TRAVERSE CITY — The responsibility of operating and maintaining Silver Lake’s lake-level control structure prompted questions from Grand Traverse County commissioners about potential liabilities and what to include in a formal delegation agreement.
County Drain Commissioner Andy Smits is expected to join commissioners within 90 days of their Nov. 19 meeting to discuss the operation and maintenance of Silver Lake’s drain after the previous delegation expired in November last year. Silver Lake resident Alan D. Strange, who Smits formally delegated in 2021, has volunteered to manage and clean the structure for the past several years.
“There is a lake-level control structure in place at Silver Lake,” county administrator Nate Alger said during last week’s meeting. “There is a court order associated with that structure and in 2024, the drain commissioner’s delegated authority expired and he had previously delegated his authority to this gentleman.”
The drain was installed to help manage Silver Lake’s high-water levels and the county adopted a 1986 resolution to establish a special assessment district to record and maintain the lake’s water level. According to the administrator, 13th Circuit Court “issued an order requiring maintenance of the established level.”
“Since the creation of the lake-level structure in 1960, there’s a court order that goes with it,” Alger said. “That order requires that the county, the board of commissioners, is responsible for the maintenance of that structure.”
After the 2021 resolution gave Smits authority of the structure for three years, the drain commissioner delegated Strange “to observe and record lake levels and to clear debris from the inlet structure.” With the delegation now expired, Strange reached out to Commissioner Fern Spence, requesting it to be renewed. Alger noted Strange was not seeking compensation in the agreement.
“We went through the whole process of what it takes and I really appreciate his willingness to do this as a volunteer,” Spence said after visiting the drain site last week with Smits and Strange. “I kind of see this as an extension of the volunteer efforts to maintain the quality of Silver Lake.”
The lake, spanning around three and a half miles from the north to south end, has what Spence describes as a “strong” Silver Lake Improvement Association, though Strange is not a member. According to the association’s website, the lake’s depth reaches 96 feet, making it the third-deepest lake in Grand Traverse County. Commissioners estimate around 1,000 residents live on the lake.
“This high-level mark is really important because of the zoning,” Spence said, noting that residents around the lake will sometimes seek variances to build closer to the water table and septic systems could be affected if the water table becomes too high.
“This drain maintenance is critical,” she said. “I appreciate Mr. Strange offering to take care of it.”
Alger explained the county would be obligated to craft an agreement with Strange, similar to the agreement made with Green Lake Township in 2024 that transferred Duck Lake level management from the county to township officials. The administrator said that authority transfer required extended discussion to understand where responsibility fell for the township and the county.
“There were seven iterations of that agreement because of this exact reason,” Alger said, noting Silver Lake’s agreement will add a layer of complexity to the issue since Strange is a private citizen.
Commissioners TJ Andrews and Ashlea Walter asked attorney Gordon Love to provide counsel on the matter’s liability and what a formal delegation agreement must include to protect both Strange and the county. Commissioner Rob Hentschel also raised concerns with Strange’s access to materials for repair and the labor involved, questioning if the county would indemnify Strange.
“The county can’t indemnify typically when it enters into these types of agreements, it’s prohibited by law from doing so,” Love said. “His personal responsibility would be through the contract, but to your point, ‘what are his actual resources’ is a pretty good question. Most people wouldn’t have the resources to cover something like that.”
Alger said the contract with Strange would highlight specific tasks in the maintenance of the structure and that, ultimately, the county would cover large-scale work on the structure. Andrews and Hentschel also inquired about the agreement including an insurance policy, something Love agreed would protect both Strange and the county.
“You could potentially specify what those limits are or what you would want to see from him,” Love said. “I think that would probably be your safest play, to require him to have insurance and produce a copy of it.”
Andrews continued to comment that the lapse in the drain’s maintenance delegation should fall to the county’s elected drain commissioner until a permanent agreement is drafted and adopted. Walter concurred that Smits should be present for further discussion and requested he attend a future meeting to address the concerns the board has before establishing a formal agreement that delegates Strange.
“I’m not going to vote on any agreement until the details are worked out,” board Chairman Scott Sieffert said. “We have a responsibility to the … taxpayers, and especially … the people that are on Silver Lake. I really appreciate Mr. Strange’s desire to help, but we have a bigger responsibility than that. We need to get that ironed out.”
In an effort to legally protect the county until the agreement is in place, Love advised commissioners to re-delegate the drain’s maintenance to Smits in a resolution consistent with the 2021 delegation.
“You could put a stop-gap measure in place to cover that until you can come up with a permanent solution,” Love said.
The board unanimously approved the resolution and is expected to review a draft of the agreement within 90 days.
If You Go What: Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners meeting When: 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3 Where: Second-floor Commission Chambers, Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Ave., Traverse City {related_content_uuid}0a5c5a2f-bd91-4e4e-baaf-ea081fbc3988{/related_content_uuid}