Road woes at county lake; property owners seek solutions
Staff writer
Property owners are seeking solutions for a washed-out road in a housing area at Marion County Park and Lake after recent rains.
Back Bay Court, the road north of Lakeshore Dr., gets worse each time there is a hard rain, property owner Dwight Wernli told county commissioners Monday. Wernli said he’d measured washouts as deep as seven and as wide as 28 inches.
Commissioners aren’t sure the road is their responsibility, though Randy Dallke and Lori Lalouette were sympathetic.
Dallke said the road is notorious for washing out.
Lalouette said county road and bridge equipment might not be able to maneuver onto the road to work on it.
Commissioner Dan Holub said no interlocal agreement determines a portion of county responsibility, and Lakeshore Dr. is the only road on the north side of the lake the county owns.
“The roads are only 10, 12, 15 feet. The county needs 30 feet,” Holub said.
Holub said the county never laid out roads in the area. The roads have come to be as residents moved there.
“Years ago we asked them to form a homeowners association for when we talk about roads,” Holub said. “The county never accepts the responsibility for the roads. We don’t dare because if we do it and someone has an accident, we get sued.”
The county does provide a pile of gravel for residents to use to repair the roads, Holub said.
“We try to make it work for everyone,” Holub said.
Three lake property owners and commissioners discussed possible solutions including the county providing material and residents coming up with the labor to work on the road, or the county providing a small tractor.
Commissioners said they will look further at the road situation but made no decisions on the matter.
“The commissioners before us for all these years have passed this up and passed this up,” Dallke said. “Somewhere the county has to wake up and say we’ve got to help with these.”