WILLIAMS –The Williams City Council chambers were packed as the Soaring Eagles Zip Line ride passed another hurdle to approval. The Council voted unanimously to approve the special use permit to keep the Zip Line ride in its current location with certain conditions.

Logan Checketts gave his presentation complete with a video from their YouTube channel. Before the video he stated that he has had calls from people who say that they are coming to Williams for the Zip Line ride. He also expressed his desire to be a productive business in the community.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The public participation started with Daniel Robert Watt, co-owner of South Rim Wine Garage, saying with the initial costs of the Zip Line behind, the operating costs would be lower. He said that he understood how difficult it is for new business in the city. He has kept his doors open during the winter to support the community. He also noted that his grandchildren rode the ride and loved it.

Dennis Nelson, who was involved in the construction of the stage, said that he agreed with many that are not opposed to the Zip Line itself, but are opposed to its current location. He said that there are businesses in town who like the look of downtown and understand complying with the rules to maintain the historic look of downtown Williams.

“Having said that, I don’t think there’s anything you can do with the Zip Line to make it consistent with the look of what the historic district should be and I think it’s very important to think about as you make this decision,” Nelson said. “It’s not just about the Zip Line now. It’s what you want downtown Williams to look like five, ten, fifteen, twenty-years from now.”

Checketts has repeatedly mentioned the amount of money put into Route 66 theme with the garage look, classic car and antiques. He has not had to theme any of his other rides.

Nelson also noted that whether the Zip Line is taken down this year or later that the city should ensure that funds are available to make repairs to the parking lot and area of the towers.

Dan La Paglia of Canyon View Realty spoke at length about the problems of the location. He said that he, “…dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t’ down to the very last in order to comply with what this community, and the fathers of this community state, and the Historical Society, that a historical district should look like.”

He was concerned from the beginning when the Zip Line went up without any consultation. He also said that he did not believe it complies with the intent of the historic district. The noise is a concern to La Paglia because it is difficult for him to consult with clients. He complained about the parking situation. He did say that Checketts has been cooperative about the noise by turning the music down and the parking by asking his employees to park elsewhere. When the Zip Line is in operation, however, he has no parking because of the customers.

His other concern was about liability. He said he is not knowledgable about the weather and what would happen if lightning struck the Zip Line with someone on it, but he had to go and ask them to shut it down during a thunderstorm. He said a lady told him the same thing as he was on his way to the site. La Paglia also noted that the chair was occasionally placed over Grand Canyon Boulevard and it could be a distraction to drivers. He said that if he were to sell his property, he would have to disclose about the noise. He also noted that the council was originally only going going to allow it in its present location for one-year and was surprised to learn of the efforts to keep it.

“I believe these guys are cooperative. I believe the city ought to do it. I do not believe that it should remain where it is,” he said ending his comments.

Sean Casey of Bearizona spoke to the council saying that in the 1980s, this town was dying. “The historic district was no such thing. It was storefronts.” What brought it back, he said, was attractions—somehing to do.

“That saved downtown,” he said. “I think we all agree that downtown would not be historic and pretty without an attraction.”

Casey pointed out that we have less than 1.5 day stays in the Williams hotels. “Where I come from there’s fifty attractions and our average stay is four-days or 4-and-a-half.” He said that the Zip Line needs to be where it is for foot traffic.

As for that section being historic, “I think Holst has a nice building. Pancho’s. The Realtor has at least kept up. But in-between there it looks semi-ghettoish and has for apparently a long time.”

He mentioned the Williams Aquatic Center and Dollar General which does not fit into the historic district.

The Grand Canyon attracts 4 million people compared to 2.5 at Mount Rushmore, he noted. He complained about taxes in the city which are among the highest in the country. There are other problems which make business difficult in Williams, such as water and buy-in fees.

