Starke County officials are confident that kayak and canoe access points will soon be coming to the Yellow River. During a recent Starke County Park Board meeting, board member Rik Ritzler said river access would likely be one of the first projects, if the Constellation of Starke region is designated a Stellar Community, according to County Attorney Marty Lucas.
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While a Stellar Community designation could bring upgrades to the Bass Lake Beach area, there might also be major improvements to recreational facilities throughout Starke County.
Continue readingThree kayakers floating on the Yellow River encountered an issue upon nearing an area ¼ mile west of 1100 E. in Starke County Saturday night.
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The Starke County Park Board has gotten $5,000 toward a planned Yellow River access point, but where exactly it will be built remains to be determined. Starke County Community Foundation Director of Development Jessica Martinovic presented the park board with a check during Tuesday’s meeting.
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An overview of the Yellow River Pilot Project was presented when the Kankakee River Basin Commission met at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center Thursday morning.
Siavash Beik from Christopher B. Burke Engineering presented a summary of the project. The meeting was followed up by a site visit where Beik and his colleague Bob Barr pointed out some of the items that were highlighted during the presentation. Continue reading
When a man who was floating the river on Friday didn’t show up on time to a designated meet up area near the Yellow River Bridge at 500 East, people became concerned and called for help. Continue reading
A bank stabilization pilot project that was recently conducted on the Yellow River was discussed during last Thursday’s Kankakee River Basin Commission meeting.
Starke County Surveyor Bill Crase said that about 2200 feet of work was completed along both sides of the river. He told commission members that he was very impressed with the results, especially with the way the banks were able to withstand recent flooding.
He said only about 300 feet of damage was incurred and suspected that was likely from floating debris striking the spot rather than structural inefficiencies. However, there were certain issues with the way that the project that kept Crase from considering it a complete success. Continue reading
According to Starke County Surveyor Bill Crase, four breached levees in the Starke County and La Porte County areas have recently been fixed, while work on one site is being postponed due to the current levels of the Kankakee River.
Surveyor Crase explained that while working on the final section of a levee, workers realized that the river wasn’t dropping. He said if they sealed it up, the pressure would have caused the water to burst out elsewhere so they weren’t able to fix it just yet. While they have slowed the breach down a bit, Crase said crews continue to monitor the spot and are waiting for the river to drop before patching it up any further. Continue reading
Flood warnings continue throughout the local area, and some rivers could reach record levels in the coming days. In Plymouth, the Yellow River has risen above 17 feet, surpassing a record set in 1954, according to the National Weather Service.
The Bass Lake Beach and Starke County Forest would stand to benefit from some grant opportunities being explored by the Starke County Park Board. A few funding sources were discussed during Tuesday’s meeting.
You can now make a donation to the Starke County Park Board. While the park board oversees a few different facilities, including the Bass Lake Beach and Campground and the Starke County Forest, it does not have a dedicated funding source from the county government. However, the county council last week created a “special non-reverting park and recreation fund,” designed to let the park board accept “gifts, donations, and subsidies.”
The proposed Yellow River access site at Range Road has missed the boat for a Place Based Investment grant. Now, the Starke County Park Board may turn to crowdgranting, to keep the project alive.
The Starke County Park Board is moving ahead with a couple grant applications for a Yellow River access site at Range Road. The project involves the construction of a gravel lane and parking area, as well as an EZ dock kayak launch, for a cost of just over $53,000.
The Starke County Park Board hopes to bring more visitors to the Yellow River with state grant funding. Carolla Heilstedt plans to coordinate efforts to improve the county’s Yellow River access site at Range Road.
The Starke County Park Board has finalized a five-year plan for the county’s park and recreation facilities. The document will help guide improvements at parks, such as the Bass Lake Beach and Campground, the Starke County Forest, and Yellow River access sites at Range Road and English Lake. Continue reading
Starke County residents got a look at the future of the county’s park facilities Tuesday. Mike Reese with the Troyer Group presented the county’s five-year park plan during Tuesday’s County Park Board meeting. Continue reading
Emergency repairs to the bridge over the Yellow River on Starke County Road 700 East are almost finished. It’s been closed since April, when a tree floating down the river struck the bridge supports and compromised the structure. Continue reading
Emergency repairs to the bridge on Starke County Road 700 East over the Yellow River are on schedule to wrap up next week. Continue reading
The lone bid to fix the bridge on Starke County Road 700 East over the Yellow River came in significantly higher than county officials had anticipated. LaPorte Construction bid $106,872 for the emergency repair. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler says that figure is between $50,000 and $60,000 more than he had budgeted for the work. As a result, repairs that were to begin today and be finished by Aug. 15 have been delayed indefinitely. Continue reading
The body of a man was found in the Yellow River Thursday evening.
An autopsy to find the cause of death was conducted Friday. The preliminary cause of death is accidental drowning.
Kayakers notified the Plymouth Police Department on Thursday evening that they found a body in the Yellow River by Oakhill Avenue in Plymouth. The deceased man was recovered by the effort of officers from the Plymouth Police Department, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana Conservation officers, Plymouth Fire Department, and the Marshall County Coroner.
