CLEANING STATION UPDATES

from Trout Times 2021

RULES AND REGS

PARK HOPES TO HAVE NEW GRINDER STATION OPERATING SOON

Anglers wishing to clean their fish after their catches this season will hopefully be able to do so soon, as Roaring River State Park staff are in the midst of building a new cleaning station in a new location.

Joel Topham, Roaring River State Park manager, said the new facility, a grinder station is being built near Zone 3.

“We broke ground on Dec. 21, 2020, and we are working on it as fast as we can,” he said. “In December, we ran the electric line to three transformers, and we’re hoping to have the water and sewer done by [early February].”

The new grinder being installed, a Barracuda brand, will compost and shred fish remains, and the mulch will be piped through the park’s last lift station and into its lagoon field.

Cleaning Station Construction Ongoing

Gerald Houston, of Cassville, cleans off one of his catches at the cleaning station in 2020.

TO MAKE A DONATION

People may go to https://tinyurl.com/yygjrrqg or mail a check to:

Cassville Community Foundation, 504 Main St., Cassville, MO 65625

“We don’t have a date for when it will be fully operational, but we are shooting for as fast as possible,” Topham said. “We’re still dealing with some of the pitfalls of the pandemic, like social distancing.”

Topham said the project is budgeted at about $65,000, and the park has been working with the Cassville Community Foundation to help offset the cost.

“Donations are still being accepted through the end of February,” Topham said.

To make a donation, people may go to https://tinyurl.com/yygjrrqg, or mail a check to the Cassville Community Foundation office at 504 Main St., Cassville, MO 65625.

The station will be at the south edge of the parking lot at the end of Zone 3, south of Camp Smokey.

“The thought behind that was to give more access to parking and a safer avenue for guests to clean fish,” Topham said. “We’ve been clearing brush along Highway F and prepping for that influx of traffic. We are also making the campground entrance one-way to allow people to still get into the campground and back in their campers, but it will be one way going up to the high road instead of two-way traffic through the campgrounds.”

Without social distancing requirements, the new station will allow 12 people to clean fish at the same time, equal to the number available at the old cleaning station.

The previous station was in Zone 2 next to the swimming hole. It was torn down in May 2020 due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols being ignored, as well as the boards under the tubs becoming rotted and unsafe.

That station cost about $6,000 per month to maintain, including daily cleaning, composting, gas costs for moving remains and other costs. Topham said the new station will cost about half that amount. Q