Good Morning Ms. Billings, thank you for your inquiry.

From what you have shared above, I will start by commenting on the legal aspects you mention: First, the deed . Based on your current letters and policies from EGLE, the township and the county (I am assuming the Drain Commissioners office or Water Resources office), there is a reasonable assumption that the pond should be dredged for maintenance and for environmental reasons such as management of nutrient load, improvement of  fish and wildlife habitat, and stormwater or floodplain management. Based on these assumptions, your deed could be amended to allow for dredging. This action should be taken under advisement of an attorney, and background research should be done regarding "why" the deed doesn't allow for dredging. We always ask "why" when faced with an issue like this, mainly because there may be historical reasons to not dredge, such as to not disturb heavy metals or other pollutants that could be in the soil under the pond from a use that everyone has forgotten about. There may also be important fish and aquatic wildlife habitat that would be ruined with dredging. Or there may some other reason.  

Secondly, you say there is a conservation easement that was never recorded. The HOA and an attorney should read the easement (whereever it can be found), and have a community discussion about the language in the easement and decide on if it should be recorded with the township. The easement may have important taxation, environmental and stormwater/flooding reasons behind it. And somewhere in the minutes of the HOA meetings from the past, if there are any, there may be reasons stated for why the easement was never recorded. 

Congratulations on getting appointed to your local Planning Commission! Your 2 top priorities as a commissioner are to administer the zoning ordinance and to maintain and implement your community master plan. As a commissioner, it is within your authority to host a community-wide conversation about the value and maintenance of ponds, streams and rivers, and promote the concept of 'blueways' planning- to assist your community in planning for the preservation and investment in your waterways. You also have access to planning data and research through your community planning or development department, to understand best practices of how other HOAs are managing their waterbodies, and to recomment to your own HOA on the best way to proceed.

if you haven't already, I recommend taking a few of our MSU Extension courses: 

Related to Community Planning and Good Governance:

https://www.canr.msu.edu/search?tag=planning&county=&contentTypeOption=calendarEvent&tagUsage=or&searchType=searchBar&hideHomePage=true#results

Readings Related to Water and Natural Resources: 

https://www.canr.msu.edu/search?siteContext=natural_resources&siteTitle=Natural+Resources&searchbox-type=&q=dredge

THanks again for your inquiry, 

Harmony Gmazel, AICP

MSU Extension Educator, Community Planning/Zoning/Resiliency

Instructor, Land Use Law & Ethics, MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction

Our water/wetlands team is also a resource for you as you move forward: 

https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/erick_elgin?roleURL=erick_elgin_expert_role_xxxx&language_id=

https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/bindu_bhakta?roleURL=sustainable_natural_resources_management_and_education1&language_id=