Leelanau County commissioners this week expressed mixed support for "The Grand Vision," a regional land use and transportation strategy being developed for Grand Traverse County and five other contiguous counties including Leelanau.

At its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening, the county board heard from Mat McCauley of the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, which is helping to coordinate the study.

Although federal grant funding is underwriting most of the project, grant requirements have so far focused the effort on Grand Traverse County, McCauley told commissioners. He said that a bill currently pending in the U.S. Senate would amend language authorizing the study to include Grand Traverse “and contiguous counties.”

An amendment to a contract with consultants working on the study will cost around $240,000 he added. McCauley said that each of the five counties to be added to the study would be asked to chip in $6,000 over two years to match grant funding for the project.

That’s when some county commissioners balked.

“When you first came to us a number of months ago to talk about this project,” District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek told McCauley, “it was all being covered by federal money. Now, you’re asking counties to kick in. To me, this is just the start of what’s coming.”

District No. 7 commissioner Melinda Lautner said she was “extremely alarmed” about the “land use” portion of the study.

“You can get 500 people together at one of these visioning sessions who do not really have a stake in the land,” Lautner said. “If 10 or 20 acres bought you a voice on this land use study, I guess I’d be okay with it.”

District No. 4 commissioner Mary Tonneberger said she supported The Grand Vision effort fully, had attended a recent session and believed the study was being done in a professional manner. District No. 1 commissioner Jean Watkoski agreed, and added that she believed the effort would become a useful tool for the county.

McCauley pointed out that the focus of the land use and transportation study will primarily be on transportation corridors and commercial centers in the region. He noted that about 50 percent of the people who work in Leelanau County commute  from elsewhere, and that the county’s stake in the issue is significant.

He also asked the county board to send a letter to the Tribal Council of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians indicating its support for Grand Traverse County’s request for $100,000 in “2-percent” casino revenue funding. If the Tribal Council authorizes the payment, the money would be used to cover a portion of the $240,000 required to include all five “contiguous” counties in The Grand Vision strategy.

District No. 2 commissioner Mark Walter offered a motion to authorize District No. 6 commissioner Robert Hawley, the county board chairman, to sign a letter of support for Grand Traverse County’s “2-percent” request. The motion carried in a 5-1 vote with Lautner opposed and District No. 5 commissioner David “Chauncey” Shiflett absent.

In other business at this week’s meeting, the county board:

• Reappointed Suttons Bay architect Larry Graves to a five year term on the Leelanau County Construction Code Board of Appeals.

• Reappointed six members and appointed three new members to the Leelanau County Solid Waste Council, having recently increased membership on the council from nine to 14. The new members are Laurel Durkin, Gerald Lee and David Watt. Reappointed were Dave Barron, Bill Perkins, James Palmer, Tom MacDonald and John Rentenbach.

• Learned that a modified purchase agreement between Maple Valley Nursing Home operator John Kasben and his landlord – Leelanau County – was still in the process of being drafted by attorneys. The county board may consider approving an agreement at its annual organizational meeting on Jan. 8. The county and Kasben have agreed that the purchase price will be $400,000, although some contract language needs to be finalized, according to officials.