By Christopher Johnson
Lake 13 is one of Mid Michigan’s many idyllic lake communities that define the milieu of lakefront country life. Fishing and ice fishing. Boating and boat parades, fireworks over the water. Scenic ambience with a side of aquatic wildlife. Pure Michigan.
Located off Surrey Rd on the outskirts of Farwell, the lake is a residential zone that was dug over 70 years ago as a dedicated public space. However, many residents are currently in a state of contempt, as the lake has become locked in an oppressive stranglehold with ongoing contractual drama. Which has reached a boiling point that many can no longer remain silent about.
This conflict stems from what some residents perceive as deceit and mistruths, blatant and unchecked preferential treatment, and neglect.
Enter Savin Lake Services. A contractor currently helming a dredging effort of the lake, who have done very little according to residents. Many local voices, such as the Lake 13 Improvement Association (IPA) and independent residents contend that the dredging has done more harm than good.
Additionally, numerous residents affirm that Savin Lake Services is patterned for telling people what they want to hear in meetings and boardrooms and doing nothing to honor it in the field. Never consistent. Which has prompted former voices such as Tom Esch to quit the Lake 13 Improvement Board (separate from the IPA).
That’s assuming any of these residents can even establish proper communication, as SLS remains evasive and will not respond to emails or phone calls unless it’s self-serving said Rick Irish.
However, Savin maintains that its loyalty isn’t to the property owners but rather the client. Entertaining Facebook conversations and related phone calls isn’t a priority of his company.
President, CEO, and Lake Management Specialist, Guy Savin responded to the complaints.
“Our primary continuity to this lake—our customer, is the Lake 13 Improvement Board”, he clarifies. “We do keep them very well informed of what’s going on. The real issue here is what property owners perceive is happening. They’ve been seeing this project being worked on for five years. But we didn’t get all the permitting and everything required or secure a holding cell site until 2024.”
Some residents agree with Guy’s rationale. However, those same people also argue that it’s their money that’s being pocketed so some semblance of correspondence would be appreciated. It goes both ways but there’s seemingly no communication in between, which has stoked the ire of many.
As it stands, 80% of the lake—the entire west side which includes the inlet—had been seemingly abandoned until recently. (This past week actually, as the dredge’s machinery has recently been replaced.)
However, a quality job well done was enjoyed by the other 20%. Which is any who have the luxury of living in “Pontoon Alley”, a privileged cove where east-leaning residents portage their boats, while other residents haven’t had the opportunity to use theirs for as long as 2 years. Such as in the case of Tom and Nancy Esch. Who has been unable to navigate the water due to the density of underwater vegetation and hindrances.
“They (Savin) said they were going to start on the southwest corner and come around”, says Tom. “So, we haven’t been able to use the boat this year, and I don’t think we’ll be able to use the boat next year. Because, if they can’t start now or until spawning is over, that’s going to be after July.”
Which makes for a very short summer on the water.
“Imagine owning lake property and being barred from enjoying it”, fumes another resident, who commented on the Esch’s situation.
Guy Savin responded to this shift in operation, and explains, “It is cutterhead hydraulics such in dredging, and lack of understanding by the property owners. 99.9% of slu dgeis sucked up and pumped into a holding cell into a pipeline.” While Savin acknowledges that resident’s observations are correct, the reasoning was for the benefit of the lake’s holiday recreation, “The reason we reversed that, was to keep the majority of the pipeline from crossing over Lake 13 during Labor Day weekend. To create the least amount of disturbance to recreational activity. So, we modified the plan on the fly.”
Unfortunately, many lakers do not see it that way.
“It’s bad business”, says Rick Irish flatly. “Everything they’ve dredged is going to have particles that’s going to flow to the east toward the dam. Anything they’ve done over there (the east side) is going to be reissued with more sediment because the inlet is on our side. So, the common sense would be: start on the west side, by the time you get to the east side, whatever is over there, you’re going to collect anyway.”
This includes 90-100 stumps that were pulled from the lake by the dredging crew, only to be redeposited back into the water. Instead of being hauled upland and handled in accordance with proper disposal decorum as directed by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). In many cases, these spoils were left for the residents to correct themselves, with many older residents besides themselves by the notion.
Guy Savin emphasizes the astronomical expense of stump removal.
“We created an agreement with the Lake 13 Property Owners Association, that when we remove or hit a stump, or it got dislodge, that we would move those near shore. To get those out of our way so we can continue dredging. The Association agreed it would then remove the stumps from the lake.”
