Four Lakes Task Force

On May 19, 2020, Sanford Lake Marina Owner Linda Shephard was getting ready to reopen the business when she got a text that she had to evacuate the area due to an incoming flood. Five years later, she is still rebuilding but is hopeful that the marina will be up and running after the lake returns.

In the five years since the Sanford dam failure, the village has rebuilt. But financial challenges persist as the community works on infrastructure projects and prepares for a special assessment to rebuild the dam.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Monday in favor of Gladwin and Midland County officials, and their plan to implement a $200 million dollar assessment on property owners to repair dams that were destroyed in a 2020 flood.

The three-judge panel is promising to quickly issue an opinion

A conflict of interest caused Judge Stephen Carras to voluntarily remove himself from a case that challenges the Four Lakes Task Force's special assessment district.

A group of homeowners known as the Heron Cove Association who reside in the special assessment district in Midland and Gladwin counties say the judge overseeing their case has a conflict of interest.

In response to the appeal filed by Midland and Gladwin county residents last month, the Task Force said in a news release that it cannot complete the project with its remaining funds from the state.

Without the funds from the special assessment rolls, said The Four Lakes Task Force, the dam reconstruction project may end up delayed or unfinished.

Effected property owners in Gladwin and Midland county residents banded together to create the Heron Cove Association to fight against dam repair special assessments that were passed earlier this month.

Commissioners from both counties signed off on two special assessments to rebuild the Sanford and Edenville dams that broke and caused widespread flooding in 2020.