Cherry Capital Airport officials are floating a $1 million proposal for a licensing agreement with Traverse City for tree maintenance at the city’s Oakwood Cemetery.

There’s been significant turbulence between city and TVC officials over tree cutting near the airport for decades. Airport leaders are hopeful that a new approach offering a million dollars to assist the city with forest management both in the cemetery and around the city can lead to a long-range agreement for tree management around TVC.

City commissioners are expected to meet in closed session, likely in October, with a downstate attorney to discuss the issue, according to City Manager Benjamin Marentette.

Airport Executive Director Kevin Klein says the current approach to tree maintenance around the airport dates back to the 1960s. The cemetery’s status as city park land limits the allowance of an easement for the work, which led to an ordinance that left the city in charge of maintaining trees to meet the “glide slope” for incoming aircraft under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.

Klein says tree work around the airport is needed about every 30 years, and that the last round of maintenance was done in the mid-1990s.

“In 2019, we started meeting with the city manager to try and find a solution on this,” Klein says. Staff from the city’s parks and recreation department were also part of those discussions.

But Klein says progress was hampered by the revolving door in the city manager office. Klein's initial meetings took place with former City Manager Marty Colburn. He met again with ex-manager Liz Vogel more than two years ago. Most recently he sat down with Marentette in June to continue the negotiations.

“One of the biggest challenges is we’ve had multiple city managers,” Klein says. “We’re hoping we can pick up where we left off.”

Airport officials have identified a dozen trees along the north approach to the airport over the city that present a short-term hazard to airport operations. They’re white pine and hardwood trees, with several in the 75-foot tall range on the cemetery’s north end between Parsons Road and Eighth Street (pictured above).

“We’re at a point where it’s an emergency – in the next year we need to get it resolved. If there’s a do nothing approach, there’s about 75 trees that could be a problem,” Klein says. “This is an opportunity to create something with the FAA that can resolve that issue.”

City commissioners earlier this year hired an attorney, Stephon Bagne of the Clark Hill law office in Birmingham, to assist them in sorting through various issues involving the airport.

Marentette says Bagne specializes in several areas of municipal law, including eminent domain, zoning, and state and federal regulations surrounding airports.

“It’s a complicated discussion,” Marentette says. “It’s an important matter that we should try and tackle effectively.”

Marentette says that while he and Klein “have a very amicable relationship”, protection of the city’s tree canopy - including some of the oldest and tallest trees on city land – is a high priority both with city residents and commissioners.

“Traverse City is a Tree City U.S.A., and we’re proud of that fact,” Marentette says. “They’re healthy for ourselves and our climate.”

Klein says creating a licensing agreement would create a vehicle for a continued tree maintenance around the airport, and provide resources for the city to plant new trees both at Oakwood Cemetery and other city-owned properties around town. He noted that much of the city’s tree canopy is of a similar age and will need replacing around the same time.

Airport staff has also met with several neighboring property owners near the cemetery, Klein says. While most are wary of cutting some of the cemetery’s oldest and tallest trees, they’d also like to see some upgrades to the cemetery grounds.

“We’ve talked to the neighbors in that area,” Klein says. “They like the trees, but they also agree that a major investment is needed at the cemetery… the landscaping is old, and it’s not cleaned up.”

“We don’t want to devastate the cemetery,” he continued. “We’re worried about (tree) heights, not density.”

Mayor Amy Shamroe declined comment until commissioners have the opportunity to meet with Bagne to discuss airport matters. She did clarify that the city hasn’t received a formal licensing agreement proposal from the airport, and that city and TVC officials are working through a complex and contentious set of issues.

“We definitely want to keep those conversations open,” Shamroe said. “It’s all part of the process, and we’re comfortable with that process.”

Marentette said “it’s very possible” he’ll get some direction from city commissioners on how to proceed with the airport’s proposal after officials meet with Bagne.

Klein says he’s hopeful those discussions will lead to a long-term resolution of an issue that’s splintered city and airport relations for years.

“I think it’s going to work itself out,” Klein says. “I think it’s going to be an exciting project for our community.”