A couple of hazards in and around the Bass Lake Beach were discussed during Tuesday’s Starke County Park Board meeting. Facility Manager Larry Clarich asked board members if something could be done about a structure, believed to be an old lifeguard tower, that’s now submerged in the lake.
“I mean, this has been going on for years now and luckily nobody’s gotten hurt yet,” Clarich said, “but at some point, there’s going to be an issue with that.” Board Member Chris Lawrence questioned why that would be the park board’s responsibility, and Clarich agreed it might be worth asking the state to remove it.
Clarich also told the park board that glass continues to be an issue and showed board members some examples that were recently found. “This was coming out from underneath the tree roots,” he said. “They said this is probably 1940s glass. And you can see, this is a Pepsi-cola, so you can imagine how old that is.”
While glass may be a pretty typical problem at beaches, Clarich said he wants to make sure people are aware of the potential hazard. “Nobody can walk that lakefront and find all of that glass,” he said. “It’s just impossible. It just keeps poppin’ up, poppin’ up, poppin’ up.”
Clarich noted that glass bottles are prohibited on the beach.
