Maintenance and care of the Conklin Fish Farm near Griswold will soon no longer be under the auspices of the Cass County Conservation Service. During Wednesday’s meeting of the Cass County Board of Supervisors, CCCS Director Micah Lee said the Griswold City Council recently accepted a resolution to take control of the maintenance duties at the farm, which is a public attraction and camping site. Lee said the City thinks it can do a better job of making progress at the park, and with the Conservation Services’ budget being as tight as it is, the staff have a hard time moving as fast as people would like, as far as getting major projects finished. The current contract is only for a management agreement, which has a 30-termination clause if either side feels the other is not fulfilling the terms specified in the agreement. 

He says last Thursday, the Conservation Board voted to accept the resolution as presented, and allow the City of Griswold to seize the management agreement, for a number of reasons. He says their reasoning for that is because there’s not enough manpower, money, or time available for his staff to handle all of the county’s parks and recreational areas. Lee says the camping receipts also indicate the farm is not profitable for the Conservation Service to operate. He also said well-intended efforts by a local group to take care of the area actually ended-up costing the CCCS money, that wasn’t budgeted for. 

With the Conservation Boards’ approval of the City-prepared resolution, the City of Griswold will assume full responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep at the Conklin Farm, beginning January 1^st, 2012. The resolution does not need the approval of the Cass County Supervisors, but will need to be reviewed by the Cass County Attorney before it becomes official. Lee said as much as he’d like to keep the farm, there’s just too much for his staff to handle right now, trying to maintain the rest of the County’s parks.