By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Friends and relatives of a Hillsboro teen who died Nov. 26 when an all-terrain vehicle he was driving left the road at the county lake will be able to install a memorial sign at the lake, but not at the location they requested.

They had asked to install a sign at the site of the crash that killed 16-year-old Seth Mader. He was driving an ATV on a paved road and fell into a ravine. He was found dead after an extensive search.

When park and lake supervisor Isaac Hett was asked about installing a sign in the crash site, where flowers and a cross now stand, he said he would need to get commissioners’ opinions. The sign would be on the shoulder of the road seven to eight feet from the edge of the pavement.

County engineer Brice Goebel also wanted commissioners’ opinions.

At Monday’s meeting of the commissioners, Hett showed them a photo of the 15-inch tall sign, mounted on a tilted stand. It reads: “Isaiah 40:31, In loving memory of Seth Mader, April 7, 2006, to Nov. 26, 2022.”

Commissioner Kent Becker noted that the Army Corps of Engineers had permitted a family to install a memorial sign at the reservoir.

But Becker didn’t like the proposed location.

“How about over by the heated dock? I mean, more people would see it,” Becker said.

Commissioner Randy Dallke also didn’t like the idea of the sign being in the proposed location.

“Any time you have a marker, there are going to be people who will stop,” Dallke said. “There’s going to be cars on that curve.”

Dallke said the sign needed to be in an appropriate location.

Commissioners voted against installing the memorial on county right-of-way but encouraged the family to find a more suitable location.

“I’m all for putting a memorial in,” Becker said.