Potential project to dredge Lake Contrary popular with residents

By Chris Fortune

As the Buchanan County Commissioners continue to secure permits for a potential dredging project, many residents are supportive of the plan.

Longtime residents of St. Joseph remember Lake Contrary as a community asset where they could go to the beach and spend time with friends on the water.

The nostalgia and a desire to once again have a viable local lake to spend recreational time at is helping drive support for the possible dredging project.

“We used to do the polar plunge out there,” St. Joseph resident Ken Erich said. “So we would get on the beach, and then we’d go jump in the water and everything.”

The project carries an estimated $7-9 million price tag, but Erich said the county could see a return on its investment if they decide to dredge the lake.

“I think they could use that area to increase revenue for the county by bringing the beach back, bringing people back to that area,” he said. “There’s a chance for retail spaces out there. They could do a lot with that area if they would upkeep it.”

St. Joseph resident Carl Nelson said he would support the dredging project because it would be for the benefit of the city and the county.

“I think it would provide something for people at the lake,” he said. “Places where people take their boats and their jet skis and families to have picnics down there and various other activities.”

But Nelson would like reassurance that the dredging project will provide a long-term solution for how much money it will cost.

“Only thing I would add is that you have to have a plan to keep it dredged,” he said. “I don’t want to spend $7 million for something that’s going to fill back up in five, six years.”