Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

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Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Ralph Morrison » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:01 pm

This is the proposal I wrote up. Feel free to offer any suggestions. The liability waiver is the one that Jason added in the other thread. I was going to take out the part about animals.


1/10/09

To Kerry Gee and whom it may concern;


This is a letter of proposal from the members of the Utah Windriders Association to the owners of the land of Richardson Flats.

The members of UWA wish to pursue their sport of snow kiting on Richardson Flats and understand that it will be with your permission that allows that to happen.

UWA is a non-profit organization that has been established for more than 10 years. One of our mission statements is to preserve access to quality water and snow kiting sites. Richardson Flats is considered a quality site and is the best site in the Park City area.

We are a tight knit group that considers safety as a number one priority and look out for each other. We understand that mis-use of our sites will jeopardize future use.

We will commit to keeping the site free from trash. Some of our sites could be considered as re-claimed, they were such a mess with trash, nails and glass that they were un-usable, our members volunteered their time and cleaned them up. Littering our sites would be an insult to their efforts, it just doesn't happen. We will commit to picking up other incidental litter on an ongoing basis.

We offer to post ‘keep off’ signs to remind kiters to stay off the remediated area. The remediated area is actually a very small percentage of the kiting area and is in a wind shadow from the dirt piles, so we don’t believe that anyone would need to go on that area anyway.

The members of UWA that intend to kite at Richardson will sign the included liability waiver. Getting signatures from other kiters would be an ongoing process. We have seen destination visitors that include kiting in their ski vacation out at Richardson and Richardson is mentioned as a good site on the major international kite forum. We'd like Richardson to be accessable to locals and visitors. Richardson is a draw to Park City and businesses will benefit from it being open.

Allowing kiting at Richardson is good public relations. It fits with the recreational nature of Park City. It is colorful and highly visible, and adds another dimension to Park City's tourism.

We ask you to give us a chance and let us prove that we can use your property responsibly.

Yours Truly
Last edited by Ralph Morrison on Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Mark Johnson » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:44 pm

Good job Ralph! It sounds good to me.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Don Losee » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:39 pm

Well done.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Kenny » Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:52 pm

Ralph,

Excellent letter!

I have a few suggestions for you to consider:

1. As part of the clean-up, we would promote 2 days that we would work as a group on their land, picking up trash. We would also document the clean-up days with photographs.
2. We would notify the general kiting community that a waiver is necessary in order to kite at Richardson Flats. We would self-police the area and ask visitors to sign a waiver of liability in order to kite at Richardson Flats (we could carry copies in our car).
3. If the terms suggested are not acceptable, under what terms would it be acceptable for kiters to access Richardson Flats?

Once again, my sincere thanks for taking the lead. We all owe you. Is there any gear that you need?

Kenny
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Jason Klein » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:51 am

A couple more suggestions:

Third paragraph should have a reference that we have been kiting there for X number of years without incident.

Fourth paragraph, "ours sites" should be "our sites".

Fifth paragraph should be re-worded. The way it is now it reads as if we have only done this once. While this may or may not be the case, it should be phrased such that this is something that we do on an ongoing basis.

Seventh paragraph: when saying that it is probably not possible to get everyone to sign, i think we should make reference to the fact that many people who use the site are people on vacation. I think it's important to make this point throughout the proposal, maybe point that out again in the next to last paragraph. Talisker is a resort development company and we should drive home the point that this is a resort activity. Also, that we will strive to have everyone using the site sign a waver. Maybe we could put up a box with waivers in it and signs directing anyone using the site to sign a waver.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby DanHasleton » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:41 pm

I noticed a small error on the third to last paragraph that no one else mentioned. It should read: "...We feel this is still a favorable situation, we get to kite and keep an eye on other riders..."
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Jonathan Hall » Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:47 pm

