The Starke County Park Board members can start their search for a park superintendent after the Starke County Commissioners gave their blessing toward the effort Monday night. This is where strategies like sustainable recruiting come in.
Park Board member Rik Ritzler led the discussion with the commissioners where he reminded them that the county took over the Bass Lake Beach and Campground earlier this year. Revenue coming in is coming to the county. He noted a park superintendent will replace the park manager at the end of his current contract in late September or early October.
Ritzler stated, “We have found this year using the current park manager that that’s not a long-term situation. It just got us through this season. We were able to keep the Bass Lake Beach open because of that. We didn’t want to have to close the beach. We have revenue projections for next year and we think we need to replace that park manager with a full-time park superintendent that can not only cover the Bass Lake Beach, but Koontz Lake, San Pierre – all of the other parks and coordinate with the Knox and San Pierre parks. I think the San Pierre parks are partially run by the trustees – just someone to coordinate all of those things.”
The five-year parks plan is up in January and Ritzler said a superintendent should be in place as soon as possible to help the park board through the process. A consultant will also help in making the plans.
Ritzler explained that the park board will hire a superintendent following state statute. The superintendent will be qualified by training or experience in the field or parks and recreation, or have a certification or advanced degree in the field of parks and recreation. The job description presented to the commissioners involves duties of the park superintendent that mirrors state statute (IC 36-10-3-14).
Park Board member Kathy Norem talked to the Starke County Council members during their recent meeting where they unanimously approved a motion to hire a superintendent with the proposed range of pay of $37,500 to $42,500 as long as the superintendent is the only person being paid for park management operations, especially at the Bass Lake Beach.
The commissioners agreed to allow the park board to proceed with hiring a park superintendent as stated in the ordinance and with state code. The park board will post the position with the hope of filling the position quickly.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous report mentioned that the park superintendent would oversee the Koontz Lake Beach, but that was printed and aired in error. We apologize for the error and for any confusion.
