County taking over Champion Mill July 1

Ownership of the Champion Mill and Lake at Champion, Nebraska, transfers from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to Chase County on July 1. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

CHAMPION, Nebraska -- The keys to the Champion Mill and Lake will pass from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to Chase County during a ceremony Monday, July 1, at 10 a.m. MDT, at the lake.

The Nebraska Legislature approved the change of ownership in January, according to the Imperial Republican newspaper.

Kirk Nelson, West Regional Manager of the Parks Division for NGPC, said the Champion mill and lake are the eighth park property to be given up by Game and Parks. Nelson said Game and Parks is struggling with a budget that was once funded with 70 percent state money/taxes and 30 percent park permits.

That proportion has flip-flopped, to 70 percent from permits and 30 percent from taxes, he said.

Before the county took ownership, Game and Parks put a new roof on the mill, painted, and renovated the lake and spillway.

County commissioner Don Weiss Jr. said the county will have to hire someone to take care of the lawn and to open the doors to the public on weekends.

The county has budgeted $10,000 for 2013-14 for the mill and lake's care.