Action Page!

We want to thank ALL for letters of support for us that were sent to Jo. Co. officials!
Very nice indeed, exceeded our expectations, we did not expect that they would share the copies with us.
So we would like to share with you our response to the Planning department on the 52 letters concerning us they received in our interest, we show that 43 of them are positive. Ten of these from employees who felt strongly enough to write of their support unbidden, and the rest are mostly from former guests, some local citizens and key businesses.
So the large majority of the feedback is quite positive and resounds with what we hear daily from so many guests at our place. That these positive effects are demonstrably felt within the local community and further beyond confirms the large positive impact this business has had, and will continue to have on the local area when permitted. And we mean that quite literally, the problem we have is our permit to operate.
Now to be fair we should address the nine letters expressing negativity that were sent to the planning department. We can tell six are from one disgruntled, recently-fired employee who wrote multiple fictitious letters containing outrageous lies (and then signed them all "Anonymous" or "please protect my identity", you should see the copies, it's easy to tell it's the same person over and over), then of course letters from two people who have had neighbor type fights with Michael, as an individual, since well before the operation of the treehouse business started, and then one from the third neighbor who has complaints ever since the first Fourth of July IntreepenDance Day Party that once a year "disturbs the peace of her valley".
Not too shabby by our count, so many thanks again everyone!
Your continued support may be crucial to expedite the solution to our strange 'Catch 22' permit to operate condition.
Yes, the county has continued their promise to work with us, as long as we conform to our original operating permit in the mean time. Allowing us to rent only the original five treehouse perches that are already approved for occupancy until the rest can meet the required criteria. Which is building and safety code inspections, which in in turn require a special land use permit to be obtained by us, and there in lies 'the rub'. We have been waiting for a suitable classification to be issued from the proper authorities that would allow us to be what we are for over ten years now.
See the bottom of our Legalitrees Page for more detailed explanation, but if you are asking what you can do to help right now, we are not quite sure where to pin point the effort.
It seems like at the state legislature level at this point, so please stay tuned at our Facebook page for updates!

POSTING - Sept. 23, 2011
We still appreciate letters of support to keep the Treehouses operating!
Because we clearly are not out of the woods yet...
For those not in the know, as a result of the lawsuit settlement referenced in THIS news report and more recently their reaction to it HERE, Josephine County officials have agreed to work with us to get what we all need, they sent a team out to Out'n'About to assess the situation and how to proceed yesterday, 22nd of Sept., and as a result happily we can report:
No threats were made,
No punches were thrown,
No one was arrested!!!
and they all seemed very interested.
We'll see how it goes from here and post updates as the process of getting all our permits and licenses in place to continue operation legally, safely, and in the best interests for all concerened, thanks for continued support!
Contact info for County officials, click HERE.

webmeister jefry's personal unofficial take on the situation:
the county is stuck trying to cover their ass in a legal situation (they say so at the end here), problem being they have no modern guidelines to go by, the Treehouses as a bed & breakfast establishment and adventure resort are a ground breaking phenomena.
they must adjust the planning regulations to allow for treehouses!
not an easy thing, so Michael, pioneer in the field of building in trees, has proposed independently tested engineering standards along with new zoning change proposals to apply that could become what are missing standards to model all across the country for such properties to get inspected, licensed & permitted, Josephine County can lead the way in this, since this truly is a verifiable growth industry both literally AND figuratively.
indicating to me the safety of the public & his guests must have been and obviously remains a lot more important to Michael than it was to the county, or he wouldn't have had such an outstanding repeat visit business all these years with NO major accidents, gained world wide notoriety and still be growing exponentially.... no wonder they couldn't keep up.
so we want to encourage the county to continue working with Michael & Peggy so they can operate until solutions are worked out.
IMHO, unfortunately one irresponsible greedy couple bad apple is threatening to spoil a whole box car train load or more of fruit!
don't let them throw the baby out with the bath water trying to clean this mess up, sincere thanks for your help!

suggested letter to building & safety, planning departments & board of county commissioners:

Dear Building & Safety, Planning Dept. and Board of County Commissioners,

I am writing to express my support of Out'n'About Treehouse Treesort. This is a very special facility that adds something wonderful and unique to our community, employing 47 local people and bringing income to many other businesses in our county from all over the world.  I encourage you to work with the Treesort owners to resolve any issues related to permits, zoning and inspections with out shutting them down.  Please provide this facility the ability to operate while these issues are being worked out.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter,
<sign & date w/ your contact info>