Savin was reported to have begun installation of their equipment a week after the 4th of July. The dredging was supposed to have concluded in its entirety by November 15 of last month. However, with only 20% of the job completed, residents can only view Savin with skepticism. Especially as their equipment, including the hydraulic dredge, its many barrels and pipes and other related fixtures, remain encased in ice. The frozen gear had purportedly been left on the lake for 5 weeks unattended, following a blown head gasket.
“We did not start working on this lake until August 15th of this year,” corrects Guy. “We anticipated we would be able to complete the dredging project in the fall of 2025. But dredging projects have inherent, unanticipated issues at times. This project had issues with water clarity that we addressed. Immense amount of issues with stumps that were far beyond any reasonable abiulity to predict, and the of course the mechanical failure, whose replacement we installed Wednesday.”
The fact of the matter is this is a very taxing project that has stumbled for many years in the making. That has become mired in delays, confusion and growing frustration among residents who have already begun paying special assessments for work that, so far, has stalled before reaching full headway. What was initially pitched as a straightforward lake-restoration effort has instead revealed a tangle of regulatory setbacks and communication gaps, leaving homeowners uncertain about where the project stands and who is responsible for moving it forward.
The original plan called for dredged spoils to be hauled to a disposal site near Surrey and Old State Roads, a location proposed during the project’s early stages. But in September 2022, state environmental regulators rejected that site after determining the lakebed material contained contaminants that conflicted with residential and groundwater safety regulations. Endangering the wells of nearby residents.
Anita Lee, who helps run the IPA alerted EGLE that the lake’s sediment contained traces of arsenic that could leach into residential wells. Testing revealed accurate results and the original permit was denied. Forcing Savin to shift the new pit area to Newton Creek Drive, off N. Scott Road, near I-10. The titular creek runs along the new site, which also raises environmental concern, although not in the extremity of the former site’s circumstances.
“They started over there (east side) with the two people on the Board”, says a Lake 13 activist. “And then I’m still trying to figure out who gave them permission to dredge 10 ft from a high-risk dam that’s 78 years old.”
Many residents have been critical of what they observe to be elitest efforts by the east shore to privatize the lake. Raising speculation as to who is really pulling the strings and what the actual motivations are behind the apparent exploitation.
“The lake was always public” Lee explains, “the residents that live on the lake are the ones that are footing the bill for this dredging project. Which, it should have been everyone in Clare County and the State of Michigan. There were never any grants applied for.”
This conflicts with more suspicions of preferential conduct, as grants were available for Shamrock Lake and Lake Isabella, also helmed by Savin.
Anita directs blame at the Lake Board, who dismissed her push for available grants that were available in 2019 and 2022, which would have been applicable for a public community like Lake 13. However, the efforts were dashed, and residents have remained the sole financiers since.
The taxes imposed on the community have been steep, causing many former homeowners to list their lake houses for sale and move elsewhere. Lee has observed at least 9 homes that are for sale right now on Lake 13, which she insists was unheard of before the dredging project became an installation.
One of the unkept promises was time frame. The assurance that the dredging team would work tirelessly 24-7 to expedite the operation before the first big freeze.
“They would take five or six days off at a time,” Tom Esch adds. “But then they pulled the dredge off Shamrock Lake, put it over on Lake Isabella and worked 24 hours a day, 6 days a week for 6 weeks, to get their dredging done. They were four weeks late even starting the job here.”
It was reported by multiple residents that they only honored their vow to work 24-7 for four days—less than a week. Now it has slowed to near abandonment.
Residents say they were never given a clear explanation for the slowdown, and many only learned of the regulatory stone wall through scattered posts and shared documents circulating online and through social media. Some question why assessments continue to be collected while the project sits inactive, and others have raised concerns about whether bidding, planning, and oversight were handled properly from the start.
The association representing homeowners maintains that it is not to blame for the delay, pointing instead to the permitting decision and the need for township or county officials to develop a viable alternative.
Meanwhile, Savin Lake Services remains bound by a contract structured around milestone payments. Significant funds were obligated at signing and at the arrival of equipment, but the company cannot advance further until state approval is secured.
This is half a million dollars so far. With more money pending based on the contractual agreement. What remains is $175,000.00 due upon completion of dredging, and the remaining $75,000.00 balance to be paid in less than three-year time frame.
In the meantime, residents are watching and waiting, demanding transparency. The community feels some semblance of justice is long overdue after years of frustration. At the very least, compensation.
Guy Savin contends that realistically, progress is not in a bad place.
“We’re going to finish the project”, he says. The Lake Improvement Board knows we’re going to finish the project. If Mother Nature had been better and not froze us out, we would have kept going. If you could predict the weather, we’d all be billionaires.”
The anticipated completion is sometime in 2026, possibly spring if weather allows, or in July after spawning season elapses.
More on this story as it develops.
