The Starke County Park Board members discussed camper fees at the Bass Lake Beach and Campground last week.
In the proposed budget, Park Superintendent Marc Vendl presented a $100 increase to seasonal camping fees to $2,300, along with a $450 fee for monthly campers and $270 fee for weekly campers.
Board member Kathy Norem proposed increasing the seasonal camping fees to $2,700, with a 10 percent pre-pay discount by April 1, $550 for monthly campers and $280 for weekly campers. She presented rate information from campgrounds that were in a 75-mile radius of Knox that had water access and many of the same type of amenities at the Bass Lake Beach and Campground. After her research, she suggested the increase as it is justified with researching comparable costs to other campgrounds like Bass Lake.
The increase to $2,700 was met with negative feedback by seasonal campers who attended the meeting last week. There were people who complained about putting the burden of costs on seasonal campers. They discussed that they do a lot of volunteer work at the campground such as mowing lots and picking up trash and thought the increase was not fair in that respect.
The park board members agreed with Vendl’s proposed increases and approved the fees and the budget as presented with a unanimous vote. Vendl said he will look at grants and other ways to create revenue for potential projects in the 2022 budget year.
