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Fontana rejects lakefront project

FONTANA TOWNSHIP — Fontana’s lakefront building project is likely dead after two-thirds of voters rejected spending local funds on the multimillion-dollar venture.

Village President Arvid Petersen said plans for constructing a new lakefront activity building would be scrapped. However, other projects within the referendum still need attention.

The village board in June passed a resolution to ask taxpayers for $2.8 million to repair Lake Street, a parking lot and construct a lakefront activity building.

Plans for the 5,500-square-foot building included a coffee bar and lakeview room, which would have been used for private and public events.

Petersen said Lake Street likely will need construction anyway. The water line is undersized, and the road needs to be torn up to get to it.

He said both the parking lot and road construction projects could be done in the next few years.

“I don’t think referendums have any chance of passing in the current (economic) climate,” Petersen said. “Redoing the street is going to have to get done at some point, and the parking lot is full of craters. Instead of getting it done by TIF funding, we’re going to wind up paying for it through the general fund.”

Village officials spent a considerable amount of time and money informing voters on the issue, including a website that included the complete history of the project.

Petersen said last week someone was anonymously, and illegally, circulating fliers in the community speaking out against the referendum. State law requires anyone spending more than $25 on election propaganda to identify themselves.