Notice on Accessing lake bottomlands for property recovery

5/28/2020

The following notice applies to contractors that are working in Midland County on Sanford and Wixom Lake bottomlands to remove pontoons, hoists and docks.

Note: If contractors need to put equipment on the lake bottoms in Gladwin County, that is a matter for Boyce. FLTF is in contact with them on this matter and will provide more information when it’s available. See below map for information on who owns the lake bottomlands.

If owners (on Sanford or Wixom Lakes in Midland County) are retrieving property from their shoreline or accessing through their property, they do not need to seek approval. They will need to seek the owner’s permission to access private property in the case that the personal property being recovered is on another owner’s property.

If the removal requires equipment to be placed on the bottomlands, they will need to go through a contractor:

Requirements of Contractors:
Contractors that are working in Midland County to assist homeowners in property recovery:

Must be a licensed contractor with insurance
Contractor’s removing property from lake bottomlands do not need to get a safety plan review so long as they are not near or on the dams, bridges or any other structure
- Otherwise, please see Midland County’s safety plan review process: https://forms.gle/7T6NzR87CtMD4m6C6

Process for Receiving Approval from Four Lakes Task Force
Contractors that meet the above requirements please contact the secretary of FLTF at Kaylas@fourlakestaskforce.org to get the following paperwork:

FLTF will request that a release be signed and in return, companies will receive a letter from FLTF authorizing access to the bottomlands on behalf of homeowners
In your email to FLTF please provide:
- Contact name and phone number
- Physical address
- Where the work you are requesting will be performed

If there are questions on any of the items in this document the best way to contact Four Lakes Task Force is by email at kaylas@fourlakestaskforce.org. FLTF is also available by phone at (989) 941-3005.