Park Service Incompetence

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Nomofish said:
If remember right the word is Payola! I'm sure Aramark greases politicians palms!
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Keep in mind that Aramark on paper helps contribute to the park budget. What percentage they currently pay is unknown by me, but for what the charge, hopefully some of the revenue gets cycled back into Glen Canyon.

Link to Concession contracts webpage
"Concession contracts are limited in number and scope, are competitively awarded, range from 10-20 years in length, and require the awardee to pay a Franchise Fee that is generally around 10%-15%. Concession contracts are limited to three category types: Category I contracts exist when a concessioner constructs capital improvements on park lands; Category II contracts exist when a concessioner operates on assigned land or in a government building but makes to construction or capital improvements to the property; and Category III contracts exist when the concessioner is assigned neither land nor buildings "
 
Bottom line is the NPS and Aramark charge very hefty fees to enter and use the Lake Powell infrastructure. In exchange, it is reasonable for the paying customer to expect that infrastructure to be operating. I would like to hear that the head of NPS made a call to this Billy Shott, Mr. Park Superintendent, to get off is butt, go find a couple of wrenches and get the water going for his paying customers
 
LP1 said:
Bottom line is the NPS and Aramark charge very hefty fees to enter and use the Lake Powell infrastructure. In exchange, it is reasonable for the paying customer to expect that infrastructure to be operating. I would like to hear that the head of NPS made a call to this Billy Shott, Mr. Park Superintendent, to get off is butt, go find a couple of wrenches and get the water going for his paying customers
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Director of NPS: Dan Smith, 202-208-6843
 
One thing that needs to be taken into consideration is fishermen who do not pay attention to the instructions posted at the fish cleaning stations. It is really easy to get things right on the order of what needs to be done and what goes where. We've found (especially up at Bullfrog) that people do not seem to heed the relatively simple instructions. Let's not blame the parks service for not having someone handy 24x7 to point people to the signs that tell them what to do.
 
T-Rex said:
One thing that needs to be taken into consideration is fishermen who do not pay attention to the instructions posted at the fish cleaning stations. It is really easy to get things right on the order of what needs to be done and what goes where. We've found (especially up at Bullfrog) that people do not seem to heed the relatively simple instructions. Let's not blame the parks service for not having someone handy 24x7 to point people to the signs that tell them what to do.
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T-Rex, if it was one thing I might see your point. When unsafe conditions exist like in the pictures below and nothing is done about it then someone is incompetent. Period. I watched an NPS patrol boat go right past these aids to navigation twice. They know about it and do nothing to fix it and live with a dangerous situation. Now I am not blaming the individual rangers for this, it is the system, however when we pay at every step to utilize our public lands then I do expect a return on my dollar and expect that the ATONs are correct, the facilities are kept to reasonable standards etc. I just watched testimony from committee on the CORE act where the park service guy admitted there budget was far, far in the hole, yet he wanted more land through the act. As to ARAMark, they have a contract that spells out what they are responsible for. It is up to the NPS to hold them accountable, so in a way, they both share the blame when service is not at the level it should be. The whole thing is pretty broke and we are kidding ourselves if you think that the NPS folks don’t see these posts and still do nothing. They see them, they know, and are either too beat up to care or don’t have the budget and staffing to accomplish what they would like to. I would like to think they are just in a bad way and would like to correct the situation if possible but can’t. Either way it sucks. Rant over.

TR
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I just got back from Bullfrog and I thought I broke the disposal at the fish cleaning station . Its about ready to explode . Clad that I read this post. Was going to cover it with a trash bag put forgot too. Hope nobody gets hurt it needs fixed . I cleaned my fish and put all the remains in the dumpsters .
 
