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LAKEPORT – It came down to the wire, but on Monday evening BoardStock promoter Rob Stimmel had in his hand a contract to hold the extreme sporting event at Big Valley Rancheria's Konocti Vista Casino.
“Quite frankly, we came right down to the wire,” Stimmel said.
The agreement came after what Stimmel called 11th-hour negotiations with the casino late last week and over the weekend.
“I'm excited,” he said. “I get to stay here at the lake.”
On May 1, the Lakeport City Council voted a second time to turn down Stimmel's request to hold the event there. They initially turned the event down in a March 20 vote.
The event will take place at Konocti Vista Sept. 27-30, Stimmel said.
The event will feature the same land, water and air events as in past years, said Stimmel.
“That's kind of our model,” he said. “We're an extreme sports show, predominantly water-based.”
He added, “We're going to stick with what works.”
Stimmel also reported that Konocti Vista has asked him for a multi-year deal to host the event.
The casino is proposing to build a motocross track for racing, Stimmel said, and he's considering adding a racing element to future BoardStock events.
The casino has some progressive plans for the event, said Stimmel. “They want to do something nice.”
There are still issues to work out, he said, including the issue of alcohol.
“At this point, their feeling is, they're probably not going to provide alcohol for sale out on the point,” he explained. Alcohol could only then be purchased inside the casino bar, he added.
The city of Lakeport, he said, hasn't approached him again about paying for police and fire services. He said he had offered them $40,000 to cover emergency services, and that's the same offer that Konocti Vista has accepted.
Now it's crunch time. “We've got a tremendous amount of work to do in a short amount of time,” he said.
That includes working out timelines, plans for security and emergency services, and more. And with the event only about 140 days away, Stimmel said he wants those details cemented within the next two months.
He said he has a team experienced in setting up the event. Even with the short timeframe, Stimmel said, “We were quite confident we could do it.”
In addition to finding a local host for BoardStock, Stimmel reported that he will be expanding BoardStock to two events a year, one in spring and one in fall.
He said he has a verbal commitment from a facility in Lake Havasu, Ariz., to host the spring version of BoardStock next May. Dates have already been booked, he said, and a contract is being finalized.
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Let's just wait and see how it goes at the Konocti Vista Casino. Will they be candid and tell us of the bad things that happened as well as the good?
We'll see, won't we?