The chairman of the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners, Robert W. Hawley, ordered members of the public to exit the River Office Meeting Room in Leland on Tuesday evening during the county board’s regular monthly meeting so the board could discuss “pending litigation” involving the county.

Before the board voted 6-0 to go into “closed session,” county administrator David W. Gill explained that the board needed to discuss issues regarding an ongoing lawsuit against the county by owners of The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor Township.

In addition, Gill indicated that litigation may be pending regarding the county board’s recent decision to modify an agreement with the private nursing home operator leasing the county-owned Maple Valley Nursing Home property.

Also, the owner of Great Lakes Telecom of Ann Arbor – which failed to win a contract to install telecommunications wiring and phones in the new Government Center in Suttons Bay Township – may be suing the county, Gill added.

Neither the nursing home operator nor the telecommunications subcontractor had filed any suits against Leelanau County as of early Wednesday morning.

But the Bayberry Group – owners of The Homestead resort – filed suit several years ago against the county and members of its Building Inspections Department. The suit stemmed from problems the resort experienced after the installation of a number of new fireplaces. The resort’s owners have alleged that two county mechanical inspectors were negligent in dealing with subcontractors who installed fireplace vents improperly, leading to life-safety issues that the owners subsequently corrected at considerable expense.

It is unknown exactly what the county board actually discussed during its closed session.

Following the closed session, however, District No. 5 commissioner David “Chauncey” Shiflett moved that the county board direct Gill to attend a Sept. 4 mediation session with representatives of the Bayberry Group. The motion carried in a 6-0 vote with District No. 2 commissioner Mark Walter absent.

In other business open to the public at its meeting this week, the county board:

• Adopted a new fee schedule for the Leelanau County Building Inspections Department based on a recommendation from the new head of the department, building official Robert Meyer. Recent budget reviews had indicated that the department is running in the red and will deplete a reserve fund sometime next year without a fee increase. Meyer had recommended that fees charged to builders be increased by about 25 percent. The board voted 4-2, with Shiflett and District No. 7 commissioner Melinda Lautner opposed.

• Held a public hearing required to enact technical changes to a Brownfield Redevelopment plan for West Bay Partners, Inc., – the company hoping to redevelop the old Zephyr petroleum depot in Greilickville including a tunnel under M-22 to a marina on West Bay. Hawley read a resolution and explained some of the technical requirements in response to a question from the audience. Following the hearing, the board voted 6-0 to adopt a resolution that allowed correction of some omissions in an original plan.

• Adopted a resolution to update a “Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan” on the recommendation of county emergency management coordinator Tom Skowronski.

• Agreed to pay $112,144 in annual dues to the Michigan Association of Counties. A motion to that effect carried in a 5-1 vote with District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek opposed. Bunek said he thought the dues were “awfully high.”

• Agreed to retain the Traverse City accounting firm of Rehman-Robson for another year to conduct an audit of county finances. The vote was 5-1, with Bunek opposed. Bunek said he thought it was time to seek competitive bids for auditing services rather than let the same company correct accounting problems that had persisted for more than a year.