Leelanau Township board trustees unanimously approved moving forward to pursue a land swap proposal for a stateowned portion of property at Woolsey Airport at its regular meeting on June 11.
Township Facilities Manager Ian Dawkins approached the board about the proposal, explaining how the township would gain approximately 15.317 acres of land at Woolsey Airport in exchange for swapping 14.474 acres of townshipowned land at the north end of Densmore Road near Mud Lake with the State of Michigan.
According to the township, it’s currently in the feasibility stage of the proposed land swap, with the objective being to address ownership concerns at the airport’s north runway, where part of the land is state owned. If addressed, the swap could streamline airport operations and improve safety. As the process gets underway and further analysis is considered, community input is welcomed while the board looks to ensure “the best outcome for everyone involved.”
“This has been out to the public for 30 days… we’re trying to follow a process, but we haven’t had a lot of feedback though,” said Leelanau Township Supervisor Mike McMillan. “The swap would then make the state park that was formerly township property be continuous now for the state, so that’s a plus for them. We pick up basically an extra acre and they can pick up 14 acres of continuous property.”
With the north end of the Woolsey Airport runway being partially overrun with emerging trees and shrubs, Dawkins said the swap would make maintaining the overall area easier. Woolsey Airport provides an unmanned airport terminal, two runways, and four hangars. The East-West runway is approximately 3,663 feet long and is equipped with pilot-activated landing lights and a pilotactivated lighted windsock. The North-South runway is 2,670 feet long.
“Then we can cut down trees that are starting to grow at the end of the runway, which would be difficult to get permission to do at the state park,” Dawkins said at the board meeting. “There was an idea for a kayak launch on Mud Lake, but this will not interfere with the proposed location for that. And I did not get any push back from anyone on parks and rec…” Along with pursuing the land swap proposal, board members approved a proposal to spend roughly $5,800 on the addition of an ADA accessible sidewalk at Woolsey Airport. The addition of the walkway to the bathrooms, which will be done by Buss Concrete, will ensure accessibility for people with disabilities and should be completed before the annual Northport Lions Club Fly-In, Drive-In event in August.
For more information, people can contact the township’s facilities manager Ian Dawkins at facilities@leelanautownshipmi. gov.
