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Holly drawdown starts at Stiffs Mill Pond
Ragina Kakos lives in the area, which is why she and so many others are alarmed that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy raised the gates Monday morning.
HOLLY, Mich. (FOX 2) - The dam at Stiffs Mill Pond in the historic village of Holly is at risk of failing, and now the forty or so homeowners with waterfront property are watching the water drain away.
Local perspective:
Ragina Kakos lives in the area, which is why she and so many others are alarmed that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy raised the gates Monday morning.
The goal is six inches per day until Mill Pond is down four feet.
"The gates have been raised - we've already lost several inches," said Kakos. "There's a public access point over this way as well, so anyone can come and fish - come and boat."
Meanwhile, EGLE acted in advance of the court date, and now the Village of Holly is seeking an injunction to stop the drawdown until Holly has a better handle on how to repair the dam and raise the funds to pay for it.
"There's going to be a lot of ecological fallout if this does get lowered and stay that way, there's going to be property value lost," said resident April Brandon. "That's going to be devastating for those homeowners."
What they're saying:
EGLE says no doubt if they draw this down by four feet, there will be an impact on people's property and wildlife, but they say the alternative is simply not safe.
"Other than the unauthorized work that was performed in 2021 that made a bad situation worse, there's been no significant progress toward the long-term safety of the dam," said Lucas Trumble.
Trumble, supervisor of EGLE’s Dam Safety Unit, says it’s an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed now, which is why they issued an emergency order to the village to draw down. The village, he says, refused to comply with the order.
"We understand this is inconvenient for the folks who live on the pond, but when faced with the alternative of a dam failure and everything that goes with it, there’s really no other choice," Trumble said.
Dig deeper:
The request for an injunction was denied, as FOX 2 learned as of 7 p.m. Monday.