Leelanau.com Blog
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courtesy The Grand Vision

The Ticker from the Traverse City Business News has a feature on the Leelanau Hills development that explains how contractor Bob Mitchell of Bob Mitchell & Associates of Kingsley became the new owner of Leelanau Hills in the the BayView development in Suttons Bay. He wasn't getting paid:

So Mitchell took legal recourse and sued developer Marcus Yono of Brighton for the $82,000 due to him. Imagine his surprise when no one bothered to show at the sheriff’s sale, leaving him the owner of the 45-acre development.

...According to Kit Wilson, the Suttons Bay Township Assessor, the property’s SEV is $3,196,970, resulting in a true value of $6,393,940. Quite a buy for that $82,000 lien.

Mitchell intends to have units at the development available for sale by next June or sooner.

Photo: Near Perfect... by KT of Lake Orion

Discussion closed here and continues at Turning the page on Sugar Loaf.

The headline reads Smith pulls Sugar Loaf bid: Sugar Loaf owner calls would-be developer 'a joke', and in it, Bill O'Brien of the Traverse City Record-Eagle reports that Liko Smith has withdrawn his bid for the long-shuttered Leelanau ski resort.

"I wanted to believe this was going to happen," Wickstrom said. "But he's obviously without the means to do anything."

Smith's website stated, "Unfortunately, at some point it is not healthy to (pursue) a deal," and he was pulling out of the project.

"I'm like the sixth buyer here, and I've got the farthest," he said.

Really? I wasn't aware that there were varying degrees of "nowhere" you could get to. Now we're left at the point where we were when Liko crashed into the scene this spring with one very important difference: a bunch of people are paying attention to Sugar Loaf.

We've decided to close our massive Sugar Loaf thread to new posts, add a link to the hibernating Friends of Sugar Loaf group on Facebook and start anew here with the simple question, What now for Sugar Loaf?

Thanks to the Glen Arbor Sun we found this great video from the Leelanau Conservancy and their Why Leelanau Blog. You can see all their videos on their YouTube channel - here's their latest - Summertime Fun:

Visit Up North Rentals is hosting an Open House this week. Visit their new location at 600 W Front Street in Traverse City anytime between 1pm - 4pm for light refreshments. On Friday, they will have their official Ribbon Cutting, celebrating with hot dogs and burgers!

At your visit, learn about their summer photo contest, where you could win a FREE 3 night stay at one of their cottages or condos.

Visit Up North Rentals has properties available throughout northern Michigan. New properties added daily! Let them make one of their vacation homes, your home away from home.

Join Judy Levin in Suttons Bay, Saturday, May 15 from 1:00 pm - 3:00pm, for the Suttons Bay Village Open House Blast. Nine houses will be featured. Download the flyer for more information on the the houses.

For more information, please visit Judy's site or contact her at 231-218-7653 or judy@judylevin.com.

On Wednesday, May 12th from 6:30 AM-8:30 PM, MSUE-Leelanau and Grand Traverse offices will co-host a workshop titled Growing Grapes in the Home Garden, at the MSU Northwest Horticultural Research Station, located at 6686 S. Center Highway (approx. 7 Mi. S. of Suttons Bay).

Dr. Duke Elsner, Agricultural Agent (specializing in viticulture & wine education) from the MSUE-Grand Traverse Office will provide classroom and field-based instruction on the following topics related to table and wine grapes: variety selection; site requirements; basic vine structure and growth; planting and early care; basic trellising; vine training and pruning; and pest management.

The cost of the workshop is $5 per person. Informational bulletins related to growing grapes will be available for an additional fee. Advanced registration is recommended. To register, call 256-8323, or download a registration form from www.msue.msu.edu/leelanau. ‘

The event is part of the 2010 "Green Garden" program, a series of spring programs focusing on environmentally sustainable gardening practices. For more information about other programs offered in the Green Garden series, visit the above website, or contact Pam Schmidt, Leelanau County Home Horticulturalist at 231/256-8323.

Photo credit: Vineyard Grapes by troyryans/2155928176/

From The Grand Vision:

ACTION FOR TOMORROW!

The Grand Vision Citizen Action Expo takes place on Monday, May 10th at Northwest Michigan College's Hagerty Center in Traverse City from 5:30 - 7:30 PM.

