The Cleveland Township Board will take no action on a request from the co-owner of a Sugar Loaf area golf course, Ed Fleis, to consider approving a liquor license transfer from the current owner of Sugar Loaf Resort, Kate Wickstrom.

The township board two years ago adopted a resolution to endorse a liquor license application for Wickstrom’s “Bellasam Corporation” to serve liquor at Sugar Loaf Resort – but Wickstrom still hasn’t taken steps to acquire the license, according to township supervisor Tim Stein.

Meanwhile, Fleis and his partner Brian Sculthorp are hoping to acquire a liquor license for the former Sleeping Bear Golf Course – recently renamed as the Sugar Loaf Golf Course. Fleis and Sculthorp had earlier owned a second Sugar Loaf area golf course – King’s Challenge – but were forced to relinquish that course to the mortgage holder after their plans to help redevelop the Sugar Loaf area were scuttled when Wickstrom failed to redevelop the resort.

Stein told the rest of the township board at their regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening that he’d recently been approached by Fleis, who was apparently “feeling the township out” on the subject of the liquor license. Stein noted that there are few liquor licenses available in Cleveland Township, but that Fleis and his partner had “other alternatives” in acquiring one for their golf course.

Stein said he recommended that the township board take no action, but noted that Fleis has “every right to come before this board and make his case.”

Meanwhile, Sugar Loaf Resort remains listed for sale for $5.7 million, while Omena resident Brad Lutz conducts a “due diligence” investigation as part of his “option to purchase” the resort from Wickstrom.

In other business, the Cleveland Township Board:

• Learned that next month they will consider new ordinance language that will add “teeth” to township ordinances by classifying violations as civil infractions rather than misdemeanors. Stein said he had been in detailed discussions with township attorney Michael Kronk and will bring a set of recommendations to the board at their monthly meeting in May.

• Learned that the Leelanau County Construction Code Authority has informed Scenic Mountain View Estates property owner Steve Saffel that updated building permits for his decade-long building project have expired and that he needs to renew them and undergo new inspections. Meanwhile, neighbors continue to complain that Saffell’s project is an unsightly nuisance despite efforts over the years to prosecute Saffell and bring his project to an end.

• Agreed to retain the accounting firm Tobin & Company to conduct an audit of township finances this year based on a recommendation from clerk Jan Nemeskal. Earlier, other board members had expressed interest in seeking bids from other accounting firms, but Nemeskal convinced them this week that continuing to work with Tobin would be in the township’s best interests.

• Approved a $158,161 spending plan based on $222,707 in estimated revenues in the current fiscal year. The township’s annual budget had been the subject of a public hearing immediately following the township’s Annual Meeting on March 22. The board formally approved the budget in a 5-0 vote Tuesday evening.