White Lake Township

This page contains updates from White Lake Township for events that may affect Lakewood Village.  The most recent reports are first.

White Lake Twp Civic Center Plans - May 2024

A “Meet & Greet” with White Lake Township Supervisor Rik Kowall was hosted by the LVIA Board at Dublin Community Center on May 13th.  Supervisor Kowall went over many topics of interest to the Lakewood Village residents.  A PDF of Rik's slides is attached here.  Recent photos of the latest construction can be found in the April, May, and June 2025 Waterlog issues.  Here is a brief summary of some of the key points:

1. White Lake Township was recently named by the FBI as being 15th safest community in the country, on a per-capita basis. Another source named White Lake Township as the 5th most desirable community to live in Michigan. What a great place to live!

2. Police Chief Keller and Fire Chief Holland have been working hard to improve our staffing and facilities. The Fire Department was recently certified with Advanced Life Support ability for our EMS teams, which will improve our critical responses to life threatening situations.

3. A new Township Hall / Community Center and a Public Safety building will begin construction soon on Elizabeth Lake Rd (near Stanley Park). It will be open sometime in 2026. Supervisor Kowall presented a PowerPoint presentation showing renderings of the new buildings and the locations on the properties. Please take a few minutes to review the slides.

4. Elizabeth Lake Rd will be closed from M-59 to near Teggerdine in order to rebuild the road, starting 5/22/24 until October. There was a $1.6M grant received from the Federal Gov’t (assisted by Representative Haley Stevens) for the project. Anticipating the new Civic Center project, the road will have parallel parking spaces and a roundabout by the Kroger entrance. A temporary road will be provided to access the library during construction.

5. The Triangle Trail is being completed soon, running from Elizabeth Lake Rd to Teggerdine to M-59 and then back to Elizabeth Lake Rd. This trail is a hub to start other potential trail concepts and will be part of the walkable area created by the new Civic Center complex.

6. New restaurants are coming to the corner of Bogie Lake and M-59 (Panera & Culver’s on the northwest corner and a coffee shop on the southwest corner).

There were many more tidbits of information, too many to add here.

Many thanks to Supervisor Kowall for speaking with us and giving us a great update.

I hope everyone takes this opportunity to get to know our Township leader.

Best Regards,

Steve Woodard, 2nd VP – External Affairs

WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP PARKS & REC COMMITTEE 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 MEETING RESULTS 

Here are Steve Woodard's notes from the Parks & Recreation Committee meeting yesterday 12/14/22.  Minutes for the meeting will be in the package for the January 11th meeting.

 Brian Barrick from Beckett & Raeder provided a status update.  The key points were as follows:

• Progress is being made with DNR and the National Park Service (NPS), currently waiting for the end of the fiscal year for NPS.  The grant is ready, and money should be available soon.

• The central area of the plan (close to the existing structure) needs to be refined to save approximately 15 mature trees. 

  • This can be done by staying closer to the existing road path down to the lower part of the park.

• The pickleball courts, which were proposed in the central area, will need to be reconsidered for another phase or location due to moving the road plan and the wet land in the central area.

• Beckett & Raeder will relook at the tree removal plan and finalize that soon so tree work can be done through winter.

• Plans for phase 1 construction will be to the Township Board by Jan 6th for their review and approval at the next WLT Board meeting on Jan 17th.

• Currently, the cost estimate is $1,350,000 for phase 1 with cost saving ideas included.

• Next steps

  • Construction and bid documents

  • Get necessary permits and approvals

  • Begin construction

Justin Quagliata from WLT Planning Department

• The Township is applying for a $300,000 Spark Grant to renovate the existing structure in the park.

  • The structure is proposed to be a bathroom, picnic shelter, storage facility.

Thank you,

Steve Woodard, LVIA