{"id":26893,"date":"2016-07-14T11:31:14","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T16:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=26893"},"modified":"2016-07-14T15:31:31","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:31:31","slug":"settlement-over-failed-texoma-park-privatization-worries-locals-costs-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/07\/14\/settlement-over-failed-texoma-park-privatization-worries-locals-costs-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Settlement Over Texoma Park Privatization Worries Locals, Costs State"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26904\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26904\" alt=\"Sheldon Stauffer outside the Lighthouse Bait and Tackle shop in Kingston, Okla. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheldon Stauffer outside the Lighthouse Bait and Tackle shop in Kingston, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Lake Texoma State Park was once one of Oklahoma\u2019s most popular parks. <a title=\"StateImpactLink\" href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/06\/11\/oklahomas-lake-texoma-bought-and-paid-for\/\" target=\"_blank\">Then much of it was sold to a private development firm<\/a> that has yet to fulfill its promise to build multi-million dollar resort. The matter was recently settled in court, but many local residents don\u2019t like the result.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/273670167&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Not what it used to be<\/h3><p>Even on a Tuesday, campers dot the shore at Lake Texoma State Park and vacationers fire up their bass boats and jet-skis. The park is bustling, really. But go a couple of miles west, to the small town of Kingston, Oklahoma, and residents like Sheldon Stauffer will tell you things aren\u2019t like they used to be.<\/p><p>\u201cIf you go look at it now, it\u2019s just weeds and trees,\u201d Stauffer says of a now-closed golf course. \u201cThey just totally let it go to nothing.\u201d<\/p><p>The state sold 750 acres of the park to a private development company called Pointe Vista in 2008. Pointe Vista demolished the park\u2019s lodge, and closed the golf course. The operators of an arcade and riding stables left.<\/p><p>\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to do anything with it, personally,\u201d Stauffer says. \u201cIt\u2019s been eight years, and they haven\u2019t even started. So I don\u2019t have much faith that they\u2019re going to.\u201d<\/p><p>Stauffer is manning the register at a bait and tackle shop on Main Street in Kingston, just a couple of ancient \u2014 but occupied \u2014 buildings down from the town\u2019s only streetlight. He says when all those park-related attractions left, so did a lot of the bait shop\u2019s business.<\/p><p>\u201cWithout people staying there, I\u2019d say we\u2019ve lost 30 to 40 percent most years,\u201d Stauffer says. \u201cThose first 3 or 4 years after they tore the lodge down, we were basically just breaking even.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26906\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26906\" alt=\"A campground at Lake Texoma State Park is dotted with campers, even on a weekday morning.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark3.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark3.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark3-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark3-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark3-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A campground at Lake Texoma State Park is dotted with campers, even on a weekday morning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3><p>It was an experiment in privatization. Texoma State Park was prime real estate on this large, beautiful lake near the midpoint between between Dallas and Oklahoma City. In exchange for a selling a big chunk of the park, with its outdated lodge and millions of dollars in maintenance backlogs, the state <i>got<\/i> nearly $15 million. Also, Pointe Vista promised to build a lakeside paradise of hotels, condos and restaurants.<\/p><p><a title=\"YouTubeLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=repIUuD9nzM\" target=\"_blank\">Pointe Vista COO Scott Fischer in a 2010 video update on the Texoma project<\/a> touted plans for hundreds of residential lots, a $750 million dollar master-planned community with a hotel and conference center. But those grand ideas still haven\u2019t been realized. Eventually, the state Commissioners of the Land office <a title=\"BartlesvilleLink\" href=\"http:\/\/examiner-enterprise.com\/news\/state\/texoma-developer-sues-oklahoma-breach-contract\" target=\"_blank\">sued Pointe Vista<\/a> to start doing what they promised, or return the land to the state.<\/p>\n<h3>A one-sided settlement<\/h3><p><a title=\"KTENlink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kten.com\/story\/30054391\/pointe-vista-clo-reach-settlement-in-lake-texoma-development-dispute\" target=\"_blank\">The case was settled in May<\/a>, and here\u2019s what the state agreed to: Pointe Vista gets to keep all the land it originally bought, except for 50 acres, which the state is<i> buying<\/i> back for about $4 million dollars with the idea of selling it to a third party that will put a hotel there, <a title=\"NewsOKlink\" href=\"http:\/\/newsok.com\/talks-to-begin-concerning-hotel-at-lake-texoma\/article\/5498785\" target=\"_blank\">according to<\/a> <em>The Oklahoman.<\/em>\u00a0The original deal required Pointe Vista to develop certain projects on established deadlines, but the new settlement doesn\u2019t put any restrictions on what the company can do with the land, even selling it.<\/p><p>Boyd Steele lives on the edge of the park and was part of a failed lawsuit to stop the original sale.<\/p><p>\u201cI was president of the Friends of Lake Texoma, a group trying to get the park restored,\u201d Steele says. \u201cNo one would listen. All these people around here, all they could see was honey and milk. But I told them it\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d<\/p><p>He says the recent settlement is too favorable for Pointe Vista. It doesn\u2019t make any sense to him.<\/p><p>\u201cThere\u2019s something wrong with that picture,\u201d Steele says. \u201cThere\u2019s a skunk in the woodpile somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26907\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26907\" alt=\"The crumbling remnants of state park buildings that haven't been in use for years. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark4.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark4.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark4-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark4-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-14-TexomaPark4-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The crumbling remnants of state park buildings that haven&#39;t been in use for years.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The known details about the settlement come from a <a title=\"OK.govLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.gov\/triton\/modules\/newsroom\/newsroom_article.php?id=223&article_id=16692\" target=\"_blank\">September 2015 press release<\/a> from Governor Mary Fallin\u2019s office. I emailed Fallin, and the Commissioners of the Land Office to find out why they agreed to the deal, and got an email from Fallin\u2019s office saying the state\u2019s goal is still to bring beneficial development to the area\u2019s economy.<\/p><p>And Brent Gooden, with the public relations firm that represents Pointe Vista, says he\u2019s pleased with the settlement, and the company can now focus on future development opportunities, though there aren\u2019t any specific plans right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lake Texoma State Park was once one of Oklahoma\u2019s most popular parks. Then much of it was sold to a private development firm that has yet to fulfill its promise to build multi-million dollar resort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[384,111],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26893"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26917,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26893\/revisions\/26917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}