The Starke County Park Board is looking to crack down on Bass Lake Campground users who are behind on their payments. The park board voted Tuesday to send a letter giving the 27 campers who haven’t made their second payment two weeks to get it done.
Board Member Kathy Norem said the park board will have to figure out what to do with those who still don’t pay. “Having been a landlord, usually I go to small claims court and get a 10-day notice ‘Pay or you’re evicted,’ and then take it to small claims if they don’t,” she said. “So if any of you campers haven’t paid your second payment, you might want to get that paid as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, fewer than 20 campers had signed the lease agreement that the park board put in place last month. Many campers in attendance Tuesday cited concerns with some of the provisions that were recommended by the county’s insurance company. The biggest one was that the county wouldn’t be held liable if one of its employees damaged a camper’s property.
County Attorney Marty Lucas acknowledged that part might not hold up in court, but also urged board members to be cautious about removing the terms recommended by the insurance company. “Some of the language, it kind of makes the parties almost like insurers, right? And I always object to those terms myself,” Lucas said. “But I don’t think asking for like prompt notification [of accidents or damage] is something that is objectionable.”
In the end, board members agreed that campers can hold off on signing the lease until revisions can be made. However, they did clarify that only the bathroom on the beach closes September 20, while the facilities at the campground remain open until the end of the season. They also said that golf carts don’t typically count toward the limit of the number of vehicles allowed on a particular campsite.
