The Starke County Park Board will still move ahead with plans for a series of kayak launches along the Yellow River, even though its application for thousands of dollars in grant funding was unsuccessful. The board’s application for almost $70,000 from the Indiana Destination Development Corporation failed to make it to the finalist round, according to Starke County Highway Department Office Manager Mary Perren, who helped oversee the application.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Board Member Rik Ritzler wanted to continue working with Bob Aloi of Territorial Engineering and revisit the park board’s financial commitment. “I think we should continue the environmental work because if we get those permits now, they’ll last two years and you can always get extensions on them” Ritzler said. “So what I think we’re going to need from Bob is the exact estimates in this next month before our next meeting, and then we can maybe revoke that $25,000 and kind of reassess where we are there.”
Meanwhile, the board could pursue other grant opportunities and figure out how to improve its application for the next round.
The park board voted to let County Attorney Marty Lucas continue working on the acquisition of land for a future launch at State Road 23. Dr. Walter Fritz had offered to donate about an acre to the county.
Board members announced Tuesday that they were successful in getting a $4,000 grant from Arrowhead Country Resource Conservation and Development to help with erosion control at the Bass Lake Beach.
