By By NORMA LERNER / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS - Hurricane Katrina has far-reaching effects even in Michigan. It has caused a road project delay by the Cass County Road Commission in Howard Township.
Road commission Engineer-Manager Joseph Bellina III said last week, "It reached out and touched even us. We will be putting off resurfacing on Barron Lake Road by a week."
Bellina explained during a regular board meeting that a portion of Barron Lake Road from Cook Street to Pokagon Highway has been prepared for resurfacing because of rutting in the road. It is designed for an additive to be made to the asphalt, but when he called the warehouse in Gulfport, Miss., for the additive, he was told the warehouse "was not there."
Bellina said the additive had to be ordered instead out of a warehouse in the east. It is expected that the project originally scheduled for Sept. 12 will be done Sept. 19.
The commissioners also congratulated fellow Commissioner Bradley Walker who will be retiring at the end of September.
Walker said he sold his John Deere business, Walkers Farm &Garden, Inc. in Union, and will be moving to Greenville, S. C. A 22-year board member who has served as vice chairman, Walker said his experience on the board has been wonderful. "I have thought about the things we have done and accomplished. It's amazing," he said, in alluding to the new road commission headquarters, large equipment purchases and many big road projects.
Walker also be retiring from the Cass County Parks Board.
which is composed of the three road commissioners. His term expires Dec. 31, 2006, and a new appointment to fill the position will be made by the county board's appointment committee, David Taylor, Terri Kitchen, Chairman Robert Wagel and Minnie Warren.
The commission will attend a court hearing on Sept. 12 to determine ownership of lots 43 and 44 at Shavehead Lake in Porter Township that were auctioned off on Aug. 29 to a buyer from Elkhart for $120,000 for both of them.
Legal action was taken by David Hoffman, an heir of Ida Hoffman, a plat proprietor, alleging that a clause in the deed requires the property to revert back to Hoffman heirs and could not be sold. The plat dates back to 1936.