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  #21  
Old 07-10-2009, 07:57 AM
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ricki ricki is offline
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Good luck, hope your discussion goes well. What is the date and time of the commission meeting in which the nude beach and kiting access are to be discussed?

Thanks!
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  #22  
Old 07-10-2009, 09:53 AM
flkiter flkiter is offline
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This is Paul Menta, i have been talking about this with the mayor for 2 months and i have time on the next meeting agenda. I can prove [from the kite house] that we have been named one of the top 10 kite spots in the world, we have just recived in national geographic adventures 10th aniverserys top 50, the only kiting as well as the only thing in florida to make the 10 year list. I have a video presentation and also have asked Rick to speak about the reasons. As stated by the mayor , if this is kept professional and to the point it will be hard to do. If we look unorganized, well they all ready have it up for vote and it will go away fast. So, i beg you to please becarefull on how this is aproached. I have 15 min for the next meeting, i think with rick this can be stopped, it is very close to passing.

We have to prove that this is a plus to the cominutiy and why, which i can document for 10 years with stats, facts, mags and t.v. and world records

The thug version of storming a meeting will everyone speaking different will only make us look like amateurs, lets do this right, we have rick on our side to speak, i have seen this before here.....dont make me say i told you so, this is serious
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  #23  
Old 07-10-2009, 10:57 AM
greg meintjes greg meintjes is offline
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Default nude beach - loss of smathers beach

I will be happy to work with you with the city , every time I have gone to the city I have had the courtesy to inform you and invite you to come with, I have also contacted as many other people and asked for their opinion and invited them to be involved. You declined because you told me I do not understand the "Bubba system" I have also asked you to include myself and some of the other local riders in these meeting,s ,but Paul you always have some excuse, the last one was that it was a "behind cloed doors meeting"

My main concern is the preservation of Smathers as a riding area for all kiters , this includes making sure that no kiting company ,yours , mine or any others tries to get a licence to teach or run a kiting related business on the beach as this will ruin it for all the riders and is also unsafe. Another reason that I want to be involved is to protect my business interests, any decisions the city makes could affect my livelyhood.

So I agree , we do need to be united and on the same page to look professional, and I have no problem working with you or any other persons, you can even be our spokesperson, and I am very happy that Rick is coming down as I value his knowledge tremendously. I will happily have a meeting with you to sort these problems out but , I will not be excluded when it comes to preserving the sport I enjoy. Paul you have my number or you can PM anytime so we can work on this together.If you decide you still wish to pursue this alone , I wish you the best of luck.

Off topic , I hope you are getting good wind and waves down there as we are not getting anything here.

G
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  #24  
Old 07-10-2009, 12:31 PM
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Paul, you may want to mention that a large portion of sailboat racers that visit Key West Race Week every Jan (a huge money injection, prob the biggest cash week by far) also kiteboard. And a matter of fact KWRW has competition now with Charleston SC race week being a cheaper regatta, so I would suggest trying to organize a kiteboard race of some sorts in conjuction w/KWRW. Just some more $$ ammo. I bet if you guys don't preserve this and the nudes get in there you will loose it for sure in time, 100% that they will move against you, good luck down there, John-
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  #25  
Old 07-10-2009, 05:57 PM
The Kite House The Kite House is offline
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will be happy to work with you with the city , every time I have gone to the city I have had the courtesy to inform you and invite you to come with, I have also contacted as many other people and asked for their opinion and invited them to be involved. You declined because you told me I do not understand the "Bubba system" I have also asked you to include myself and some of the other local riders in these meeting,s ,but Paul you always have some excuse, the last one was that it was a "behind cloed doors meeting"

OK GREG, SO YOU CAN DROP THE EGO ABIT, MY MEETING HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU OR RIDERS, I AM WORKING WITH PAL(POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE) TO INVOLVE KIDS TO KITE ON THE BEACH AND PADDLE BOARD, THAT IS MY BUSINESS, SO YOU DONT NEED THE INVITE.

