MOODY — City attorney Bill Weathington, along with most of the City Council in Moody, admits he’d never heard of “drifting” as recently as a month ago.

“I’m trying to catch up,” he told the Council.

The rest of the city of Moody is attempting to do the same — Monday night, the City Council held an hour-long work session concerning U-Drift, a licensed business currently located in the old Alabama Auto Auction location along U.S. 411. The council members plan to hold another work session — prior to Monday’s regular meeting — on-site, to see the operation for themselves.

The site features free arcade games, go-karts, “rock crawling” and a track set up for “drifting,” a driving technique in which a driver intentionally over-steers and causes his rear wheels to lose traction through sharp turns.

It’s that portion of the business that’s caused the concern — the two biggest issues raised Monday night were the noise and the safety of those involved.

“I like drifting,” Mayor Joe Lee said. “My concern is about those 3,000 people who live within earshot of it. Those are the people I’m concerned about, the people I want to take care of and protect. They’re the ones that wear my telephone out when the noise level kicks up.”

Christopher Nunneley, the CEO of U-Drift, says he and his staff have experimented with a number of different sound barriers since a “sneak preview” caused an uproar in the city on the night of Saturday, Oct. 17. He says the business may employ hay bales, which he says will provide a safe barrier and decrease the decibel level as much as 13 decibels.

“What I would like to do is double-stack the entire perimeter with hay bales,” he said. “And then I’ve got one section where we divide the skid pad between what used to be barrel racing and the drifting. I would like to have one stack of hay in that – right now, we just have orange cones. If we can get some of the sound up close, that will help us more further away.”

Additionally, Nunneley proposed operating only during daytime hours, in an effort to decrease the nuisance. On his proposed schedule, the track would operate from Noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday and 2-4 p.m. Sunday.

“I want it to be a relationship where it works for both of us,” he said. “That’s why it makes no sense to me to be open at night. I would love to be open 24-7, in a perfect world, but we all have to live with reality.”

Less clear was how to address the safety issue — though Nunneley says he believes the risk to the busy highway beyond his gates is nominal, others weren’t so convinced.

“The little bit I know about drifting, these cars can pull in,” Councilman Paul Johnson said. “If (fellow councilman Bobby Clements) wants to pull his Honda in and do some drifting, it doesn’t have roll-bars, doesn’t have anything. What are the chances of him flipping?

“It’s just dangerous to me. To me it should be at Talladega or Barber, somewhere that’s made for safety. A hay bale couldn’t stop a go-kart, much less a 3,000-pound car.”

Nunneley said he gained no advantage from any kind of catastrophic accident and said his business would require a number of prerequisites before allowing anyone on the track.

“They have to register with us,” he said. “They have to sign a waiver. They have to be of legal age. They have to pass our tech check for their car, which includes a sound check, our limit is 92 decibels at 40 feet for their car at high throttle — plus they have to be sober, pass the breathalyzer; have to wear a helmet, have to wear a seatbelt, have to go through our specific course, which is outlined with crash barriers, and there’s only one car at a time.”

Weathington also raised the issue of zoning. Currently, U-Drift is located in a building zoned B-3 commercial for “indoor entertainment.” According to Weathington, “drifting” doesn’t meet the city’s qualifications.

“‘Indoor entertainment,’ obviously is something done in an enclosed building, including ‘movie theaters, playhouses, etc.,’” Weathington said. “We have a definition of ‘outdoor entertainment,’ which is not allowed in B-3. ‘Outdoor entertainment’ says ‘a commercial establishment providing spectator entertainment in open or partially enclosed or screened facilities,’ all of which sound like what he’s doing up there, ‘including sports arenas, racing tracks, drive-in theaters, amusement parks, etc.’ I think that definition is clearly closer to what he’s doing than anything else allowed in B-3.”

Nunneley noted that the zoning law does have a special exemption for recreation, but Weathington said such an exception would have to be granted by the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustments.

“Now, recreation is defined as ‘a commercial establishment providing recreational or sports activities to participants, including bowling alleys, billiard parlors, video game centers, ice-or-roller-skating rinks, driving ranges, miniature golf courses, conventional golf courses, swimming pools, tennis courts and other commercial recreational and sports activities,’” he said. “I don’t know if that covers drifting.”

Nunneley offered a short-term deal to Lee and the council: allow him to open on a trial basis, to see if U-Drift can solve some of these issues between now and the end of 2009. He can then re-apply for a license for 2010, with that information in hand. He offered to waive his right to sue if the city would grant him that request.

“That gives the citizens feedback, that gives me a chance to operate and that gives the ZBA and the council a chance to give everything a fair hearing for 2010,” he said. “Obviously, we’re all incentive to make the citizens happy, to make U-Drift happy, the council happy, and I’m just trying to come up with something that works for all of the above.”

Whether he and U-Drift will have that chance is still unclear, however — the council and the Zoning Board of Adjustments are expected to attend Monday’s work session to monitor the noise level both in and outside of the track.

“It appears to me you’re (Nunneley) trying to do the right thing,” Lee said. “Every time I’ve talked to you it’s been about trying to get things fixed and doing the right thing and be a good business partner for the city of Moody. I understand you’re trying to do that.

“Our job as City Council members is to represent all the people – including the businesspeople – out there.”