SAUGATUCK, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, May 6, 2026) – The people spoke, and Saugatuck City Hall heard.
During a special meeting on Monday morning, the Saugatuck City Council and city staff agreed to postpone scheduled water valve replacements slated for Tuesday and Wednesday along Water Street downtown. Property owners had been notified last Friday that municipal crews wanted to take such a proactive measure at the intersection of Water and Hoffman, as well as Water and Francis, in order to limit the scope of any possible future outages due to water main failures.
The announcement brought yowls of protest over losing drinking water for those two days, along with a subsequent two more days while checks for bacteria that could emerge as a result of the water being shut off were made, as Tulip Time is also a busy time for the Saugatuck downtown community. It compelled the governing panel to call the special session to go over alternatives.
In a Tuesday email, City Manager Ryan Cummins apologized for the relatively “last minute” announcement of the shutoff work, while saying that this work will be moved to a window between October 5th and October 26th, and seven days notice will be made then. In addition, Cummins said that a town-hall meeting with area businesses is being planned for this fall to review the season, and that the city will be working with Holland-based Lakeshore Advantage as a liaison with the local business community.
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