Gibson Ranch Park Equestrian Services is Closed
A letter to our clients and boarders;
We write to you today with a heavy heart.
As you know, after August 31, 2010 we will no longer be operating the horse facilities at Gibson Ranch Regional Park . Given our long and close relationship with our boarders, we wanted to share with you the primary circumstances that have brought us to this point.
For the past 18 years, we have operated the equestrian concession at Gibson Ranch. During that time, we have provided a monthly statement of operations to the County together with a check representing the concession fee due the County. In addition to the concession fee, for a number of years we paid an amount equal to the concession fee to the County for deposit in the Gibson Ranch Maintenance Trust Fund. The total amount we have forwarded for deposit in the Gibson Ranch Maintenance Trust Fund exceeds $200,000.00. Our concession agreement requires that those funds be used on the equestrian facilities. Only a limited accounting has been provided of how those funds have been used. We do not believe that the funds have been properly used.
When we recently attempted to negotiate a long term extension to our concession, the County insisted on including a clause that allows the County to unilaterally terminate the concession on ninety days notice. This is an unacceptable requirement due to the uncertainty it imposes. Our reasoning is that such a condition eliminates any incentive to invest. We will leave to your examination whether such a disincentive to investment is a sound business practice.
The County’s closure of the park has had a terribly adverse impact on our daily operations. Our customer counts are down, our revenues are down, and our profits are down. The County’s actions are starving our business to the point of making it insufficiently profitable for the effort involved.
The County has been unable to solve any number of ongoing irrigation and drinking water issues. We don’t know from day to day what steps we will have to take to ensure that the livestock has water. This wears you out physically and mentally.
Finally, we are aware of how the County has treated the operators of Cherry Island Soccer Complex, extending an offer for a five year extension of their sole source lease. We are also aware that those operators failed to pay their rent for a number of years and also failed to provide annual statements (compared with our requirement to provide monthly statements) of operations to the County. We struggle to reconcile why those of us who comply with the terms of our agreement with the County are treated poorly while those who refuse to comply with the terms of their agreement are given special treatment.
We greatly appreciate the loyalty and support that you have shown over the years. We sincerely regret how this situation is ending
Gibson Ranch is a Regional Park, used by not only those in Sacramento county, but from all over our region.
If you have any thoughts or concerns, please make them known to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
Roger Dickinson - dickinsonr@saccounty.net
Jimmie Yee - jyee@saccounty.net
Susan Peters - susanpeters@saccounty.net
Roberta MacGlashan - macglashanr@saccounty.net
Don Nottoli - nottolid@saccounty.net
and the director of County Regional Parks, Janet Baker - bakerj@saccounty.net
Thank you for your continued support of the ranch at Gibson Ranch Park!!
(916) 991-7592 Fax (916) 991-7593 * 8556 Gibson Ranch Rd.
our mailing address is - P.O. Box 1021 Elverta, CA 95626