The Starke County Park Board continued to reassure Bass Lake Beach and Campground users Tuesday that operations will stay the same for this year. But members won’t rule out a campsite rent increase in the future. The board approved a contract with Larry Clarich, allowing him to continue to manage the county-owned park facility as an independent contractor.
“His duties at the beach won’t change from what they were, and the operation at the beach is not going to change from what it was this last year,” Park Board President Richard Ballard explained. “It’s just that we’ve taken back the beach property. We’re going to operate it as part of the park board now, and Mr. Clarich has agreed to manage it for us.”
Board members hope the change will make it easier to upgrade the beach and campground by opening the door to grant opportunities that weren’t available when it was run as a for-profit business. Board Member Kathy Norem said she’d like to see more events there. She’s also looking into getting a historic preservation grant for the beach house, which is all but unusable currently.
She added, “I would almost be embarrassed, as a member of the park board, to open that up and say, ‘Gosh, look at our beach lodge. It’s so cool here. Oh, it’s a little dilapidated, but – ‘”
However, any improvements would also require local money, and some worried that upgrades at the beach would be made on the backs of the campers. Many of them said they’ve made significant investments into their campsites that they return to year after year. They were concerned that the park board’s plans for the future could jeopardize the unique community that’s developed.
Ballard stressed that the goal is to improve the entire property, but he acknowledged that doing that may require raising the rent at some point. “We’re not here to try to make a killing on this and run all the campers off,” he said. “That would defeat our whole purpose. I mean, we want to work with the people that are there and just try to make everything better.”
And there’s still the complicated process of separating the Bass Lake Beach and Campground from former lessee Callahan Development, LLC. Clarich said there are a number of pieces of equipment like tractors that have been at the property for years, but he has no idea who actually owns them.
Similarly, officials need to determine if the piers that are rented out to boaters came with the beach or if the county would have to acquire them somehow from Callahan. Board members plan to continue renting out pier slips, as water levels allow.