SECOND, I DON NOT LIKE THE WAY YOU APROACH THE CITY AND DEMAND OR WANT TO SUE, WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN QUOTED, SO I CHOOSE TO DISTANCE MYSELF, I RESPECT YOU, BUT DO NOT WISH TO BE LUMPED IN, I HAVE HEARD THIS MANY TIMES FROM THE BUBBA SYTEM YOU SAY.




My main concern is the preservation of Smathers as a riding area for all kiters , this includes making sure that no kiting company ,yours , mine or any others tries to get a licence to teach or run a kiting related business on the beach as this will ruin it for all the riders and is also unsafe. Another reason that I want to be involved is to protect my business interests, any decisions the city makes could affect my livelyhood.

YES I AGREE, FIRSRT THING YOU NEED TO DO IS NOT TO DO ANY LESSONS, BE IT SET UP OR ANYTHING ON THE BEACH. yOU JUST SAID ALL THIS, BUT I SEE YOU WITH STUDENTS ON THE BEACH TEACHING SET UP, FREE OR NOT THE CITY HAS STATED THIS IS DOING BUSINESS, SO THAT SHOULD STOP.
yOUR BUSINESS IS IN MONROE COUNTRY NOT KEY WEST , SO HOW DOES THIS AFFECT IT?

So I agree , we do need to be united and on the same page to look professional, and I have no problem working with you or any other persons, you can even be our spokesperson, and I am very happy that Rick is coming down as I value his knowledge tremendously. I will happily have a meeting with you to sort these problems out but , I will not be excluded when it comes to preserving the sport I enjoy. Paul you have my number or you can PM anytime so we can work on this together.If you decide you still wish to pursue this alone , I wish you the best of luck.

i CHOOSE RICK AS A NUETRAL, AS HE WILL BEST REPRESENT THE SPORT, NOT ME AS I LIVE THERE, BUT THEY ALWAYS ASK MY OPION AS I DRAW WORLD WIDE ATENTION TO KEY WEST FOR TOURIST REVENUE, DO FREE COMERCIALS ECT, THATS WHY WE JUST GOT ON THE TOP 50 OF THE NEW NATIONAL GEORGRAPHIC ADVENTURE, THE ONLY THING IS FLORIDA TO MAKE IT, NOT JUST KITE, BUT EVERYTHING.

i FEEL RICK CAN DO A PROFESSIONAL JOB UN BIAS, I HAVE KEPT THE BANS FROM HAPPING LONG ENOUGH, BEEN BLAMED FOR ALOT AND TOOK IT.

cOMES DOWN TO THIS, WE NEED THE RIGHT PERSON TO DO THE RIGHT THING, rICK IS THE ONE, NOT ME, NOT YOU OR ANYONE

I AM NOT LOOKING FOR A PISSING MATCH, AND WHAT IS SAID ON HERE AND AT THE BEACH SEEM TO BE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS AS ALWAYS

I HAVE ALWAYS KITED THERE, I ALWAYS WILL...THATS A PROMISE
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  #26  
Old 07-10-2009, 07:13 PM
greg meintjes greg meintjes is offline
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Default nude beach-loss of Smathers Beach

Just wondering if you saw the pm I sent you. As far as Rick being spokesperson, that is a great idea, I said I would support you at the meeting , but I want to know what the points that are going to be discussed are. You have been talking to the mayor for 2 months , I started talking to the city regarding signs to designate that part of the beach as a kiting area and to try and get the pole removed 6 months ago (after a few of the locals said we needed to be proactive) The first thing I did was invite you and ask for your support- you declined , this was before the nude beach proposals had even been heard of, I wish you had offered your support then ,as then we might have got our signs up designating this as the kite beach and we would not have to worry about this problem. I would just like to know why you do not invite or get us involved, I am not the only one that would like to be involved. Ps you are right I do not need an invite when you are discussing your business with the city, and would not expect one, however the nude beach is not about your business ,and you said you hope we don't ruin it, how can we stick together if we don,t know what is happening. Ps I never threatened the city I would sue them, I told you and some of the other kiters a long time that if we got banned from kiting as a last resort we could always do what other people do and sue. I also never demanded anything from the city , in fact I had a very formal and pleasant meeting with them which finally led to us getting permission to remove the pole.

