Four Lakes Task Force

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.

The Four Lakes Task force, the group that manages the dam, says clearing trees out of the lake bottom is one of the big hurdles still left to cross.

Gladwin and Midland county commissioners unanimously approved a plan today to repair dams that failed in 2020.

An attorney at a Detroit-area law firm is looking at options to reduce the amount of money people have to pay to rebuild dams that were damaged during…