The Glen Arbor Township Board voted Tuesday evening to move forward with a proposed purchase agreement for the Martin property at 6400-6408 Western Ave., advancing a plan that could eventually put the decision to township voters.
“To me, this is the heart of the community,” Treasurer Don Lewis said. “It’s a phenomenally valuable asset.”
The resolution authorizes the township to enter into a purchase agreement for the property at a proposed price of $1.35 million. The vote passed on a 3-2 vote with Clerk Pam Laureto and Supervisor Tom Laureto voting against the measure.
The resolution does not finalize the purchase. Instead, it allows the township to go ahead with the due diligence process that includes environmental reviews, inspections, appraisal work and lease reviews before any potential ballot proposal is seen by the voters.
Bob Ihme, co-owner of Leelanau Vacation Realty, was in attendance and first brought the property to the board’s attention in April. Ihme has been involved in the discussions surrounding the potential purchase and will serve as the township’s buyer’s agent during the transaction should it continue to move forward.
The resolution language was revised to state that acquiring the property would serve the public purpose of “expanding and enhancing the township center.”
Lewis said the acquisition could help address longstanding needs, including parking, public restroom access and space constraints of the current building by turning the Martin property into the new township offices. Under that vision, the current township hall could be repurposed as a community center and recreational facility.
Not all board members were convinced that they had sufficiently defined the vision of how the property should be used.
“I hate to be the one to take the punch out of the party, but your vision has to be consistent with what the majority of voters are going to hear this November,” Tom Laureto told Lewis. “It has to be articulated, and you’re saying it’s going to expand and enhance.”
Trustee John DePuy came to Lewis’ defense saying, “I think Don has got the right attitude about why we feel, or at least I feel, that it enhances the township center and it preserves a part of the community…If the people don’t see it that way, they’ll vote against it.”
Pam Laureto jumped in to caution moving forward without having looked at the current lease agreements at the Martin property. “Several of us have said that we don’t want to be landlords. I think most people agree with that but we have yet to see the leases,” she said.
Trustee Bob Hawley agreed with Laureto, “to me, that’s a dealbreaker.”
Pam Laureto, township clerk, also raised the concern of spending township funds, around $35,000 between due diligence and earnest money, before voters have the opportunity to weigh in. Ihme assured her that the leases will be reviewed during the initial inspections and also noted that if the voters ultimately reject the project, some of the money spent on inspections and other due diligence work may be recoverable.
Township resident Jim Lewis raised concerns during public comment, echoing worries about not having a solid plan laid out for the property and whether it should be bought by the township at all.
“I think there are a lot of other uses of that land that could be put forward besides being used by the township,” he said and added that voters will expect more specific answers before being asked to support the purchase.
At the start of the meeting, the board recognized firefighter paramedic Erin Hester for successfully completing her probationary period and formally swore her into her full time role with the Glen Lake Fire Department.
“Firefighter Hester, thank you for your dedication to this department and the community we serve,” Fire Chief Bryan Ferguson said. “We are all very proud of you.”
