Federal Grant Covers Significant Portion of Cost to Install Booms

​Today it was announced Four Lakes Task Force will receive a $750,000 grant for booms on Secord and Smallwood dams. 
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Booms control surface debris, provide for public safety boat barriers and define zones of no-entry around dams. The boom consists of 10-foot HDPE (high-density polyethylene AKA plastic) modular units which link together to form an unlimited length of boom lines. The boom line is anchored to the shore and to the bottom of the lake to provide a secure barrier around the spillway.

The main purpose of booms is public safety, but they are engineered to also divert ice and debris away from the primary spillways. The booms will be installed this spring. The boom system will provide dam safety in the current state of the drawn-down lakes and when the lakes are restored to their legal levels.

With this grant, we can continue to implement dam safety measures as we stabilize and reconstruct the dams. The total cost to install booms at all five primary spillways is estimated at $1.2 million. This grant provides funding to cover a significant portion of the cost without using dam restoration or future Special Assessment District funds.

Four Lakes Task Force, on behalf of the For Lakes communities, thanks Congressman Moolenaar for all the support he has provided throughout this recovery effort.  

Note: This is a federal grant. We are still waiting to hear from the State of Michigan about the appropriation.

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