The City of Cashmere is entering into an agreement with the paragliding instruction company Aerial Paragliding for the continued use of Riverside Park for ground-based training.

The agreement would require those training at Riverside Park to pay essentially the same $2.50 per person rate that rafting companies must pay for using the park. At no time would Aerial Paragliding members use the park to land.

Chris Carlson was the only member of the city council to vote against the permit Monday night.

"(Paragliding training) uses up huge amounts of that park," Carlson said. "That park is a really nice park to have. It's for citizens of Cashmere to go play soccer, play baseball, throw your Frisbee, do stuff like that."

Aerial Paragliding has their own facility in Hay Canyon and is said to only use Riverside Park for ground-based training when the winds get too high in the hills.

Council members were told that the agreement should also give the city a better idea of how often the park is used for paragliding training. Instructors will be required to report a daily trainee count.

The agreement will require Aerial Paragliding to have $5 million in commercial general liability insurance. Existing agreements with local rafting companies will be updated upon renewal in 2023 with similar conditions.

The permit granted by the city to Aerial Paragliding will run through October 31st, 2022. Per the contract, the City of Cashmere reserves the right to revoke the permit under several different conditions.

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