News Blip:
Privately Held RV Park Questions $8M Plan
Magic Valley Reports On IDPR's Plan To Construct An RV Park at The Billingsley Creek Unit of Thousand Springs State Park That Nearby Hagerman RV Village Owners Think Will Threaten Their Life's Work.
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved through MagicValley's website via Google.
Big business has been known to "take out the little guy" on various occasions. Think Wal-Mart driving people away from family-owned businesses by offering unbeatable prices or simply because Wal-Mart advertising is everywhere. Not to discredit Wal-Mart's accomplishments in the retail business, as it was its strategies and logistics that gave them that number 1 spot. However, how can the average joe with a small budget compete. This article focuses on the owners of an RV park on the outskirts of a town called Hagerman. They worry that the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation’s plan to install an RV park at the Billingsley Creek unit of Thousand Springs State Park could put them out of business. Ed Wickham said he and his wife, Beverly, poured their life savings into Hagerman RV Village more than 20 years ago. They built up their business — and in doing so, they say they’ve helped build up Hagerman’s tourism base to what it is now. The parks department plans an $8 million upgrade to the Billingsley Creek unit just north of U.S. 30 near Wickham’s RV park. The Wickhams are not objecting to the whole plan, just the RV park, calling it unfair competition.
Mychel Matthews of Southern Idaho Local News speaks with the RV park's owners and lets us know what they had to say: “I don’t feel it’s right,” said Beverly Wickham. “I don’t want my tax dollars going to a business that is going to compete with our business.” It costs the Wickhams $25,000 each year to advertise in national tourism magazines to draw visitors in, Ed Wickham said. Their guests range from construction workers who rent by the month to snowbirds to those who stay only a night. In February, their major business comes in. The park department’s project is a win-win proposition, Hagerman Mayor Noel “Pete” Weir said. The Billingsley Creek unit is expected to be a boon for Hagerman’s economy. IDPR spokeswoman Jennifer Okerlund agrees, saying the parks department’s intent is to bring in more business, not take business away. But the Wickhams aren’t convinced. The tendency for government to compete with the private sector recurs every so often. "There’s no state policy against it," Fairfield Rep. Steve Miller said, “but philosophically, the government should never compete with private enterprise.”
For the full article visit right here at Southern Idaho Local News | Magic Valley.
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