Committee backs 5-year agreement with Kayak CDA LLC for Atlas Mill Park rentals

The General Services Public Works Committee on Feb. 10 recommended that city council approve a five-year agreement with Paul Brown, doing business as Kayak CDA LLC, to provide passive water-sport rentals at Atlas Mill Park.

Parks and Recreation Director Bill Greenwood told the committee the vendor would place “a little concession booth type ticket booth there right next to our it would be the ADA, ramp and dock.” He said there is a large landing and a beach upriver where the vendor can stage kayaks and a barge. Greenwood added the vendor expects a later start to the season — “start earlier in the season would probably be closer to June” — because of dam and water-flow conditions.

The committee discussed the vendor’s potential role in helping users at the ADA kayak launch. Greenwood said the vendor told him he and his staff “would help anybody out … if they were having difficulty at the kayak launch.” Committee members also raised concerns about past misuse of the nearby ADA swim area and said the vendor’s presence might help reduce conflicts. Greenwood recounted prior incidents in which a woman in a wheelchair was ignored by others using the swim area.

A committee member moved to recommend council approve “an agreement with Paul Brown, AKA Kayak CDA LLC to provide a passive water sport rentals at Atlas Mill Park for a term of 5 years.” A second was made and the committee voted by voice; the chair said, “Motion carries.” The meeting record does not include a roll-call tally.

The agreement would establish a five-year term for vendor operations at Atlas Mill Park and formalize the vendor’s use of the landing and adjacent beach area. The committee did not detail fee terms in the discussion recorded in the transcript.

The recommendation advances to the full city council for final approval; the start date of vendor operations will depend on water conditions at the dam and the vendor’s operational preparations.