Paving of dead-end street put on hold

The Laketown Township Board of Trustees on Thursday, March 12, 2026, voted to pause paving a dead-end road due to financial concerns. The board had approved the paving of 61^st Street north of 138^th Avenue the week before for about $441,000.

The decision, though, came too late in one respect – the Allegan County Road Commission has already put the project out for bids with the bid opening set for April 1.

If bids come in over $441,000 then the board could abandon the project, Manager Stephanie Fox told the board in an email on Friday, March 13.

The next scheduled meeting of the board of trustees is 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, at the township hall, 4338 Beeline Road. The paving issue is planned for the agenda. Zoom is available.

Road background

The township in October approved paving the dead-end road, then in January voted to postpone the paving due to easement issues. A landowner did not want the road to encroach on their land. Holland Western Horse Park, 3856 61^st St., which supports having the road paved, instead gave an easement to the road commission to realign the road so it can be paved.

On March 4, the board asked the Allegan County Road Commission to pave the 0.35-mile dirt road this year, setting the bid process in motion.

Bid documents

The bid documents and specifications are on the road commission website at www.alleganroads.org under “Projects & Bids,” then choose “2026 Projects & Bids.” The documents state:

“PROJECT NO. 400194 – 0.35 miles of roadway reconstruction including clearing, grade establishment, sand subbase, aggregate base, culvert replacements, hot mix asphalt paving, and restoration on 61st Street from 138th Avenue to 0.35 miles north in Laketown Township, Allegan County.”

The engineering estimate dated March 13 puts the estimated total cost at $339,634.50.

Bid opening will be 11 a.m. April 1 at the road commission office, 1308 Lincoln Road, Allegan. It is open to the public.

March 12 meeting

At the March 12 meeting, a resident who has property adjoining the unpaved road addressed the board and said he was unaware beforehand of the board’s March 4 decision and that spending $441,000 on the road is not in the best interest of the township.

Another property owner submitted a letter stating, “we do not believe the project is warranted given the limited function and use of the roadway.”

A recording of the March 12 meeting is available here.

A 61^st Street resident who has been at several meetings advocating for the paving, and representatives of Holland Western Horse Park who also supported paving, were not at the March 12 meeting. The topic of reconsidering the earlier paving decision was not on the agenda ahead of the meeting but was added after the meeting started.

The board does not normally meet on Thursdays. The special meeting was called so the board could vote on the 2026-2027 budget and the submission to the state for a grant to build stairs at Laketown Beach, and address any other issues that came before it.

Supervisor Steven Ringelberg voted against the paving at both March meetings, saying it’s not good financially and there are safety concerns about people using the dead-end for illegal purposes.

Trustee Mark Timmerman and Treasurer Jim Johnson, who both supported the paving on March 4, voted March 12 to pause the work.

“This is strictly a financial thing with me,” Timmerman said.

He asked the manager to get costs for maintaining the road as gravel.

The board encouraged residents with opinions about the possible paving to write to the township to express their feelings.

Comments can be emailed to office@laketowntwp.org.

Trustee Mike Koeman, who supported the paving on March 4, was not at the March 12 meeting. Clerk Jim Delaney was not at either meeting.

After deciding in January to postpone the paving work, the board asked the manager to coordinate with the road commission to provide snowplowing, grading and graveling of the unpaved road. The seasonal road is not plowed by the county.

In 2023, the township approved an updated road plan for work through 2030. To come up with the road plan, the township looked at the year the roads were last resurfaced, visually inspected the roads and used the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system. In the 2023 update, 61^st Street was listed for reconstruction and pavement in 2026.