Ideas for operating the Bass Lake Beach are being sought by the Starke County Park Board. Board members decided Tuesday to issue a request for proposals from businesses or individuals interested in managing the beach area, the beach house, or both.
The entire beach and campground is currently operated by Callahan Development, LLC, which leases it from Starke County. But the company said it may be willing to give up control of the beach itself, to allow it to focus on the profitable campground and pier slots.
If and how that would happen still remain to be seen, but County Attorney Marty Lucas said that seeking outside proposals is a first step. “This is all a matter of trying to get our ducks in a row,” he explained. “It’s a challenge because this is a chicken/egg kind of situation. Before we can make a deal with Callahan, we need to have what that deal consists of. Before we can know what it consists of, we have to have an offer. So the idea is to kind of test the waters and see who might be interested in doing this and on what terms.”
Lucas said the goal is to come up with an arrangement that benefits all the parties involved. “One: minimally meet the community’s desire to have the beach open, to have public access to the beach to be a little improved I think, the quality of the experience improved, and I think people consistently want to see some kind of food service there.” To appeal to Callahan, Lucas said the deal should make the Callahan’s job easier and make the rest of the property more profitable. On top of that, the arrangement has to be financially sustainable.
In order to solicit ideas, board members spent a few minutes choosing from three different options for a request for proposals. In the end, the park board chose the shortest, most open-ended of the three, at the recommendation of board member Roger Chaffins. “If we get a bite on this, there’ll be stuff we have to discuss back and forth to get things,” he said. “I mean, we’re not going to hammer it out in one night. It’s not going to be hammered out in two nights. It’s just the beginning of the fishing expedition.”
Anyone with a proposal for operating the Bass Lake Beach is asked to send it to the park board by March 1, in care of the Starke County Auditor’s Office.
Here’s the Starke County Park Board’s complete request for proposals:
The Board of Commissioners of Starke County and the Starke County Park Board are considering a cooperative arrangement with Callahan LLC for a third person to manage the beach area and the pavilion of the Starke County Beach. A request for a written proposal is invited from any business or other interested person to manage the beach area or the pavilion (or both the beach area and the pavilion). An element for beach management shall include provision for life guards during the summer season. An element for pavilion management proposal shall include food services. Any proposal must be made by March 1, 2018 to the Starke County Parks Board by email at the following address:
Starke Co. Park Board
c/o Starke Co. Auditor,
53 East Mound Street # H
Knox, IN 46534
