HANCOCK — The Hancock City Council will schedule a special meeting to hear from the city attorney regarding a grant to help the city acquire property on Navy Street.

The city is considering applying for a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant towards the cost of buying the land. The motion to apply was tabled Wednesday after some council members asked to clarify if the public’s access to the land was already ensured.

The proposal includes four parcels — a 1.2-acre piece along the waterfront owned by Carmody-Lahti Real Estate, and three parcels of 1.3 acres to the east owned by Finlandia University.

City Manager Mary Babcock said the purchase is intended to preserve public access to the portion of the waterfront.

The resolution considered Wednesday would authorize submitting a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund application of up to $49,000. It would also pledge the city to commit up to 26% of a total project cost up to $665,000, at which point the match would be $175,000. Babcock said 26% was used as the city receives more points on its grant application for a match above 25%.

The money would be spent during the 2022-23 fiscal year.

In both cases, the property would be appraised if Hancock is approved for the grant. The state would only cover the appraised value of the property, Babcock said.

Hancock has been trying to secure public access to the Carmody-Lahti property for 30 years, but the owners had not granted an easement, Babcock said. Since the founding members of the company have died, their heirs are looking to sell the parcel. Finlandia’s property has been on sale for about three years, Babcock said.

The council voted to table the issue until the city attorney could provide more information on the city’s ownership of the property. Councilor Whitney Warstler asked if a purchase was necessary, given the longstanding precedent of public use.

The public has used it casually for years, councilors said; Councilor Richard Freeman recalled riding bikes there as a child.

To Babcock’s knowledge, the city does not have formalized public access, she said.

“There’s a possibility that you could go through a prescriptive rights process for it, but there’s no guarantee because the city doesn’t do a lot of maintenance on that pathway,” Babcock said. “The maintenance precedent goes back 15 years, and they’re very strict to gain that prescriptive easement.”

Warstler also worried about setting a precedent that would discourage others from donating land or granting an easement.

Mayor Pro Tem Will Lytle agreed with Warstler about consulting the attorney. He also worried about the optics of the proposal.

He wanted to see the purchase placed in context of what neighboring properties have given the city an easement, where else the city might look to acquire properties, and the anticipated cost of the overall goal. He said he would like to see the Maasto Hiihto trailhead extended to the Swedetown Gorge.

“I don’t want somebody to look at this map and say ‘It’s just the city sending money to Finlandia,’ and not know that 30 years of history on negotiations, or not know when or if there’s an agreement on the rest of Navy Street for public access,” he said.

Aside from the area in those four parcels, everything on Navy Street is under permanent easement or public, Babcock said. The city currently has easements with Finlandia for its parcels.

One future project is installing a bicycle challenge course at the Maasto Hiihto trailhead. Hancock is also trying to get a grant to build a trail from the trailhead to the city beach, Babcock said.

“The phases to this were probably started quite a while ago, and gaining this access has always been the stumbling point to the full connection,” she said.

There was also debate on how much maintenance the city has performed on Navy Street. Warstler recalled the council voting on grading projects on Navy Street each year, while Babcock said aside from Federal Emergency Management Agency projects after the Father’s Day flood, there had been only occasional maintenance.

Councilor John Haeussler said over the years, many residents had been vocal about obtaining the property to ensure future access.

“We’ve been denied an opportunity to even get an easement for the better part of a generation … if we miss an opportunity, there’s no telling, if the next opportunity’s going to come by in five years, or if it might come by in 50 years,” he said.

LaBine said legal action to obtain a prescriptive easement would be “uncertain and expensive.” At 15 years, there would need to be clear evidence from the entire period, he said.

“I thought prescriptive easement was a decent route to go, but I’m starting to feel that’s not a very good option,” he said.

The council voted 4-3 to table the resolution. Lytle, Warstler, Ron Blau and Richard Freeman voted to table, while Paul LaBine, Haeussler and Kurt Rickard voted against.

A public meeting with the city attorney will be scheduled before the April 1 application deadline.