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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2007 Special Use Agrmt Cheap Thrills Attachment ACHEAP THRILLS RENTALS For 2008 - 2012 Watercraft Rental Concessionaire Proposal For Legacy Park Statement of Compliance: It is a commitment of Cheap Thrills Rentals to be in compliance with all rules and requirements set forth by the City of McCall. We agree to use the beach area no longer than 7:30 am until 10:00 pm unless coordinated with the City of McCall. We agree that all boat instruction and safety awareness will be completed only at our place of business or the designated City docks. We agree that all personal watercraft instruction and safety awareness will be completed at our place of business or at designated beach area. We agree that after the unloading and loading of watercraft, our trailers will be parked in designated trailer parking area located East of the Municipal boat launch ramp as coordinated with the City of McCall or off-site, and done in a timely manner. We agree that all major repair work will be completed off city property. We agree that watercraft refueling will be done off city beaches. We agree that the public has primary use of the boat launch ramp, docks and beaches. We agree that no pamphlets, brochures or flyers will be given to the public in the Park unless requested by a member of the public. We agree that all vehicles and clothing worn by employees will be clearly identified with our company name. We agree that all of our operations will be in compliance with City code. We agree to continue to provide a Certificate of Liability insurance with the City as an additional insured in our current amount of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and indemnify and hold-harmless the City from any and all claims that may arise from rental operations. Proposed Services: It is our proposal to continue to conduct our family owned and operated business, Cheap Thrills Rentals, at 303 North Third Street in McCall, by offering the same summer season services of personal watercraft and boat rentals as we have done for the past thirteen years. We are currently in our 14th year of operation renting personal watercraft, boats and snowmobiles. We rent only Yamaha Waverunner personal watercraft. There are two reasons for this. The first is that they are the number one rental machines in the country. Throughout the world water quality issues are being brought to the forefront and for many years now have been addressed by the watercraft manufacturers. Yamaha is committed to lead the industry in environmental technology and we have found them to be overall a superior product, as we have tested just about every brand in our rental fleet. They also have more renter friendly machines. WE DO NOT OFFER HIGH PERFORMACE WATERCRAFT TO BE USED ON OUR LAKE. We find that with the experience level of the vast majority of personal watercraft renters, it is not only unwise but with our extensive knowledge of the industry, it would be irresponsible to put high performance watercraft on our lake in a rental fleet. We find the excessive speeds these machines are capable of are a hazard on a lake the size of ours and are certainly something that should not be offered or used by inexperienced or occasional users, even if the renter can afford to pay extra. The second reason is that they are available through our local dealer, Hinson Power Sports. As is the case with our snowmobiles, we buy all of our personal watercraft locally. Although we usually pay more than we would if we purchased from dealers out of the area, we find it very important to McCall’s economy to buy from our local dealer where we also pay for all of our service. In operating our family business in a small town, we try to also focus on a bigger picture that expands into our community. We take very seriously the fact that our business is a major draw of tourism and has been prior to the current tourism boom. We are very much aware that other businesses in town rely on the tourism that is brought in by products and services we offer. We do not take this responsibility lightly. We are aware that we are ambassadors for our town, not only to our customers but for the general public we come in contact with at the beach, docks and in all public places. Our customer service and involvement in our community is second to none. The watercraft rental business in McCall is unlike most resort areas. We have what is considered in the industry to be a very short rental season. This season is not only mandated by the calendar of summer months, but more so by Mother Nature. In our years in this business we have seen snow for the Fourth of July weekend with snow the same year on Labor Day weekend. Three years ago we lost the last three normally good weeks of the season to exceptionally cold weather and rain. Some years there has been very little lake traffic due to smoke from area fires. So what is average? In a year where the weather or fires do not have a significant impact on our rentals, we usually do not begin renting personal watercraft until the second week of June. Other companies have but we don’t due to the lake water temperatures and our concerns of hypothermia. We usually begin renting boats first. June is not what we would call a busy month, in part due to the weather but also schools are not out until late June in some areas. We currently plan to rent approximately 8 boats and approximately 36 personal watercraft. Our busy rental season is really only approximately 6 weeks long beginning with the Fourth of July. Prior to and after this 6 week period rentals are drastically reduced in number and more regularly affected by the weather. There are many of these