Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Zach Garner, of Open Skies, owner of the former Air Force base on Mt. Horace Greeley, discusses a Blight Elimination Grant to the Keweenaw County Board.

EAGLE RIVER — Keweenaw County approved a motion for an application for a Blight Elimination Grant through the Michigan State Land Bank Authority (SLBA) on behalf of Open Skies, owner of the former Air Force base on Mt. Horace Greeley.

Chuck Miller, attorney for the county, said that the agreement with the SLBA must be contingent on changes to the sample contract between the land bank and the county. The sample contract was designed for municipalities applying for the grant, not for municipalities applying on behalf of private entities.

The Blight Elimination Program, part of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2023 fiscal year budget, included $75 million in blight elimination funds. $22.5 million of those funds are available to local land banks and communities through a competitive grant program to address vacant, abandoned and deteriorated properties across the state.

The program guidelines state that areas not served by a county, city land bank, city, village or township may apply directly for funding. However, Open Skies is a private company, a local unit of government must submit the application.

Zach Garner of Open Skies, addressed the County Board at its regular Jan. meeting on Wednesday.

The grant must be applied for by a local unit of government, which in this case, is the Keweenaw County Board. Because the property on which the former Air Force base on Mt. Horace Greeley is located spans Eagle Harbor and Houghton townships, said Garner, it makes sense to approach the county rather than both township governments.

“It was announced in the fall, and there is a per-county allocation in the state of Michigan,” said Garner. The maximum award amount is $200,000 per county.

“What their goal has been is to basically use this as a method of economic redevelopment to take blighted properties, fix them up, tear them down — whatever is needed to get these properties back on the tax rolls, back into the economy.”

Garner said Open Skies was approached in Dec. 2022, by Jeff Ratcliffe, of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA), as a possible good-use of this blight money.

After several telephone conversations with the SLBA to determine if Open Skies could obtain a grant. The conversations led to meetings with Keweenaw County Board Chairman Don Piche, Clerk Julie Carlson and County Attorney Miller to see if the project was possible.

Garner reported, Open Skies has identified two projects they would like to apply for. One of them is what he referred to as a board-up/clean-up project, boarding up every broken window and door of every building on the site.

“There are well over 600,” said Garner. “We actually counted them all. It’s quite a lot.”

The cleanup would also include picking up debris, such as broken glass, so that the property is no longer just one massive liability.

“That will allow us to be able to open it up to the public a lot faster than we had originally anticipated.”

The second project under consideration is to stabilize one of the more historic buildings, at the top of the hill.

“This grant allows for three separate things,” said Garner. “One is demolition, one is stabilization and the third is environmental remediation.”

While the county would apply for a grant on behalf of Open Skies, there would be no risk or burden to the county.

Open Skies would deliver the grant application to the County, Piche explained. The county would then submit it to the SLBA. In the event the award is granted, the SLBA would then provide the county with the funding, who in turn would provide it to Open Skies.

Carlson said that while the state drafted the contract wording to be “easy,” Miller said it was a bit too easy for his liking and he would feel safer if it was more in-depth.

A Memorandum of Understanding drafted by Miller stated in part that whether acceptable changes to the “sample contract” can be made shall be determined by the County at its sole discretion.

Open Skies, the document continues, will be solely responsible for addressing any and all requests for supplementation, clarification, or amendments to the application that may be sought by the SLBA.

The memorandum also states that the county will have no responsibility for any expenditure made by Open Skies that are not reimbursed by the SLBA.

“The County’s only responsibility,” the document states, “will be to remit reimbursements to Open Skies that the County receives from the SBLA with 30 days for receipt.”

The deadline for the grant application filing is Jan. 31, 2023.