Cass County Park to be restructured for boat access only

The Cass County Commissioners’ court convened in a special session Tuesday afternoon to decide on changing the operational structure of Cass County Park.

County Judge Becky Wilbanks recommended to the court that the park’s operations be restricted to boat access only. Wilbanks offered reasons in support of her recommendation.

“Excessive and frequent flooding. During the past five years, the park has flooded a total of five times. Each time the park must be evacuated. All campers, buildings, electrical boxes, and anything else not permanently attached. As with any flooding disaster, there is clean up, recovery, and repair that must follow. The cleanup, recovery, and repair require many man hours in addition to the associated costs involved.”

She went on to say that the park is not self-sufficient.

“The cost of operating the park for camping far exceeds the revenue it produces. Cass County does not set its camping rate at an amount average to cover the cost of operation. In the real world, this does not make good business sense.”

Wilbanks said that the adjustment of power lines is mandatory now that the Corp of Engineers has implemented a new rule for its campsites.

“This rule requires any powerlines located in the park to be raised at least 53 feet above the highest crest of the lake at flood stage or in the alternative, bury the lines. Those options are cost prohibitive to the county. This is a Corp rule and there is no waiver.”

Wilbanks explained that alternatives were explored.

“Cass County investigated other options in an effort to remain open but to no avail. This is because Cass County would remain fiscally and legally responsible for the park. Cass County would still incur the cost in adjusting the power lines.”

Wilbanks expressed her gratitude to the private citizens who gave their time and money to assist in evacuations and in each recovery.

Commissioner Paul Cothren presented a report from the Army Corp of Engineers detailing its annual on-site inspection from January and costs required to remain compliant.

“Cass County Park is the lowest elevation of all Corp parks that succumbs to flooding at 235 feet. The park has to be evacuated at 235. In 2016, it topped out at 255. Total inundation of the county park is at 240 feet. You can see that in 2016, just this one year, this was totally submerged.”

He said of the adjustment to power lines, “If we buried or raised them, the distance of that burial or raise would be 5,758 feet, that’s more than a mile.”

At $80 a foot, it would cost the county over $200,000 to make the appropriate adjustments to the power lines.

Cothren said that maintaining only the boat ramp would require revisions to the park such as constructing 3200 feet of barricade to prevent vehicle access to all open areas along both sides of the main road.

To discontinue camping, Cothren said the county would have to cap the well and shut down the septic system as well as remove all ground structures such as water, electrical, playground equipment, buildings, awnings, and concrete slabs. The only structures that will remain are concrete picnic tables.

County Auditor Jim Loomis presented the court with documentation of the park’s revenue and expenses. The park has operated at a loss every year since 1994. Over a period of 25 years, the park’s revenue is just over $805,000 and expenses were over $1.5 million. To cover the deficit, over $720,000 were transferred from the general fund to maintain the park.

Cothren expressed gratitude to those who have helped in evacuation and recovery efforts over the years.

“These volunteers are the ones who are to be commended because they are the ones who came to the rescue of saving it once again and I can’t tell you how many times, possibly more than eight times, maybe higher. And each time they brought their personal equipment, they brought their own tools, they did it. They did it.”

Wilbanks motion to change the park’s operational structure to boat-launch only and to adopt the recommendations made by Cothren to decommission the park’s campground carried with Commissioners Bret Fitts, Cothren, and Darrell Godwin.