County Commissioners Agree to Meet with Twin Lakes Plaintiffs

Grand Traverse County commissioners voted 6-1 Wednesday – with Commissioner Darryl Nelson opposed and Commissioners Rob Hentschel and Brian McCallister absent – to meet with Long Lake Township officials and the plaintiffs in ongoing litigation over the ownership of Twin Lakes Park. The plaintiffs are seeking to have the park taken back over by the county after they allege commissioners illegally transferred the property to the township in 2023.

Commissioners Wednesday also heard an update on a conditions assessment of the Grand Traverse County Jail and approved spending up to $25,000 to have a countywide Day of Service and Celebration July 8 in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary and the National Cherry Festival’s 100th anniversary.

Twin Lakes Park
Commissioners spent roughly a half hour in closed session Wednesday before coming out and voting publicly to offer to meet with Long Lake Township officials and plaintiffs in the lawsuit over Twin Lakes Park ownership. Commissioners voted in 2022 in a split decision to give the park to Long Lake Township, with the property transfer finalized in 2023.

Shortly after, two Long Lake Township landowners – James Gallagher, trustee of the James K. & Patsy A. Gallagher Trust, and Chazz McCall, trustee of the Charles William McCall Trust – sued over the property transfer, arguing that the site’s deed restrictions required the park to remain county-owned. In another split decision, commissioners rejected a settlement offer in that case in which plaintiffs offered to dismiss the lawsuit and seek no damages if the transfer was voided and Twin Lakes returned to Grand Traverse County.

James Gallagher passed away in January 2025, with his daughter Kay Gallagher continuing to help spearhead the case. A new draft complaint sent this month by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Brace Kern, to commissioners and township trustees shows that multiple other neighbors are now prepared to join the case. They include Michael Gallagher, Donald Gallagher, Rose Douglas, Karen Bishop, James C. Gallagher, Shannon Weber, Samuel and Cymbre Foster, and Timothy Lambert – all of whom have interest in properties bordering the park.

Kern’s letter stated that the plaintiffs were offering “the opportunity to decide whether you would like to resolve this matter without resorting to litigation.” During public comment Wednesday, Kay Gallagher said the families do not want “a protracted legal battle that drains public resources. Taxpayers should not be paying legal fees to defend a transfer that never should have happened.” What the group wants is to “return the park (to the county), end the litigation, and stop burning public funds,” she said. “We would much rather resolve this around a table than in a courtroom.”

Others also spoke during public comment both for and against an ownership reversal. David Grams, a former county Parks and Recreation commissioner, said he felt “the decision to give away Twin Lakes was not motivated by a desire to serve the public.” He said the county’s own legal counsel had previously warned against the move. “Ignoring that direct advice is a monumental lapse in judgment,” he said.

However, Heather Cartwright – great-granddaughter of Judge Parm Gilbert, who donated the land to the county in the 1940s – said Gilbert’s heirs “fully and unanimously” support the park transfer to Long Lake Township. The family believes the transfer, which “was not done in secret,” was consistent with Gilbert’s intention to preserve the property for public recreation, according to Cartwright. She said the plaintiffs had a “technical misunderstanding” of the deed restrictions, with the heirs believing that county ownership was not “operative” to that agreement. Instead, maintaining public park use was the key focus, Cartwright said.

Community group Traverse Indivisible, which has publicly supported the plaintiffs, celebrated the commission’s offer to meet with the plaintiffs following Wednesday’s meeting. “We want to applaud the county commissioners for their efforts to move forward in good faith and (hopefully) avoid taking this to court, potentially costing taxpayer dollars,” the group posted on Facebook. “This is far from resolved, but we need to celebrate every win, every step of the way.”

Also at Wednesday’s meeting…
> Commissioners heard an update from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), which has been on the ground this week performing an assessment of the Grand Traverse County Jail – a service provided at no cost to the county. Kathryn Bryan of NIC said her early impression was that while the jail has been “extraordinarily maintained” given its age, it is at the “terminal end” of its lifespan and is “insufficient across the board to meet the needs of the community right now.”

Bryan said jails built in the era Grand Traverse County’s was constructed – in this case 1964 – “were built for a different time, a different population, and different lengths of stays of inmates.” The county’s jail was not designed with programming or treatment in mind, she said, which is a more prominent focus in corrections today. NIC will be proving a more detailed written report on its findings in the coming weeks. In the meantime, commissioners voted Wednesday to issue a request-for-qualifications (RFQ) for a jail planner who will help lead the next steps in the process. That person or firm would work with other firms and county committees that have been established to both evaluate a new justice center as well as county facility needs overall.  

> Commissioners approved spending up to $25,000 for a County Day of Service and Celebration July 8. Commissioners had previously expressed a desire to elevate the county’s presence at the National Cherry Festival this year and or/have a larger role in commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary. For the first part of the day July 8, county employees will be able to participate in organized volunteer activities at the National Cherry Festival or other community events to reflect the county’s “commitment to civic engagement,” according to County Administrator Nate Alger.

Following the volunteer outing, the county will host an employee appreciation event at the Civic Center with family-friendly activities and historical displays highlighting the county’s role in the community, according to Alger. “This event combines service, community engagement, employee recognition, and civic pride into a single day that honors two landmark anniversaries,” he said.