WIGGINS LAKE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

The Wiggins Lake Property Owners Association (aka Wiggins Lake POA), a Michigan non-profit corporation, is a voluntary property owners association which has served the residents of the lake for over 50 years. It is managed by a Board of Directors, who serve staggered three year terms. Dues are currently $25.00 per year.
 The POA is responsible for the following functions which are vital to the lake:

• Installing and maintaining buoys in the no wake zone as well as signage at the DNR launch site and throughout the lake concerning the no wake zone and the quiet hours from 7:30 PM until 11 AM when high speed operation is prohibited.
• It provides two of the five members of the Lake Improvement Board (the others are our county commissioner, Terry Walters the township supervisor, Renee Zelt and the drain commissioner, who is required by law to be a member. The LIB presented a five year plan for approval in 2020 and is currently executing it with the advice and direction of Paul Hausler, senior scientist, using funds raised through a special assessment. In the early years, the LIB self-managed, but since early in the 2000’s, it has had professional direction.
• ​It also provides two of the five members of the Wiggins Lake Authority, created county board in 2018 to manage and operate Chappel Dam, which holds our lake. Operation and maintenance of the dam is funded by another special assessment district, which is directed by the Authority. Unlike most level controlled lakes, whose fates are solely in the hands of the county drain commissioner, we have a significant and, as a practical matter, controlling presence in deciding what improvements are done and when and overseeing the operation and maintenance of the dam.
• Since 2022, it has been working to improve the fish habitat on the lake by reducing our oversupply of pike through small pike tournaments, obtaining a permit and, as permitted, creating breeding grounds for desirable fish, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a permit to and planting desirable game fish. 
• ​On May 22, 2018, after the county drain commissioner proved unsatisfactory in his operation of the dam, the county appointed our president, Mike Rajt to be the delegated authority under state law, charged with operating the dam and maintaining the court ordered lake level. After consulting with the engineers and having some suggested maintenance done, the dam was restored to full automatic operation on May 24. Since then we have enjoyed a stable lake level. Fortunately, the drain commissioner’s failure to properly operate and maintain the dam has not resulted in any lasting damage.
• It maintains relationships with the township and the county and acts as the residents’ liaison and advocate on matters affecting the lake as a whole.
• ​It also operates this website.

 
Historically, the POA has been involved in efforts to improve the lake for its residents. It was instrumental in getting the first weed control program established on the lake. In the late 1990s, one of its directors self-funded a 5 year controlled experiment in using aeration and bacteria in an effort to determine whether such a program would be feasible for adoption for the lake. Sadly, the results were not promising as there was no detectible reduction in mud and sediment in the treated area.
 
In the early 2000s, it conducted a thorough lake water and watershed analysis, which in part led to the decision to get professional advice for the weed control program.
 
In 2003, when the drain commissioner decreed that she wanted to build a new dam for $5,000,000, the POA hired experts who determined that all that was needed was repairs costing under $1,000,000 and a regular maintenance program, the members decided to litigate and the POA became a named party in the litigation, which resulted in 2009 in the decision to make the repairs we suggested in the first place. Unfortunately, the drain commissioner decided not to pursue the regular maintenance.
​

President:      David Haupt
Secretary:       Mark Fedewa
​Treasurer/  Mike Hermann
​Membership
​