As far as teaching on the beach, yes you are very correct I do give a free beach lesson on how to set up and launch kites there , I never let a student fly a kite, this is purely a free safety and etiquet lesson. The reason I started doing this is a ;lot of new riders had no clue what to do on the beach, some of these were the kitehouse students( Spin, Jay , Marius and Letty to name a few, ) Some were from out of town and had nothing to do with you .In fact I refered some of them to you guys. I am also aware of the problems one has trying to do this out on the flats and that is why I do not mind doing this as a service. Ps when I met with the city I informed them what I did on the beach and why, I also met with Richard from Sunset Watersports who has the concessions on the beach and explained to him what I was doing, he also had no problem. The reason myself and other people don't want teaching on the beach is obvious, it is dangerous and a student and an instructor standing in the riding area flying a kite will ruin it for other kiters. I show them how to set up and what to do when they want to launch and I do not ever let them fly a kite, I don't even launch a kite to demonstrate this, as this will even get in the other riders way.

Paul I apoligise if I offended you, this was not a personal attack at you, I have always said we all need to work together, but we cannot do that if you don't include us, I am still waiting for your answer from the pm I sent you, and like I said in my pm, why not just call me or meet me over a beer , that would be much better than doing all this publicly on the forum.

Greg
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  #27  
Old 07-14-2009, 02:32 PM
greg meintjes greg meintjes is offline
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Default nude beach - loss of Smathers

Yesterday I had a nice telephone conversation with one of the naturists(Allan), they are aware of us and were even going to come and talk to us the next time they saw us, however like most people not involved in the sport , they have no idea regarding how much of a riding and beach area we need.( He thought we only need about 150 ft for ourselves) I told him we need more than that on the beach, and quite a lot more in the water where we actually ride and asked if myself and some other kiters could join them for their meeting to discuss the situation. I also said that I do not speak for all the kiters and some of the other riders or even some of the naturists might have different ideas on the subject, but that this would be a good way to start to set some boundaries up. Allan said that we are all welcome to attend this meeting to voice our concerns.

The meeting is this Friday evening at 6 pm at the East end of the beach, myself and a few of the other riders are going to attend, this is an open meeting, anyone who wants to can attend and have their say , just be polite and respectfull, remember this is not a protest.

Greg Meintjes
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  #28  
Old 07-14-2009, 11:49 PM
conchxpress conchxpress is offline
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Greg, do you have to go nude to this meeting? :lol:
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  #29  
Old 07-15-2009, 05:10 AM
greg meintjes greg meintjes is offline
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Default nude beach-loss of Smathers Beach

Of course, I was going to wear a fig leaf except Kim said I should really wear a banana leaf. LOL. Actually as far as I know everyone will be clothed, as this is a public meeting on a public beach. From what I have heard ,we do have the advantage on this subject of beach use, but Mike mentioned that nothing good can be gained from fighting with them and only good can come from working with them, and I agree. We all know how unfair it is when other groups unjustly try to ban kiting for no reason other than they don't want them in front of their condo,s etc , so lets show everyone we are willing to share the beaches ,but that we do need a sizable area to set up , safely ride and throw down in.

The Key West Citizen printed my letter to the editor in todays paper, and Mandy Bolen also wrote a new article on the issue in todays paper.

Greg
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  #30  
Old 07-15-2009, 03:23 PM
conchxpress conchxpress is offline
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Can you re-print the article from Mandy here?
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