Selling the old Leelanau County courthouse property in Leland to developers is proving to be a little more complicated and time consuming than expected.

The county Board of Commissioners this week amended its purchase agreement with Varley-Kelley Properties, L.L.C., giving the developers an additional 60 days to work out issues with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority involving construction of a community well for the planned 23-unit residential development.

The property is a “brownfield,” in part, because of contamination in the groundwater.  Tax incentives, grant funding and loans for demolition and cleanup on such sites is being made available through the county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority –an entity Leelanau County established just last year.

Under the modified purchase agreement, the overall price of the 2.4-acre property in the unincorporated village of Leland will remain $2.4 million, but the developers will be required to put down $50,000 in earnest money and another $50,000 at closing as part of a new land contract deal that includes four percent annual interest.  The modified purchase agreement also gives the developers an extra 60 days – until June 1 –to close the deal.

The county seat began moving from Leland to the new Government Center in Suttons Bay Township in February, and the move was completed last month.

Developer Gene Kelly appeared before county commissioners at their executive committee last week to propose the modified purchase agreement.  The county board’s “Leland Property Subcommittee”held a meeting Friday to discuss the issue in more detail with Kelly; and yet another meeting Tuesday evening  just prior to the county board meeting to discuss the issue with Kelly and his partner James Varley.

In the meantime, on Monday evening, the Leland Township Board made progress on reviewing and approving plans for the Varley-Kelly “Rivertown”project in Leland. (A story on that meeting appears on Page 4 of Section 2 in this edition.)

At the county board’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening, commissioners voted 6-1, with District No. 7 commissioner Melinda Lautner opposed, to approve the amended purchase agreement pending a review by a county attorney.

In other business, the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners:

• Affirmed their executive committee’s 4-3 recommendation last week to place a 0.375-mill property tax proposal on the Aug. 5 ballot to support continued operations of the county’s 9-1-1 Dispatch Center.  County board chairman and District No. 6 commissioner Robert Hawley said that if voters don’t approve the millage in August, the county will need to cut about $850,000 from the county’s budget – the amount expected to be raised through the millage.  The 9-1-1 center’s annual budget is $900,000; and Hawley said he believes the center is operating as efficiently as possible as it is currently configured.

Other commissioners disagreed.  But during a lengthy discussion, commissioners did agree that the county should move ahead quickly to lobby Lansing to adopt legislation that would allow collection of a “per household fee”to pay for 9-1-1 center operations in lieu of a property tax millage.  Lautner, along with District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek and District No. 1 commissioner Jean Watkoski, volunteered to serve on the lobbying committee.  The three commissioners had voted in opposition to placing the millage proposal on the Aug. 5 ballot.

Hawley added that he had already taken steps to set up a meeting with Benzie and Grand Traverse County officials to discuss the idea of combining some 9-1-1 operations for the pupose of cutting costs.

•As part of its consent agenda, re-approved a Millage Renewal Proposal Resolution for the county Road Commission which will ask voters in the Aug. 5 Primary to renew a 0.5-mill property tax levy to help pay for road repair and maintenance including snow plowing.  The board was asked to re-do its vote of last month because of a change in the estimated amount  to be raised in the first year from $998,300 to $1,133,314.  

• Decided to expend a final $26,686 on a contract remaining for furniture in the new Government Center on the recommendation of the board’s “Interior Design Subcommittee.”   The overall contract was around $500,000.  District No. 4 commissioner Mary Tonneberger, who heads the subcommittee, explained that the additional furniture items, along with adjustments to already-delivered items such as file cabinets  and office equipment, represented the “last call”for county departments hoping to finalize furniture issues under the original contract.

•Accepted a $7,900 bid from the Fleis-Vandenbrink engineering firm to create drawings and plans for a Veterans Memorial area that will be constructed on the new Government Center campus this summer.  The firm has already been working with local veterans groups on a design, according to county administrator David Gill.

• Decided to expend $17,480 for a public address/recording system for the commissioners’meeting room, and $4,470 for another system in a community meeting room in the Government Center.  The lowest of two bidders on the project was Ascomnorth, Inc. of Acme.