ODNR diverts money intended for Lake Hope lodge replacement

Mary Beth Lane
Nov 11, 2009 (The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

Vinton County commissioners are outraged that state officials are delaying construction of a new lodge at Lake Hope State Park because they dipped into a $5 million insurance settlement after the original lodge burned to balance the books at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

ODNR officials have acknowledged that some of the insurance money was "temporarily diverted" to operating expenses to keep state parks open during the state budget crisis.

It's not known how much of the insurance settlement was spent for other purposes because the proceeds were merged with other money generated by state parks.

A fire in February 2006 destroyed the Lake Hope lodge. The insurance settlement was reached in 2008. In February, the state Controlling Board, a legislative financial-oversight panel that approves unbid contracts and other spending, released about $481,000 to pay RVC Architects Inc. of Athens for architectural and engineering work. Construction was to begin in 2010.

"We had barely started" when ODNR officials, in May or June, said to stop the work because of state budget issues, David Reiser, a principal in the RVC firm, said today. The firm has billed the state for less than 10 percent of the contract, he said.

Agency Director Sean Logan visited Vinton County officials recently and told them, that because of budget constraints, construction on the new lodge has been pushed back to 2012, county Commissioner Jerry Zinn said today.

It may be legal for the agency to use the insurance money intended for the new lodge for other things, Zinn said, but it isn't right.

"We just feel like it's improper and unethical to take an insurance settlement and use it to pay everyday bills," Zinn said. The commissioners have complained to state Sen. John Carey and state Rep. Clyde Evans, and have asked them to attend a public forum they are scheduling in McArthur, the county seat, to answer people's questions.

"People say, 'When's it going to be rebuilt?' They deserve to know that's going on," Zinn said.

The sparsely populated, high-unemployment county in southeastern Ohio is heavily wooded and populated with more deer than people. The county relies on tourism to bring in some money, and going without the lodge has hurt. The dining lodge was a popular spot for meetings, weddings, anniversaries and family reunions.

"If this isn't illegal, it's certainly a very low act against the citizens of Vinton County, taking the money away from the settlement and using it for other purposes," said county Commissioner Thomas Morgan. "Something like this would never have happened in Franklin County, Cuyahoga County. Vinton County has been used to taking it. We haven't fought back, but we are doing it now."

The lodge, built in 1950 of native timber and sandstone, had a terrace that overlooked Lake Hope. The state park is about 60 miles southeast of Columbus.

The new lodge, which will probably cost $3 million to $4 million, Reiser said, will incorporate some of the original stone from the old lodge and local wood. It is not certain, however, if the new lodge will include a full restaurant as before, or a short-order eatery or even something less. ODNR officials haven't decided, the architect said.

"We are constantly reassured that the project will get going but we haven't been told to start work again," he said.

To see more of The Columbus Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.columbusdispatch.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.