New fishing piers coming to Sterling Lake

New fishing piers and other amenities will be added to Sterling Lake near Wadsworth, under a contract approved by the Lake County Forest Preserve District board Tuesday.

The 86-acre lake is nestled within the Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve. The main entrance is on Route 173, east of Route 41.

Nonmotorized boating and fishing long has been allowed on the lake, but it doesn’t have a pier for anglers. Fishing enthusiasts must cast from boats or the shoreline.

Boaters don’t have it easy at Sterling Lake either. Existing docks — once part of a boat rental operation — don’t account for water-level fluctuations and sometimes are unusable.

The deal with Copenhaver Construction of Gilberts will change that.

The contract calls for two fishing piers, a floating dock, a boat ramp, gravel and asphalt trails and other improvements.

The work will cost the forest district $413,724. That’s about 25 percent greater than the original estimated price of $330,000, according to a district memo.

The board approved the deal 21-2 without any public discussion. Deerfield Democrat Michelle Feldman and Mundelein Republican Diana O’Kelly cast the “no” votes.

The price increase was among the reasons Feldman opposed the deal.

“I just felt that was too significant,” she told reporters after the board meeting in Waukegan.

She also said the project was not listed among the board’s top priorities for the year.

“This is a ‘C’ project,” Feldman said, indicating more important proposals are listed as “A” and “B” efforts.

O’Kelly echoed that objection.

“It was a ‘C’ priority, not an ‘A’ or ‘B’ project,” she said after the vote.

Forest district Executive Director Tom Hahn was puzzled by those comments. Improvements at Van Patten Woods were among the projects included on a two-year priority list that was approved by the board in November 2010, he said.

Work is expected to begin later this month and should be completed in May 2012, according to the district memo.