Cleveland 'pleased' by turnout

More than 50 people crowded into the Cleveland Township Hall for the township's Annual Meeting on Saturday morning – the first annual meeting of the season in Leelanau County.

"I’m impressed and very pleased by the size of this crowd," said township supervisor Tim Stein as he opened the meeting.

In his report to township residents, Stein noted that nothing appears to be happening at Sugar Loaf Resort.

“The silence there is deafening,” Stein said. “I wish I could report that the ski hills are open, that there is a restaurant, a lodge, shops and other businesses operating up there – but I can’t.”

Stein noted that two years ago – when Kate Wickstrom purchased the property – the township board acted quickly at a special meeting to approve a liquor license for Sugar Loaf Resort. But, Stein said, state officials apparently have yet to receive Wickstrom’s final application for the license.

In addition, Stein said, Cleveland Township planners are still waiting for Wickstrom to submit an application for a Planned Unit Development at Sugar Loaf, having acted as rapidly as they could to amend the zoning ordinance at her request to allow for “staged” approval of plans for larger projects such as hers in the township’s recreation district.

In other “bad news,” Stein said, the new owners of the nearby Kings Challenge Golf Course, Brian Sculthorp and Ed Fleis, had been forced to “walk away” from the property, allowing it to revert to its former owners – a group of investors led by Birmingham attorney John Sills. The “good news,” Stein added, was that the golf course was still slated to reopen in the spring. At the same time, new owners of the Michigan Traders store and the North restaurant that replaced the Leelanau Country Inn, appear to be doing well.

Township trustee Cynthia Shimek, who serves as the township board’s representative on the Cleveland Township Planning Commission, gave a brief overview of the commission’s activities in the past year and its goals for the coming year. Her comments were amplified from the audience by planning commission chairman Tim Ewing.

In response to questions from township residents, Stein outlined options residents may have regarding the county’s recycling program. A narrow majority of township voters declined to support the recycling program in the August 2006 Primary election. In addition, Stein provide a brief overview of recently completed meetings of the township Board of Review, of which he serves as secretary.

Members of the public also heard from veteran township treasurer Bess Musil, who reported that in 2006 she collected more than $2.2 million in property taxes on 1,438 parcels during two tax collections. The taxable value of properties in Cleveland Township is around $94 million.

As part of its annual budget hearing, the township board also noted that the millage rate to support township operations is among the lowest in Leelanau County at .5952 mills in 2007. An additional fire and rescue millage “rolled back” from the half-mill levy Cleveland Township voters approved last year will raise about $45,000 of the $48,000 it will cost to pay for fire protection and ambulance coverage from the Solon-Centerville Fire and Rescue Department.

The only action that township voters are empowered to take at annual meetings involves approving – or not – the annual salaries of elected officials as long as incumbents are not given a pay cut.

After much discussion and several attempts to modify salary resolutions adopted last month by the township board, township electors through a show of hands agreed unanimously to support the salary resolutions as presented. A modified salary resolution for the treasurer would keep her annual salary at the same rate as last year: $14,620. An earlier resolution, which would have cut her salary, was improper, Stein explained.

Similarly, the township clerk would receive no pay raise, remaining at $10,710 per year; and the supervisor’s salary would remain steady at $8,350 per year

The only pay raises recommended and approved were the per-meeting pay for the two trustees, which will rise from $72 to $80. Stein said the salary resolutions were based on a study he conducted of comparable rates of pay throughout the county and beyond.

The meeting lasted two hours before it was adjourned.