Grand Vision WorkshopsOver the past three years, nearly 15,000 residents from Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau and Wexford counties participated in the Grand Vision: attending workshops, filling out scorecards and generating an unprecedented level of community support in selecting a preferred growth scenario for the next 50 years.

Now the time for action has come. On May 10, 2010 the Grand Vision Citizen Action Expo will kick off a six-county wide action campaign to implement the Grand Vision.

This event will kick off our citizen action campaign and offer folks in the region a chance to learn how to get personally involved with implementing the Grand Vision. Participants will engage in a hands-on session that will guide them through specific action opportunities to implement the Grand Vision. Opportunities range from personal action, to volunteer partnerships with local organizations and non-profits, and community leadership roles. In true Grand Vision fashion, the whole process will be citizen led.

Dozens of local organizations, non-profits and businesses who are building the Grand Vision will be on-hand to offer information and support. Plus, there will be a fresh update on the progress of the Grand Vision working groups and the Grand Vision Transportation study.

The Grand Vision Citizen Action Expo will launch a series of expos that will take place in Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska, Leelanau and Wexford counties. More information on those events will be coming soon.

What: Grand Vision Citizen Action Expo

Help us promote the Grand Vision Expo!

Download and print the 2010 Grand Vision Expo Poster!

Promote the Grand Vision Citizen Action Expo by joining our cause on Facebook!

Looking for something fun to do This Mother's Day Weekend? Green Fest is free fun for the whole family. Green Saturday, May 8 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at Clinch Park in Traverse City.

The GreenFest has something for everyone, bring the kids for a Kite Contest, put their hands to work at the Home Depot® Kid's Corner, let them plant a flower for mom at Green Lake Gardens' potting stand, enter a coloring contest (click here), and enter a Essay Contest. This is the place to connect with people, ideas, information, products and services related to green. Get great ideas from green professionals, discover how to reduce your utility bills, learn about green products and services, and explore green initiatives in our community. Please look at the Schedule of Events here.

There will also be free films at the Traverse City State Theatre ("Ice Age 2", at 10 am, and "Greenburg: A Story of Community Rebuilding", at 8 pm, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio) and in the Con Foster Building speakers (including John B. Carnett, photographer for POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINE) to inform and entertain the public and professional communities about the emerging green marketplace and the products and technologies this movement is creating.

Photo: The Beautiful Boardman by OMG its Shortiie

UPDATE 4/10: A reader sent a collection of annotated links that offers some interesting reading.

UPDATE 4/8: TV 7&4 has a report that includes an interview with Liko Smith that addresses tax issues. Definitely worth watching!

Yesterday the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported that Liko Smith, a Las Vegas-based entrepreneur is working to purchase Sugar Loaf Resort in Leelanau County:

The Las Vegas-based entrepreneur has big plans for Leelanau County's long-shuttered Sugar Loaf Resort, and he wants it open in a hurry. If all goes according to plans, he'll plunk down millions and have 100 rooms open at the resort's hotel by July 4.

"The key to this is speed and pragmatism," he said Friday.

The once-popular resort that covers several hundred acres in Cleveland and Centerville townships closed in 2000 amid a sea of financial troubles and back-to-back poor snow seasons. Multiple attempts to reopen never materialized.

Smith, 39, said he'd spend about $10 million to purchase the entire resort, an attached golf course and a supporting water treatment plant, parcels now owned by separate parties. He's been in contact with owners and hopes to finalize the purchase soon.

"All the contracts are being drafted; we expect to close by the end of the month," he said.

Then yesterday, in response to a slew of internet postings, the Record-Eagle followed up with news that he faces felony grand theft and embezzlement charges in California's El Dorado County, and is the subject of numerous derisive Internet postings about past business endeavors.

On Monday, Smith said "everybody makes mistakes," and said he remains committed to the Sugar Loaf purchase.

"If the citizens of Leelanau County and Traverse City want that place open; I'm the guy to do it," he said.

I did a lot of reading on Smith, both through articles about his endeavors linked from the Sugar Loaf Facebook group and other places as well as what he has to say on his web site. Sugar Loaf does need someone to come in and hit it very hard and very fast with a lot of money, something that Smith appears to bring to the table. Not having met or spoken with him, I find it hard to gauge whether or not he's a person who can be trusted to get the job done. Here's hoping...

The photos for this article were provided by Glen Arbor photographer Jeff Rabidoux. See these and a lot more beautiful landscape photos at lifeonthe45th.com.