On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Village of Northport voters will decide whether to tax themselves for 20 years to replace the Mill Pond Dam. If the millage fails, the village will look for outside money to remove the dam and restore Northport Creek, as the Leelanau Enterprise reported on Oct. 14. The ballot question is framed as pond against stream. The culvert under West Third Street, just downstream of the dam, played a central role in this summer's flood, and the village's own cost tables rebuild it under every combined plan.
The Storm Pointed Downstream
On June 29, Northport got between 3.5 and 5.5 inches of rain in two to three hours. Some roads were briefly impassable, and water poured over the top of the Mill Pond Dam. The dam itself held. The wooden boardwalk that runs across the top of the dam and the fishing platform beside it were both torn from their fixed positions.
GEI Consultants, the engineering firm that has worked with the village for several years, inspected the site on July 7. Its July 21 technical memorandum said the dam was overtopped and submerged partly because the downstream road culvert couldn't carry enough water. In other words, the water backed up behind the road crossing as much as behind the dam. GEI also found the left downstream slope deteriorating at the West Third Street culvert outlet. It recommended that the village have its engineer evaluate both the slope and the culvert and identify repairs.
The concrete spillway looked unchanged from 2023. GEI saw no evidence of internal material movement or embankment instability. It did find erosion on parts of both downstream embankments and some upstream riprap missing.
A Summer With the Pond Drawn Down
People who walked past Old Mill Pond this summer saw an empty basin, and the sequence explains why.
- Early July. The Department of Public Works received permission from the state's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to pull stop logs and lower the water. DPW Superintendent Chris Holton told the Leelanau Enterprise, "We've got to get the water out of the pond so we can see truly the condition of the dam."
- July 7. GEI inspected the dam with the pond dried out.
- July 21. GEI recommended keeping the pond drawn down until immediate repairs were done. Before refilling, the downstream embankments needed to be restored and stabilized, and concrete repairs that had already been proposed and permitted needed to be finished.
- Sept. 3. At a council work session, the village manager said work on the wing walls, riprap and concrete was underway and stop logs were being replaced. He expected the work to wrap up "within the next couple of weeks," after which the pond would begin refilling.
- Sept. 17. The DPW report listed concrete repairs and brush removal on the embankments as underway, with new stop-log boards to be reinstalled.
The repairs keep the existing dam working for now. They don't replace it. GEI's 2023 study had already rated the dam in poor condition and recommended against maintaining it long term in its current configuration without more spillway capacity.
What the Ballot Asks of Taxpayers
The proposal would let the village levy up to 1.24 mills, or $1.24 per $1,000 of taxable value, each year from 2027 through 2046. The money would go to engineering, permitting, design, environmental compliance, construction, maintenance, financing and legal costs. Northport's taxable value in 2026 is $83,486,798, according to the village manager's October memo. At that base, the first year would raise about $103,524. If values held flat for 20 years, the levy would total roughly $2.07 million, though Headlee reductions and changes in value would shift the actual amount.
The village's Mill Pond Dam Millage information sheet gives the maximum yearly cost at several taxable values:
- $100,000 taxable value: $124 a year
- $150,000 taxable value: $186 a year
- $200,000 taxable value: $248 a year
- $250,000 taxable value: $310 a year
- $300,000 taxable value: $372 a year
These figures are based on taxable value, which is usually lower than market value, so the number on your tax bill is the one to use. The village plans to borrow against the millage so construction doesn't have to wait two decades for the money to arrive. As of the October planning memo, the borrowing amount, interest rate and repayment schedule had not been set. This is general information drawn from the village's published materials, not tax or financial advice. Check how the levy applies to your own parcel with the village or a tax professional.
Two Plans, One Culvert
GEI's 2023 feasibility study priced each piece of the project separately, and the village reprinted those conceptual figures in its information sheet.
| GEI 2023 project option | Includes West Third Street downstream culvert? | Conceptual estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Dam replacement with downstream culvert replacement | Yes | $910,750 |
| Dam removal and stream restoration with downstream culvert replacement | Yes | $821,250 |
| Dam removal and stream restoration with downstream and upstream culvert replacement | Yes | $1,121,250 |
On its own, the downstream culvert accounts for $420,000 of GEI's component estimates. Dam replacement alone was put at $490,750, and removal with stream restoration at $401,250. Measured against GEI's numbers, the work that separates a pond from a free-flowing creek is a smaller line item than the road crossing both options share.
The village's current planning figure is higher. It starts from GEI's estimates, adds 20 percent for inflation, and adds contingencies for planning, engineering, design and financing. That brings replacement to about $2 million, up from the $1.5 million carried in the Capital Improvement Plan and close to what the millage is expected to raise. Final costs won't be known until engineering is finished and bids come in. If the millage fails, the village says it has identified possible state, federal, tribal and nonprofit funding sources for removal and stream restoration.
An Argument Older Than the Flood
The storm sped up a debate that was already running. In fall 2025, the nonprofit Leelanau Forum ran a full-page "rewild Northport Creek!" ad in the Enterprise twice, endorsed by the Adams Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The ad said the dam had trapped 2,600 cubic yards of sediment in 13 years, warmed cold spring water and blocked fish passage, according to the Enterprise's coverage. Northport Creek is designated a coldwater trout stream by the Michigan DNR, and The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay counts it among the largest small tributaries that drain straight into Grand Traverse Bay.
Even the dam's age is disputed. The same Enterprise article says the dam was built in 1935, while the Forum's ad called it an "1854 dam and log pond." EGLE considers the structure "unregulated," because it does not meet both criteria of standing more than six feet high and holding an impoundment larger than five acres at design storm level. DPW has dredged sediment from the pond every 10 to 15 years.
In that article, village council member Will Harper said that since he first ran for council more than seven years ago, he has seen the Mill Pond as
"the third rail in Northport politics."
In June 2026, the council voted unanimously to put the question on the ballot.
At the Water's Edge, Before and After the Vote
The village describes Old Mill Pond's park as a spot for picnics and fishing. It hosts the Northport Sportsman's Club's annual Fishing Derby and the annual Dog Parade. The pond is stocked every year for that tournament, but it doesn't hold a steady fish population the rest of the year.
Under both outcomes, the familiar pieces of the park are less fixed than they look. GEI's memo calls the boardwalk and fishing pier non-critical to dam safety, so replacing them is optional. If they don't go back, GEI recommends restoring and stabilizing the exposed ground with grass. In July, the Leelanau Ticker reported that turf would be restored where the fishing platform had been.
If you're driving to the pond or the polls, there's one more culvert to know about, and it isn't the one in the dam debate. Walton Contracting is replacing the Rose Street culvert between Nagonaba and Second streets, with a closure scheduled from Sept. 21 through Nov. 6, 2026, per the village notice. That project is separate from the West Third Street crossing below the dam.
The engineering reports, cost tables and ballot language are posted on the village's Mill Pond Dam Millage page. The council's Oct. 15 agenda included a discussion of revenue, taxpayer impact, bonding and project costs, with GEI scheduled to attend. Polls open Tuesday, Nov. 3.
At Found Realty Co, we pay close attention to places like Old Mill Pond, because the small civic spaces of a village shape daily life there. If you own near Northport Creek and want to talk through how the village's plans might affect your property's story, schedule a personalized consultation with Hillary and find happiness at home.
