GRAYLING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The State of Michigan’s EGLE (Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) has shut off the water to the Timberly Village Campground and Mobile Home Park in Grayling, Michigan.
According to 9&10 News, the long-standing mobile home park in Crawford County has had water issues for years and with the state’s shut down of their water supply, the residents are “scrambling to find a new place to live.”
MORE NEWS: Travel and Turkey: Planning Ahead Should Be on Everyone’s Plate This Thanksgiving
The owner, Greg Welser, who has owned the park for about 15 years, says the water shutdown is just a precursor to closing the park permanently. He said to 9&10 News, “The state basically forced me to do such because I didn’t meet certain little fuzzy stipulations they made, which they kept altering on me.”
He added, “I’ve spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars in the last ten years trying to meet these eight requirements.”
Welser said he was notified that the water was being shut off and that the people living in his park had up to 30 days to vacate the premises or they might be charged with trespassing.
Dan Kelley, one of the park residents, is disabled and has an older mobile home that can’t be moved. He said, “Being disabled, you know, I can’t afford much anymore. and so I was happy…but then now the park is closing somewhere and I’m losing my house anyways.”
A spokesperson for EGLE told Michigan News Source that Welser has been out of compliance with the state’s Safe Drinking Water Act for quite some time. Scott Dean, Strategic Communications Advisor for EGLE says, “EGLE staff have worked with the operator of this non-compliant public water supply since 2011 and visited the unlicensed mobile home park and campground more than two dozen times in attempts to get the supply into compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
Dean went on to say, “Continued non-compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act forced EGLE to involve the State Attorney General’s and ultimately resulted in a 2022 order from the Ingham County Circuit Court requiring the non-compliant supply to be shut off.”
MORE NEWS: Branching Out: Michigan’s Tree Grant Grows Greener Than Ever
In a letter sent to Welser by EGLE on April 14, 2023, it says that the mobile home park had been ordered to cease operations in November of 2022. The date was extended to May 22, 2023 for the park to cease operation of the public water supply. EGLE did not require abandonment of both wells as Welser’s private residence is also connected to the larger public water supply that currently serves Timberly. However, they ordered him to abandon the two wells.
By court order, Welser was ordered to hire a well driller to properly abandon the public water supply well and follow other orders to be in compliance with EGLE and the orders of the circuit court.