John Holst of the Red Garter Bed and Bakery spoke next and stated that after a year of operation it was apparent that this was not going to be a $270,000 a year income to the city. He said that it is interesting that it has split the community. He said that while it may draw some people into Williams, the majority of the riders of the Zip Line are people who are already here. He disagreed with Sean about the ability of the historic district to draw people to this community.

He also said it was a good thing, but in the wrong location. He said it is an impact on the historic downtown. But he did say that a compromise would be to allow one more year to allow them to recoup some more on their investment with a definite ending date in which they would have to move the attraction to another location.

“When the railroad was looking at getting going again, it was the efforts of the efforts in the downtown area, the restoration of the buildings, the sidewalks coming back…, that really encouraged the railroad, I think, to say, ‘Yea. We’re going to sixty-million dollars to be neighbors to this historic district’,” Holst said.

Speaking next, Thomas Ross of I-40 Fleet Rentals said that three people spoke against the project because of its location. He said, though, that he agrees with Casey that it needs to be in that location to be an attraction for foot traffic. He noted that the Zip Line pays a lot of rent to the city and it does not take water. He said that he read a lot of the minutes from the City Council meetings and they generally approve things approved by the Planning and Zoning commission.

He told Dan that he has a lot of pictures of properties for sale, but no one wants to pass to look because of the “ghetto” between where the hooker is in the window and his property. “Nobody wants to walk past there,” he said. He claims that the traffic goes to the Zip Line and then goes back. He added that his kids like to ride.

“That’s [the Zip Line] always going to be just that one other thing. Maybe someday we’ll have a skating rink. Or a movie theater. Or a bowling alley. Or a nice park with a gazebo … and trees. Maybe someday we’ll have something like that, but right now we don’t.”

COUNCIL SESSION

Logan Checketts then faced the council for questions.

Council man Frank McNelly asked about the liability insurance. Checketts said that the insurance was a million-dollar per occurrence and a million-dollars aggregate which is standard throughout the Zip Line industry. There were no injuries or incidents during the operation last year. He said he worked with City Manager Brandon Buchanan on the amount.

McNelly also asked, at the recommendation of Planning and Zoning, that there be a surety bond to ensure that if the Zip Line failed that there would be money to make the repairs on the parking lot and tower area.

Logan said that he felt that the $25,000 that he pays the city before he can open the ride would be surety enough to fix the areas. Later in the session, McNelly said that he was not satisfied with the answer and wanted a separate bond to cover expenses. Logan agreed to a separate bond but City Building Inspector Tim Pettit estimated that the cost of potential repairs would be around $2,000.

Councilman Dr. Jim Wurgler asked about the upfront payment to the city of $25,000. Logan explained that with the $25,000 and the 3% sales tax, the Zip Line paid just over $30,000 to the city. He later explained that the goal this year is to reach $100,000 and grow from there.

Councilman Lee Payne clarified that the Zip Line, according to Checketts, wanted a three-year term contract so that he would not have to go through this process every year. If they cannot arrange a longer-term contract, however, he would be satisfied with another year and re-visit the issue later. He eventually asked for the initial $25,000 plus another $25,000 on top of the sales tax revenues. Checketts said that would be possible.

Payne said, “It was not the cities intent to lease that parking lot.” He said that he supports the work that the Historic Commission did to create the historic district and the parking lot is a big part of that effort. He said that from what he was hearing the only way to determine if the ride would be successful is to remain in that location for a longer period of time.

Logan replied that the longer term contract was best for his business, but he would take a one-year term and go forward from there.

Vice Mayor Don Dent pointed out that the original intent was to give one year to get the attraction going and then move it east to BNSF railroad property that was leased by the city. Dent said because Checketts went to BNSF first, that deal fell through. His issue is the ride takes up room vehicles used to turn around.

Councilman Payne made the motion to approve a special use permit for a term not to exceed two years. This would allow him to operate next year without going through the permitting process if the venue is successful this year. The council unanimously approved the special use permit. For the record, Mayor John Moore said his vote would have been yes.

The city must now negotiate a new lease for approval at a future council meeting.