Cavco to Intro Solar-Powered Park Model at KOA Convention

Campground operators attending next week’s KOA Convention and Trade Expo in Las Vegas will be the first in the country to see Cavco’s newest off-grid, solar-powered park model cottage.

“This is the first of a new generation of off-grid, solar powered park models,” Joseph Stegmayer, president and CEO of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Cavco Industries Inc., stated in a news release. The company’s newest unit is “the most environmentally friendly park model cottage on the market,” he added.

NTA Inc., a Nappanee, Ind.-based company that specializes in certifying “green” manufacturers, said Cavco’s newest off-grid solar-powered park model not only has “Emerald” status, its highest rating, but is the most environmentally friendly park model the company has evaluated to date,

“Cavco is definitely raising the bar for the industry,” said Alan Reder, NTA’s senior project manager.

Built with 2-inch by 6-inch sidewalls, the unit features cork flooring, formaldehyde-free fiberglass wall insulation and phase change insulation in the ceiling, which help maintain relatively stable interior temperatures as outside temperatures rise and fall. Environmentally friendly adhesives, sealants and coatings are also used to maximize insulation while also improving indoor air quality.

Other features include composite decking, an instant hot-water heater, a dual flush toilet that uses about 1.2 gallons per flush, Energy Star appliances and energy-saving LED lighting.

The unit features solar panels, but it can also receive electricity from wind turbines and even hydroelectric power. It also comes equipped with a 6-KW Generac battery charging system for backup power. “If there’s no sun, wind or hydroelectric power available and the battery dips below a pre-set voltage level, it sends a signal to the generator to provide electrical backup,” said Bob Cramer, a technical trainer with Waukesha, Wis.-based Generac Power Systems.

Representatives from more than 500 KOA franchisees are expected to see the off-grid unit next week, while it’s on display at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. From there, Cavco literally plans to take its off-grid, solar powered park model on the road.

New Unit Will Go on Tour

Steve Lefler, an Advanced Certified Green Building Professional in California, will be taking the unit to campgrounds, RV parks and resorts throughout California and the West so that they can see first hand what an off-grid, solar powered park model looks like and how they incorporate it into their business.

“We’re going to be pulling this unit up and down California, helping people understand what it is,” said Tim Gage, Cavco’s national vice president of park models, cabins and specialty products.

Cavco is also bringing two of its custom-designed park model rental cabins to the Las Vegas convention, which are built to KOA’s 2012 specifications. The new units have been upgraded to include commercial grade flooring, which is more wear resistant, as well as a special area with multiple outlets so that laptop computers, cell phones and other electronic devices can be conveniently recharged in one place.

More information about Cavco’s off grid, solar-powered park model as well as its last cabin rental products is available at www.cavco.com and www.koalodges.com.

KOA Convention Kicks Off Next Week in Las Vegas

“These annual get-togethers always feel more like a family reunion than a convention,” said KOA CEO Jim Rogers. “The real benefit of belonging to a system like KOA is the knowledge of all of those fellow owners around the country. It’s always magical to see those connections get made, and all of those longtime friendships get renewed.”

The year 2012 will also mark the 50th anniversary of Kampgrounds of America Inc., which was founded in 1962 on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Billings, Mont., by local entrepreneur Dave Drum.

Guest speakers for the four-day event, which kicks off Sunday (November 6) include author and executive coach Kevin Freiberg, who will speak on “Service from the Inside Out.” Also presenting will be Dave Michell, the founder of The Leadership Difference, who will speak on “The Power of Understanding People: Celebrity Style!” The convention will also feature workshops by popular customer service expert Ruby Newell-Legner, and Lucas Hartford, president of Evergreen Insurance MG, as well as workshops by KOA Home Office staff.

A special feature of this year’s KOA Convention will be a community service project as part of KOA’s “Kamp Green” program. The Kamp Green program encourages sustainable camping practices among campers and campground owners. This year’s community project is a desert cleanup day held in conjunction with the “Don’t Trash Nevada” organization and “Get Outdoors Nevada.” KOA owners and staff will spend the day cleaning trash from the desert near Las Vegas.

Wednesday, Nov. 9, the final day of the event, will feature the popular KOA Trade Expo, featuring more than 100 campground supply vendors from throughout North America.

To follow events from the KOA Convention in Las Vegas, just visit KOA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KOAKampgrounds.

