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Construction Complete at the Chappel Dam in Gladwin County, Nearly a Year After Historic Flood

Construction on the Chappel Dam in Gladwin County is finally complete, nearly one year after the historic flood that swept through the area last May.

The Chappel Dam was one of several dams in Gladwin and Midland County damaged in the flood. Crews have been working fast to repair the dam to get the lake level back to normal.

“Everybody was like we want to get this fixed, we want it fixed as soon as possible and we want it done right,” says Michael Rajt, chair of the Wiggins Lake Authority.

Rajt says because of the quick reaction from the community, they were able to minimize the damage of the Chappel Dam.

“Fortunately, our emergency manager was able to get us in touch with the road commission that brought in eight dump trucks full of gravel that we put on top,” says Rajt.

Over the last year, his team of volunteers and contractor have been working fast to repair the dam, install new technology and make it more stable.

“I have a group of six guys, all lake residents, they were here every day during the construction process,” says Rajt.

$900,000 later, construction on the Chappel Dam is finally complete and lake levels are back to normal.

Phil Masciovecchio, who owns a home on Wiggins Lake, says, “It just makes us happy that we’re a lake, we’re a lake in demand because there’s not a lot of lakes anymore.”

Masciovecchio says watching the water flow gives him a sigh of relief:

“It would have just been devastating for me and my wife’s retirement plans to come here and live on the dry lake.”

Gladwin Emergency Manager Bob North says this is a good first step towards fixing the several other dams downstream.

“One thing that we have learned is that all of the water in this county is interconnected, a problem with one is a problem eventually at some other point,” says North.

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