Cable Park Meeting follow up & City Plnng mtng 3/19

Pepi · Last edited by Pepi on Thu Mar 15, 12 10:21 am; edited 1 time in total

Chris Boyle and Forrest Rae are asking members of the kiting community and any other interested persons to please come tonite to join us in at an informal meeting/discussion to share community thoughts and impression on the current cablepark development plans.

If you are at all interested in seeing this development occur in a positive way for both board riders and water users, we encourage you to attend.

Again, this is an informal meeting to be held tonite/Wed, 630pm at the new 10 Speed Coffee location at the corner of 13th and State St.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=45.707835,-121.525008&spn=0.001545,0.003484&sll=45.707749,-121.525167&sspn=0.001545,0.003484&t=h&z=19
This is going to be an informational meeting to hangout and answer any questions you may have about the proposed development, cable park, and future city meetings.

For further information go to : http://www.facebook.com/groups/hoodrivercable/

Thank you
Pepi

Pepi · Thu Mar 15, 12 10:20 am

Just an fyi for those of you who did not attend, the meeting went very well, and there are some important action plans being followed up on by volunteer attendees.

For those of you who did not attend, or will not be able to attend the City Planning meeting on Monday March 19th 5:30 at Hood River City Hall (Seriously, just attending and signing in as a supporter of the cable park is worth it's weight in gold), here is a form letter that you can submit along with the two offices where you should submit your letter to:

What we are in need of are letters of support for this very enviromentally and rerecreationally friendly development.
If you could please take a moment to submit a personal letter to both of these organizations, it would be very helpful for our local community of supporters attempting to make sure that this can happen.

City of Hood River Planning Department
cindy@ci.hood-river.or.us
P.O. Box 27
Hood River, OR 97031

Port of Hood River
porthr@gorge.net
1000 East Port Marina Drive
Hood River, OR 97031

Cable Park Support Sample Letter

(Date)
Dear Commissioners:

I am writing to support the cable park in the Nichols Boat Basin.

The Boat Basin is an extraordinarily unique location for a cable park that can’t be replicated elsewhere. When the park is complete, the Hood River waterfront will be the only place in the world where people can kiteboard and ride at a full size cable park within shouting distance of each other. This is sure to bring many visitors from outside the region, bolster Hood River’s already legendary reputation for outdoor recreation, and influence both the sports of wakeboarding and kiteboarding.

Cable parks have been providing people with inexpensive and environmentally friendly recreation for 50 years. Currently there are over 200 cable parks worldwide, with 20 new parks opening every year. These parks aren’t simply a passing fad, novelty or an amusement park ride. They’re a place for children and families to enjoy an active day together in the outdoors, an escape for weekend warriors, and a venue for serious athletes to push the envelope. Kiteboarding legend Mauricio Abreu describes cable parks as, “another element, like wind is to kiteboarding and windsurfing.” In fact, the International Olympic Committee has shortlisted cable wakeboarding as a new event for the 2020 Summer Games, beating out sports like surfing.

Cable park systems are environmentally friendly; powered entirely by an electric motor smaller than the one in a Chevrolet Volt. A motor that runs at 55dB: quieter than normal conversation. The park in Hood River will allow up to nine people to ride simultaneously: the equivalent to nine ski boats, each of which burns an average five gallons of gas per hour. In contrast, the park will be powered sustainably, through onsite solar energy and offsetting renewable energy credits. In a single season, this park has the capacity to save over 65,000 gallons of fuel. And taking powerboats out of the water has the added benefit of preventing shoreline erosion caused by their wakes.

The cableway itself will be engineered by the inventor of cable parks to rigorous German TÜV standards, manufactured by his world-leading firm and assembled using local workers. Since the first cable park was constructed in 1961, there has never been an injury or death resulting from the failure of cableway equipment.

The latticework masts will blend into the landscape at a distance, leaving a nearly unobstructed view of the surrounding area. And the park will bring improvements to the Basin’s landscaping.

Lastly, the cable park will bring needed jobs to the community. From the park’s general manager to the executive chef at the restaurant, the Nichols Landing project will include over 50 jobs at the Basin.

I know you will support bringing these social, environmental, and economic benefits to Hood River by voting affirmatively for the cable park.

Sincerely,
(Your Name)
(Your Address)
(Your Phone #)

MKHR · Since 28 Aug 2007 116 Posts Hood River Stoked

Hey Pepi/Forrest,

I think another important thing to add to the letter and/or case to be made, is the mention of how the area will be visually improved as a result of this project. As it currently exists, the boat basin is a terrible eyesore with the fencing, dead trees, concrete expanse, dirt piles and general beat nature. It is embarrassing that the heart of Hood River in the summer is such a derelict run-down eyesore. This project is an opportunity to give some much-needed landscaping and aesthetic improvement to the area. Granted, there will be towers and cables, but a nice row of green poplar trees and some mindful landscaping is surely better that what is there right now.

You elude to the Nichols Landing Restaurant in a jobs context, but I think it is worth mentioning that the visual improvement as a result of Maui's project is really compelling........gone are the piles of dredge dirt and the Windwing crack-house that is likely to spontaneously combust one of these summer days.....

....my 02.

I will be there on the 19th.

Windance Crew · Since 18 Apr 2008 473 Posts Hood River Kite Shop Obsessed

Also worthwhile emphasizing in support of the cable park is it's popularity as a family activity.

In my letter to the city I mentioned how I saw that at the OWC park in Orlando that many families would arrive after school to spend quality time together doing a healthly sport.

airpadre · Since 15 Apr 2009 25 Posts

We will send one of these letters to the city! A cable park in Hood River sounds amazing...

Pepi · Fri Mar 16, 12 7:46 am

Thanks Dave and Thanks Brett for the support from each of your shops.

It's good to know that others understand that this is an opportunity not alone for just Hood River residents, but even more so for summer residents and annual visitors to Hood River.

Letters, letters, and attendance. It all adds up.