For more information on the 480-campground KOA system in North America, visit www.koa.com.

‘Glamping’ Spreads as Consumers Want More

As the sky ominously darkens and thunderstorms roll in, khaki-shorts-clad concierge Marcus Richardson approaches guests lounging on the Nomad Ridge terrace watching wildlife roam below and offers to secure the window flaps of the 10 circular canvas tents or fetch a soothing glass of wine.

Adults-only Nomad Ridge, a luxury wilderness experience in southeastern Ohio, is modeled on African safari camps. For about $360 a night, a duo can stay in one of the Mongolian-style yurts with electricity, private bathrooms, plus decks and ceiling fans. The pricier “Grand Yurt” has a king-size bed and air conditioning. Rates include dinner, breakfast and a safari on the Wilds’ nearly 10,000-acre game preserve, the Lancaster Eagle Gazette reported.

“It’s like a little piece of Africa,” says guest Jeff Derr of Holtwood, Pa., peering through binoculars at rhino, trumpeter swans and rare Sichuan takins (bearlike creatures with heads like those of giant guinea pigs). Their yurt, with hotel-style bed, is truly comfortable, Cindy Derr says.

Welcome to ‘glamping’

Such glamorous camping experiences are dubbed “glamping” — a trend among vacationers who want to be in the wild but don’t care to sleep on the ground, tromp in the dark to communal bathrooms and cook over campfires. It’s even driving bookings at Kampgrounds of America (KOA), where stays in recently built lodges are up 15% this year, even though KOA’s campsite business is down, CEO Jim Rogers says.

Lodges, tepees and gussied-up Airstream trailers are a way for KOA “to give people an outdoor experience (such as nightly campfires) with some of the comforts they enjoy,” Rogers says. “We are reaching people who may not have had an outdoor experience.” Lodges at more than 300 North American locations have a kitchen, bath, flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi, gas grill and typically rent for $100-$150 a night.

Simpler outdoor digs are available at Lakedale Resort at Three Lakes on Washington state’s San Juan Island. “Canvas cabins” with pillow-top mattresses and cordless lanterns (but no electricity or private baths) start at about $160 a night with breakfast. A U.S. glamping pioneer, Costanoa, on the scenic northern California coast, has canvas cabins with electricity and heated mattresses from $89 a night.

The increasing popularity of glamping has even spawned GlampingHub.com, which details glam camping options around the world.

Over-the-top glamping, similar to that at Africa’s top safari lodgings, is found at the new Pinnacle Camp at 37,000-acre The Resort at Paws Up near Missoula, Mont. Expect to pay at least $1,000 for two to stay in one of the four chic camps, where top-of-the-line tents have jetted tubs and heated slate floors, and guests are pampered by butlers and chefs.

Rates include all meals, including regional treats such as bison and smoked trout.

The resort — which also offers stays in luxury homes — has 24 tents, which sell out so fast that more are planned. Many of Paws Up’s affluent guests have “a desire to go camping. But they don’t want to rough it in any way, shape or form,” says John Romfo, director of sales and marketing.

The aim at Ohio’s Nomad Ridge — sold out many nights and having a record summer — is to provide a “reasonably priced” upscale wilderness experience, says Tom Stalf, chief operating officer of the Wilds and its partner, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

“We have plans to build more” yurts, he says.

The Wilds, about 11/2 hours by car from Columbus, also attracts day trippers who snap photos from buses and open-air safari vehicles or soar on just-installed ziplines. There are campsites, cabins and a lodge that can be booked for family reunions and such.

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Report: Tourism Down Across the U.S.

Louise Befumo’s four motels along the New Jersey coast would normally be packed at this time of year.

“When you have a heat wave like this, people should be running to the shore,” says Befumo, who has been in the motel business in New Jersey since 1972. “Still, we don’t fill up. A lot of people have gone from having secure incomes to not being sure about their jobs.” This summer Befumo hasn’t lit the “No Vacancy” sign even once during the week, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

From the Jersey Shore to Mackinaw City on Lake Michigan to Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Ocean Shores, Wash., businesses that depend on middle-class vacationers are suffering. With unemployment stalled above 9% and companies announcing layoffs, occupancy at economy hotels and motels is off from pre-recession peaks. Attendance is down at national parks, including Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. “There’s a lot of misery among middle-class families with incomes between $40,000 and $85,000,” says Chris G. Christopher Jr., an economist at forecaster IHS. “Discretionary spending for things like taking a vacation aren’t top of the list.”

