Posted on October 17, 2022
Lake Isabella Village Manager Tim Wolff has been busier than usual the past few months.
In addition to his regular tasks running the bedroom community, he’s been working on a video to post on YouTube and other informational material, and has along with village councilors hosted four community meetings to discuss with residents a plan to bring the quality of life to another level with a millage request that would allow for the dredging of the lake and for more recreational opportunities.
Voters in the village, which lies in Sherman and Broomfield townships, are being asked Nov. 8 to approve the sale of bonds to fund recreation improvements and lake bottom restoration efforts.
It’s been more than 20 years since Lake Isabella has been dredged, and village officials hope residents will approve a ballot proposal that will fund that, along with plans for recreational opportunities like non-motorized trails and a dog park.
The bond proposal will ask voters to approve the village borrowing no more than $2.28 million over 11 years starting in 2023 to design, acquire, and construct recreational improvements including non-motorized trails, a dog park, and dredging and other improvements to the lake.
If approved by voters, the village will levy 2.7452, or $2.75 per $1,000 taxable value, in the first year.
The owner of property in the village with a taxable value of $150,000 would pay just more than $400 a year if the proposal is approved.
One of the projects Wolff and village council members want to see completed is dredging the lake.
Created in 1968, Lake Isabella is an impoundment along the Chippewa River that is drawn down each winter.
At its deepest, the lake is roughly 30 feet deep but the average depth is 12 to 14 feet, Wolff said.
Sediment builds up where water flows into the lake, impacting recreation because boaters must navigate shallower waters; the lake was last dredged in the 1990s, Wolff said.
One of the main areas of focus would be the river channel and other areas that have become unusable because of the sediment buildup.
It’s been more than 20 years since Lake Isabella has been dredged, and village officials hope residents will approve a ballot proposal that will fund that, along with plans for recreational opportunities like non-motorized trails and a dog park.
Exacerbating the issue is a channel that a former homeowner cut a channel that diverted the natural flow of the river, Wolff said.
If sediment can be stopped from entering the lake at that point, it will keep it from getting further into the lake, Wolff said.
Wolff and village counselors believe Lake Isabella will always be a bedroom community and that its leaders should focus on providing amenities that will make life better for those who live there.
Working in conjunction with the Lake Isabella Property Owners Association, Wolff and village councilors discussed other ways of funding the dredging and recreation projects, ultimately deciding to ask voters to approve a bond rather than creating a special assessment district.
Many property owners in the village are not summer residents who are not registered to vote there, Wolff said.
When contemplating what would be a multimillion dollar project, Wolff and village council members wanted residents to decide.
They also want residents to have the information they need to make a decision on the proposal.
“Whatever way you vote, we respect,” Wolff said. “We want you to make an informed decision.”
There are two more community meetings planned to further discuss the proposal, at 6 p.m. at the village hall Oct. 25 and 27.
