Advertisement

The Commission decided to "retain" five sites at the Caseville County Park during Caseville Cheeseburger and to "auction" them off to the highest bidder.

Those that did send in for a reservation and were unsuccessful, recently received a letter from the Board of County Road Commissioners of Huron County Park Services Director Stacy Koss informing them of the new procedure.

In the letter, Koss stated, "This will have reference to the Cheeseburger Festival scheduled for Aug. 8-18 in Caseville, Mich. As of this date, (June 25, 2008) some sites remain available (site numbers 50, 52, 54, 56 and 58). These sites consist of electric and water only."

She stated the process is "similar to a silent auction format with the exception that only one bid will be accepted. This special program will only be made available to those who did not originally get selected for a site."

A minimum bid of $290 is required for the period covering the 10 days during Cheeseburger.

"It seems you (Huron County Road Commission) are taking the opportunity away from someone else that doesn't have the money," said Huron County Commissioner Clark Elftman.

According to Road Commission Officials, those not lucky enough to receive a site for a particular date at a particular campground are normally put on a waiting list.

"We decided to auction them off; we want to be self-sustaining," said Huron County Road Commissioner Chairperson Mike Powers. "We are trying to do things to improve our park system. It may be the wrong way to do it; we don't want to say we have a closed mind to this."

Road Commissioner John Hunt feels the five sites are "just a small snap-shot of what is out there," referring to the amount of campsites within the Caseville County Park which has approximately 245 sites.

"There were 130 people on the waiting list; this gives them a chance to get into the park," said Hunt.

He added, "Anytime there is a change, people get upset and we didn't anticipate upsetting people; I think this is a positive by giving them a change to get into the campground."

However, there are some people, including Huron County residents, who feel the auction procedure is unfair, especially to those that would be on top of the waiting list.

"I have had a few residents voice their opinions; I disagree with the way it was done, not enough notice given to those waiting," said Huron County Commissioner Tim Rujan. "I'm getting a lot of complaints that the county is scalping the Cheeseburger, I've had quite a few complaints."

"We have to raise the prices or cut the services, it's a bit confusing to us to keep the doors open," said Huron County Road Commission Secretary/Manager Neal Hentschl. "We are making an effort to keep things going; it's a huge business we are trying to run on a shoestring (budget)," Rujan said.

Interestingly, the Huron County Road Commission was able to add nearly $207,000 in 2007 to the County Parks Fund Balance, according to the Commission's 2007 Annual Report.

Also according to the report, Caseville County Park generated $556,852 in revenue while the total expenses are $288,374.

However, Road Commission Officials state that some of the parks, such as Philp, Bird Creek and McGraw do not generate any revenue, but do have expenses.

"People try to bribe us; when the mail comes in Jan. 2, we look at the post mark, then the longest stay," said Hentschl. "If these people want to stay here maybe they are willing to pay more; I am not sure we are going to do this (auction) again."