The clock is ticking for an opponent of a proposed electrical substation in Elmwood Township to take her case to the next level.

The Elmwood Township Zoning Board of Appeals at its regularly scheduled meeting held last Wednesday, Feb. 20, approved the minutes of a special meeting that defined the substation as an “essential use” within the context of the township Zoning Ordinance.

The action set in motion a 30-day time period during which a Solon Township woman may appeal the ZBA’s ruling to 13th Circuit Court, according to township community planner Bill Swanson.

“The (state) act says as soon as the decision is certified, or the minutes approved, the period to appeal begins. That was done,” said Swanson.

The ZBA at the end of a nearly six-hour meeting held Feb. 6 upheld a decision made by former township zoning administrator Don Witkowski. In a letter to Wolverine Power Cooperative dated Aug. 16, Witkowski, wrote, “It is my interpretation of the zoning ordinance that the proposed substation is an Essential Service as provided in section 3.4 of the Elmwood Township Zoning Ordinance.”

Witkowski had been advised by township attorney Jim Young to make the ruling in an email copied to supervisor Derith Smith. Smith has denied receiving the email.

Lisa Argue, who with her husband, Mason, are developing Bahia Vista subdivision east of the proposed substation, appealed Witkowski’s ruling to the ZBA. The appeal was first taken up by the ZBA on Dec. 15, at which time it agreed to hold off a decision until the Feb. 8 meeting to give the Argues time to gather evidence.

The Argues and other substation opponents have criticized Elmwood Trustee Terry Lautner, who has agreed to sell 7.8 acres near an existing power generating windmill off M-72 to Wolverine for the substation. The project was originally sited in nearby Garfield Township, where the Garfield Planning Commission heard complaints from neighbors similar to those made about the Elmwood site.

Lautner is a past member of the Wolverine board of directors, and a present director of Cherryland Electric Cooperative. Cherryland, Traverse City Light & Power and Consumers Energy are partnering with Wolverine on the substation project.

Although the 3-2 ZBA vote upheld Wolverine’s plans, an attorney representing the Argues said his clients plan to appeal to Circuit Court and file a separate lawsuit. Gaylord attorney Jim Pagels in an interview after the meeting stated that he hoped to depose Wolverine Power officials to learn more information about the substation that would aid in preventing construction on the proposed site.

Swanson said Pagels was one of five people in the audience when the ZBA minutes were approved. Prior to the vote, he asked the ZBA to pass a motion for a “redetermination” of its decision.

Instead, the ZBA voted 5-0 to approve minutes of its decision. The action was one of the last for member Jon Sutton, who is stepping down effect March 1.