Opinion ID: 2787659
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony of Hiram Boone

Text: ¶32. Hiram Boone, the executive director of the District, testified about the District’s value to the state and its obligations. Boone emphasized that the District did more than manage parks and that the District’s responsibilities included periodically inspecting dams and other flood-control structures. Boone said these obligations required continued support from the counties in the District. Boone also noted that the water parks throughout the District spurred regional economic growth and development. ¶33. However, during cross-examination, Boone conceded that the District’s obligations under the contracts were quite amorphous: 13 Q. None of the contracts that Pat Harrison Waterway District has with the federal government tells the Pat Harrison Waterway District how it has to operate the facilities, does it? A. Yes. We have certain responsibilities to the LCWF to operate those structures. Q. All it [says] you have to do is use them for outdoor public recreation, correct? A. That is part of it. When they were built, it was intended for flood control, erosion control, flood protection downstream as a water supply. They could be used for drinking water, industrial or irrigation purposes. So those structures are operated for multiple use besides recreation. Recreation is one of the side benefits. Q. I understand that. But with respect to the contracts that the LWCF applied to. A. Yeah. Q. All they say is you need to operate them as outdoor public recreation . . . [f]acilities, correct? A. Yes. Q. Okay. They don’t tell you how much money you have to spend on them, do they? A. No. But they—when you say properly maintained, it takes whatever it does. ¶34. Further, Lamar County cross-examined Boone about the District’s low park entrance rates compared to other Mississippi state parks. For example, the District charged $30 per person for an annual individual entrance pass to its parks, whereas the State of Mississippi charged $42 for the same pass. The District also greatly undercut the State when it came to annual boat-launch passes: $102 at a state park compared to just $65 at the District’s water parks.