A $15,000 pontoon boat heavily damaged in a July 2006 hit-and-run collision on Lake Sinclair that claimed the life of one of its occupants will be restored by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department within the next six weeks.

That’s according to Eatonton resident Sandy Baxter, whose husband, Mark Baxter, lost his life in the July 1 accident.

“When I learned about it, it was just a wonderful feeling to know that he [Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee] will take that boat and do something positive with it,” Sandy Baxter said.

On July 1, 2006, Sandy Baxter, her husband Mark Baxter and the couple’s 25-year-old daughter, Laura Johnson of Atlanta, were in the Baxter family’s pontoon boat on Lake Sinclair when it was struck by a boat driven by Mark Howard En-trekin of Ea-tonton.

The collision threw the occupants into the water while Entrekin sped away, leaving Mark Baxter dead and his wife and daughter in the water calling for help.

Entrekin was convicted in 2007 on two counts of homicide by vessel for boating under the influence and reckless operation of the vessel and received the maximum sentence of 16 years in prison allowed under law, but a failure-to-render-aid count of the indictment was dropped due to the wording of a hit-and-run loophole provision on state law books.

Senate Bill 529, which would close that loophole in Georgia's Vehicular and Vessel Homicide Statutes, passed by a by a vote of 158-1 in the State Senate earlier this year.

Now Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee is leading the campaign to turn the battered Baxter pontoon into an emergency search-and-rescue vehicle for Baldwin, Hancock and Putnam Counties.

“Over the past year, especially where we had the rescue effort that went for so long, it dawned on me that we have been needing something where we could leave it on the lake regardless of how long a search would last,” Massee said. “Sandy had already offered us her pontoon boat and I have already spoken to an individual who may be able to assist us with its restoration, but if that does not work out we will have other options that we will pursue.”

The boat would be utilized on a 24 hour, 7-day-a-week basis, and will be used in a variety of methods, according to Massee.

“What we want to do is have it available to Baldwin, Putnam and Hancock Counties in case there’s any type of boating accident. We want to have it so that it will have supplies available and possibly even allow us to cook and feed rescue workers that are assisting in a search,” Massee said.

Currently the campaign to restore the Baxter pontoon and place it back into active use through the Sheriff’s Department has the boat becoming available for public viewing at a free lake safety education event on Saturday, June 7th at Milledgeville’s Little River Park from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

The three-hour event will have officials with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources on hand to conduct free boat safety checks as part of the day’s activities.

Groups that have already shown an interest in the boat’s restoration and re-use have included the Milledgeville Rotary Club, Hands on Milledgeville and the Oconee Valley American Red Cross Service Center (of which Baxter is a former director), according to Baxter.

“I know that Mark would be thrilled with this,” Baxter said as her voice wavered slightly. “I think we’ll have a few more people who will be helping us as time progresses. I have yet to hear from everybody but I’ve had others show some interest.”