Dues Invoices – You should have received your annual dues invoice shortly after the first of the year. The board wants to thank everyone who pays their dues in a timely manner. MSLIA dues are not discretionary and are payable by all lakefront and unimpeded lake view lots as provided by P.A. 129 under which the MSLIA is incorporated.  We use the funds to further the health and safety of the lake for all, including fish stocking, water quality monitoring, invasive weed control and emergency response in the event of an environmental issue. At the Annual meeting on June 2^nd, a proposal from the membership was passed to increase the dues for lakefront residents to $150 per year and to increase the dues for the golf course property proportionally to $3,590. Dues for lake associations in good standing and undeveloped lakefront residential lots were not affected. We have also finalized the liens for the top non-payors.  If you received a delinquency letter last year and have not cleared up the balance or made arrangements to do so a lien against your property (including penalties and interest) will be filed by July 15^th. For example if you have not paid your dues in 20 years, your principal balance would be $922, yet your penalties would add up to $7,492.36 (10% every 6 months) for a total of $8,469.36.  We have been very successful in recovering dues anytime a property changes hands or is refinanced.

ATTENTION: There is an added line located on your dues this year for donations towards the 2023 Middle Straits Lake Fireworks.

Lake Level Control – Middle Straits water level is maintained by a large pump located west of Newton Road that pumps water from the Huron River into Lower Straits which feeds up stream to Middle Straits Lake. This pump is maintained by Oakland County Water Resources Commission (WRC, formerly the Drain Commission) and its upkeep is paid by lakefront homeowners through a Special Assessment District which appears on your tax bill. This pump is over 50 years old but was fully refurbished over the 2017-2018 winter at a cost of approximately $26,000. This pump is able to push 4,500 gallons per hour, but it only can run when there is available water in the Huron River. Thankfully we have been receiving consistent rain to keep the lake level up.
The lake pump was repaired, but through a series of errors that rivals a Hollywood farce it is still not operating. After missing parts, making new parts that didn’t fit, replacing the housing with one too large for installation, and then reworking the pump pit to fit, the proper crane to reinstall the pump won’t be available until July 17. Oakland County Drain Commission is the entity overseeing this project.

Bay Pointe Update – Bay Pointe has been sold.

Weed harvesting – Is scheduled for the 3^rd week in July – We kindly ask everyone to pull in their floating swim platforms to make navigation easier weed cutters. We also need full cooperation of Eldora property owners to make sure that we have all email addresses to notify the day of planned canal weeding. The harvester will not go down the canal if there are any boats due to a previous issue.

Fish Stocking – Fish Stocking for 2022 took place in October stocked 150 Black Crappie and 5000-7000 Golden Shiners. According to a DNR fish study several years ago, our fishery was healthy.

Boat Launch – We have been asked if you see a company which appears to be using Bloomer Park Boat launch for commercial use (and not just dropping a boat for our neighbors), please take a picture and send it to Chip Campbell with date and time. He will then forward it to West Bloomfield Parks Department.