I spoke with my friend at the Canyons, who has been the director of the ski school for many years, about the situation at the Talisker owned Richardson Flats. As you all know, Talisker owns the Canyons. I explained that I have taken up the incredible sport of snowkiting and that snowkiters (Utah Windriders Assoc.) have been enjoying flying out at the flats for years(everybody loves the flying kites!) without incident but now there are "No Tresspassing" signs which could be due to the little NE mitigation project that kiters come nowhere near when they're flying. I said the UWA is dealing with Talisker's Kerry Gee and trying to get waivers signed and how the UWA will look out for the land, pick up trash, etc....Anyway, I was trying to make a win/win situation for all involved by suggesting that perhaps, someday, visitors(and locals) to Park City could take snowkiting lessons out at the flats (through Snowkite Utah?) and how that could generate $$ for Talisker, make their image way cool, and "legitmize" snowkiters flying out there and keep Park City a great (snowkiting) destination. He was going to mention it to Mike Goar, the manager of the Canyons who knows the higher ups (they hired him) and is way cool as he plays disc golf! After all, the resorts are all in the service industry...that's why Deer Valley is #1. I do feel that if Talisker has something to gain in this(developers?!), they will at least consider the whole situation. Let me know if you think this is a valid strategy. Thanks!
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Ralph Morrison » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:09 pm

I edited the proposal using some of your suggestions. Thanks. I am considering this as a first round of negotiations. I don't wan't to promise things we don't really want to do because it may not be important to them.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby tjacques » Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:19 pm

Ralph really support the proposal you wrote up, and youre time. I have some free time on my hands if you need some light duty help.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby whit » Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:45 pm

If Talisker owns The Canyons, AND Richardson Flats. I agree with Jonathan's post. I believe Mike Goar would be a great ally. He was Mountain Manager at Solitude for years and has the right attitude and probably an inside track to the highest levels that can make these decisions. Excellent letter Ralph. Looking forward to your progress and Jonathan's too. Whit Guild
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Eric Gustafson » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:04 pm

Thanks for the time and effort Ralph. As far as the tourism angle, we may want to point out whats happening in Sanpete County. It has become a destination for snowkiting and they recognize it enough that the Chamber is spending money with google to promote the sport and the area.

I am happy to offer my services to take the Talisker VIP's out for a snowkite lesson, if thats something we think would benefit our goal.

I am good friends with Mike Goar if that angle wants to be pursued.

Ralph, if you are still intersted in pics , I found some from over the last 7 seasons of riding at Richardsons. Kevin has some video also.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Jason Klein » Sun Feb 01, 2009 11:21 am

Any new info on this? It's been 2+ weeks since the proposal was submitted. I just wonder if they will drag their feet until April when it won't matter to us anymore.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby Ralph Morrison » Sun Feb 01, 2009 12:35 pm

I talked to Kerry on Tuesday. He said he sent the proposal up to the decision makers when he got it and hadn't heard anything back. He said he would talk to them again and find out if anything had been decided. He also said he would call me. I'll call him again on Tuesday if he doesn't call me.

Something of interest that he told me was that Park City and Summit County purchased 120 acres which includes the Home Depot lot. The County intends to build a Maintenence Shed on some of the land. Some of the money used was open space money. It would be a good idea to find out what the plans are and see if we could get the Home Depot lot as open space.
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Re: Proposal To Kerry Gee (Richardson)

Postby RickHeninger » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:19 pm

Nice progress Ralph.

When it comes down to it, I think that we should have a representative specifically for this kiting site, just like we've had for windsurfing sites in the past. So why don't we say that you are the UWA rep for Richardson Flats. Any issues go officially through you first. Sound good? It's obvious that Brian and Heather are on top of Skyline, Les and Augie PM, Jake B. for Strawberry, other sites Kenny?... Other areas TBD as they develop. I just think that it's a good idea that there is always a rep for these areas if we are to have any issues.

Then as anyone moves or whatever (stops snowkiting) they pass on the torch officially to the next experienced person with that snowkiting site...
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