TAMWORTH — Club Motorsports plans to build a motorsports country club on Mt. Whittier in Tamworth remained an item in the news over the past year.

The project includes a 3.1-mile European style racetrack, or road course, along with a country club, and garages for members. Since the project was announced in 2002, townspeople have been divided over whether or not they want to see it built. Some say the project will benefit the town, providing new jobs and bringing more visitors. Others are worried about potential water pollution and the possibility that the noise of the racing will affect the quality of life in town and that the problems it will create far outweigh any benefit.

Club Motorsports president Lloyd Dahmen participated in a number of local events, from the town's Fourth of July parade to local cruise nights at Subway in West Ossipee.

In the two years since he took over as president, Dahmen has sought to present an image of a company involved and interested in the local community. Although he does not live in the area, he has made regular trips to Tamworth not only to visit the property and meet with town officials, but to attend local events to personally present Club Motorsports contributions to local organizations. But much of the news about the organization focused on continuing struggles to meet town permitting requirements for the project.

Club Motorsports has received state an federal permits for the project, but has not yet received a special use permit from the town, which is required when a construction project affects wetlands.

The company initially chose not to apply for a town wetlands permit, arguing it had already met the much more stringent requirements of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But a group of Tamworth residents, under the name Focus: Tamworth, sued to make the company comply with town regulations, and in December 2005 a court found in their favor and ordered the company to apply for a town permit.

In 2006, Club Motorsports took a two-pronged approach to this problem by both appealing the court's decision to N.H. Supreme Court, and going through the process of apply for the town special use permit.

After review by the planning board, and conservation commission, and a public hearing that took two long evenings, the planning board denied the company's permit application in November. That decision has been appealed in Carroll County Superior Court, and the appeal of the original decision requiring the company to apply for the permit is also still under appeal in supreme court.

In December, Club Motorsports filed a new application for driveways, roads and access ways to access the property. No mention is made in the application of the proposed track or any other facilities planned for the land. That application has been accepted for review by the planning board, and a decision on it is expected in the next two months.

Meanwhile, Focus: Tamworth has challenged the company's permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, arguing that the Corps failed to adopt the recommendations of the sound engineer the government hired to review the project. That appeal was filed in U.S. District Court in Concord in October.