TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Twin Falls County commissioners have unanimously denied a family-owned power company's request to use the public boat launch at Centennial Park to load heavy equipment onto a barge, with both sides calling the decision a reset.
Pillar Power Project, owned by the Perron family, had asked to make 10 barge transfers at the Centennial Park boat launch over two years. The company says it needs the heavy equipment to finish repairs on aging hydroelectric generators.
Ray Perron presented the company's plan to detach the floating docks, launch a barge, and front-load up to 44,000 pounds of equipment and materials up to 10 times over two years. Perron brought forward several supporting analyses from engineers who said LiDAR and ground-penetrating radar showed the concrete on the dock was 11 to 13 inches thick, with re-bar reinforcements every 12 inches.
Hear Commissioners weigh in on the request to use the Centennial boat launch to load 40,000-pound barges:
With boating season approaching, commissioners said anything that prevents the public from using the newly remodeled Centennial boat launch was a non-starter.
Commissioner Suzanne Hawkins said constituents weighed in on the decision.
"I heard from people who I believe represent in this community who have asked me to deny this request," Hawkins said.
Commissioner Rocky Matthews said not everyone agreed with the engineering findings.
"There was such a gap between the people that we had talked to versus the people or the experts that they brought today. There's enough of a gap there that still plays into it," Matthews said.
Matthews also raised concerns about the age and condition of the dock itself.
"We're talking about a dock that's been there for 35 years or better, and underneath of it. It's still some unknown," Matthews said.
Idaho News 6 reported last week that the Perron family feared they would have to close public access to Pillar Falls over their private property if the request was not approved. Commissioner Brent Reinke questioned that approach.
"In other words, if we don't approve this, you're going to close the trail? If we're going to be a partnership here, how is that a partnership?" Reinke said.
Perron said public access to Pillar Falls was not about leverage, but rather rooted in fact. Without approval to use the boat launch, Pillar Power Project will go bankrupt and will no longer be able to afford liability insurance.
The commission denied the request unanimously and invited Pillar Power Project to return with more details to start the process fresh.
"You know, overall, I think I'm happy with it. We would've liked [it] to have been over today, but I don't think it's a negative decision. I think it's a move in the right direction of partnership," Perron said of the denial.
Perron said Pillar Power plans to submit a new request within weeks.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
