Posted on April 3, 2023
Call it Part 2 of a project that will allow boats to float between Round Lake and Little Long Lake in Kendallville.
Noble County is already in the process of installing a connector culvert under Riley Road to link the two lakes north of Kendallville together. Now the county drainage board will dredge the Round Lake channel to help clear the way for boats making the crossing.
On Tuesday, Noble County Surveyor Randy Sexton appeared before the Kendallville Board of Works and Public Safety seeking approval to use some city-owned property to help with the dredging project scheduled for this spring.
Riley Road is currently closed as the county continues install of a 7-foot connector culvert between the two lakes, a nearly $600,000 project that came about as a public-private partnership with buy-in from the local lake association.
The culvert will be large enough to allow pontoon boats to sail between the two lakes.
However, Sexton noted that in order to facilitate that, the channel to the south of the culvert in Round Lake, which is technically a county-regulated drain called the Waterhouse Ditch, needs to be dredged.
Sexton said the county would be removing about 4 feet of material from the channel in a 25-foot-wide area.
“This is a suction dredge in which we would actually be loosening up the material at the bottom of the channel and sucking it out,” Sexton said.
Although the area is actually outside of the city limits, Kendallville is being asked to help by allowing use of some open ground south of Lakeview Cemetery for storage and de-watering of the removed lake material.
Water from the removed dirt will be directed to the nearby Kendallville Ditch, which will then allow it to flow back into Round Lake. Once aired out, the dirt will be turned over to the city to use as it sees fit.
City engineer Scott Derby said the material being dredged out of the lake is likely to be of good quality and will likely to put to use as topsoil for a project behind Fire Station 1 on Drake Road.
The city will fill in an area behind the fire station with dirt removed from the upcoming Drake Road reconstruction, then the lake soil could be used to cover and seed the area when finished, Derby said.
“It’s going to be very rich fertile soil suitable for growing grass,” Derby said.
Board of works members noted that the staging area for the dredged material should be far enough out of sight that it shouldn’t bother nearby property owners, so it could even potentially be stored their long term for use in other areas too, if needed.
Kendallville gave its OK for the county to utilize the land.
Sexton said the dredging work should begin this spring and that the county would finish up with restoration of any area it disturbs by summer.
In other business Tuesday morning, the board of works:
• Approved used of the downtown pocket park on April 8 for the Kendallville Tree Commission’s annual tree giveaway. The event will run from 9-11 a.m. Tree commission President Jim Nixon said the board will be giving away bald cypress saplings — good for planting in soggy areas, Nixon noted — to anyone who wants a tree to plant on their property.
The tree commission does planting on public property, but Nixon said residents are encouraged to plant trees on their property in order to maintain Kendallville’s canopy and tree inventory long-term.
• Approved street closures on Park Avenue, Diamond Street and Moyer Street May 6 for the annual Walk for Life event. The walk starts at 10 a.m.
• Opted to hold off on hiring a new operator for the wastewater treatment plant, as Mayor Suzanne Handshoe said she’d first like to get issues sorted out before bringing on a new staff member.
Kendallville is currently operating under an agreed order with the Environmental Protection Agency to address ongoing Clean Water Act violations.
