The Starke County Commissioners this week discussed a number of issues with the Bass Lake Beach that need rectified. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom told his fellow commissioners that he had gotten in touch with one of the owners and expressed his concerns with the beach.
Bridegroom explained that mooring stakes for piers at the beach were in the water for a lengthy period of time. While the DNR does allow leaving piers in the lake, the county remains responsible if a boat hits a mooring stake at the beach. The stakes have since been removed, but Bridegroom said they still have their concerns with a submerged diving pier that is still underwater. He said the diving pier needs removed but the commissioners aren’t sure how to go about it; the pier is held down by six- to eight-inch augers that are roughly two feet below water. It is possible to remove the augers with a wench, but since they have been in the ground so long, it will be very difficult to get them out.
Another issue at the beach involves dangerous debris – debris which contains nails and other items that were scattered about from the storms in June and July. On top of that, roughly 28 trailers are still sitting at the campground that had been leased for a 12-month period. If more than five people are going to be there year-round, with services including mail, the campground will be considered a trailer park. However, only two people have begun living there year-round, allowing the area to remain a campground.
Bridegroom said he has left several messages asking the owners, the Callahan family, to attend the meeting of the commissioners but they have never come forward. He said he will give the owners another chance to cooperate, and if they refuse, Bridegroom will go to their attorney and see what can be done.
