A proposed pickleball court in Burlington and construction of handicapped-accessible restrooms in Kenmare’s historical village are among projects that are expected to impact the local organization’s budgets in the coming year.

DeSour Valley EDC in Burlington and the Lake County Historical Society in Kenmare presented their budgets to the Ward County Commission Tuesday in requesting annual assistance from the county.

Bryan Quigley with Lake County said the request of $17,000 is up $1,000 from the previous year due to the cost of accessible toilet facilities. That cost will drain available funds, he said.

“But we’re doing other things, like replacing some windows, changing some displays and updating the village every way we can,” he said. “We just had a donation of 600-plus kerosene lanterns collection and a couple of spinning wheels that are 140 years old. It’s continuing to expand, so we’re out of space and we are looking every way possible to tighten up our displays.”

Lake County is holding its Pioneer Day Sunday, July 14, with musical entertainment and a free-will steak feed.

Andy Fimrite, president of DeSour Valley, asked for funds again to promote Burlington. The development corporation received $30,000 for 2024. DeSour Valley’s budget for 2025 is $80,000, with notable increases for a proposed pickleball court, possibly to double as a basketball court; walking path features such as canopies over sitting areas; and a security system upgrade at the splash pad.

The county commission will act on requests from area economic development and historical groups when it develops its 2025 budget.

In other business, the commission approved a parking lease with OK Automotive to use its property for employee parking for $5,000 a year. The county would be responsible to remove a fence and provide snow removal. OK Automotive also will need to approve the lease. The lease would replace an existing lease with CPKC Rail for the use of railroad property for parking.