The county Road Commission will not fund half of Elmwood Township's cost to be part of the regional Grand Vision project conducted by the Land Use Transportation Study (LUTS) group.

At its meeting Tuesday, the commission unanimously approved a motion by member Glen M. Noonan and supported by vice-chairman John Popa against paying half of Elmwood Township’s cost of $4,264 to participate.

Chairman Lee A. Bowen said he has been attending meetings of the Traverse City Transportation Land Use Study (TC-TALUS), the regional transportation authority under which the LUTS group applied for federal transportation money to fund its $1.3 million study. Elmwood Township is part of the LUTS group.

The first planning session for the Grand Vision project was held last night at the Park Place in Traverse City. The project seeks to offer a regionwide plan for guiding development and growth in Traverse City and the surrounding metro area. Elmwood Township is the only Leelanau County township participating in the project.

Bowen said members of the LUTS group agreed to pay $1 for each citizen living within its political boundary based on the 2000 Census. In 2000, Elmwood had an official population of 4,264.

Bowen said Elmwood supervisor Derith Smith asked him at the September TC-TALUS meeting if the Road Commission would contribute $2,132, half of the township’s participation fee, to be part of the LUTS. Bowen brought the matter to the commission’s attention at its Oct. 2 meeting, but Popa could not attend. The issue was tabled.

Calls to Smith for comment on the Road Commission’s decision were not returned before deadline this week. In previous township board discussions, Elmwood officials have stated they believed the Road Commission and the County Board of Commissioners should contribute funds for the study since a good part of the county’s population travels through Elmwood daily to reach Traverse City.

Bowen said he did not support the commission funding the study because it has not been involved with LUTS since it formed two years ago.

Commission engineer James C. Johnson said the Grand Vision project started with the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce and Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners. To pay for the regional land use transportation study, Johnson said the chamber and county asked TC -TALUS to apply for federal transportation funds.

“It should be said this study is not a TC-TALUS function,” he said.

Popa said he talked with Smith recently about transportation issues in the county and Elmwood Township. He said she showed him a drawing of what the township would like to happen with the M-22 corridor from M-72 north to Cherry Bend Road. Popa said while he couldn’t support using Road Commission funds for the Grand Vision, he was interested in having the commission explore the township-supported vision for the M-22 Greilickville corridor.