By By NORMA LERNER and MARCIA STEFFENS / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS – It was standing room only at the 10 a.m. public hearing at the Cass County Road Commission Thursday.
Road commissioners took comments from the public on the alignment of Eagle Lake Road in Edwardsburg, per a request from Paul DeLano, Lakeview LLC developer.
DeLano's request would straighten out Eagle Lake Road in Ontwa Township from the curve at the top of the hill by Stacy's restaurant north to behind the Dock restaurant, across the creek with a new bridge, behind four lots in front of the present channel and return to Eagle Lake Road at the second house to the north.
DeLano submitted an abandonment petition for Eagle Lake Road in conjunction with the alignment from the creek to the second house along the lakefront. That hearing is set for April 10 at 7 p.m. at a location to be announced.
About 75 persons attended the alignment hearing.
Most of those who spoke were not in favor of the road alignment that was presented by Kenneth Jones of Wightman Petrie engineers of Elkhart, Ind.
Don Peterson of Eagle Lake Road was in favor of the alignment, saying he wanted to see action. He asked the commission to "keep moving forward."
Robert Pfaff of Lakeview Drive said in his 83 years at the lake there has never been a proposal to move the road. He said the alignment issue and the abandonment issue are tied together. He said there has been no reason given for moving the road. He added there has been a lot of discussion for proposals but nothing filed with the township.
His remarks brought applause, as did the comments of Larry Banghart, who lives on Brady Road at Eagle Lake.
Banghart said the issue is whether the road would be closed.
"If you agree to align the road, does it not automatically abandon it," he asked. "Could there be two roads at the east end of Eagle Lake? If you don't abandon the road, would you put in other streets," he asked.
Commissioner Roger Bowser said Banghart was theoretically correct.
John Harsh of South Shore Drive, who said he is an engineer, said the hill to the south is 18 feet higher than the level of the Dock restaurant, which could create stability problems for vehicles driving on the road
"If a car loses control, it's in the channel," Harsh said. His remarks also drew applause.
Jones replied that his engineering firm uses every standard to insure that the road is safely viable.
"There are multiple eggs to be laid before the chicken gets close," he said.
Clint Draeger, Painter, Juno and Christiana Lake Association president, said the association has taken a position against the alignment. He said he is opposed to the road alignment and proposed to the commission to "nip this in the bud."
Road Commission Chairman Bob Powers said the commission will not make a decision on Thursday, but did ask for a show of hands against the alignment. The majority raised their hands against, with about seven showing they are in favor of it.
Joseph Bellina III, the engineer manager for the road commission, ended the discussion by saying the commission's responsibility is to make roads safe for the traveling public. "That is the crux of the matter," he said.
The next discussion will be held when the road commission members plan to attend the Feb. 12 meeting of the Ontwa Township Board at 7 p.m.