Traverse City commissioners will tackle a busy agenda tonight (Monday) that includes major utility and road reconstruction work planned in the Boardman/State/Cass corridor, updates on the Carnegie Building and a replacement search for the city attorney, and zoning changes related to auto-centric uses and Open Space districts.

Boardman/State/Cass Project
Commissioners will vote to approve two contracts related to a major infrastructure update around Boardman Avenue, State Street, and Cass Street – including road reconstruction and utility upgrades, primarily water and sewer main replacement.

Commissioners will vote to approve a not-to-exceed $206,839 contract with AECOM for preliminary design work for the Boardman/State/Cass project, while the other not-to-exceed contract will be for $30,879.73 with Soils & Structures for geotechnical engineering. A brownfield plan for the area surrounding the Park Place Hotel created by the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority in 2017 identifies $1.685 million in available brownfield funding for infrastructure improvements.

The city plans to replace an existing six-inch water main with a 12-inch water main in the corridor, which was recommended in a water reliability study completed in 2021. A project map (pictured) shows sewer replacement is also planned in and around the project area, including along Washington Street. Since Boardman, State, and Cass have been on the city’s “list for reconstruction,” according to City Engineer Anne Pagano, it makes “financial sense to complete the reconstruction at the same time as the utility work.”

The streets are envisioned to have cycling improvements under the city’s Mobility Action Plan. “Bicycle facilities will be considered as part of the design, as well as pedestrian safety improvements and traffic calming,” Pagano wrote in a memo. “The design will be vetted through the city’s Complete Streets Advisory Committee, and through a robust public outreach process. The project will also include the design of a mid-block crossing on State Street between Park Street and Boardman Avenue, which will also be funded by the brownfield fund.”

The city is in the process of deciding whether to keep State Street two-way for traffic or revert to a one-way flow, which will affect the final reconstruction design. The Complete Streets Advisory Committee is scheduled to have a special meeting Tuesday at 1pm to discuss the two-way pilot project on State. That committee will make a recommendation on the preferred traffic flow pattern to the city commission, which has the final say.

Carnegie Building
City Manager Benjamin Marentette will give an update tonight to commissioners on efforts to find the next tenant(s) for the Carnegie Building on Sixth Street.

According to a memo from Marentette, he has participated in two sessions with current tenant Crooked Tree Arts Center and interested tenant Traverse Area District Library led by facilitator Rick Bellingham to “discuss potential paths forward for both entities to have space within the city-owned Carnegie Building.” City commissioners recently approved a lease extension with Crooked Tree to remain in the building through October 2027, providing more time for negotiations to unfold.

Because of that additional time, the two entities signed a joint letter to the city requesting to have additional conversations through this September to “see if there is a workable joint occupancy arrangement,” Marentette wrote. The city manager said he fully supported that timeline, with commissioners asked to approve a motion tonight to have him return in September with an update. “There is some time to have these thoughtful discussions, and I see no reason to not continue them,” Marentette wrote.

City Attorney Replacement
Commissioners tonight will consider proposals from five firms to become the city’s next legal counsel, replacing the staff city attorney position held by Lauren Trible-Laucht. Trible-Laucht is stepping down from her role effective June 30, with commissioners recently deciding to use a request-for-proposals (RFP) process to find a civil counsel firm instead of hiring another in-house employee.

The five firms who submitted bids including Secrest Wardle; The Kelly Firm; Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho; Foster Swift; and Bodman. A majority of the firms are based downstate, though most have either offices or primary attorneys located in the Traverse City area. Trible-Laucht compiled a rubric for commissioners comparing the firm’s rates, qualifications, practice areas, and availability/communication strategies. Commissioners tonight will discuss which firms they want to interview as a next step.

Zoning Changes
Finally, commissioners will vote tonight to enact two changes to the city’s zoning ordinance. The first would change auto-centric uses – like car washes, drive-throughs, and service/gas stations – from a use by right to a special land use permit (SLUP). SLUPs add several more approval steps, including public hearings at both the planning and city commission levels and a detailed list of standards that projects must meet to be approved. A recent proposal for Tommy’s Express Car Wash to be built at the corner of East Front and Garfield – which has since been withdrawn by the company – prompted planning commissioners to accelerate that zoning change, which now comes to commissioners for final approval.

Commissioners will also vote to amend the zoning ordinance to expressly list municipal markets as an allowed use in the OS (Open Space) district. That issue came up recently in discussions about the new farmers market pavilion planned to break ground this summer. Lot B, where the market is held, is designated parkland and is zoned OS. “Parks” are an allowed use in OS, with Trible-Laucht explaining that farmers markets are one of many types of uses allowed under “parks.”

However, the zoning ordinance doesn’t specifically list municipal markets as a use in OS. Trible-Laucht noted the farmers market has been operating since 1984, predating the zoning ordinance itself by 15 years. The amendment will make it expressly clear that municipal markets are allowed in OS, which Trible-Laucht said is already the case legally.