The Starke County Park Board is raising the rent on the Bass Lake Beach and Campground. Park Board President Richard Ballard made the recommendation during Tuesday’s meeting.
“We talked about raising the Bass Lake Campground rental, increase that rental amount by eight percent beginning January 1,” Ballard reminded the rest of the park board “I’d like to vote on that tonight, if we’re going to do that, so that we could send notice to them prior to January 1.”
That would raise Callahan Development, LLC’s annual rent payment to over $5,800. The contract has allowed the county to negotiate a rent increase of up to eight percent a year, starting in 2018. But 2018 was the only year that happened. County Attorney Marty Lucas said the reason the park board did not pursue a rent hike for 2020 was the revenue loss caused by the pandemic.
“That’s because it was closed due to COVID, and they weren’t making any money,” Lucas said. “And so it wasn’t really an oversight. It was actually the circumstances.”
Callahan’s lease on the property continues until 2028.
