TRAVERSE CITY — The lawsuit against Grand Traverse County and Long Lake Township over ownership of Twin Lakes Park took another turn this week when the plaintiffs’ attorney submitted a written settlement offer.
At issue is whether the 2023 transfer of the 176-acre park from the county to the township was legal, and whether that transfer violates the rights of nearby homeowners.
Two landowners next to Twin Lakes Park are suing the county and township to the reverse the transfer, alleging it violates a deed restriction from 1941-1943 when the late Circuit Court Judge Parm C. Gilbert donated the land to the county.
They also allege the park transfer reduced their real property rights and values, while breaching contractural and due process rights.
The landowners are Ames Gallagher, trustee of the James K. and Patsy A. Gallagher Trust, and Chazz McCall, trustee of the Charles William McCall Trust.
“I made the county a settlement offer, which they will have to vote on whether to accept or reject at their June 5th (county board) meeting,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Brace Kern. “The offer is for the county to take it back now at no cost, or we will make them take it back later – when we do that we will also make them pay a price.”
Kern also submitted a detailed list of 155 “admissions,” or legal inquiries, to both county and township officials on May 9 as part of the lawsuit’s discovery process.
In addition, Kern has given notice to six local officials, including three sitting county commissioners, that they will be subject to a sworn deposition in mid-July if the matter isn’t settled before then.
Long Lake Township officials confirmed that the latest settlement offer was on the agenda at Tuesday’s township board meeting but provided no additional details by press time. Both county and township officials have refused to comment on the lawsuit in recent months because it is “an ongoing legal matter.”
Grand Traverse County officially transferred the park to Long Lake Township in September 2023, about 18 months after board members approved the move in a 4-2 decision.
At that time, Commissioners Betsy Coffia and Brad Jewett opposed the transfer, while Commissioner Bryce Hundley abstained. Both the county parks staff and Child and Family Services, a Twin Lakes tenant for its YouthWork program, expressed opposition to the transfer.
As part of the transfer deal, the county agreed to pay $124,000 to the township for urgently needed maintenance work. The township contributed a nearly equal amount of money for roof repairs to the dorm, lodge and cabin on the site. The county also reassigned a $1,000 per month payment from a cell phone tower lease on the property to the township.
Several reasons were given for the transfer at the time. Some county board members noted that Twin Lakes Park was losing money each year and that the township was better equipped to maintain the facility.
Opponents of the deal suggested that the county was transferring the property to avoid liability, such as potential lawsuits in the case of a drowning. Three drownings have occurred in Twin Lakes, most recently in 2010 and 2013, according to the plaintiffs.
In response, county board Chairman Rob Hentschel said Long Lake Township was doing “an excellent job” maintaining and enhancing the park. If the county is forced to take back ownership, he said, it may simply lease it back to the township for an extended period of time.
In an op-ed column in Saturday’s Record-Eagle, plaintiffs’ spokesperson Kay Gallagher Ingraham criticized the township’s new master plan for the park, which calls for more entrances and parking places, among other changes. She also questioned how the township will pay for those changes.
“Long Lake Township residents will bear the entire cost of this rather than the costs being spread across the entire county,” she wrote. “If the county wouldn’t take on this expensive expansion, why is the township willing to do so? Doesn’t a forthcoming millage seem inevitable?”
“Residents of Grand Traverse County and Long Lake Township should be concerned about preserving our parks,” she added. “If we don’t save Twin Lakes as a county park, will the commissioners dispose of Power Island next? Are the commissioners disposing of parklands that make Grand Traverse County unique?”
The ongoing dispute was overshadowed Wednesday when the county board voted 7-2 to approve the $3 million purchase of the GO-REC property in East Bay Township. That 196-acre site is expected to become a new county party in the near future.