Unemployment for leisure and hospitality workers in June was 10.9%, higher than the 9.2% national average, and second only to construction workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. June occupancy levels at economy motels—those charging an average nightly rate of $52 —was 61%, says Smith Travel Research. It was 66% in 2007. One sign people are skipping vacation: Average gasoline demand for the four weeks ending July 15 fell 1.3%, the 18th consecutive drop for the average this year, according to MasterCard.

The village of Mackinaw City, situated where Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas connect by bridge, typically swells from about 900 people in the winter to an average of 6,000 overnight visitors in the summer, says village manager Jeffery B. Lawson. This year seems different.

“I’ve never seen a season as bad as this in 23 years,” says Richard Loch, who owns the Beachcomber Motel on the Water. Seven of nearly 60 motels have failed, he says. Unemployment in Emmet County, where the village is located, was 11.1% in June, higher than the state average of 10.2%. “People are calling to cancel their reservations because they lost their jobs or are losing their homes,” says Loch, who charges $69 to $89 a night for a room. Occupancy is down 40% from five years ago, when he used to hire as many as three maids a day. Now he often calls in just one.

In New Jersey, tourism spending may not return to 2007 levels until 2012, according to a report for the state by Vantage Strategy, a consulting firm. Midway through the July 15 to Aug. 15 peak season, occupancy at Befumo’s motels is running about 65%, compared with 90% five years ago, she says. Her sales may fall as much as $100,000 to $200,000 per hotel this year. “We just have to eat the losses and hope it gets better,” she says.

When Americans do vacation, they are being frugal, says Steve Linde, general manager of the Kampgrounds of America location outside Yellowstone. Two items selling better this year at his convenience store are charcoal and wood: Campers cook instead of dining at the camp restaurant, he says. Sales at the camp’s store, souvenir shop, and restaurant may fall by more than a third this summer. “I’m seeing people order a hamburger and split it in half to save money,” says Linde. “I hadn’t really seen that before.

Four South Carolina KOAs Add Camping Cabins

One of the biggest trends in the campground business is the addition of park model cabins to accommodate family reunions as well as people who don’t have a tent or recreational vehicle.

In South Carolina, four Kampgrounds of America (KOA) campgrounds have added such cabins called Kamping Lodges this year — in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Myrtle Beach and Spartanburg, the Charleston Post Courier reported.

KOA’s lodge occupancies are running 20% or more ahead of last year’s figures, according to Mike Atkinson, KOA’s director of lodging.

“This means we’re getting new people, people who might not otherwise come to a campground,” he said. “We need more cabins.”

KOA and other campground operators have discovered that there is strong demand for cabin accommodations with kitchens and full-size bathrooms.

All of this is good news for the nation’s park model cabin manufacturers.

“The campground industry is our strongest market right now,” said Bill Garpow, executive director of the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA), the Newnan, Ga.-based trade association that represents park model manufacturers.

While park model cabins are known for their upscale amenities, including stove and refrigerators, flat-screen TVs and, in many cases, sleeping lofts for the kids, most units also come equipped with decks and barbecues.

Others are set up on campsites with fire rings.

Parents with youngsters also like park model cabins so they don’t have to walk with children to a public bathroom in the middle of the night, KOA said.

Camping is No Longer Just Pitching a Tent

These days, camping isn’t just pitching a tent in the wilderness on a long hike, or stopping at a campground far from home on a road trip, ABC News reports.

Instead, for many leisure travelers, camping nowadays may involve driving just a few miles from home to spend the night in a cabin with a roof, bathroom, beds and electricity, or taking the kids to a place that offers activities and entertainment like scavenger hunts or sports competitions.

Jolene Baxman organizes an annual two-night trip for a dozen mothers and their kids to a Kampgrounds of America (KOA) facility in Petaluma, Calif., a mere 5 miles from where she lives. But they don’t pitch tents. They rent a lodge with a bathroom, indoor shower, kitchenette, microwave, barbecue grill, and, of course, beds. The moms take turns relaxing and making meals; the kids swim and bike. At night, they sing around a campfire and toast marshmallows.

“It’s not far from our homes but it feels like we’re camping,” Baxman said. “We’re out in the woods; it’s very beautiful — lush trees and you don’t hear any cars around. We’re not in a tent, but it’s camping to us.”

