Law Provides Funding Flexibility to MSHP
By Karen Gould

The sale of property and the replica sloop Welcome and the receipt of possible donations from ferry boat bike license sales now can move forward with the passage of a bill that allows the Mackinac Island State Park Commission to receive grants, donations, and gifts.

The new legislation, signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm Tuesday, June 6, also allows the commission to sell real and personal property that meets specific requirements.

The passage of House bill 5674 now opens the door for the park to accept a 50 donation from the ferry lines that serve Mackinac Island for each bicycle ticket they sell. The money would come from bicycle tickets visitors purchase when transporting their bikes to the Island.

A $7 fee is charged by the three ferry lines that service the Island and commissioners have received confirmation that the 50 donation will be passed on to them from the ferry boat lines. The donation was suggested to commissioners last summer by Tom Pfeiffelmann, general manager at Star Line. At that time, the commission was searching for ways to find money to fill a $1.5 million funding shortfall when the state allocation was stripped from the 2006 budget. Funding eventually was restored.

Revenue from the donation could add more than $30,000 to the commission's coffers.

The City of Mackinac Island already receives 50 from each bicycle carried by the ferries, in the form of a transient bicycle license. The license costs 75 and the boat lines keep 25.

"The difference is the city has inherent power to assess this charge to the boat lines by virtue of the fact that the boat lines are operating within the City of Mackinac Island," said Commission Chairman Dennis Cawthorne at the commission's May 29 meeting on Mackinac Island.

"Since the boat lines don't operate within the Mackinac Island State Park, we do not have the authority to do what the city does," he said. "We can only rely on the generosity of the boat lines to make a voluntary donation."

The commission also will move forward with the potential sale of the replica British sloop Welcome to Maritime Heritage Alliance in Traverse City, which has restored the ship under a lease agreement. Park staff will assess the value of the boat and then deduct the restoration work

before making an offer to the organization. The group has been leasing the sloop for $1 a year. The original sloop was used during the American Revolution to move the British fort from the mainland at present day Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island. The commission built the replica in the early 1970s.

The bill also would allow the commission to sell property on Central Avenue in Mackinaw City that once housed park offices. The property is no longer used by the park, although park crews maintain a storage building there and cut the grass.

"The commission is not seeking to sell park lands, rather the commission would like to sell some commercial property as well as non-park lands," explained Mr. Cawthorne at the May meeting.