Blue Hole WILL Be Open Weekends in June

[DandyDon]

Excerpting

Lets hope that we continue to be welcomed to SR and that frustration levels don't get to the point where vandalism and theft makes BH unsafe, or the city decides its a nuisance and shuts it down.

Yep, it is their city park, but - they do want us to help pay for the improvements and keep pumping money into the town in general. There is no other dive hole around for hundreds of miles, but - some divers may just go less.

Here's a follow up I got from Richard...

Don,

I am not sure how you purchased permits on arrival in the past. I have permit applications on file, and I will look to find a record on you being here before.

Don, I hope you understand my position here. We cannot have someone there all weekend. As far as diver permits, I am not sure how many divers there were on Sunday when you arrived, or if there were if they had permits or not.

I have been to state parks in many states. When I go to a state park in NM for example, I rarely find a person there that I can pay. There is usually a drop box. I may never see a park ranger, but I know if I choose to not drop the fee, I am subject to penalty if I do see one and I do not have my park pass validated.

You have been to Blue Hole before, so you must know to fill out the form and have the fee ready, or otherwise you are interrupted during your dive.

I collect fees at the Blue Hole all the time or have been there with the code enforcement officer. We have doubled our revenue there, and all of that money is earmarked for Blue Hole improvements. There are some people that come to Blue Hole alot, and it's like day one, we have to twist arms to get their permit applications and the permit fees. But, there are some people that come for the 1st TIME and they have their application ready and a check or exact change.

Richard

And my response...

Thanks for your prompt response...

I don't actually come all that often, but in the past I expected to register thru Stella. Now that she has not been taking these fees & applications, I have wondered what I should do. I will be mailing my application and money tomorrow for an annual permit. I know it expires in December, but that's fine. I couldn't find a way to pay when I was there in March or May so this will make it possible for me to pay that debt.

I don't know what it might take to have someone there on Sundays, but a drop box like you mentioned using at State Parks would be good. I think that most divers would be honest enough to use that. As it has been with Stella not handling fees, it is too easy for the otherwise honest diver to think: "it's not my fault I couldn't pay," as I did.

As far as the restrooms - I can "make prior arrangements" as I do for small dive boats, but I fear that some people will simply head out into the brush to defecate, as well as urinate in the parking lot. If so, this could be a significant order & health issue. It might be good if you could possibly lock the privies at sundown and unlock them at 8am? An idea...?

Doggie, I started to mention the fights & drug deals you witnessed, but - you should do that if it is to be reported, so I didn't...

 

[charlieo]

A couple of years ago I got a permit on a Friday at the police station. Application, show card, pay money, dive. Have they changed that procedure?

 

[RonFrank]

Let's face it, Santa Rosa has a LOT of problems. While the Divers do bring in a lot of revenue, it's a dirt poor town, and I'm very positive that attitudes of the public officials can not be Rosy in many areas. Next time you drive through the town, take a look around and compare boared up business vs. well maintained businesses..... and the winner is? :11doh::11doh:

They likely don't have a drop box because A) they may not have been bright enough to actually come up what the thought, or B) they don't have funds to build a *vault* which is required because C) depositing money in an unattended container that is not a vault is going to draw the local thieves like flies on doggydoodoo! My vote is on B-C. They obviously don't have funds to pay anyone to keep an eye on the place during even busy weekends.

I spoke with Stella, and she related the conflicts she had with the town over collecting permit fees, so she basically told them to stick it where the sun don't shine, and collect their own damn money. Not a smart move on their part.

In SantaRosa's defense, they did send shops, and maybe annual pass holders a schedule for the Blue Hole construction back in January. A1 in Denver got one.

I'd say call ahead, have your permits ready, and don't bother trying to improve things in SantaRosa, as that place needs a LOT of improvement. In some ways improving Blue Hole is like trimming a dead hedge! Well maybe not that bad!

When they get their act together maybe things will improve. In the mean time, let's hope the Army corp of engineers has their junk together more so than SantaRosa.

 

[ABQdiver]

The continuing saga of Blue Hole! Santa Rosa does have some "issues" but it's still a decent place to get wet.

I've always gotten a annual dive permit for reasons of economics and convenience more than anything else. When a weeks/weekend permit cost $8 and a years cost $25 it's a no brainer to me, since I WILL be out there more than three times a year anyway. This last year they actually sent me the form at the end of the year for this upcoming year. First time for that!!

 

[RonFrank]

Trashed bathrooms will force people to use the parking lot to relieve themselves....

Wait, you mean I'm not suppose to use the parking lot as my personal SandBox? All these damn rules!

We were there a couple of weeks ago late Sunday, and Sunday night, as well as Monday. We witnessed quite a few drug deals, a fight, and other suspicious activity. I was relieved each time we surfaced and walked back to the truck to find everything intact.

Well at least now I know where the good drugs are in SantaRosa!

It seems like the Blue Hole improvement tax, which was on a recent ballot in Santa Rosa, was a very controversial issue. It passed, and many people are upset about it. These people may be trashing bathrooms, etc, and the tone of Mr Delgado's reply reflects frustration from an ongoing hot topic.

Hard to say, people with little pay nothing in taxes. The bathrooms are likely trashed for the same reason the Denver RTD (BUS) station bathrooms are trashed... homeless people need bathrooms, but have little respect for the ones they use. I think the Civic Center cleans their bathrooms 4 times a day, and they are ALWAYS trashed.

Lets hope that we continue to be welcomed to SR and that frustration levels don't get to the point where vandalism and theft makes BH unsafe, or the city decides its a nuisance and shuts it down.

Very unlikely. There is likely a VERY strong message sent to the riff-raff there, leave the divers/tourists alone as they are income. One thing our government officials are VERY good at doing is finding money, and We B that money! The fact they are working on it means they feel it's vital to their economy, and I think they are right. In such a poor area where there is likely not much tax base, and the only industry is hotel, and truck stops, an attraction like the Hole can mean a lot to the community.