By John Raffel
Correspondent
MARION – Marion mayor Flora Grundy noted the village has been getting plenty of questions about the mill pond project and wanted to address various issues.
“The Marion Mill Pond began as a lifeline for this community many years ago when Marion was a logging community,” Grundy said in a statement. “Since then, it has been a wonderful part of our small town for over 100 years. For this reason, the Village of Marion is actively trying to preserve it for generations to come. We know that if nothing is done it will slowly continue to fill in with silt and not be what it has been for the last 100 years.
“In the Fall of 2021, we took the first step in this process. The Village of Marion applied and received a drawdown permit from EGLE to better assess the needs of the mill pond and dam. This permit has allowed us to draw down the water level to investigate the possibilities of future dredging, as well as inspect the dam for needed repairs. In this process we discovered the dam was in immediate need of some maintenance and repairs.”
Grundy and village officials point out several contractors looked into the dam repairs needed such as, concrete spalling that has occurred over time.
“The village has accepted a bid to do some needed dam maintenance and repairs this spring while the water level is still low,” Grundy said. :We have been in contact with EGLE to leave the draw down extended until the repairs are completed. The village is also actively seeking state funding for dam replacement and silt removal.
“We are hoping to have more information on that later this summer. Please be patient as the Village may do more draw downs in the future with the hopes of moving forward to ensure our community always has the Mill Pond and a safe functioning dam for generations to come.”