History of LMPOA
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LMPOA
In 1968, a group of concerned property owners on or near Lake Margrethe decided to form an organization to protect the environmental quality of the lake. This organization would give a united voice to any issues impacting or effecting Lake Margrethe. The LMPOA would not restrict membership to include only lake front property owners, but would also allow all interested property owners near the lake to belong as well. This policy would insure that all landowner’s interests would be guaranteed and represented. Our founders also decided that the organization would not become involved in personal disputes between property owners, but would speak on behalf of its members for the environmental protection of the lake and its surrounding watershed. Our directors have always understood that the LMPOA must cooperate and work with Camp Grayling and the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs because those forces own and manage 51% of Lake Margrethe’s shoreline and about 82% of the surrounding watershed. We have established a strong working relationship with the Environmental Division of Camp Grayling and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
The Lake Margrethe Property Owners Association is managed by 9 directors, with 3 directors being elected by the membership each year. Our directors, who represent the membership at large, determine policy, actions, events, calendar and activities. All of our directors volunteer to serve the organization without pay and a majority vote of your nine directors will determine the LMPOA’s position on all issues. Generally, 3 meetings per year are scheduled for the general membership and all members are invited. These meetings will usually be scheduled for May, July, and October. Each year the board will elect a President,
Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer and each member of the board does assume various additional responsibilities. Membership in the LMPOA is available to all property owners for $35 per year, $70 for 2 years, $100 for 3 years and $125 for 4 years. Current membership in the association is 367 paid family memberships. The number of family memberships has increased from only 195 in 2001 to 367 in 2024. Those funds provided by dues payments help to maintain membership, provide law enforcement on the lake in the summer months, sustain milfoil treatments, and support the Lake Margrethe Foundation.
Our lake association has directed, financed and managed the treatment and control of Eurasian water milfoil since 2003, the first year of chemical treatment. We have contracted with the Professional Lakes Management Company of Howard City, Michigan, to control milfoil growth each year. The environmental unit from Camp Grayling has always partnered with the Lake Margrethe Foundation to share the costs of yearly treatments. In 2019, our association worked with Grayling Township to establish a special assessment district (SAD), which now has provided $13,500. per year for the treatment of any invasive species found in Lake Margrethe. The current SAD will expire in 2028 and a renewed district must occur for financial support to continue.
The LMPOA has been responsible for the management and control of the Portage Creek dam for more that 30 years in order to maintain established court ordered lake levels. We have worked with the Crawford County to operate, repair and manage the three sluiceways, which allow water to flow out of Lake Margrethe into Portage Creek and the Manistee River. We are currently working with Crawford County to repair and reconstruct sections of the dam, in order to guarantee that the three sluiceways can be easily and safely operated. Lake water levels in winter are supposed to be 8.5 inches lower than summer lake levels to prevent serious erosion during the spring thaw and break up of lake ice. To accomplish legal lake levels, our association hired an engineering firm to analyze water flow rates in Portage Creek and then obtained a permit to dredge the first 60 feet of Portage Creek in 2009.
The lake association has also worked with the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and Amec, Foster, Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure Inc. to provide a Watershed Management Plan to preserve the environmental quality of Lake Margrethe. The LMPOA provided valuable information and documentation concerning lake levels, water tests, milfoil treatments and Ph levels. The final draft of the Watershed Management Plan came out in November of 2015 and this is a document that we refer to frequently today. This entire study was financed by the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Another issue that your organization is directly involved in is the polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their levels in the lake and the surrounding watershed. Several of our directors are actively participating on committees that are attempting to determine the sources of these chemicals and how they are infiltrating Lake Margrethe and its springs and wells. Water in the lake shows trace elements of the polyfluoroalkyl substances yet it is still safe for swimming, wading or diving, boating and fishing. We are reminded to avoid any white foam appearing along the shoreline. In 2021, 449 wells of residents on or near the lake were tested and 389 wells showed no trace of these chemicals; 49 wells showed trace elements below maximum concentration levels and one of the homes tested was above the maximum concentration level. We are working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Army National Guard to determine and eliminate the sources of these chemicals. Work on this problem continues today through the PFAS committee made up of 8 talented members of the LMPOA.
The LMPOA exists in order to represent the values, interests and concerns of property owners on or near the shores of Lake Margrethe. We will attempt to meet and surpass this obligation well into the future.
