The replacement of the Bass Lake Beach gate house may require some more negotiation. The structure was seriously damaged when a pickup truck reportedly crashed into it back in November.
Starke County Park Board President Roger Chaffins says he wants a better offer from the truck owner’s insurance provider. “I’m not too happy with it,” he said. “Basically, they’re just wanting to pay us for the damages to that building after they subtract the rot and the basic wear and tear on the building from years of being there. And they’ve come up with a figure of $2,538.71 to fix that.”
During Tuesday’s park board meeting, Chaffins said the insurance company was ready to give the county a check, but he didn’t want to accept it until County Attorney Marty Lucas could get involved. “My plan is to ask Marty, if you would talk to this guy and see what’s going on with it because I would probably give a few choice cuss words to him, okay? But I haven’t talked to him since February 12 because he just upset me with what he’s got.”
Further complicating matters is the fact that Starke County’s building inspector has found the structure to be unsafe. “Terry Stephenson went out to look at it,” Chaffins explained, “and I’ve got a letter from him and it needs to come down and a new one needs to replace it, is what he stated.”
An estimate from a construction company put the cost of rebuilding the gate house at $15,000.
There have also been questions about whether it could be rebuilt in its current location or if it would have to be moved farther back from State Road 10. Chaffins said he hadn’t gotten a clear answer from INDOT, as of Tuesday’s meeting.
