Way to go!!!

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Check it out. Look who´s batting somewhat for us.
take care,
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http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/...%204-06-04.htm

[Faber]

cant get the link working

[QuickDraw]

Luckily Google cached it:

http://66.102.11.104/search?q=cache:...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[code]Council seeking leverage on bridge
ESPN proposes program in Gorge

Dennis Bloomquist
Daily Record Staff Writer

Representatives of the Royal Gorge Bridge Company urged the Cañon City Council on Monday to use the Santa Fe Depot lease to protect itself from future "strongarm tactics" by Royal Gorge Train Company owner Mark Greksa.

Several speakers, including Royal Gorge Bridge Company President Mark Mitchell and General Manager Mike Bandera, said the depot lease is the only leverage the city has against Greksa's "veto power" of events at the bridge.

The Royal Gorge Bridge provides a lifeline of revenue to Cañon City - about $1.3 million paid by the train - and a substantial element of the city's identity.

ESPN has proposed broadcasting a basejumping competition from the bridge that would become a half-hour program on the sports channel. Basejumping is parachuting off of stationary structures, such as cliffs, buildings and bridges.

Through a "stunt clause" in the contract, Greksa has opposed daredevil activities at the bridge, saying they detract from the wholesome family image of his company.

Accepting the ESPN program "is the quintessential no-brainer," said Vicky Casey, General Manager of Buckskin Joe, which is located near the Royal Gorge Bridge. She said the ESPN event would provide national publicity that would be "good for the state and fantastic for the county and city. National TV exposure of this type is a gift and should be treated as such." Casey said the program would be broadcast throughout the summer to millions of households.

She said it would take 12 years at the current combined advertising budget of local attractions to purchase the exposure provided at no cost by the ESPN feature.

According to the settlement agreement of the existing contract, the railroad has the right to limit access to its right of way, into which the jumpers would have to land and to the air space above the tracks.

Bandera said, "We feel the amended settlement agreement will have a far-reaching impact on both the bridge and the city, with no adverse impact on the train company.

"The city must take every step to make sure it has leverage against the train company to seek such an amendment. The city has everything to gain and nothing to lose by amending the agreement" before it locks in its own demands.

Bandera said Greksa is again "strongarming" the city by demanding approval of its depot lease before assenting to a basejumping competition. Bandera said the train company is "bluffing" because a move from Santa Fe Depot this close to the tourist season would be "absolutely disastrous."

Greksa was not at the meeting and couldn't be reached for comment.

Bandera said Greksa's claims of the city using the contract extension as "blackmail" are overstated, and that Greksa didn't hesitate to withhold his approval of last October's Go Fast Games until the city met all of his demands.

Bandera said that up until now, Greksa has had the upper hand in negotiations, and used it to extract financial concessions above and beyond his contractual rights when a special event was planned for the Gorge. Greksa demanded both "money and a search-and-rescue protocol" before the Go Fast Games were allowed to proceed, Bandera said.

Mitchell said the city and the bridge company are partners, and the council needs to protect its income by ensuring the bridge company can maximize its profits. The city gets a percentage of all bridge profits.

Bandera said the bridge is the city's primary financial interest, with 266,000 visitors a year at an average of $24 financial impact per person; while the train tallies about 75,000 riders annually, with $5 average impact. He said the bridge has four times the full-time employees and nearly twice the seasonal workforce of the train.

Mitchell decried Greksa's vilification of Bandera in the wake of the death of a skydiver who sailed at near-terminal velocity into the bridge during last October's Go Fast Games, a daredevil competition telecast by ESPN.
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Lets hope that democracy (ie. cold hard cash) wins the day. ;-)

[CrazyThomas]

Thanks for catching that in google. I clicked it earlier today, and couldn't see what it was about.
That's interesting.....BASE on ESPN? hmmmmm....as long as there is NO Janet Jackson to flash her tit, there should be some good T.V. coverage.
And no Justin Timberlake either.

I think those two (Janet & Justin) were just supremely jealous of the superbowl opening, and knew that without some kind of raunchy publicity stunt (flashing), there would be no talk of their singing, and only discussion about how COOL the BASE jumpers were that jumped during AEROSMITH.

This sounds like a good thing for BASE. Maybe a second bridge day?
Would the bridge day organization have any input or influence into making this happen, or is another committee being formed to help with the politics.
Maybe we could nicely ask Robin Heid if he was interested in doing some lobbying on our behalf, or writing some articles to help gather interest in this type of thing.

just some thoughts.....


Thomas

[QuickDraw]

More on this story:

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/...%204-20-04.htm

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Railroad lease debate continues

Brian Taylor
Daily Record Staff Writer

Drawing more than 20 Royal Gorge Route employees and vocal support from many city business leaders Monday at the Cañon City council had little apparent effect on the stalled negotiations between the city and the railroad.

Sandwiching four hours of other business, supporters of the railroad began and ended the meeting with open pleas for the city to renew the railroad's lease of the old Santa Fe Depot building.

And though railroad part-owner Mark Greksa made a sobbing speech to the council members saying he had been misrepresented and asking for a chance to continue their partnership, councilman Dennis Wied called his words a "crock."

Following the April 5 city council meeting, the city (which owns the depot building and grounds) opted to make renewal of the depot lease conditional with the renegotiations of aerial rights above the train tracks through the gorge.

The original five-year lease to the railroad ran out in November 2003, but because of what Greksa called a "clerical error," the company did not submit a request for renewal until February.

At the April 5 meeting, Royal Gorge Bridge Company President Mark Mitchell and General Manager Mike Bandera said Greksa had used the railroad's control to block a planned ESPN base-jumping event that would have taken place from the bridge and was "strong-arming" the city by demanding approval of its depot lease before assenting to the event.

Greksa, who was not present at the earlier meeting, said Monday he has never denied a request for a stunt from the bridge, and asked to meet last fall with the city and Bandera to iron out issues.

"Admittedly, I drug my feet a little for the Go-Fast Games last year, but that was because we had been shut down on June 16 after the suicide jumper," he said. "We had never had a problem before taking out injured people, rafters, dead bodies — but we were told to shut down by the Cañon City Police Department for the suicide, and we had to refund all of that day's tickets."

The railroad representative said when Bandera contacted him March 29 regarding the ESPN event, he immediately granted permission.

"I saw the beauty of an ESPN event and what it could mean to the city and the railroad," he said. "I never said no to that."

Greksa said he went on vacation April 1 and was notified by City Attorney John Havens the event had been cancelled because of budget issues at the network.

Speaking to Bandera, Greksa said, "You knew I was out of town until the 12th. I saw the video of the council meeting when I got back, and I couldn't believe it. I thought you were a friend."

Council members Dan Brixey, Frank Jaquez and Catherine Mortensen each expressed a willingness to work with the railroad on the lease, but only if Greksa would first negotiate changes to the airspace rights.

Greksa initially appeared willing to accept the council's demands, but after leaving the podium, returned to say that he would negotiate airspace but only after the renewal of the depot lease.

"I don't believe you would do this to a bar owner or a restaurant owner in town," he said. "I mean, what are you guys going to ask for next?"

Earlier in the meeting, supporters including Holy Cross Abbey winery president Matthew Cookson, bed and breakfast owner Lyn Burnett, Bob DiRito of Main Street U.S.A., Andy Neinas of Echo Canyon River Expeditions, train employees and others spoke to the benefits the train brings to the community.

Wied attempted to get a vote on the issue immediately after Greksa finished, but Mayor Bill Jackson called for adjournment and got a quick second to end the meeting.

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