We own it!

The Michigan DNR has closed on the purchase of the 2.2. acres on Eagle Lake Road near Edwardsburg north of the channel between Eagle and Juno lakes slated for a new public access development.

Project Manager Paul Yauk said Thursday that he has requested access crews begin stabilizing the site by building a fence along the north side of the property, cutting the vegetation to ground level and establishing signage.

“It’s now public land and we plan to maintain it as requested by the Ontwa zoning board,” Yauk said.

Yauk said all the survey work has been completed and the agency awaits a meeting with the Cass County Road Commission to develop a plan for a new launch site across from the DNR’s property.

The plan that was presented to and approved by the Ontwa Zoning Board of Appeals calls for a parking area for boat trailers on the east side of Eagle Lake Road, and eventually a new boat ramp with a safe launching area for boaters at the water’s edge. Yauk said the DNR will work with the road commission to develop a launch site that meets the commission’s requirements and provides safer access than the access that presently exists south of the proposed DNR site.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Lake Improvement Association has not given up its battle to prevent the DNR from providing public access to Eagle Lake. It has a lawsuit pending against Ontwa Township and the DNR in Cass County Circuit Court, seeking the court to overturn the Ontwa Zoning Board’s Feb. 25 decision in which it approved the DNR’s zoning application.

The suit went before Circuit Court Judge Susan Dobrich in June. The DNR and Township requested the case be dismissed based upon the fact the board had approved preliminary plans through public hearings for the project. The lake association requested - and received - more time to prepare court documents.

The next hearing is slated for October.