Response to "Outraged" published in IV News 9/21/11 from Alex Eaton:
This letter is in response to Stacy Byrne's letter "outraged." Stacy complains about Mr. Garnier not taking responsibility for his own liabilities, well, guess what Stacy, he did and he does. Mr. Garnier has insurance and his insurance settled their case, but it wasn't enough for them, they wanted more! The people then went after the county because they felt that one settlement just wasn't enough. Stacy then complains about tax payers having to pay over 2 million dollars for this settlement out of their own pockets – wrong again! The county settled and is paying out just over 1 million out of the INSURANCE they carry, not the tax payer's money. (web page editors note in support of point: we the county tax payers cover the insurance cost only, the insurance company then pays out of company funds, net cost to taxpayer is monthly or whatever insurance fee being payed already)
Stacy then begins to complain about the school systems having to cut corners and how the lost revenue could have helped children of Josephine County, the Libraries, Senior Services etc. Do you realize the amount of revenue the Treesort brings into this little community? On average there are at least 60 people a day staying at the Treesort who are coming in from out of town buying gas, buying groceries, going out to dinner, frequenting the Caves, the Cat Park, It's a Burl… the list goes on and on. People spending (a conservative) $100 dollars a day creates over $1 million in sales each year brought to the Illinois Valley.
Oh, and let's not forget the 47 local residents that the Treesort employs, paying them money that goes DIRECTLY back into this community (another web editorial note: these people also all pay taxes to support the infrastructure Stacey mistakenly says are depleted by the lawsuit, have kids in school, want a library & more senior services, need animal control & better roads). This Multiplier Effect doubles the one million in local sales into 2 million spent in the Illinois Valley each year from this single business. When you look at these numbers and really think about them, ask yourself this: "Can this valley afford to lose this business?" I think not.
On an annual basis Out 'n' About directly donates monies to organizations such as the Josephine County Library, I.V. Little League, IV All Night Grad party, Boys and Girls Club, the Dome School and Ranger's Program, Josephine County Animal Shelter and not to mention private charities supporting sick and needy people… again the list goes on and on.
What do people come to Cave Junction for? They come for the Kalamiopsis Wilderness, the Oregon Caves National Monument, the Outdoor Activity, oh and the Treehouses. The Treesort experienced near on 1,000 "drop-in" visitors in the 2010 season, people who were just driving through, using 199 as a cut-over, who stopped by just to look around. How many of those people then stopped to buy gas or lunch when before they would have just driven through to Grants Pass?
The articles and information that have come out about this lawsuit are biased and judgmental. The Treesort has been in operation for over 20 years and out of 20 years, and thousands and thousands of guests they had 2, count them 2, that were injured. The paper implies that the bridge just collapsed when it wasn't the bridge at all, it was an overloaded railing that was being sat on (web editor can not resist adding 'irresponsibly' to this sentence). The paper doesn't state all of the good the Treesort has done for the community in its 20+ years nor does it ever highlight anything they do. Just as the majority of news stories they focus on the bad and negative, inciting people's negativity and malice. Take a step back and really examine the facts and MONIES before you judge because you may be surprised in what you find.

Alex Eaton
Cave Junction, OR

Response to "Outraged" published in IV News 9/21/11 from Michael Garnier:

I am also outraged at the lawsuit. I am upset that my insurance paid out half a million dollars when I wanted them to fight it. I am sorry that the plaintiffs then went after the County, after the original settlement, and that the County insurance chose to pay an additional $1.2 million settlement. I direct my anger more toward the people that should have shared in responsibility for the accident and instead sued myself and the County. I know three things: it didn't happen the way they stated it happened, the guy that caused the accident was legally drunk and they are not hurt nearly as badly as the say they are. This accident never would have happened except for the actions and lack of common sense of the plaintiffs.
The County Assessor came by the other day and reassessed my property as a commercial property. This will increase my taxes greatly and increase the county revenue which should help with the school system, the children of Josephine County, the libraries, Senior Services, and other programs with restricted budgets. I have always looked for a way to truly comply with the County. If a solution cannot be found between myself and the County the amount of revenue lost will affect both local government and residents.

Michael Garnier
Cave Junction, OR