Father-son team rescue missing kayak launch sign from Belleville Lake

A father and son team of kayakers from Van Buren Township went looking for the missing sign from the kayak launch at Horizon Park on Aug. 1 and pulled it out at about noon.
It was about 16 feet below the surface and about a foot from the dock, said the father, who wishes no publicity for himself or his 15-year-old son.
After reading the story in the Independent last Thursday, they decided to look for the sign in the water, because they were sure that kids didn’t vandalize the sign and scrappers didn’t steal it.
They tried on Friday, July 29, without success, but felt a clink that sounded interesting. The man went home and made a grappling hook and they came back on Monday and found the sign. The son hooked it and it took the two of them to haul it up. They left it on the launch and let the Independent know of their find.
The Independent called the police department on Monday afternoon to report the sign was back and a DPW truck was dispatched immediately and carried off the sign.
The father said he hoped they had found the sign in time for it to be taken to a car wash to get the algae cleaned off and then reinstalled instead of the Downtown Development Authority having to spend the $2,400 or so it allocated at its last meeting for the project.
But, that’s not the end of it, the man warns. He said one L bracket has just one screw holding it in place and before long he expects to see the launch floating down the river.
The man said he lives on the lake in Van Buren Township and has been using the kayak launch as a destination point when he goes out in his kayak. He said he pauses at the launch and looks around at it.
He said when the sign was freshly installed only three of the four screws were put in. He said the 80-90-pound sign wasn’t forced out by kids, it just took a header off the dock when most of the screws fell out.
He said in April the screws were missing and he has seen the sign flopping back and forth since then.
“I didn’t want the youth getting condemned for this, or the scrappers to get blamed,” he said, noting he has a son and a daughter at Belleville High School and he knows somebody who makes a few extra dollars scrapping.
He said he also noticed the railing screws are loose.
[At the Aug. 1 meeting of the city council, Building Official/DPW Director Rick Rutherford said he would take a look at the launch.]