More than half of those staying with KOA say they were at home the night before arriving at the campground, according to KOA CEO Jim Rogers. That’s a 25% increase over seven years.

Rogers says work demands, kids’ schedules, high gas prices and other concerns are all contributing to the trend. “They just want to stay within reach and go away for shorter time periods,” he said.

Rogers also said KOAs have seen a 25% increase in the use of roofed accommodations at their campgrounds. “It’s attracting a whole new breed of campers, people we haven’t seen before,” he said.

In Ohio, the Lazy River at Granville campground, 25 miles from Columbus, offers activities and entertainment ranging from a zipline to magic shows to arts and crafts. For those who bring laptops and TV sets, there is wireless Internet and cable service. One of the most popular attractions at Lazy River is the “bug lady,” a local woman who takes visitors on a walk in the woods, where she points out bugs. “She’s the Pied Piper of bugs,” said Mark Kasper, owner of Lazy River. “She just entrances her audience.”

Kasper observed that when he was young, “you’d go to the state park and watch a presentation with a ranger and a movie. Now it’s different. We try to have everything the modern-day person wants, and yet you’re away from the city.”

Jeff Crider, spokesman for the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC), says “more and more campgrounds across the country are offering organized activities that could range from nature walks to special themed weekend events like holiday events or Father’s Day events. You can still find plenty of campgrounds that offer a natural setting and a nice environment for kayaking, fishing, or river tubing, but what the parks are finding is that more and more families want things to do. And fun activities are a way to get kids away from computers and iPods and do something as a family.”

In addition, campgrounds that offer these types of activities find that people will stay longer — three or four days instead of just a weekend.

Crider said accommodations are also changing. Campgrounds are investing in everything from yurts and furnished teepees to cottages and cabins. A KOA in Herkimer, N.Y., just opened three furnished cabins for rent that are powered by solar panels, with a backup propane generator.

“If they can provide rental accommodations, then they can make camping accessible to everyone. It isn’t just people who like to rough it in a tent or who have an RV,” Crider said.

Dawn Tosner, of Valley Stream, N.Y., has been going to the KOA in Herkimer, N.Y., for 15 years. “When we first started, we went tent camping,” she said. “We gradually started using the cabins.” Last year, joined by friends, she tried an upgraded cabin with all the comforts of home, including a bathtub, stove and TV.

“It’s a little bit of luxury while still enjoying the outdoors,” she said. “When you go tent camping, you have to bring everything with you — sleeping bags, all the utensils, supplies. You pack up the whole car. With the cabins, you don’t need to bring as much stuff. You have more time to spend enjoying the trip.”

Even those who go the traditional route of sleeping on the ground may be spending time in a tent that has multiple rooms, with separate quarters that can be used for the kids or as a screened-in porch for chairs.

REI, the outdoor gear and apparel retailer, has seen an increase in overall sales for family camping tents. “Some of these tents are sized so four to eight people can sleep in them,” said REI spokeswoman Courtney Coe. “They have a room divider that allows separate places for parents and kids to sleep comfortably, and a screened room for families to set chairs up in at night to play cards and get away from the bugs. You can also zip on an optional garage vestibule to give your family more storage space.”

An eight-person model new for this year, the REI Kingdom 8, sells for $489, but Coe pointed out that some customers buy the bigger tent just for the space, even though only two or three people intend to use it.

On the other end of the scale, a backpacker’s favorite is a lightweight tent called the REI Quarterdome that weighs just a hair under 4 pounds. “It’s open and airy, with easy setup, packs well and is really comfortable for two people,” said Coe. REI also offers lightweight sleeping pads, hammocks and butterfly chairs.

At Cabela’s, the hunting, fishing and outdoor gear store, a new generation of lightweight, streamlined, easy-to-use “survival” kits is “a growing gear category among campers, including not only hardcore backpackers but also more leisurely family campers,” according to spokeswoman Kristin Lauver.

Gerber Bear Grylls Survival kits, for example, include fire-starting items and emergency supplies, with a basic kit weighing just 4.2 ounces ($23) and the ultimate version just 9.4 ounces ($50). The kits include fire starter, waterproof matches, snare wire, and a knife, with tools, fishing and sewing supplies and a survival blanket among the added goodies in the ultimate kit.

