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News from the Keweenaw Peninsula October 10, 2001 Photos (except as noted) and Text © 2001 Michele Anderson

Compromise on Gratiot River easement may increase land for public access

EAGLE RIVER -- Two men at odds over property rights for nine years decided to talk, arrived at a compromise and shook hands on a deal that could not only save a park for Keweenaw County at the Mouth of the Gratiot River but make another 503 acres and nearly 5,000 feet of Lake Superior shoreline north of the river available for public ownership and recreation.

Glen Tolksdorf, left, shakes hands with John Griffith after both announced their proposed agreement at the Oct. 9, 2001, Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting in the Courthouse in Eagle River. Pictured also are, from left, Commissioners Don Keith and Jeff Turnquist, Clerk Marilyn Winquist and Commissioner Gordon Roberts. Not visible but present are Commissioners Eric Bjorn and Frank Stubenrauch, chairman. (Photo courtesy Pat Ryan of Eagle Harbor)

At the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9, John Griffith, North Woods Conservancy president and member of the Allouez Township Planning Committee, and Glen Tolksdorf, realtor and forestry consultant, did something that saved county officials from a dilemma of whether or not to vote for a proposed easement including a potential bridge across the Gratiot River.

In late September, International Paper/Lake Superior Land Co. (IP/LSLC) prepared papers to add the easement to the county's intended purchase of 100 acres, 4,000 feet of Lake Superior shore and 3,000 feet of the Gratiot River, to be funded by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The county has been working for more than a year to acquire the parcel for a park providing public access for hunting, fishing, primitive camping and other recreational activities.

Mouth of the Gratiot River, looking upstream. (Photo courtesy John Griffith)

The proposed easement and bridge would have allowed Tolksdorf and six other families owning property in Section 12 to access their property on the north side of the river for development. However, the impact of a bridge and road through a recreation area could jeopardize $588,000 in grants awarded to Keweenaw County for the mouth of the Gratiot purchase. Griffith and other property owners in Section 13 have previously allowed access to Section 12 through their property only for historic recreational and timbering uses -- a position upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court last spring, after a nine-year court battle between the two parties over access for development.

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, Griffith and Tolksdorf issued a joint statement outlining their agreement to resolve the easement issue and announced their compromise at the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting that evening. The agreement states as follows:

"The owners of Section 13 agree to grant an easement providing full unlimited access to the owners of Section 12 across Section 13, provided that

The owners of Section 12 sell their properties (at full, with-access appraised value) directly to a unit of government or to an intermediate buyer who will convey the properties to a unit of government, for use as a public park.

Upon completion of the sales, the owners of Section 12 will withdraw their request for an easement from Lake Superior Land Company / International Paper to access Section 12 from the south and across the Gratiot River.

Therefore, the sale of the Mouth of the Gratiot River as originally negotiated between Keweenaw County and Lake Superior Land Company may proceed."

Tolksdorf said the agreement means Griffith would give a written, unconditional easement across his property on the north side of the Gratiot and the land would eventually go to a public entity.

"We just used the road (in the past), but it was never in writing," Tolksdorf said. "This will protect the future access to both Section 12 and Section 11 (part of the county purchase on the north side of the river)."

Tolksdorf told the County Board Tuesday that about two thirds of the Section 12 property owners had already agreed to the principle of the proposed agreement.

"A lot of these people live elsewhere, and we're just waiting to hear back from them," Tolksdorf said on Wednesday, Oct. 10. "I'm pretty sure they'll all agree to this, just as long as it goes to a public entity."

He explained that some of the landowners live in Detroit, Nebraska, Milwaukee and Lower Michigan and that these are mostly seasonal properties.

"We've agreed on a price also -- $350 per lakefront foot," Tolksdorf added. "Anything that appraises higher than that would be considered a contribution to the public entity from the landowners of Section 12. It's probably a low fair market value. I think with the access it should appraise higher, but that's what we agreed to."

Tolksdorf said he hoped to hear from the other landowners by the end of the week and to have a written agreement by next week.

The public entity could be the county, Allouez Township or the State of Michigan, Griffith explained.

Griffith said on Wednesday, Oct. 10, that Walt Arnold, IP/LSLC director of marketing and sales, was instrumental in helping the two parties negotiate a solution.

"(Walt's) role was to encourage both parties to find a solution that would not include a bridge over the Gratiot River," Griffith explained.

The agreement is not a signed, legal document. Although the details have yet to be worked out, Griffith said the results of the agreement will be:

1. The county will obtain the Mouth of the Gratiot River utilizing the Trust Fund (75%, $441,000) and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) (25%, $147,000) grants.
    
2. There will be no bridge across the Gratiot River and no easement through the new park.
    
3. Section 12 (503 acres and nearly 5,000 feet of Lake Superior frontage) will be added to the park.

Arnold said Wednesday that he felt both Griffith and Tolksdorf deserve credit for working with each other to achieve these results.

"I would call it a proposal," Arnold noted, "but hopefully it will turn into an agreement … I always encourage win-win solutions towards these types of matters."

Arnold said IP/LSLC would like to close on the sale of the property to the county as soon as possible.

"We're very much for the county acquiring that property, and we are working with them to make that happen," Arnold noted. "I feel we've helped them get that grant extended through the end of this month."

Keweenaw County Commissioners Jeffrey Turnquist, left, and Frank Stubenrauch, chair, have worked for more than a year to acquire the mouth of the Gratiot River property for Keweenaw County. Pictured in the background is Keweenaw County Clerk Marilyn Winquist.

During the Oct. 9 County Board meeting, Commissioner Jeff Turnquist praised Commissioner Frank Stubenrauch, County Board chair, for his efforts to acquire the mouth of the Gratiot River for Keweenaw County.

"I know Frank, ever since I've been on this board, has told me that the mouth of the Gratiot should be in public hands. There's nobody in this courtroom or in Keweenaw County that desires that more than Frank Stubenrauch, and I trust him fully to negotiate the contract in the best interests of the people of the county," Turnquist said.

Stubenrauch gave Turnquist credit for the work he did in writing the grant proposal.

Said Commissioner Gordon Roberts, "You both deserve a lot of credit."

Continued Page 2: County will still request reappraisal of property to include easement
 

Note: Read the full text of the Griffith-Tolksdorf joint statement in our Views section. Read background on the past Griffith-Tolksdorf case and its relationship with the mouth of the Gratiot purchase, discussed at a recent meeting of the North Woods Conservancy.