Commissioners approved county park upgrades

St. Joseph County officials last week approved a measure that will ultimately lead to a water and sewer infrastructure at a county park in Fawn River Township.
Commissioners agreed to fund a $160,000 plan that will upgrade the services to Cade Lake Park and Campground, thanks to an existing line servicing the village of Burr Oak.
County administrator Pat Yoder said the matter has been investigated by engineer firm Jones Petrie Rafinski.
In a memo to Yoder, company president Kenneth Jones indicated the village of Burr Oak cannot afford the $68,000 to install five intermediate flushing stations along U.S. 12 between Halfway Road in Burr Oak Township and Sweet Lake Road in Fawn River Township.
Jones in his memo said a scenario in which Burr Oak does not make the force-main repairs and the system continues to operate as is, Cade Lake will not be allowed to connect to the force main and Cade Lake would be forced to reconstruct its septic system, Jones wrote.
This would result in increased project construction costs, a necessary system redesign and permitting pertinent to a septic system, he added.
With the board’s endorsement, Jones engineering will move forward with plans relevant to the installation of the water and sewer lines, as well as the installation of the five flushing stations.
A project timeline was not presented.