Progress on parklands

Apr. 21—MAYFIELD — State lawmakers are working toward budgeting more than $2.3 million to add to one Traverse City-owned park.

The Michigan Senate's appropriations committee recently approved Natural Resources Trust Fund grants totaling $27.3 million for 18 acquisition projects and to develop 35 different parks.

Among those land buys is 528 acres near Brown Bridge Quiet Area, including much of Spring Lake's shoreline and part of the former Greilick Outdoor Recreation and Education Center.

Committee member Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, backed the recommendations, calling them in a news release "transformative" for the communities they'll impact by securing and protecting more of the state's natural resources.

"Whether it's fishing, hiking, boating, or anything else, many Michigan families enjoy spending time outside in nature and these projects improve access to our outstanding recreational opportunities and help make Michigan an even better place for residents to enjoy the outdoors," Damoose said.

The bill is now before then state Senate and must pass the House before heading to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for signature.

Once signed, it'll take a year or more to finish what the city, its voters and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy helped start.

"There is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait with these grant applications," said Chris Sullivan, GTRLC's director of land protection. "It's a lot of work to get the application done, then you wait eight months to get a decision from the state, then you wait until the bill gets passed."

Voters in November approved spending up to $746,245 out of the Brown Bridge Trust Fund as a match to the NRTF grant. Its money that comes from oil and gas wells on Brown Bridge Quiet Area property, which sits southeast of the city in East Bay Township.

And in December, the NRTF board approved the grant application for another piece of oil, gas and nonmetallic mineral royalties from state land leases.

The total timeline before the land becomes the city's depends on several factors, including how long city and state are able to complete the various required steps, Sullivan said. The land conservancy is holding on to the property for now, and the state will send out a grant agreement once the grant recommendations become law.

Once signed, it'll take a month or so before the state grants permission to start work on the property title, followed by environmental due diligence.

Once the city is ready to acquire the land, an appraiser will assess the fair market value, Sullivan said. The conservancy will get the difference between the purchase price and that appraisal to offset holding costs.

"So, instead of selling to the city for exactly what we purchased it for last year, we're going to sell it for a higher amount," he said.

That should leave about $120,000 left for GTRLC to raise from private sources to cover its share of the acquisition project, Sullivan said.

In the meantime, the city's Brown Bridge Advisory Committee is working with Grand Traverse Conservation District, which manages Brown Bridge Quiet Area under contract, on plans for the future land.

Reb Ratliff, the district's parkland steward, said there are limits in what can be done until the land becomes Traverse City property.

But there's plenty of time to update the park's management plan, Ratliff said. Much of it will be treated the same as the rest of the park — the current plan describes the goal as balancing low-impact recreation like hiking and paddling with protecting natural resources.

Adding the property will place a lake within the park's boundaries for the first time since 2012, when contractors removed the Brown Bridge Dam as part of the overall Boardman River Restoration Project.

"That parcel in particular of the two, both are great properties and they're going to add a lot of great trail and habitat preservation opportunities," Ratliff said. "The Spring Lake property in particular is really excellent, high-quality habitat and forest."

Tentative plans are to add a parking lot off Hobbs Highway, then lay a crushed limestone path accessible to people with disabilities that leads to Spring Lake, he said. What to do at the water's edge — or not — is still up for debate.

Ratliff said he doubted the committee will recommend allowing public access to the water. One major consideration is Spring Lake's excellent water quality, and the risk of exposing it to invasive species should the public be welcomed to its waters.

"It's been very well-protected over the years and there's a lot of concern about opening it up to the masses," he said.

The GTRLC will close off old two-tracks and other access points where off-roaders were entering the property, Ratliff said.

Planning for the acquisition is exciting, especially as the conservation district helps with another, big NRTF buy near the city's west side, Ratliff said.

Hickory Forest

Contractor bids to build a parking lot in Hickory Forest near where Harris Road meets Barney Road are due April 24, said Matt Cowall, executive director of the Traverse City and Garfield Township Recreational Authority. He hopes the board will be able to approve a bid at its May 1 meeting so construction can begin in June.

"So this will be the next big step in making it more convenient for the public to get in and out of there," he said. "Right now, the main recreational access is still up through Hickory Hills, which is a pretty vigorous hike."

Cowall said that would be about a year after the authority closed on property the late Clarence Kroupa owned — 76 acres between Barney Road, M-72, Bay Meadows Family Golf Course and the city-owned and -run Hickory Hills ski area.

City and township voters in November 2020 approved a millage to help buy Hickory Forest, and the NRTF granted $467,600 of the $650,000 price.

Between June and now, the authority budgeted $100,000 for work in Hickory Forest, part of which it spent on trail installation, Cowall said. He's hoping what's left can cover the cost of the parking lot, which will share an entrance on to Barney Road with a nearby assisted living facility, then follow part of a power line corridor.

Once complete, the parking lot and trailhead will give access to the recreation authority's fourth park. One — Hickory Meadows — is east of Hickory Hills, and is the third in a trio of recreational lands on the city's west side.