Starke County Planning to Launch Parks Website

Starke County’s park facilities will soon have their own website. The county park board recently approved a $3,500 quote from Martin Services for the setup.

The website is expected to provide information on the Starke County Forest, the new Veterans Memorial, the Bass Lake Beach and Campground, and possibly some other new improvements.

County Commissioner Kathy Norem reminded park board members that the website is part of their five-year plan. “If you want to do things going forward and try to get some grants and get some upgrades going, you’re going to have to have a website,” she said, “and the Veterans Memorial project is something that is going to need a website.”

A website could also be helpful to the Starke County Forest, and Forester Bruce Wakeland said he’s already written up a guided tour. “In the last few months, there’s been an increased use of the forest and I’m getting a lot of questions about that,” he explained. “They need something like this. And I can print them up and put them in a little box out there on the entrance, which I’m ready to do, but I think it would be better if it was available through an internet site.”

He’s also willing to record an audio version of the tour, something County Attorney Marty Lucas was in favor of. “Bruce is an excellent storyteller,” Lucas said. “I’ve gone to the Wild Rose Moon when he was telling stories, and he’s really good at it, actually. His story about Chestnut Ridge is a classic.”

To pay for the website and react outsource, the park board agreed to cover half of the $3,500 cost from the forest’s timber sale revenues, and the county commissioners have since agreed to pay for the other half out of the Cumulative Capital Development Fund. Martin’s quote was more expensive than the one the county got from Apheus, but IT Director Richard Franks believed it would save money in the long run, since the county already uses Martin for its other websites, and there would not be a fee to update content.

Website discussions are expected to continue when the park board meets on Tuesday.