Hey thanks for the list of places to help parks. I did sign up with the npca for their newsletter, cool looking site lots of info. Also I sent a note to billy shot asking to check out this site and what his side of the story is concerning broken stuff at lake Powell.
 
davew said:
Well buckin -- sorry you feel I am illogical.
The original post was questioning why the slips were not run properly -- why no water and why the pump outs were not working --- I have been dealing with the monopoly that is Aramark and the NPS for many years, and my OPINION is that they over charge for the service they deliver. The fee examples I used were for 2 lakes and approx. 6 marinas. I also have experience with other marina pricing in areas such as the great lakes, and in Missouri. Based on that experience, and examples I feel the slip fees are excessive, and the overall service is lacking.
You are welcome to disagree with my OPINION, but my question remains -- Aramark is charging significantly more than other marinas that cater to house boats --- what do they do with the extra money, and why do so many feel (my self included) the services are lacking?
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I have to agree the lake concession sucks I operated service businesses for sometime. And my experience tells me they are milking it for all they can get with no real regard for quality visitor service.
 
To continue.. glen canyon is a primer piece of the United States and really needs to be treated with more care and respect than I have seen lately, for example trashed campsites, very loud music day and night, fireworks, I don’t even know where to go from here but many people seem to not have a clue about backcountry camping as far as cleaning up after themselves and impacting their neighbors. Ugh
 
Sego- most people don't know AND don't care. You're fighting a losing battle there.

Has anyone ever read the Armark contract to actually see what they are responsible for?
I think not but it should be publicly viewable somewhere. Seems like a good first step.
 
Steve Moore said:
Aramark has not had a contract since 2007. They have been going on a continuous agreement. They are pushing hard for a new contract and I keep pushing my congressman to kick them out. It is our park not theirs
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Careful what you wish for. Last I heard no one else will bid for it. The Wahweap concession may be attractive, but Dangling Rope, Bullfrog and Halls I suspect are MUCH harder to staff and make profitable. I’d rather have Aramark than no one
 
PowellBride said:
Careful what you wish for. Last I heard no one else will bid for it. The Wahweap concession may be attractive, but Dangling Rope, Bullfrog and Halls I suspect are MUCH harder to staff and make profitable. I’d rather have Aramark than no one
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Offshore Marina has taken over Hite as the concessionaire there and doing a land based activities such as off-roading and hiking. Happy to see something being done up there.
From what I hear from just about every other business owner, it's hard everywhere to find quality, competent employees these days. Not only on Lake Powell. The fact that most people are not programmed correctly for the remoteness of most places on the lake just adds difficulties for finding decent employees.
Aramark does what it can but doesn't seem to pride themselves as a concessionaire any more in my opinion. But, it is a big operation to tackle and changing vendors would be a HUGE complication.
 
Aramark is working with what they have but I do think it is inevitable that there is going to be a change with concessionaires. After looking at their financial statements I can see why Aramark is understaffed and is unmotivated to expand or spend more money to upgrade facilities. 506950705071
 
Ryan said:
I’d love to see the balance sheet for Powell. Especially by marina.

I know it’s expensive to run things there, but it blows my mind to think it wouldn’t be profitable when you consider what they charge for the slips.
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I cant find one specifically for Lake Powell, I will email them and see if I can get it. The information I am sure has to be made available to the public. I think the problem is gross over spending and a lack of oversight. Also it is very difficult to work on anything down there for cheap, I personally would love if a group could come together and fund a better marina/service.
 
Earthquakesubs said:
I cant find one specifically for Lake Powell, I will email them and see if I can get it. The information I am sure has to be made available to the public. I think the problem is gross over spending and a lack of oversight. Also it is very difficult to work on anything down there for cheap, I personally would love if a group could come together and fund a better marina/service.
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The guy from Mead was interested in Bullfrog/Halls a couple years ago
 
As in most circumstances, competition is a good thing and the government has a proven track record of poorly monitoring and spending funds. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have " nearly unlimited " financial backing and no real risk/loss, like the NPS. Contrary to the stress about the risk/loss as private companies would have to account for. I'm not saying to do away with the NPS, but there must be a better solution to how Lake Powell is taken care of. We can all agree that it is an absolutely beautiful place, with great fishing and water recreation, but there always feels as if it's sometimes treated with the bare minimum attention.

It also sounds a lot like Aramark may have been given the bid and extended through some controversial means. I would not be surprised if there was a little quid pro quo or under-the-table dealings going on.
 
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