By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
August 8, 2007

Port of Hood River commissioners tabled the idea of developing a waterfront RV park until 2008 at their Aug. 7 meeting.

They did not vote on the issue but agreed it should wait. Commission Chairman Fred Duckwall said the staff had more than enough projects to work on for now.

Duckwall and commissioner Hoby Streich had initially met with Rich and Barbara Stockwell, of RV Park Consulting LLC in early June. The port commission had discussed the idea of putting in a temporary space for RV’ers on port property near the city sewer plant.

However, the Stockwells advised in their report to consider putting an RV resort on the large parcel between the Hood River and the existing Expo Center. That parcel is known as Lot 1 and while zoned for light industrial use had not been used for a number of years.

Their recommendation of 64 sites put the project at $1.7 million with a payback period of six years, not including planning or construction time. While the consultants acknowledged the port could still put in a small park for seasonal RV’ers, they said the money to be made in the RV market was in the quality of having a more upscale permanent facility.

“Many RV’ers want to experience a get-away from the greater Portland Metropolitan area. They can head for the coast on narrow two-lane roads, which take them hours, or they could come to the Hood River RV facility on an easy to navigate four-lane I-84 with excellent ingress and egress to the property,” they wrote.

The report also cited the golfing, fishing, boating, restaurants and boutique town for exploration and enjoyment as incentives for RV users to come to Hood River.

Commissioner Sherry Bohn said she felt the project got out of hand from the original intent.

“In order for the port to make the money back from its investment, the time frame and the scale was not what I had in mind,” Bohn said.

She said other obstacles would have been the need to request a zoning change and the commitment of staff time and resources. Streich said he was afraid if the commissioners waited, they would never do the project.

“I think the town (Hood River) needs the RV park; the site is easy access to water sports, off the freeway and has level ground,” he said.

Streich advocated the project because of the need and that such an enterprise would not compete with downtown businesses. The commission will revisit the RV park project early next year. In other business, they:

n Approved a $9,223 change order for improvements to the Hood River Interstate Bridge Toll Facility.

n Approved $1,200 in payments to Terra Surveying.

n Approved a $6,000 contract amendment for Flowing Solutions Inc. for additional services associated with Marina planning.

n Authorized agreement with Mid-Columbia Council of Governments on sharing cost for design work for lease space at Wasco Business Building.

n Authorized a $35,000 contract with Group Mackenzie for on-call site planning and architectural services.