There are about 14,000 campgrounds in North America, Crider said, including national parks, with about 8,000 of the campgrounds privately owned and operated. KOAs exist in 475 locations.

Chino Valley Resident Takes KOA’s Side

Editor’s Note: The following Letter to the Editor of the Chino Valley (Ariz.) Review was written by resident Rick Nichols in support of a proposed campground in his community.

In answer to the venomous letter by Conrad Shapiro (in the March 23 issue of the Review), I am also deeply concerned. Shapiro has no knowledge of the RV world and his poison pen drips of his ignorance.

The Kampgrounds of America project will bring more than 100 local jobs during its construction. It will not require a large staff to manage the facility, but almost every business in Chino Valley will benefit from this project.

Campers will be eating at our restaurants, shopping at our stores, buying our gas and hardware, requiring repair services and the list goes on.

I have been an RVer for 31 years and have visited many parks including KOA parks. The KOA brand is one of the most reputable of these parks. The staff is uniformed and professionally trained. In my years of enjoying RVing, my wife and I have never seen any of the “drugs, crime, domestic issues, prostitution or illegal aliens” that Shapiro imagines.

Every conceivable concession was made to the local neighborhood in an effort to facilitate the project with the least impact to the neighborhood. Chino Valley is having a multi-million dollar project handed to them, with Jack Tuls, developer and retired dairyman, paying for all road, utility and sewer improvements and requirements.

Without progress and support from sales taxes and more customers for our existing business, this town will become a ghost town.

We have already lost our town government and schools and library on Fridays. Without support for our businesses, what comes next?

KOA Touts First Workamper Boot Kamp Training

On  March 25, 100 KOA Workampers gathered at the Nashville KOA for the first Workamper Boot Kamp training. Both new and experienced Workampers participated in a full day of KOA training to prepare them to be great campground employees, KOA stated in a news release.

Training topics included: KOA history, Rate Your Stay survey/Net Promoter Score, quality, facilities, Making it Great service initiative and recreation. The day concluded with a Virtual Job Fair, where Workampers learned about work opportunities from campground managers, asked questions and learned how to apply.

Workampers participated in the training from as far away as California and Ontario. Due to the large response to this Boot Kamp, KOA plans to host other regional trainings throughout the year.

Fred and Jenn Stott, managers of the Nashville KOA, hosted the Boot Kamp. Wendy Jensen, manager of the Las Vegas KOA at Circus Circus, and Mo Vandesteene, manager of theMyrtle Beach KOA, helped put on the Virtual Job Fair. Business Development Consultant Russ French provided a session on “Rate Your Stay Survey/Net Promoter Score” and “KampSight Reports to the Workampers.”

To learn how to participate in the next KOA Work Kamper Boot Kamp, or for further information, contact Jenny McCullough at jmccullough@koa.net or (800) 548-7104, ext. 7478.

Workampers Building Ramps for the Disabled

In the Rusk, Texas, Kampgrounds of America (KOA) office, a little sign hangs high on the back wall behind the desk, just over the head of the attendant.

It reads, ““If you are disabled or require assistance, please notify our staff members who will be willing to help you.”

Walter Preble, who owns the 80-site, East Texas KOA, has taken the courteous notice farther than just helping his customers. He, along with a group of Workampers  from around the country built between 25 and 30 platforms of varying sizes to be used in the construction of wheelchair ramps, the Jacksonville Daily Progress reported.

Preble and the campers built the pieces, using their own tools and materials donated by businesses like Harry’s Building Supplies, Lowe’s, Sutherlands and the Home Depot, to help the Texas Ramp Project.

Preble was inspired by a story about a woman who needed a ramp, but because of a backlog of work and a shortage of volunteers, passed away before one could be built.

The KOA is part of a large network of traveling workers who move about the country working in parks and campgrounds in a variety of positions. From entertainment to maintenance, workers turn out to help the facilities run smoothly.

In many cases, Preble said, KOAs will perform service projects with the help of the campers.

“It’s part of standard operating procedures based on skills and time,” he said.

Campers come from many walks of life and are often retired, though there are some who are professionals. Their homes are as far ranging as their talents.

At the Rusk KOA, the workers have come from places as far away as Illinois, Oregon, Colorado and Minnesota.

The workers are compensated for their jobs at the parks and grounds, but with thousands of facilities participating in the program, compensation varies widely, he said.

For the KOA volunteers, the community is the real benefit.

