By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Plans are moving forward for a potential special assessment district that would remove weeds from a Marion Township lake.

Many residents around Lake Lochwood joined the Marion Township Board of Trustees at their most recent online meeting to discuss a possible SAD for weed control on the lake next year. The township received more than a dozen emails in support, with only one in opposition. During the meeting a resident with two parcels voiced support, while one other was marked against.

Resident Matt Brinker has, in a sense led the charge forward on the project, and told the Board they are trying to manage expectations and know they aren’t going to end up with a Lake Michigan or a swimming pool that’s clear with no weeds. What they can and hope to end with though, he said, was better recreational access so they can get to the open water and fish, kayak, and do other things they enjoy. He hopes they can improve the look of the lake, as well as improving property values.


Marion Township Trustee Greg Durbin threw his support behind the project. Durbin said he has been familiar with the last over the past 25 years and has seen its deterioration. He believes that if this SAD goes through that it will benefit to that neighborhood and the township.

With expected costs to be around $7,000 annually for the weed control, Supervisor Bob Hanvey explained why they suggested “an amount not to exceed $10,000.” Hanvey said from experience on other local lakes, sometimes unexpected costs come up, including the need to take care of new weeds that take over sometimes once the originally target weed is taken care of. He assured residents they would never be charged for anything not treated, and that the township would only be responsible for the accounting and billing.

Without enough opposition to require a petition, the Board voted to move on and schedule a required public hearing for establishing the roll at their next meeting, in January.