January 6, 2003

On Thursday, December 30, 2002, the Board of Commissioners of Shawnee County approved the new agreement between the Shawnee Yacht Club and Shawnee County. The new agreement is for a three (3) year period ending December 31,2005.

The Shawnee Yacht Club and Shawnee County have a long history together. In fact, I understand that the Shawnee Yacht Club predates the Parks & Recreation department by some twenty (20) years. I am excited that a new agreement was reached and to learn that Parks & Recreation shares many of the same goals as the Yacht Club.

We are looking forward to working with your club on many projects in the future. I am excited to hear that you are looking at possibly putting together an event to be part of the "Sunflower State Games." I hope you can pull it off. Parks & Recreation will be glad to help any way that we can.

The Recreation Division is working closely with Mike Gorman to implement 'learn to sail" classes. Hopefully you will see some new members out of this project. In the recent Parks & Recreation Activity Brochure, we have dedicated some space to the Yacht Club to help get the word out about your club.

There has been a great deal of discussion about new docks for your club's use. The Parks Division is working on dressing up the appearance of the entire area. New docks have been needed in your area for some time. Over the winter, Parks & Recreation intends to replace two (2) (50 ft approx) dock sections. The docks will be similar to those used at the Marina and should age better than the wood and Styrofoam ones did. I am sure you will like what the Parks Division comes up with. Both Jim Schwartz and Mike Gorman have been integral in the design.

I want to thank Jim Schwartz, Commodore and Mike Gorman, Treasurer for the time and commitment they have put in to see the agreement to its resolution. Jim has also assisted with the Lake Shawnee Trail planning. Thank you Shawnee Yacht Club for your "letter of support" in Parks and Recreation's attempt to acquire funding of this trail. Mike spent many hours on the "Keep Beautiful Lake Shawnee Beautiful" in 2000. Thanks to your members who came out and helped mark storm drains. I hope to keep the "Keep Beautiful Lake Shawnee Beautiful" program going.

Good Luck in 2003.