Township officials say residents of Orion Township will be the losers if a proposed land swap between a private developer and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Commission goes through, but the developer said residents from four townships will be getting a “crown jewel” piece of property on Indian Lake.
The DNR is scheduled to vote on the land swap in Lansing on Oct. 9. If the deal goes through, developer Mike Weger will become the owner of 90.9 acres of Bald Mountain Recreation Area property, located at the corner of southbound M-24 and Scripps Road.
The property has been appraised at $3,200,000, and is a former farm that has been sharecropped for the past few years. The area includes a small five-acre wooded area, with new development to the north and south limiting hunting use.
The land offered by Weger is 82.7 acres of property on Indian Lake Road in Oakland Township, appraised at $3,500,000. The property adjoins with Bald Mountain to the south and has frontage on Indian Lake.
The area includes 20 acres of wetland, along with rolling, partially-wooded land. The property contains corners of Addison, Oxford, Oakland and Orion Townships, and if the swap goes through, the state plans to use it as an additional entrance to the Bald Mountain State Recreation Area.
Weger said the property would also allow a 20-mile loop between the Polly Ann and Paint Creek Trails, highly benefiting Orion Township.
“It would tie all four townships together with trail,” he said. “I was in the process of platting (the Indian Lake) property to use as a single-family sub. I was about a month away from doing the engineering when one of the neighbors asked if I’d be willing to sell the land to (Oakland Township) as a park.”
Weger, who built in 1978 and still owns Willow Creek Adventure Golf on M-24, had found unique plant life and wild life on the Indian Lake property and said he wasn’t eager to develop it.
“I was really starting to feel like ‘Did I really want to put homes on this thing?'” he said. “In 2001, (Oakland Township) asked me to hold off…I shut everything down.”
However, Weger said Oakland Township wasn’t able to pass enough millage that year to buy the property from him.
“I started to feel like this really does belong in the public domain,” he said. “And if anyone could benefit, it was Bald Mountain.”
Weger got in touch with the DNR, and was told they were interested in the property but didn’t have the funds to purchase it from him.
“They asked me to consider a land exchange,” said Weger. “The properties are similar in size, and the most critical thing was that lands to be acquired were equal to or greater in value than the land they were giving up.”
Weger said the land on M-24 isn’t available for public use, while his property on Indian Lake could provide enjoyment for not only Orion residents, but those from the three other neighboring townships as well.
“(The M-24 land) is totally unusable, and mine is absolutely the most ideal piece of crown jewel land. There is wildlife, open fields, wetlands,” he said. “It leads right into the rest of Bald Mountain. I said, ‘This is absolutely, 100 percent a win for the DNR.”
Orion Township officials beg to differ, saying Weger will be the only winner if the swap is allowed to go through. Orion Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk said trustees planned to vote on a resolution stating their opposition to the swap at their Oct. 6 meeting.
“In July I was contacted by a couple of appraisers out of Ann Arbor who were hired by the DNR to investigate the sale of property (in Orion Township),” said Dywasuk. “I tried to discourage it…I alerted our state representatives…that there was a rumor of some investigation going on by the DNR.”
According to Dywasuk, the township only recently learned that the issue was to be brought up at a hearing in Lansing on Oct. 9 or 10, while Weger said he was only notified himself on Sept. 12.
“We’ve had no contact from the DNR,” Dywasuk said. “All the sudden we’re moving ahead on this thing.”
Orion Township treasurer James Marleau said at the time the state acquired the property on M-24 ,it did not have funds to do so and were able to make the purchase with a grant.
“That’s where these stipulations come from,” he added. “It was a Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant.”
Orion Township Assessor John Atwell said the stipulations on the grant say that the land can not be made to be used for other than outdoor recreation use.
“(Weger’s) land is private land with 20 acres of wetlands,” said Marleau. “Quite frankly, they’re valuing the smaller piece of property at a higher value.”
“We’ll continue to keep our legislators involved…the federal government…and our attorneys involved,” said Dywasuk. “We want to get a copy of the application and copies of the appraisals. The thing that bothers all of us is, it has taken so long to get the information…and if we hadn’t raised the issue, we might not know anything about it.”
Weger said the negative aspect of the deal for Orion Township is it will lose a corner of open space in the township.
“The benefit for all the residents…is to save and have forever a pristine piece of property,” he said.
The property on M-24 is zoned for recreation, the same as the driving range Weger owns on M-24.
“I helped write that zoning when I came in in 1978,” Weger said. “That’s what it is zoned for, and that’s my desire, to create another outdoor recreation activity in a concentrated area.”
Weger said he is considering an executive or par three golf course for the M-24 property, or something like a rollerblading course.
“Addison, Oxford, Oakland Townships…they are all behind this,” he said. “Everyone says this is a win-win.”
Dywasuk disagreed, saying he saw Weger as the only winner in the deal.
“This is not good for Orion Township,” he said. “This is why citizens get cynical of government…We’re trying to retain the flavor of Orion Township…this is just a slap in the face to all the residents.”
Marleau said no matter what Weger does with the property on M-24, it will add a further traffic burden to an already crowded road.
“It’ll definitely be more than what the geese and the deer are using,” he added.
According to Dywasuk, the township is willing to see the issue go to court if that is what they have to do to keep the property on M-24 state land.
“We could end up in court for the next five years and everyone loses,” he said. “If we have to go to court, we’ll go to court.”
Weger believes the township would feel differently if they came out to see the site on Indian Lake.
“I wish they would contact me and come see it,” he said.