Water Emergencies please call Jake Cline - (231) 383-3731
Village Officials
Shelly (Michelle) Lynnes
Role: Village President
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (906)-231-7132
Term: November 2022 - November 2024
Shelly was elected President of the Bear Lake Village Council in November 2022 after having been appointed as a Trustee in 2020. Shelly and her family moved to Bear Lake after her employer transferred her to a local state office. Shelly's husband, Jack, and their family enjoy the many contacts they have made in the area and look forward to raising their family here along with staying involved in Village affairs.
Tracy Gary
Role: Village Treasurer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (231) 970-2066 (Village Hall)
Term: Appointed 2023
Tracy has lived in Bear Lake almost her entire life, so around 47 years. Tracy is married and has two children and a dog. Tracy also works in an administrative capacity for a local company.
Open Position - Accepting Applications
Role: Village Clerk
We are currently accepting applications for Village Clerk. Please click here to be directed to the jobs page where you will find a description of the responsibilities of the Village Clerk.
If you are interested in applying, please complete the Contact Us form on this website and attach a copy of your resume. We look forward to hearing from you!
Village Trustees
Daniel Heiss
Role: Village Trustee
Email: [email protected]
Daniel is the 4th generation of his family to enjoy the Village of Bear Lake. Daniel was born and raised in Indiana. Daniel's family vacationed in their current home in the Village during their early years creating fond memories of the Village and the surrounding areas. Daniel is happy to now be a full-time resident of the Village. Daniel is excited to be transparent with Village issues and decisions. It is his goal to participate and vote in such a way as to be financially responsible with Village finances.
Rodney Gee
Role: Village Trustee
Email: N/A
Rodney and his family have been Bear Lake residents for 12 years. Rodney has a full time job as does everyone on the Village Council. He has been a Village Trustee for over 5 years. Rodney chooses to serve the Village as a Trustee because he believes people need to be willing to step up to help run the Village so people's voices can be heard and play a part in the future of the Village. Rodney looks forward to continuing to raise his family in the Village of Bear Lake.
Janene Gee
Role: Village Trustee
Email: [email protected]
Janene has been a Bear Lake resident for 12 years. She is working hard to vote in the best interest of ALL Bear Lake residents and will continue to try and make necessary changes that improve our small town for young families and visitors alike. Janene always encourages our residents to get involved and come to meetings as the more ideas we can gather, the more insight we will have when pursuing grants and voting at meetings. Janene wants regular people involved, not just those that have a special interest in our area; those born and raised here, those that moved in and are planting roots here are all important individuals in our pursuit of making Bear Lake an even better place to live.
Other Village Staff
Jake Cline
Role: Department of Public Works (DPW) Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (231) 383-3731
The role of the Village DPW Manager is to serve as the caretaker of all outdoor and operational aspects of the municipality such as the Municipal Water System, streets, Hopkins Campground and park, Cosier (Municipal) Park, beaches, storm sewer functioning and equipment maintenance. Jake takes the responsibility of serving this community and keeping its residents safe very seriously. He strives to do his job as openly and effectively as possible.
He would like to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve you.
Jay and Janet Krause
Role: Hopkins Park Hosts
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (231) 655-2038
Jay and Janet are the Park Hosts at beautiful Hopkins Park, a campground on the shores of 1,744 acre Bear Lake. Bear Lake is a well known all-sport lake in Northwest Michigan and many people visit this park for swimming, boating, and fishing along with enjoying the camping facilities at Hopkins Park. "In our opinion this is the nicest lake in this county and many other counties as well. We have campers from all over the country and around the world visiting and camping at Hopkins Park.
We decided to become Park Hosts every summer after Jay retired. We love camping and meeting new people and the best part is making forever friends!" - Jay / Janet