Elmwood Township Board held a special meeting last week to approve an almost $80,000 contract with civil engineering company Wade Trim, to survey and design a multi-use trail going from the township offices to the M-22 intersection.
Leelanau Enterprise readers should already be familiar with the state’s plan to turn the intersection of M-22, M-72, and Bay Street into a roundabout in 2026. The stoplight there presents a bottleneck for people trying to get in and out of the peninsula via Traverse City, but construction of the roundabout may cause even greater disruptions for people working — or building — in the area.
The Elmwood Township board wants to complete the new multi-use trail off Cherry Bend Road before that happens, and to do that, they need funding. To that end, the board approved a contract with Wade Trim for a topographic survey and 30% of the preliminary design engineering for the Cherry Bend Road sidewalk project.
According to Township Supervisor Jeff Shaw, by completing at least 30% of the design work for this project, the township will be much more likely to successfully apply for a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant through the Michigan Department of Transportation. Shaw said that they would apply for this grant by June.
“We’re going to have to spend some money on a survey if we really want to pursue this. If there’s ever going to be a trail or sidewalks on Cherry Bend Road, this is the time to do it, because in 2026, Leelanau County Road Commission is going to completely redo Cherry Bend, so it’s our best opportunity in the next 30-50 years,” Shaw said.
Township officials currently believe that the trail will run along the south side of Cherry Bend Road from the M-22 intersection to Pickwick Court and onto Claremont Drive and Avondale Lane before arriving at Cherry Bend Park.
According to Shaw, a survey would confirm that this route could accommodate a multi-use trail, as the grading is steep at some points. There is already a grading easement for Avondale Lane, which will help the project move smoothly in the future.
In other business at March 27 meeting the board:
• Accepted a contract with Mid-State Asbestos Removal Inc. for remediation at the old harbormaster’s building at the Elmwood Township Marina, for a total of $3,400.
• Authorized a request from the township fire department to switch reports management systems from ImageTrend to ESO Solutions, Inc., due to problems with the current system. To fund this transition, the township board approved moving $7,000 from the fire fund to the 2024 fire budget.
• Approved a new wage scale for the marina and buildings and grounds workers, raising the starting wage from $14 to $16 an hour, and the second through fourth year salaries adjusted to reflect this increase.
• Approved a quote from Dockwa for marina management software, which in the words of an email to the township supervisor will “bring (the township marina) into the 21st century” by making it easier to manage slip contracts and allow users to upload their information to pay for their stubs online. The software management system will cost the township $8,000 per year.
• Approved a contract with Michigan Broadband to install security cameras at the township offices for $1,900 in labor and equipment and $57 per month for monitoring.
