Monroe City Council hosted a discussion on Jan. 20, regarding the status of the wakeboard cable park proposed for Lake Tye.
Monroe City Administrator Gene Brazel initiated the discussion, explaining that H3O, the development company in charge of establishing the cable park, is having issues obtaining a source of funding for the project. The Sammamish-based firm recently put in a request to the city, asking them for options in regards to its monthly lease payment on the property.
"They don't have financial backing at this time to construct the project, and until such time they do, they're asking for relief of those lease payments,GÇ¥ Brazel said.
The park, called Propullsion Cablepark, would provide wakeboarders and water-skiers a mechanized cable towing system, thus eliminating the need for a boat. Riders, pulled by cables suspended from towers approximately 30 feet above the surface of the water, would be propelled around the lake in a semi-circular pattern until they either fall or arrive at the exit area.
The City of Monroe adopted a resolution in January 2012, declaring its intent to enter into a lease agreement with H3O for the purposes of establishing the wakeboard facility. In June 2012, the council adopted an additional resolution authorizing the mayor to sign an official agreement establishing the public-private partnership between the city and H3O.
Per the contract, a schedule of rental payments was established, to be paid by H3O to the city. The payments, which began in 2013, were set to increase incrementally over time. Currently in the second year, H3O has been making quarterly lease payments of $1500 per month.
Brazel informed the council that H3O is currently behind on its payments, and that the council could either seek to draft an addendum which would alleviate the monthly financial burden per H3O's request, or it could consider termination of the contract.
Councilmember Kurt Goering said that he would love to see the cable park come to fruition, but understood that financing availability might be too prohibitive. He expressed a desire to hear from H3O directly to find out what type of strategy they were thinking of implementing in order to obtain the funds.
"I'm certainly in favor of trying to work something out, I'd love to see it happen, but I understand that market forces are at work,GÇ¥ Goering said. "I feel like I need more information; we need to hear from them.GÇ¥
Councilmember Kevin Hanford agreed, but expressed a desire to see H3O become current with its payments before discussing whether to initiate temporary relief from its payment arrangement.
Councilmembers Patsy Cudaback and Jeff Rasmussen were opposed to the idea of an addendum to the contract. They both expressed an interest in examining whether remaining in contract with H3O is really in the best interest of the city, particularly since it is currently in breach. Rasmussen was concerned with the fact that after sending an email asking for council consideration in regards to abatement of the monthly payments, H3O wasn't available to attend the meeting in person.
"Where are they at? I mean, they're not even here to plead their case in person,GÇ¥ Rasmussen said. "And as a councilmember, that really bothers me.GÇ¥
Concerns were raised by Rasmussen and Cudaback over concessionaire opportunities that may have been lost because the property is tied up with H3O. While some council members felt that a lack of inquiry demonstrated that there weren't any prospective concessionaires interested in going into business at Lake Tye, Cudaback said that having the property tied up in a contract could have served as a deterrent.
"I'm not sure what business owner would be sending in proposals to do something different and investing their time in a piece of property that's tied up,GÇ¥ Cudback said. "That seems fairly foolish.GÇ¥
Based on an informal consensus, Mayor Geoffrey Thomas established that the council's priority included addressing the breach of contract with H3O first and foremost. He said that they would also invite the company to present at a future council meeting to provide an updated plan for obtaining financing.
At that time, the council will hold additional discussion on whether or not to seek an addendum to the contract.
Although H3O was unable to attend last week's council meeting, H3O Managing Partner Brad Smith later confirmed that it is having difficulty with obtaining funding.
"We are still running into challenges getting investor commitments,GÇ¥ Smith said.
He is hoping that the city will be willing to keep the project alive while they continue to look for investors. H3O is hoping for relief from the monthly payments until the facility's groundbreaking.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment