Board OKs higher cost for sinkhole fix

Repairs estimated at $52,999 on shared-use path along Blue Star Highway.

Laketown Township approved a bid for $49,999 to repair a sinkhole on the shared-use path along Blue Star Highway at 62nd Street. This photo was taken Sept. 24, 2026.

The Laketown Township Board of Trustees approved almost $15,000 more than originally planned for the repair of a collapsed portion of a shared-use path along Blue Star Highway and 62nd Street.

The board at a special meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, unanimously approved a $49,999 bid to install a culvert and repair the large sinkhole. With other costs including engineering, the total amount is $52,999.

The original estimated total was $38,500.

The board instructed Manager Stephanie Fox to contact the Allegan County Road Commission to approve the higher bid and get the repairs taken care of this year.

The special meeting was attended by Supervisor Steven Ringelberg, Treasurer Jim Johnson and Trustee Mike Koeman. Trustee Mark Timmerman was present on Zoom and by law is not permitted to vote. Clerk Jim Delaney was absent.

A video of the special meeting is available here.

The bids

The $49,999 bid from Brenner Excavating Inc. was the lowest of the four submitted.

Other bids were $50,405 from Langlois & Sons Excavating Inc., $59,299 from Site Work Solutions Inc., and $78,025 from Kentwood Excavating Inc.

On Aug. 5, the board approved the $38,500 estimate and to have the county seek the bids. Because the bids were over the original estimate, the special meeting was scheduled to vote on the higher amount.

Members discussed putting off repairs until next year and seeking more bids but were concerned about liability of putting a cover over the expanding hole and said costs most likely will be higher in the spring.

Jeff Partyka, facilities operations for the township, told the board at the Sept. 24 meeting that the hole has grown from about 1-foot in diameter when it was discovered in late July to about 6 feet by 5 feet on Aug. 10, 6 feet by 7 feet on Sept. 16, and 6 feet by 8 feet on Sept. 24.

The site is now blocked off by barrels and caution tape.

For more information on the bids and specifications, visit the Allegan County Road Commission website and click on “Projects & Bids” in the top menu bar, then choose “2026 Projects & Bids.” Scroll down to “62nd Street & Blue Star Hwy Repair.”

About the path

The path was completed in the fall of 2024 and runs from the 66-site Shangrai-La Mobile Home Community, 6180 Blue Star Highway, to the Michigan Department of Transportation’s park-and-ride site at Exit 41 of I-196.

The path is 4,200 feet long and 10 feet wide and includes retaining walls and two boardwalks.

There are no other Laketown Township shared-use paths east of I-196 where this project is located.