days that only a few if any machines go out at all. Our season usually runs until the second week of September. The only busy time after our 6 week peak time are two days of the Labor Day weekend and this is more times than not effected by cold or rainy weather. In the 6 week peak period there are obviously higher demand days of the week where we could potentially rent out all of our watercraft (an average of 4 days a week), and then days where we may only rent half of them (an average of 3 days a week) and again many of these days are cancelled due to rain or thunderstorms. We do not take reservations for all of our watercraft even on the busiest days of our peak weeks. We hold back machines to enable us to not only always be able to cover our reservations but to be able to schedule maintenance and repairs. So there is NEVER a day that all of our personal watercraft are on the lake. We purchase a portion of our fleet brand new each year. This year we expect to have completed our transition to an entire 4 stroke fleet. This year we are again requesting a multi-year permit. We request a five year permit if at all possible to tie in with the upcoming renewal of our building lease. The amount of beach area we are proposing to use for the term of the agreement is the same 106 feet as we have had the past three years. If in any year of this agreement no one else applies for and is granted the remaining 54 feet of motorized beach available immediately south of the south side of the launch ramp, we would like to add this area to our permit for that year. This way the city is guaranteed the full fees each year to fund the boating ambassador program. Since we have a rather large fleet of watercraft, we can certainly use the extra space. As far as concession fees are concerned, we accept paying what the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee is proposing and requesting in their guidelines of $9.44 per foot, plus the $50 per machine fee. The number of personal watercrafts we will be renting will be approximately 36 but this number may change due to our dealers ability to obtain the machines to fill our current watercraft order. These details are not usually determined until spring from the factory so as of the date this proposal is due we can only plan for approximate maximum possibilities. For this multi-year agreement we propose an escalation factor equal to the Federally posted cost of living index, thereby keeping pace with wages and the economy of the nation. Our day to day operation would continue as in the past years. Our customers come to the office to conduct transactions and complete a portion of their training. A portion of the training needs to be done at the beach and/or dock at the time the customer takes possession of the equipment. At the end of day the equipment is checked in by our staff and then loaded on trailers and taken to the gas station to refuel before returning to our location for storage. We limit the number of machines that we do half day morning and afternoon rentals on that require turnarounds, being re-launched. At the half day on boats they are refueled at the gas station before re-launching. On personal watercraft, part of them are taken to the gas station for refueling and part are refueled on a trailer using the refueling tank in our company trucks. This is an official fueling tank with hand held nozzle with automatic shut off, etc. as used at any gas station. We are aware this is only to be done in the designated area. We have NEVER had a fuel spill doing this but do have safety procedures in place for in the event it ever did occur, including carrying the absorbent fuel collection pads in our vehicles. We normally do not begin putting watercraft on the beach until 8am. They are usually picked up approximately 7pm but this may vary if a customer is late, etc. We do have a very small number of them out later than this on occasion for a few weeks of the summer, but those are off the lake by sunset. Chuck has extensive boating and safety training as well as first aid and CPR. This information is passed on to our employees during their extensive training time. Each employee that works at the beach area has to do a one on one internship with Chuck to be allowed to perform their duties. We are quit strict on this matter and most of our employees work for us for several years as their summer job through high school and college. Our policies and safety procedures are reinforced throughout the summer All employees carry in their vehicles or on their person first aid kits, fire extinguishers, absorbent fuel collection pads and cell phones. They also obviously have to be in good physical shape and be able to swim well enough to assist in a rescue if ever need be. We have never had to use an emergency procedure but our staff is prepared in case such events occur. Personal watercraft renter’s training is mandated by the state. The state actually goes undercover to the rental companies as a customer to observe the training procedures in place and to check compliance. We have never had a violation. Instead quit the opposite has occurred. We have been informed on multiple occasions by the state that we have, in place, the best renter training on our boats and personal watercraft of all the rental companies in the state. We have had this renter training in effect long before the state began requiring it. We have been told by the state that we are the model they want other rental companies to go by. The state requires anyone driving rental watercraft to watch a safety video in which they now provide. We are also required to read renters a list of boating laws prior to them obtaining an acknowledgement of education card they are required to carry on board