Shadow Cliffs Water Slides Get Reprieve

At Monday's Pleasanton Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Jim O'Connor, of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD), presented the commission and
community members with an update on the T at the .

The focus of Jim's presentation was two-fold. First, Jim reviewed the current condition of the slides, pointing out a need for upgrades to the electrical, plumbing and buildings, and describing how the initial review, along with the long range land use plans for the area drove an initial recommendation to close the
slides.

However, after receiving public comments supporting the slides, EBRPD revised their plans and are now moving forward with an effort to further define exactly what is needed to either replace or renovate the slides, followed by developing a
Request For Proposal (RFP) seeking bids that would allow the slides to reopen.

Glenn Kierstead, the gentleman who originally built the slides and has successfully operated them for over 30 years provided his views on the reasons for the current conditions of the slides, including the fact that he had been unable to secure a multi-year agreement that would allow investing in ongoing improvements and providing a fair return on his investment. 

Glenn also shared his detailed estimate of costs pointing out that an investment of $270,000 would handle the needed repairs.

The Pleasanton Parks and Recreation Commission agreed to a show of support for the slides and will use a liaison committee to engage in continued discussion with the EBRPD concerning the slides.

A suggestion was made to have this meeting as quickly as possible with the hope that we can have the slides up and operating in summer 2013.

The bottom line is:

• The slides will remain closed through this summer
• EBRPD will hire a firm to perform a full analysis on what is required
  to refurbish or replace the slides
• The analysis will be used to form the basis of the RFP

I wish to point out that this is a perfect example of democracy at work.

We have two public organizations tasked with providing for the public's recreation
needs (EBRPD and City of Pleasanton Parks and Recreation Commission), news
organizations that provide an outlet for news and discussions (Pleasanton Patch,
Pleasanton Weekly, The Independent), and a concerned citizenry able and willing
to step up and make their needs known.

An online petition generated over 250 responses from people willing to speak up to stop the permanent closure of the slides and a large group of families attended Mondays presentation to show their support with many providing public comments supporting the slides.

We still have hurdles to jump and we are by no means out of the woods yet, however there is a concerted effort to save the slides and by working together we have a good chance of doing so.

Dolores Fox Ciardelli of the Pleasanton Weekly attended Monday's session and wrote an excellent article here: 

http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=9091

Thanks to everyone for working together on this.