Planning continues for a series of five kayak launches along the Yellow River. The Starke County Park Board recently applied for a Destination Development Grant from the state. Officials will learn whether they’ve made the finalist round on February 15.
In the meantime, board members agreed Tuesday to proceed with the environmental permitting process. They hired Territorial Engineering for a total cost not to exceed $23,500.
That will keep the project on schedule if the park board gets the grant. If it doesn’t, Park Board Member Rik Ritzler was hopeful Territorial would be willing to scale back the remaining work. That would let the county proceed with some of the launches using other funding sources.
Territorial estimates that the proposed project would cost almost $140,000. Half of that would be covered by the grant, while the other half would be funded locally. The park board agreed Tuesday to commit $25,000 out of its budget during each of the next two years. Another $20,000 has been committed from funds at the Starke County Community Foundation. Community Foundation funding also helped cover the cost of the preliminary work that’s already been taking place.
The kayak launch project has gotten about 20 letters of support from various organizations and residents. Ritzler noted that it ties in with the efforts of the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, Prairie Trails Club, Bass Lake property owners, and Pulaski County’s tourism plans. Officials also said they’ve already heard from someone hoping to develop a business to cater to kayakers.
They also noted that the detailed grant application builds off of Constellation of Starke’s regional development plan put together for the Stellar Community application, as well as the park board’s five-year plan.