when operating watercraft. When the renter then gets to the water we have them go through yet another training period on proper operation, safety, fire extinguishers and proper beaching and starting of equipment to prevent beach and equipment damages, and safety pertaining to the specific equipment they are renting prior to them getting on the watercraft. Our renters are advised to not operate near the no wake zone along the border of the lake and also to not operate in the same area for an extended period as to minimize any annoyance to waterfront property residents. They are advised on restricting noise as much as possible. Each renter is given a map of the lake and are pointed out the known lake hazards. Our maps all indicate that we do not allow any of our watercraft up the river at north beach. One of the rules that we have to read to the renter is about not drinking and driving. We stress this point to our renters. We work very closely with the sheriff’s department on enforcement of all of the laws and do require our renters to sign that they will obey all local, state and federal laws. The sheriff’s department has confirmed to us that they have NEVER found one of our renters to be intoxicated and will send you a letter to this effect if you would like. We provide to all of the sheriff’s patrol boats copies of our renter checklist so they are aware of what all is covered in our training in the event they have to stop one of them. We point this out to our renter. We also let them know that if we view them breaking the law we will call the sheriff ourselves, as we have had to do on rare occasion. One of the rules the state has had in place that usually surprises people is that there is no age limit in the state of Idaho for operating personal watercraft. We have again confirmed this with the state Department of Parks and Recreation as of the date of this proposal. If you are a private user you can be 5 years old and be a legal driver. There is also no required training for private users when they purchase a watercraft. The local dealer does frequently send new buyers to our office to go through our training program as they are aware of the extent we go to. We were informed there was an attempt to set an age limit a few years ago but it was defeated by the state legislature. Being a rental company we can set guidelines and age limits we require renters to adhere to. In the event someone makes a statement that rental companies are known for renting to under-aged and undereducated people, quite the opposite is actually the case. Perhaps this is an issue that the city will feel compelled to address with state representatives to revisit the potential for at least setting minimum age limits. We opened our family business 14 years ago. We began then and continue to be the lowest prices in McCall. Our Waverunner half day rate (4 hour rental) is $130 per machine and our full day (8 hour rental) is $180. The prices on our personal watercraft includes the first tank of fuel. You will find that our prices are much lower than other resort areas. Our focus is affordable family friendly prices, great products and the very best in customer service. The vast majority of our customers are simply families wanting to spend quality time together. We are frequently told by customers that this is the highlight of their vacation and that they will come back to McCall because of us. They are always impressed that we care about the quality of their stay and the safety of their families. It’s what people expect from a small town. We try to impress upon our employees that what may be a simple boat rental to them is a lasting memory to our customers, perhaps the last fishing trip with a terminally ill family member, a bridal party arriving at a lakeside ceremony, teaching their children to ski for the first time, or even a marriage proposal. It may also make the difference in the quality of the persons stay in McCall. Though they may not choose to do lake activities the next time they come to town, there will be hotels, restaurants, shops and other businesses that will benefit from their experience with us.. We are very much aware that our employees represent our business, our family, our town. We stress upon them our “ambassador theory” and they are encouraged to help the general public whenever possible and to insure that they conduct themselves in a professional and friendly way. Chuck works at the water every single day of the summer. He does the majority of the waterfront watercraft safety training. He works alongside our employees and sets a standard for quality control and compliance they must meet. In addition he has had our employees assist him in helping clean the beach regularly ever since we’ve been open. This past year our business employed 19 people. It is probable that this number will grow. We are hoping that we have adequately addressed the concerns of the Advisory Committee set forth in the proposal guidelines. If additional questions arise as a result of this proposal, we will gladly meet with you or we can address them in writing if that is your preference. In addition, if there is ever subject matter before the Advisory Committee or the City that could benefit from our knowledge and experience, we would be happy to assist in any manner possible. We would like you to know that we are the only rental company of our kind to ever last more than a year or two that does rentals only. The only other long term successful rental companies have also been dealers that did not rely completely on rentals for the success of their business. We believe this should account for something and would indicate that we must be the kind of reputable business that the public and City can feel good about.