A winter storm that occurred between Leelanau County Road Commission meetings brought an ample supply of snow to the county.
But the Manistee-Benzie Snowbirds still need to obtain a permit from the road commission to use a right of way on Newman Road in Kasson Township.
Staff are waiting for the group to submit a revised trail route and plan resolving their signage and safety concerns.
Road Commission Manager Brendan Mullane said that he met with county Sheriff Mike Borkovich, Michael Cote of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Snowbirds club members on Jan. 16 to drive along the proposed route and discuss their concerns.
“We have a lot of safety concerns with the route that they’ve proposed — (stopping) sight distance being one of the big ones, and how they’re letting snowmobilers know that they’re going to have to go into the road, because on Newman (Road), they’ll have to,” Mullane told the road commissioners.
In email correspondence with the DNR, Mullane wrote that at least one proposed trail crossing, near the intersection of Pettengill Road in Kasson Township and Rayle Road in Almira Township, Benzie County, has only about 300 feet of sight distance out of a required 495 feet. Mullane also noted in this Jan. 16 email that the signage plan for the trail was still inadequate in several areas.
Mullane said in his email that before the road commission grants permission to the Snowbirds, the club needs to show they’ve made a “good faith effort to offer reasonable accommodations” to all homeowners residing along the proposed trail location.
Back in November, several Newman Road residents showed up asking the road commission to deny the snowmobile club’s application over concerns about snowmobilers damaging private property off the trail or colliding with pedestrians. According to Mullane, the road commission has been encouraging the Snowbirds to reach out and try to work with residents, but “this doesn’t seem to have happened” yet.
“They should at least reach out and try to work with homeowners … I don’t think it’s fair to say you need their permission — it is a public right-of-way that we have jurisdiction over — but some of the feedback we’ve got is maybe they would like some snow fence in certain areas to keep people aimed at the road. I think it’s important to try to be part of the community,” Mullane said.
The Leelanau Peninsula received nearly 28 inches of snow in seven days earlier this month, according to National Weather Service reports coming from Maple City. In a comment to the newspaper after the Jan. 16 meeting, Mullane praised commission staff and supervisors, saying they “did a great job” handling the first signifi cant weather event of the season.
“They’re out there every day, bright and early. The supervisors are out there when they have to be. I’m very happy with how they managed the storm. We are shorthanded, and I think they’re doing a great job covering that gap,” he said.
Also at this meeting, the road commission:
• Approved a proposal to appear on the primary election ballot on Aug. 6, 2024, asking voters to renew the road millage at a rate of 0.5 mills for 20242025. This rate has been approved every two years since 1986 and will raise a little over $1.8 million in its first year if approved again in 2024, according to estimates.
• Accepted a $51,107 bid from Summit Fire Protection to replace the fire monitoring systems at the road commission’s Suttons Bay and Maple City garages.
• Accepted a $705,524 bid from Stoops Western Star for four plow trucks, to be purchased in 2025.
• Approved a proposal from Wade Trim for construction engineering of the Gallivan Road project for $82,000. This project is slated for summer 2024 and 2025 and will be funded through the Rural Task Force program, which provides funding for Michigan counties with populations below 400,000.
• Adopted a schedule assigning each of the five road commissioners to visit the county’s 11 townships for the commission’s annual presentations.
