[ricki]

Huge thanks to the 20 or so that made it to the commission meeting last night and hung in there until about midnight, AGAIN! That sort of commitment is golden and I thank you for it. I was dismayed after we said our piece in a hurry late last night, considering all the careful preparation, discussion, meetings to work up a pack of solutions and advanced discussion with Town staff. You think you cover the bases but in fact ... ?

I understand from Mike O'Keefe, we may not be that far away from a solution. Not too different from the registration concept "B" perhaps without a designated launch with greater emphasis on staying 100 ft. away from bystanders. The focus would shift to designating a "no ride zone" south of Pines Rd. AND INSIDE 100 yards of shore. Beyond 100 yards is fair game as long as you don't land on the beach to the south or come too close to the pier. This was part of last night's proposal of course. It would be nice to remove as much complexity from this as we can. There would be a general prohibition on instruction as well. This will be worked out, put into a real short proposal, discussed among ourselves, presented in private to commissioners and to the open commission in July. More to come but I don't think our time was wasted, when you're right and have a good approach, you're right ... right? Let's hope so.

A parting comment, think of the amount of time we've devoted to just the issue of LBTS. I would guess between a bunch of us sitting through 8 hours of commission meetings, kiter meetings, private discussions and more, we've collectively spent well over 300 man hours trying to fix this situation. I told this to the commission last night to underscore the level of concern and responsibility among most kiters. So, the next time you see someone threatening to toss YOUR access into the pirana tank, grab your kite buds and have an effective, tactful talk with the fellow. You've shown your constitution and commitment, now I would ask that you take it "to the beaches" and make it count. Think of all the commission meetings we might miss if we succeed. Over to you and thanks again!