“It’s one of those things you don’t think about and just do,” said Phil David, a camper from Gilmer, Texas.

“Why would you help an old lady across the street? Because she needs help.”

So when Preble approached the workers about working on the ramps, they were all ears.

Preble told members of the Cherokee County chapter of the ramp project they were ready to help.

“You get us the materials and we’ll do the building,” Preble said to the Cherokee County branch of the organization.

And build they did.

Over the course of about a day-and-a-half, the team of volunteers, sometimes as many as 20, built the platforms in an assembly-line style, Preble said.

With their efforts, the team established a stockpile of ramp modules which can be picked up and sent where needed around the region.

“Walter has saved us a tremendous amount of time and energy on site,” said Cherokee County Rampers Team Leader Sidney Riley. “ When we get there, we basically just have to prep the ground and attach the modules together. We’re more efficient and it’s easier on the homeowners.”

So far, the Cherokee County chapter has built two ramps in the area and the effects of the work are wide.

“You never realize how important a ramp would be until you have a disabled person who is injured or needs to be evacuated out of their home,” he said. “There are second and third level effects from being able to do that.”

Everyone from the home owners and their families to emergency responders benefit from easier access, he said.

Riley said the organization, still relatively new, is hoping to attract more volunteers to keep more work on their schedules.

Preble’s force of volunteers have been an invaluable asset, Riley said, but in the nature of Workampers, they will soon be on their ways to other facilities who can use them.

If the Rampers can attract more interest from area service organizations, they can build two teams, which would allow them to maintain a steady flow of projects, Riley said.

“If we could get two eight-man teams, we could be going at least two weekends a month and doing twice as many (projects) as we’re doing now,” he said. “Whether somebody wants to donate materials, time or if they want to come work with us, it all goes toward helping somebody who’s in need and that’s what it’s all about.”

Organizations and people interested in working with the Texas Ramp Building Project in Cherokee County can contact Riley at (903) 586-1939.

For more information on the Texas Ramp Building Project, visit www.texasramps.org.

City Could Turn to Franchisor to Run Troubled Park

With every step Colusa, Calif., officials take forward to make the Sacramento River a vital economic resource, they face a new hurdle to jump over, the Colusa County Sun Herald reported.

City officials have worked several years toward building a new boat ramp at the Sacramento River State Recreation Area off Main Street, only to face the newest threat that the park will likely close.

The state park system is one of many areas of government facing cuts under Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal, Colusa officials said.

The governor’s proposal includes $11 million in cuts to state parks this fiscal year, and $22 million a year in ongoing reductions.

Colusa City Manager Jan McClintock learned from state officials that the Colusa facility generated only $56,000 in revenue for the state last year, but cost approximately $154,000 to maintain.

The city does not share in the revenue or costs, but counts on sales tax generated by park and river users and fishermen who purchase goods from local stores, gas stations and restaurants, McClintock said.

“It’s very important to our financial health to keep the state park going,” said McClintock at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Although the official park closure list has not been released, the state expects to target underperforming parks across the state, including several in Tehama County.

But state officials are also considering allowing local governments to take over park operations, even temporarily, an idea presented by Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber.

It’s one of two options the city council discussed.

The second option would be to contract with a professional management firm or franchise such as Kampgrounds of America (KOA).

Councilwoman Kay Hosmer said she liked the idea of KOA, as the company extensively advertises its campgrounds on maps and websites, which the state does not do.

“We’re missing a lot of opportunity to grow,” she said.

If the city assumed operation of the park, it was assumed the cost would be far less for the Public Works Department to maintain than what it costs the state.

The city also has staff experienced with running a campground and golf course, McClintock said.

Pat Kittle, who operates the only sporting goods store in Colusa, said with the momentum the city and Colusa Landing has made in creating new boat launching facilities, it would be a shame to lose the state park.

“It’s a nice infrastructure for this area, not just for fisherman, but for boaters, jet skiers and people who use the river during the hot days,” Kittle said.

Although state officials had anticipated releasing the park closure list earlier this month, it has been delayed until a budget deal has been worked out.

State legislators made some headway on the budget this week, primarily cutting health care programs, but have not resolved the most contentious aspects of Brown’s proposal, including a special election to extend taxes another five years and eliminating local redevelopment agencies.

The City Council said it would take no official action until it knows for certain the state intends to close the park.

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