December 2025 Newsletter

December 20, 2025
Dear Friends of Higgins Lake,
Greetings from your Higgins Lake Land Conservancy.
As we look back on the summer of 2025 we remember many warm beautiful Higgins Lake days. We are truly blessed to enjoy one of the world's most beautiful lakes.
Your support of the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy is very important. It helps protect Higgins Lake and aspires to promote a rural recreational environment within the Higgins Lake area of influence.

Pine Bluff Clark Property Acquisition
Your Higgins Lake Land Conservancy is glad to report on the hopeful acquisition of the Bruce Clark et al Trust Property located at 212 Pine Bluff Road, legally described as,
, COM AT PT 66 FT E OF NE COR OF LOT 64 PINE BLUFFS THE 146 FT TH S 150 FT TH W 143 FT TH N1DEG16'E 150 FT TO POB PART OF LOT 1 □ SEC 16 T24N R3W .5A
The buildable property was listed for-$75,000 and the sellers have agreed to our offer structured as a purchase price of $50,000 and an anticipated tax deduction of $25,000 as a gift to the Conservancy.

The Conservancy hopes to raise the $50,000 through donations earmarked for this acquisition, and has until April 30, 2026 to do so. It is hoped that Pine Bluffs neighborhood and Conservancy support will make this acquisition possible. The good news is that a member of the Pine Bluffs neighborhood has offered a matching gift of $25,000 for the purchase. Please help support this acquisition by indicating such support on the donation form at the end of this letter or on the return envelope included. If you want your gift to be earmarked for the acquisition of this property and the fundraising effort falls short, the Conservancy will return your donation in full, upon your request.

The property is to be held in conservancy by the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy and development of the property will be prohibited in perpetuity. The conservancy will provide signage reflecting the generosity of the sellers of the property.

The conservancy has several successful efforts to Conserve parcels in this fashion, including the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy Loon Preserve on Treasure Island, The Almeda Beach Wilderness Preserve along the Cut river, and the Pine Bluffs Nature preserve just south of this parcel. All these properties were funded by local residents with support of the rest of the Higgins Lake community.

Of great concern in the late summer early fall time of 2025 has been the low lake levels. The Conservancy's efforts to work with the Roscommon County Commissioners over the past three years have finally led to an improvement that will continue to prevent an excess amount of water leaving the lake. The Conservancy has invested $12,300.00 so far in engineering and permitting fees to enable the restoration of the of the rocks that were removed from the spillway of the Cut River dam in 2013.
Finally, our attendance at many meetings and contribution of funds paid off. In August of 2025 two cubic yards of rocks were placed at the mouth of the spillway. The result was quite dramatic, and it is estimated the discharge of water through the Cut River has been reduced by close to one half. Roscommon County Commissioner Chair Darlene Sensor and Roscommon County Drain Commissioner Chase Schepke report that the next steps in improving the Higgins Lake Control Structure will be to extend the height of the flop gates to prevent loss of water due to wave action and to repair and extend the height of the sheet piling. They hope to have these improvements completed soon.

Higgins Lake Special Assessment Challenge Status:
In 2023, the HLPOA and other interested parties filed a lawsL:Jit against Roscommon County, challenging the County's authority to establish a special assessment district (SAD) for Higgins Lake. The County desired to establish an SAD for the management of the lake level of Higgins Lake. The Roscommon Circuit Court dismissed the claims made by HLPOA; an appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals shortly followed. The appeal argued that the County should not be able to create a special assessment district without first having identified a needed project and project cost. On December 15th, 2025, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the circuit court, finding specifically that:
"Nothing (in Part 307 of NREPA) requires the county board to identify a specific project and its cost before the creation" of the SAD. The Court of Appeals also disagreed with HLPOA's constitutional challenge, ruling that adequate due process had been given to all landowners within the special assessment district. The Court of Appeals decision was designated as "Published", meaning the decision will have precedential application in the courts of Michigan.
William L. Carey
Attorney at Law

Higgins Lake Advisory Committee: Recently the Roscommon County Board of Commissioners resolved to form the Higgins Lake Advisory Committee. The committee's membership is composed of county, townships and lake stakeholders. The Higgins Lake Land Conservancy was asked by the county to send a representative to serve as a stakeholder. The Land Conservancy has agreed, and William Carey, a founding member of the Land Conservancy and a long-time advocate of lakefront property owners, has agreed to serve as the Conservancy representative on the committee. As the business of the committee moves forward the Conservancy will report that business through this newsletter.

