Purchase Expected to Be Final by Early 2022
Today, Boyce Trusts and Four Lakes Task Force (FLTF) signed a $9.4 million purchase agreement for the acquisition of Wixom, Sanford, Secord and Smallwood Dams and lake bottoms. The purchase agreement is a major milestone in maintaining the legal level of all four lakes in accordance with the Circuit Court order and Part 307 of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. The sale of properties will occur over the next two years, with a final close for all properties in January 2022. The Four Lakes Task Force responded, by letter to FERC, to Boyce's March 15 Motion asking FERC to reconsider revoking the Edenville License and proposing the subsequent transfer of the license to Wolverine Hydro, LLC. You can find it in our Document Library.
The letter was authored by the Sanford Lake Preservation Association, which was renamed, "Four Lakes Task Force" last year. The Four Lakes Force consists of members from all four of the lake communities. Since the original filing to FERC was by SLPA and WLA in this matter, we used the former name, SLPA, to author the response letter. To be very clear: this is not Sanford speaking for Wixom. It is the Four Lakes Task Force speaking on behalf of all four lakes, as delegated by Midland and Gladwin County. As you may have heard, on March 15, 2019, Boyce filed a motion with FERC for “reconsideration” of the Commission’s Order Revoking Edenville’s hydroelectric power license, with the hope that FERC would reinstate the license and then Boyce would then transfer the license to a small power company named Wolverine Hydro LLC. Boyce, however, would continue to own and operate the dams and hold the Consumers Power agreement.
At this time, there is simply not enough information for us to determine if this alternate path would benefit the community. The FLTF, with our legal counsel, is reviewing the motion and assessing the extent to which this may impact our path forward. We will provide further updates as soon as we arrive at any conclusions based on our legal review, and before we get to the Circuit Court Hearing. In the meantime, we will continue to pursue enactment of Michigan Part 307 Legal Lake Level Orders for Sanford, Wixom, Smallwood and Secord Lakes. It is important to know that Boyce and FLTF are still actively engaged in negotiations regarding the purchase of the dam assets that are needed to maintain proper lake levels across the four lakes. |
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