Leland Township trustees voted 3-1 to move forward with reviewing documents to pursue the transfer of deed for the Munnecke property to the Leland Township Public Library at last Thursday’s special meeting.
The same motion also appointed trustee Clint Mitchell and Leland Township Clerk Lisa Brookfield to be on the negotiating team for the property transfer.
Susan Och, township supervisor, voted against pursuing the transfer of deed citing that the decision seemed abrupt.
“First of all, this whole process, our attorney did caution me not to rush into this, he suggested it’d be better to have this thoroughly aired to the public…” Och said at the meeting. “Even with the problems that it has, it’s a pretty valuable piece of property to take out of the township’s hands.”
Brookfield, who supported the motion to pursue the transfer of deed made by Mitchell, suggested that they “don’t get too deep into the weeds about discussing the merits” and terms of the proposal at the meeting, adding that because the topic will be in negotiations, that they involve the township attorney and have a closed session to talk more about the details. She said after the board goes over the proposal with legal counsel, then they could bring it back to the public at another meeting for input.
“I think we have details that need to be hammered out, and I don’t care to do that in a public meeting where we’re talking about negotiating the transfer of property,” Brookfield said. “I think it’s appropriate for us to have a closed session before we actually talk about this too much… So in spirit, I think this could be very good for the library property itself and for the library and for the community.”
“We have the term sheets, the proposals, the presentations… now we need to know from the board’s perspective what they’d like to see,” Mitchell added at the meeting. “This is just kind of an opening to decide if we should enter into this, at which point we can meet and discuss further and decide what the parameters are, what we need to see out of the deal…”
MUNNECKE DEED TRANSFER TERMS
Representatives from the library including the director, Mark Morton, and library board president Berkley Duck, originally handed out copies of the term sheet for the Munnecke deed property transfer, the intergovernmental agreement for library management, and a copy of their presentation, in August to the township board.
In Duck’s presentation, he explained how the library is proposing to take over the reconstruction of the township’s Leland river seawall, going into detail about the history of the property and how it came to be.
According to library representatives, the township acquired the library property, which also houses the Leelanau Historical Society (LHS), the Munnecke room, and the seawall, was deeded from Wilbur and Louise Munnecke dated May 28, 1974. The library was operated as a division of the township, with the land under the Leelanau Historical Society Museum leased from the township for 99 years with a rent payment of $1 per year.
However, in August of 2016, voters approved the reorganization of the library as an independent governmental authority with a millage dedicated to its operation. At the time, an election of an independent board of directors to manage the library was held, followed by the township and the library board of directors entering into an intergovernmental agreement. In the agreement under the “maintenance, repair, and utilities” section, its noted that the township agrees to “keep and maintain” the “ground,” which include the “riverside bulkheads and docks,” in “good repair and condition,” and to do that work in “a good and workman-like manner.”
Library leaders stated in their presentation that it is concerned about the “lack of progress in repairing the seawall” and that “it is at risk of collapse and, in that event, it cannot be reconstructed under current environmental laws and regulations.”
“The loss of the seawall and dock could eventually threaten the foundations of the land improvements and would deprive boaters on Lake Leelanau of any access to the library and LHS, the Leland shops and restaurants, and the Lake Michigan beaches,” the library presentation document states.
The terms of the transaction would include the cost of the property to the library, which would be $1, since the property has no commercial value and its use is limited to the purposes set forth in the Munnecke deed. The terms would also include the township’s recognition “of its current obligation to repair the seawall,” and at the closing of the transfer, the township would contribute to the library an amount to be determined to be used for the project. In addition, the library would agree to use its “best efforts” to secure the remaining funding by means of a capital campaign.
If the deed transfer is approved by the township, the current intergovernmental agreement would be terminated at closing. The library and Leelanau Historical Society would enter into a new lease agreement that would provide the terms of LHS’ continued occupancy of the premises including an “equitable sharing with the library of the costs of maintaining the grounds and improvements.” The township would continue to have scheduling priority for the use of the Munnecke room for its regular and special meetings, and the “restrictive covenants” in the Munnecke deed, the terms that do not prohibit the proposed transaction, would continue in full force and effect.
The next meeting to discuss the deed transfer has yet to be scheduled, but according to the deed property term document, the library hopes to close on the transfer on or before Oct. 31.