Don't think State Owned Property Cannot Be Developed - In the Conservancy's efforts to foster a rural recreational environment in the Higgins Lake area please be aware of the possibility of the purchase of parcels owned by the State of Michigan. The DNR conducts auctions of properties throughout the state every summer. Some of these properties are conducive to development. Historically there have been 20 and 40 acre parcels in the Higgins Lake watershed that were acquired through public auction and subsequently developed. If you become aware of any DNR sales of vacant land in the Higgins Lake area, please contact Conservancy Trustee

Elizabeth Cornell: [email protected] or 773 636 1680.

Septic Update - This past summer HLLC board member Bill Carey spent a considerable amount of time researching the impact that near shore deficient septic systems have- on -lake quality. -The result was an article in the 2025 Summer newsletter titled "A Case For Local Regulation Of On-Site Wastewater" supporting a septic inspection ordinance for all near shore properties around the lake within a certain time frame. Find the newsletter which contains the article here.
https://www.higginslakelandconservancy.com/july_2025_newsletter.html#/

Currently, there appears to be progress toward a septic ordinance in Gerrish Township by the formation of the Health of Higgins Lake Septic Committee where a draft ordinance is being prepared. Mapping of wells and septic systems is underway, with the cooperation of the Central Michigan District Health Department and is nearly complete in Gerrish Township and underway in Lyon Township.
Short term Rentals The HLLC 2025 summer newsletter included a position statement regarding short term rentals. Please go to this link to find that statement: https://www.higginslakelandconservancy.com/short-term-rentals.html#/.
We are happy to report that Gerrish Township has decided to address the short-term rental issue and has drafted a proposed ordinance to define the parameters of the licensure program. This draft was vetted by Township attorney Scott Hess. You can find it here: https://gerrishtownship.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Gerrish-STR-DRAFT-A.4.pdf
This proposed ordinance includes many of the elements the land conservancy championed in its position paper on short-term rentals, including limiting guests based on number of bedrooms and parking issues. Gerrish Township will be holding a public meeting on January 6, 2026 to solicit public comments as part of their procedure in finalizing such an ordinance. The Higgins Lake Land Conservancy encourages interested parties to attend this meeting, either in person or via Zoom, and to express support for such an ordinance. Again, at this point the ordinance is in the draft stage and is subject to change. But we are encouraged that this issue that causes interruption of the peaceful enjoyment of properties zoned R-1 (single family residences) is finally being addressed.

Water Quality - The Conservancy started a program of quarterly testing the water as it goes out of Higgins Lake down the cut river for the past four years and our latest test continues to show very good water quality. Fortunately, these tests from The Higgins Lake Cut River outlet provide valuable insights regarding E. coli, nitrates and phosphorus and are being used by the Health of Higgins Lake.

Health of Higgins Lake "HOHL" - This past spring and summer Gerrish Township Trustee Jim Osling took on the daunting task of establishing a Health of Higgins Lake Organization. The organization is comprised of these Sub committees, the Steering Committee, Science Committee, Communications Committee, Septic Committee, IT and Funding Committee, and the Road End Committee. The Steering Committee is monitoring various community issues affecting the lake, including overuse, state park impacts, wake boat damage, noise pollution, and shoreline management, which may lead to new subcommittees or referrals to other groups. There are Higgins Lake Land Conservancy Board members on several of these committees.
To find out more go to https://hoh-lake.org/steering-2/

2025 HLLC BBQ
This past August 22 on a beautiful evening, the annual Higgins Lake Land Conservancy barbecue was under full swing on the shore of Higgins Lake at Birch Lodge. Not only was there a 4-piece blues band (Lead Guitar, Saxophone, Drummer and Base Guitar), there was also some impromptu singing (Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone) by the famous singer from Hood River Oregon, Tabitha Colie, backed up by some local talent.
The main dishes were BBQ chicken and BBQ pork along with some very delicious sides. There is never any charge for this event and it's a great opportunity to meet your fellow Higgins Lake neighbors and support the Conservancy's effort to protect the Lake and keep it a rural recreational area. Be sure to mark your calendars for next year's BBQ, August 21st, 2026!