Lake Elsinore City Council Fires On Campground Management Before Approving Contract

The management company that oversees the city-owned campground situated at the newly renamed La Laguna Boat Launch and Resort received unanimous support from Lake Elsinore City Council Tuesday night, but not before harsh criticism was expressed.

In a 5-0 vote, council members begrudgingly gave the green light to amend a 2001 agreement with Pyramid Enterprises Inc. to continue managing the dilapidated campground.

Council members were highly critical of Pyramid, saying the company let the Riverside Drive facility turn into a “dump.”

“I don’t appreciate what has happened since 2001,” Councilman Brian Tisdale explained. “I have a problem with this. It’s like rewarding bad behavior,” he said of the contract amendment, adding that the campground has been an “embarrassment.”

“It was the general appearance that really upset me. It was horrible,” Tisdale said of the campground. Transients sleeping in tents and trash strewn about the facility were among the complaints expressed by Tisdale.

“Our campground is less than up to par,” Councilwoman Natasha Johnson added.

Before casting his vote in support of the contract, Tisdale asked the city’s Parks and Recreation Director Pat Kilroy for his word that staff would keep tabs on the situation at the campground.

While Kilroy assured the councilman that Pyramid would be required to meet standards set forth in the agreement, the parks and recreation director also went to bat for the management company.

The campground is a 40-year-old facility that was shut off from the water’s edge after drownings occurred at the old boat launch in the early 2000s. In addition, Kilroy said that in 2004 Pyramid had partnered with a private investor to improve the facility, but upgrades such as roads, sewer, hook-ups, and a dumping station became too costly, so the plans were tabled.

Pyramid President Chet Roberts explained his company’s position, saying that in addition to concerns over upgrade costs, the facility was in limbo.

“We were waiting for development of the launch ramp. That was part of our problem – nothing had been finalized,” he said.

, reminded his colleagues that the campground was indeed in a state of flux while the city worked to improve the boat launch that opened mid 2012.

Pyramid’s contract with the city expired in January 2011, yet, despite ongoing construction at the boat launch, the company agreed to continue managing the facility. Since 2001, the agreement with Pyramid has been previously amended and restated.

Magee commended Pyramid for sticking with the city, but said, “I think they can do better,” adding, “for what we have right now, I support this interim step.”

The city is still seeking a long-term investor at La Laguna. Among the improvements the city would like to see is an upgraded first-class campground that would attract snowbirds and well-heeled campers. Per the amended three-year interim agreeement with Pyramid, the city can terminate the contract with 60-days notice if a long-term investor comes through.

The city receives 7 percent of campground gross revenues under the agreement, and historically that has amounted to just over $20,000 annually to Lake Elsinore.

Pyramid has been making watercraft rentals available to campers, adding to a unanimous vote Tuesday night by council members to approve a separate agreement with All Day Jet Ski to provide jet ski and personal watercraft rentals to visitors at the city’s Elm Grove Beach near the campground. The three-year concession agreement with All Day will net the city $6,000 annually during the first and second years, and $7,000 in the contract's third year.

All Day did have an agreement with Pyramid to rent out watercraft, but in October 2012 the rental agency put in a proposal to the city for a direct contract.