Submitted by Chuck Spencer
In 1968, a group of concerned property owners on or near Lake Margrethe decided to form an organization to protect the environmental quality of the lake. This organization would give a united voice to any issues impacting or effecting Lake Margrethe. The LMPOA would not restrict membership to include only lake front property owners, but would also allow all interested property owners near the lake to belong as well. This policy would insure that all landowner’s interests would be guaranteed and represented. Our founders also decided that the organization would not become involved in personal disputes between property owners, but would speak on behalf of its members for the environmental protection of the lake and its surrounding watershed. Our directors have always understood that the LMPOA must cooperate and work with Camp Grayling and the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs because those forces own and manage 51% of Lake Margrethe’s shoreline and about 82% of the surrounding watershed. We have established a strong working relationship with the Environmental Division of Camp Grayling and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
The Lake Margrethe Property Owners Association is managed by 9 directors, with 3 directors being elected by the membership each year. Our directors, who represent the membership at large, determine policy, actions, events, calendar and activities. All of our directors volunteer to serve the organization without pay and a majority vote of your nine directors will determine the LMPOA’s position on all issues. Generally, 3 meetings per year are scheduled for the general membership and all members are invited. These meetings will usually be scheduled for May, July, and October. Each year the board will elect a President,
Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer and each member of the board does assume various additional responsibilities. Membership in the LMPOA is available to all property owners for $35 per year, $70 for 2 years, $100 for 3 years and $125 for 4 years. Current membership in the association is 367 paid family memberships. The number of family memberships has increased from only 195 in 2001 to 367 in 2024. Those funds provided by dues payments help to maintain membership, provide law enforcement on the lake in the summer months, sustain milfoil treatments, and support the Lake Margrethe Foundation.
Our lake association has directed, financed and managed the treatment and control of Eurasian water milfoil since 2003, the first year of chemical treatment. We have contracted with the Professional Lakes Management Company of Howard City, Michigan, to control milfoil growth each year. The environmental unit from Camp Grayling has always partnered with the Lake Margrethe Foundation to share the costs of yearly treatments. In 2019, our association worked with Grayling Township to establish a special assessment district (SAD), which now has provided $13,500. per year for the treatment of any invasive species found in Lake Margrethe. The current SAD will expire in 2028 and a renewed district must occur for financial support to continue.
The LMPOA has been responsible for the management and control of the Portage Creek dam for more that 30 years in order to maintain established court ordered lake levels. We have worked with the Crawford County to operate, repair and manage the three sluiceways, which allow water to flow out of Lake Margrethe into Portage Creek and the Manistee River. We are currently working with Crawford County to repair and reconstruct sections of the dam, in order to guarantee that the three sluiceways can be easily and safely operated. Lake water levels in winter are supposed to be 8.5 inches lower than summer lake levels to prevent serious erosion during the spring thaw and break up of lake ice. To accomplish legal lake levels, our association hired an engineering firm to analyze water flow rates in Portage Creek and then obtained a permit to dredge the first 60 feet of Portage Creek in 2009.
The lake association has also worked with the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and Amec, Foster, Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure Inc. to provide a Watershed Management Plan to preserve the environmental quality of Lake Margrethe. The LMPOA provided valuable information and documentation concerning lake levels, water tests, milfoil treatments and Ph levels. The final draft of the Watershed Management Plan came out in November of 2015 and this is a document that we refer to frequently today. This entire study was financed by the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Another issue that your organization is directly involved in is the polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their levels in the lake and the surrounding watershed. Several of our directors are actively participating on committees that are attempting to determine the sources of these chemicals and how they are infiltrating Lake Margrethe and its springs and wells. Water in the lake shows trace elements of the polyfluoroalkyl substances yet it is still safe for swimming, wading or diving, boating and fishing. We are reminded to avoid any white foam appearing along the shoreline. In 2021, 449 wells of residents on or near the lake were tested and 389 wells showed no trace of these chemicals; 49 wells showed trace elements below maximum concentration levels and one of the homes tested was above the maximum concentration level. We are working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Army National Guard to determine and eliminate the sources of these chemicals. Work on this problem continues today through the PFAS committee made up of 8 talented members of the LMPOA.
The LMPOA exists in order to represent the values, interests and concerns of property owners on or near the shores of Lake Margrethe. We will attempt to meet and surpass this obligation well into the future.
Submitted by Chuck Spencer
