Developer Mike Weger and Orion Township officials will have to wait a while longer to learn if a proposed land swap will affect part of Bald Mountain.
A vote by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission on whether to allow a swap of 82.7 acres of land in Oakland and Addison Townships, owned by Weger, for 90.9 acres of state-owned Bald Mountain Recreation Area property on M-24, was delayed last fall.
Weger and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources have said that allowing the state to take control of his property on Indian Lake would allow an additional access point to Bald Mountain, which the land is adjacent to. Orion Township officials contend that the swap would take away recreational property from the township, and compound already-existing traffic problems on M-24 should Weger decide to develop the property.
‘This started almost three years ago,? said Orion Township supervisor Jerry Dywasuk. ‘I had heard rumors and I was upset.?
Dywasuk said he was ‘offended? that the township was not told about the proposed swap until a vote was almost ready to be taken. He said he found out about it after appraisers contacted his office.
?(The DNR) invited Oakland and Addison Township people…they walked the property. We were never invited,? Dywasuk said.
The township used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain paperwork on the proposed swap from Lansing, and Dywasuk said they learned there that the land could be swapped, but the secretary of the interior had to sign off on it.
‘We contacted an attorney, John Staran, because our attorneys didn’t feel comfortable representing us because they also represent two of the other communities involved in the swap,? Dywasuk said. ‘We are doing our do diligence…we’re trying to get the DNR to hold a public hearing on this.?
Dywasuk said he had heard that if the swap was approved, the Bald Mountain property could be worth $20-25 million for development.
‘We’re trying to be advocates for the land,? he added. ‘You take that piece, and what’s next??
According to Dywasuk, he had received some anonymous letters supporting the swap, but that he believed there would be no benefit for Orion Township.
‘Some people say added tax revenue, but Orion Township is not hurting,? he added.
The process before a vote is taken on the swap will be along one, Dywasuk said, and the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments will probably hold a public hearing for input in the meantime.
‘Like a fact finding, so people could come say why they are for or against this,? he said.
Dywasuk also noted that DNR Director K.L. Cool’s contract expires in May, and was not extended by the commission.