Addressing Your Concerns - Rock Aqua Jays

A few days ago I spoke with a friend of mine who is involved with the Rock Aqua Jays, who have suffered greatly from this year's flood. My friend asked me what the City may be able to do to help the Rock Aqua Jays in the recovery process, considering that the National Tournament alone, which had to be cancelled this year, should have brought as much as $2 million to the local economy. I posed the question to Mike Williams, Janesville's Leisure Services Director. Here's the reply I got back from Mr. Williams. As always your comments are very helpful to me in determining whether your questions have been sufficiently addressed.

Update on the Rock Aqua Jays (from Mike Williams, Leisure Services Director)
Councilmember Rashkin asked for an update on the Rock Aqua Jays Ski Team as a result of the 2008 flood. It goes without saying that the Aqua Jays were decimated by the flooding at Traxler Park. Some of the challenges they experienced this summer include:

· They cancelled 30 summer ski shows
· Loss of club property due to the flood
· Flood damage to their leased property at Traxler Park
· The lack of donations and corporate sponsorship caused an economic loss of $100,000 to the club
· They cancelled the Mercury Open Ski Tournament in June
· They cancelled the National Ski Tournament in August which created an estimated $2M economic loss to the community

Considering all of these challenges, the Rock Aqua Jays are going strong and placed second in the National Ski Tournament. Their focus at this time is to continue their clean-up efforts at Traxler Park and prepare for the 2009 ski season. To date, club members have volunteered hundreds of hours to help clean-up their ski show area at Traxler Park. The major project left to complete at their site is repairs to the river shoreline including their show stage, riverwall and the beach area. City staff is working with the club and FEMA to identify repair options and costs. We believe the existing wood stage was damaged beyond repair and are considering a new concrete stage that would be more resistant to future flood damage. FEMA has determined that this repair work will be a reimbursable project. However, the design options and specific costs are not finalized at this time. The Administration will provide financial information to the City Council in the future as it relates to potential cost sharing for repairing the Rock Aqua Jay’s leased premises at Traxler Park.