You do not know us but we have been coming to stay at Chapman Lake Park for several years. Unfortunately, this year will be our last. You have succeeded in pricing us out of the park. $40.00 per night, regardless of how many nights you stay is simply too expensive for the amenities you offer. Judging by the small number of paying campers at the park during our two weeks stay, it appears that others feel the same way. Here is the reasoning behind our statement:
Good things:
• The park is beautiful.
• The town is great; lots of businesses and restaurants which we frequented during our stay.
Not so good things:
• In the past, there was a discount for weekly stays. Not only was that eliminated, but the price per day was increased. $40.00 for a site with electric only is the same as many parks charge for full hookups (water, sewer, and electric).
• For the price, the bathrooms should be cleaned more often. Someone came on Saturday to hose the bathrooms down and empty the trash but the stools appeared to only have been cleaned once during our two weeks stay.
• There is no trash can at the dump station.
• There is no signage for people that come in late in the day so they do not know how to pay, what to pay or when to pay. A drop box with instructions would be helpful. The park lost income from campers that came in late and left early; we observed about five and spoke to a couple of them and they did not know what to do since the office was closed and they were hitting the road before the parks official came around. Those folks simply left without paying. Since the office hours are Monday-Friday from 8 to 5, it is difficult for some to even contact the office.
• The web site states that the sanitary station is $10.00 for non-campers. There is an unmarked box by the sanitary station but no signage to indicate the cost. On the day that Rock Fest ended, there were about 15 to 20 RVs going through the sanitary station and none were observed paying. Since there is no camp host or anyone really observing the park during the weekends, no one had to pay.
• The personnel that mow do a wonderful job and try to avoid occupied spots but they should direct the discharge chutes away from the RVs as the grass sticks in the wet weather and must be cleaned off.
While we were in town, we bought groceries, fuel, meals at restaurants and items from local stores. This business will now go to another town that is more reasonable with their rates. If the goal of the council was to prevent people from living in the park full time, it would have been easy to set length of stay limits (Some parks allow 14 days, some longer). If your goal was to keep the park in a pristine condition, you may very well have achieved that because there were no more than four other campers there on any given day we were there. We do not begrudge those that utilized the park without paying because most of them did not have the information necessary to do so; however, we do not feel that those who do pay should foot the bill for all of those that do not. This is what the price increase feels like.
Again, we think you have a beautiful park, it is a shame that many people have been priced out of the ability to utilize it.

Thank you,
John and Debbie Miller
Livingston Texas