Comments on: There’s GOLD In The Boise River

By: Rifter

Rifter — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 20:51:34 +0000

@Muck Raker: Floating is free, if you have your own equipment. Riding the packed bus, costs $3 per person. Filling with air, is free. Parking at Barber Park, on the weekend, I believe is $6.

What my wife and I do, is take our raft to Ann Morrison Park, ride the bus ($6 total) to Barber, fill the raft up, float back to Anne Morrison, deflate the raft, and go home. It is cheap, and fun. Probably the best entertainment bang for the buck in the valley.

I’m curious why entrance to Barber park isn’t mentioned in all of this. While a handful of vehicles parked there are probably not floating, the vast majority are, and the last time we went, it was sold out, and filled to over-flow (they were parking in expanded parking areas).

As I said before, as someone that floats the river, if Epilees is making money, the city/county is keeping people happy, it sounds like things are going well. Figure in that the county is in addition MAKING money, plus all the parking at Barber, it should be a win-win.

Floating the Boise is a great public goods service. It’s a good tourist attraction, to bring people in, and sell the city. Not sure why so many people get upset that a company that is doing good, MAY be making an extra bit of money, when ultimately, we are looking at win-win.

By: slim jim

slim jim — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 14:41:04 +0000

ahhhhhhhh, memories of floating the river back when adults never did. Back when the banks was Tate Dairy Farm and barbed wire fences came down into the water.
Now THOSE were the fun days of floating.
We often got out at one park just to run back to another to get another float in while waiting for a late parent to pick us up from the (then new) Ann Morrison Park – or where ever it was we were to meet.
Personally, I don’t float anymore as I don’t like wall to wall tubes – and who knows who has just peed up river from you.

By: Outraged

Outraged — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 03:55:03 +0000

Thanks Mr. Maneely but a little late to act transparent seems like you should have done your homework first and spoke to the Interim Parks Director.

So, what others say is true us taxpayers are subsidizing a private business! Did the County ask Epley’s to invest this money and did the County verify the exact amount of money they invested before extending the contract. What is the exact amount of money the County makes after removing the maintenance cost and personnel time?

If you want to be transparent then put it all out there. Lets see the contracts, the amount of money made, maintenance costs (both County and Epley’s), the cost and exactly what Epley’s purchased to extend the contract since 2008.

By: Muck Raker

Muck Raker — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 19:56:02 +0000

Haven’t floated the river in close to 20 years. Do I gather from some of the comments that folks providing their own raft and arranging their own shuttle still have to pay a fee of sorts? Just curious.

EDITOR NOTE–Free floating. They charge for tubes, rafts, parking, bus shuttle back to Barber, but the river float itself is free with your own gear…and free air according to the note from Maneely.

By: Rifter

Rifter — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 20:31:25 +0000

As someone that loves to float the river, and someone that just uses the shuttle busses, I am happy about the arrangement.

Epley’s does a great job. They are hopping EVERY time I have gone. The river is full of people enjoying themselves. I am curious how much the county sees in parking fees during the summer. The last time we went, Barber Park was FULL. As in, no more cars were allowed in.

People are just complaining about the Epley portion, I wonder how much the county/city make in total. I be it is a nice amount of money.

This for something that is very inexpensive for people. I too view it as win-win. Not EVERYTHING has to be beat down in government. If everything is working well, why “rock the raft”?

By: For Real

For Real — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 00:30:53 +0000

Right on My Two Cents, absolutely correct! No tax payer dollars should support a private business. Epley’s needs to run on their own if they are making $450,000 they need to get their own place and their own equipment. Quit using equipment and buildings that are paid for and supported with tax payer money. I still believe that Ada County needs to show where Epley’s has paid for and is maintaining all equipment. Their responses to the Boise Guardian seem a little contradictory.

By: Porcupine

Porcupine — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:17:50 +0000

Is it legal to drink booze when you float by Bronco Stadium now that is legal to drink on both sides of the river during a Bronco game?…. Just wondering.

EDITOR NOTE–Only from an opaque cup with one foot touching the bottom and you must wear orange and blue.

By: My Two Cents

My Two Cents — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 18:33:43 +0000

Clem: If Epleys were a nonprofit, your argument would be one I might agree with. But using taxpayer dollars to subsidize a private enterprise so people who own it can get rich is simply not what I consider an appropriate use of governmental dollars or taxpayer funds. It crosses a line I think should not be crossed. That really is my main point.

By: clem1298

clem1298 — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:59:53 +0000

I guess maybe we should just allow any organization to offer tubes to float the river without any sort of discretion and/or oversight. That way Ann Morrison can be packed with all sorts of shuttles, there will be no accountability for faulty equipment, and instead of a very cheap bus ride we will be left to haggle with whomever has their jalopy in the park. If you don’t want to pay to use the equipment, YOU DON”T HAVE TOO!
If the county subsidizes the company a little and still collects all that cash for doing nothing, that sounds like a good deal to me.
I guess another solution would be to remove a Boise icon and hurt our economy even more. Face it, Boise is growing and is going to continue to grow. Some people just need to learn to accept that.

By: For Real

For Real — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 01:12:17 +0000

What I am understanding is that Epley’s had the contract from 2007-2012 the original contract but it was extended in March 2011 through the 2015 season allowing the extra time on the contract because “Terms included Epley’s agreeing to become fully responsible for maintaining the equipment (rafts and tubes) and buses, and replacement of the equipment when worn, damaged or unsafe for use. This was a significant investment by Epley’s, resulting in their owning much of the equipment inventory. In fairness, they were granted an extension of the agreement to allow for amortizing their capital investment over a couple of additional seasons.”

What seems contradictory is that in the quote “Epley’s agreeing to become fully responsible” when did they start bearing all maintenance costs 2007 or 2011? If they were not bearing all costs in 2007 why was their contract extended why didn’t it go back out for bid with this written into the new contract or was it in the original contract from 2007 and were not held to that portion of the contract. In either case I would like to see if any Ada County financial records show if/or any payments for repairs have been made. Also, it would be good to see both of the original contracts to see if they were responsible from the beginning and just not held to it, before I would say there is no “smoking gun”

Again, what equipment do they own Ada County’s or Epley’s because I see both on the river. Some tagged Ada County and some tagged Epley’s. My summation to that is that they have bought their own and those do not belong to Ada County. If they own much of the inventory then did they buy it from the Ada County or is it the equipment tagged Epley’s? This would make a difference in what they are saying.