollution to the Kinni and woodlands. It might sound silly since I’m considered an ‘out-of-town’ person, but I’m afraid of in- creased crime, travc issues. 770

th is horse country and they don’t do well with loud noises.”

After the citizen meeting with Krzyzaniak and his team, Kretzmann said Kinnick Development Group realtor David Robson approached him and insinuated that the value of his house will decrease if he doesn’t sell.

Kinnick Development Group did not return a request for comment prior to the Aug. 8 press deadline.

Kretzmann, as a township resident, is frustrated that he has no vote or say whether or not the property gets annexed into the city, should Krzyzaniak request it.

“Everyone in the township that will be affected the most has no vote,” he said. “It’s alarming and frustrating and why I’m encouraging people to be so vocal about it. With the city and county supervisors specifically. Hav ing no representation in this process with no vote is one of the most frustrating pieces.”

Which is another factor in starting the Facebook page and petition. His goal for the page is simple: To disseminate accurate information so that people can decide for themselves how they feel about the project.

“My personal goal was to get information out there,” Kretzmann said. “I recruited some people to help moderate the group. People are people and it’s social media. The last thing I want to do is create misinformation, wrong information. I want it to be a matter of what is being planned, what is the process, how is the city, town and county involved and how does it all work together.”

The goal is to bring awareness and disseminate information so that if people want to act, they can do that.

“I understand the pace at which local government works, it can be fast or slow,” he added. “The last thing I would want is members of the community to be unheard or unaware at that moment.

'Give local ovcials your thoughts." Another locally organized group is pass- ing out flyers and door-knocking, he said. He hopes to organize a public information session soon, to provide people with information on the project, action steps, guidance on how to write letters to ovcials and take part in public hearings, should the project go before River Falls Plan Commission or City Council.

So far, Kretzmann feels good about what has been accomplished so far.

“A ton of people had no idea this was happening,” he said. “What a tragedy that would be if all of a sudden ground was breaking.”

When he ran for Pierce County Board (District 8, against Dean Bergseng), he said he learned that people need to get involved, show up, and ask questions.

“I’ve witnessed a ton of people that didn’t know this was happening,” he said. “The amount of people that are asking and wanting to help is almost overwhelming. Whether you’re for it or not, I want transparency for government at all levels. They need to be held accountable and they work for us. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum.”

Kretzmann also shared that he’s taken a lot of heat from people online because he’s newer to the community. He gets called “a transplant” quite often, and more so in the past week-and-a-half. He said he gets asked why he cares so much. He’s quick to say that many fifth-generation people have given him “amazing insight.”

“Is there some kind of measurement on how much someone can care based on how long they live there?” he asked.

Even though he wasn’t successful in unseating Bergseng, who also opposes the proposed automotive club, Kretzmann said many positives came out of his campaign. He met his neighbors and people involved in township and county government.

“I knew like one neighbor in St. Paul, the next-door neighbor,” he said. “The rest of my neighbors were a revolving door of people. We’ve been able to experience the sense of community out here more than we ever did in Minnesota.”

In fact, when he first moved to Riv er Falls, he ditched his car in a snowstorm. He was astounded when his neighbor was there right away with a tractor, ready to help. “We help our neighbors and they help us,” he marveled. “I’m almost 47 and I’m experienc- ing this for the first time." His enthusiasm has to be tempered with reason, patience and planning, he admitted. He needs more facts and so do his neighbors. Krzyzaniak had said July 20 that he planned to hold an informational meeting Aug. 22. That meeting has since been postponed with no makeup date given.

“The Facebook page, even if you’re for the track, it’s for information and there are so many question marks still. I want it to be a clearing house of accurate, solid confirmed information. Also what we’ve heard, and action steps and who to contact.'

To join the group, search for Stop the River Falls Race Track on Facebook. A new website, separate from Kretzmann’s page, has also been published by the Stop the River Falls Race Track Coalition at stoptheracetrack. com The petition can be found on change.org