 but I wouldn't miss this for the world because this is an exciting day and first of all I'd like to thank city council members that are here will Brennan Howard DeVall I'd like to thank all the partners who are involved in this city of West Columbia city of KC Boyd Foundation Irma Chaffin Recreation Commission Riverbank Zoo experience Columbia the River Alliance our economic development team and we continue to go through the River Keeper Bill is here and there you know their 19 stakeholders are involved in the official project that goes to FERC and we're so excited about this as a city as we continue to use the river and open it up for not only for tourism but for economic development and for enjoyment it is such a big piece of our quality of life here in the city and so excited to have be here today but we're here today to announce an agreement between the city of Columbia demanding energy SC dinner a license agreement that will expand more than 200 acres of public river access along the Saluda River why is that important connectivity one of the things you hear about throughout our city is let's get the green waste finish let's get the connectivity done let's utilize this beautiful river for tourism for hiking exercise health but what's great about this is it creates more public access to our river but I think the real point in this is its collaboration it's us coming together with an idea to open up that allows everybody to be part of that as we said last night Columbia is a giant puzzle and everybody is a piece of that puzzle and collectively together we complete the puzzle but if we're not working together we're not part of that puzzle we hope to foster the Greenway connectivity for the trails hope to add mountain biking to that you know I want to I was hoping that the Armo chapeau be here because of what they're doing and the connectivity with Carolina Crossroads coming in Steve Gantt and the team from the Mungo Foundation and others who have secured our ability to connect from the dam down to 26 this helps us complete all of those pieces together which is so exciting just think about this down the road you'll be able to hop from the Hilton hotel on a bike and go all the way the dam without ever getting in traffic you can stop at the zoo and enjoy the day you can zip back and enjoy refreshments and afternoon coffee in downtown communities so we're so excited about it but we're going to continue to look how do we increase that activity out here as we take on this could it be outdoor exercise facilities tied into that meaning you can use things like parkour trails and other things to add that exercise hammocks how about a hammock park is part of that where you can pick a great place access to put your kayak in your your tube in at other places and really expand that ride but those of you haven't done it we've got tubes here for today media we're going to send you down the river y'all can get picked up at the Gervais Street Bridge afterwards it's about a three-hour tour you'll enjoy it but where else do you have a river like we have that has class 2 rapids Spanish moss blue heron red tail Hawks Otters the wildlife and the beauty let alone the comfort of the water as you're riding through it so I have to tell you the conversation started off with somebody have a great deal respect with which is mr. Keller Kassam president of Dominion Energy SC who's been nothing but supportive of our efforts to try to improve our community and work as a true partner we sat down to have this conversation to make this happen and because they're a strong partner this was just one of many things that we worked out together as we continue to push for the William Street extension construction as it begins using all the rock from the cofferdam to help sort shore up the front the extra dirt there that we can use to help levelize that and build it up so the UG stride side of the street can be a big part of our economic boom down there that allows us to have maintenance money and the ability to build a beautiful access park in the end the center of our city but open it up for kayaking for people to stroll the connectivity of the trail so Granby gets connected and we can move all the way around but it's not just that it's relocating the gas line there that is exposed working with us in every aspect so that we can get these things done and that's what true collaboration and partnership so just remember we're announcing this today but there are 19 other people that are part of that so remember you're a part of the puzzle let's continue to figure out what we're going to do with those pieces and how we're going to continue to fix it I want to thank Keller for just being great to work with you know sometimes Dominion doesn't get a good wrap for the wrong reasons but I tell you they are part of our community they are a community partner and we appreciate it Keller you know Columbia was his slogan last I remember I thought it's famously hot is that right Mr. Howard I will after today after this announcement today I got a new one for me it's gonna be rocking and rolling on the SBC the salute of the broad and the Congaree so y'all all say that a few times rocking and rolling on the SBC the salute of the broad and the Congaree and you're gonna hate me for saying that because it's gonna be on your in your head the rest of the day you know 50 years ago almost to the day a group of business people got together with the General Assembly in the legislature and they decided to demarcate a special area a hundred acres called Riverbank Zoo and Garden and they came to South Carolina electric and gas at the time and they said we'd like this property and South Carolina electric and gas came back and said well it's gonna cost you and they said well how much they said a dollar a year for 99 years and look what became of that hundred acres one of the number one tourist attractions in South Carolina a world-class zoo for all of us to enjoy and we stand here right together in the shadow of it made by a lot of teamwork in this community and blessed by all of the blessings of the Lord that we see behind us with these natural resources so what do we have here today I got a call from mayor Rick and I went to his office and he said I've got a vision and the vision that he had was a template that was just as aggressive and visionary as those people who came up with Riverbank Zoo and Gardens except it can be exponentially larger because that's a hundred acres and look at what it is what we're talking about today is 200 acres and somebody said why did you do this deal with mayor Rick and I said because he's the first person that I asked and it was a great great decision on his part and it shows his leadership and it shows his vision and it shows how he wants to get the most out of the natural resources in and around the Midlands that we have been blessed with and so we owe him a big round of applause thank you mr. mayor it's a privilege to work with him a great privilege that I have as well is working with the city of Columbia staff who's kind of trying to hide over there under the tent I want to let you know that it's a privilege to work with them every day to get things done they are not only public servants but they are true servant leaders and they are the gears that grind every day in order to bring this type of vision to fruition and I am confident through our collective efforts that we can make this such a wonderful benefit for the Midlands so I thank you as well you know when I was growing up in lower school they had a geography book that said South Carolina from the mountains to the sea and that's how they describe our great state I think when we finished this and it comes to its conclusion they'll change the title of that book for all of those lower school kids and it'll say South Carolina the mountains to the sea oh but the Midlands is the place to be thank you and God bless you it's always hard to have Keller in the room because he magically knows I feel like we ought to be passing the plate and collecting some money after that but thank you Keller thank you for your leadership thank you for your partnership I do want to reiterate Keller brought up our staff is the key to a lot of what we are being able to get done and they're all here from Missy Gentry to Clint Shealy to Henry Simons to all of our parks our Rangers Karen trying to run away as we talk about it she still promised me arrived from from the dam all the way down on a canoe we're gonna make it happen yet but all our staff that comes and sets up in these part of it everybody once again this is about the pieces of the puzzle we're all part of that puzzle that makes this a great city we are gonna be the number one city in South Carolina and I agree with Keller this is the place to be thank y'all for being here