Five Questions For Summer 2019

Memorial Day Weekend is three weeks away, which means summer is almost upon us. What will summer 2019 bring for Traverse City? The Ticker explores some key questions.

1. How will the Film Festival weather recent controversy?

The Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF) is set to mark its 15th anniversary this year. As the July 30 start of the festival nears, though, questions remain. Last week, TCFF settled a legal battle with Boston Light & Sound (BL&S), a former vendor that sued the festival over $159,055 in unpaid bills from 2017.

In March, TCFF Founder Michael Moore made statements about potential financial improprieties by a former festival employee. Moore said that TCFF had consulted with the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office about the case, and that the festival’s attorneys were “assessing what other civil actions we may take.” While Moore declined to name the ex-employee in question, former TCFF Director Deb Lake ultimately came forward, confirming that the allegations were about her and disputing Moore’s claims. Lake issued a statement detailing her side of the story.

Thus far, there has been no apparent movement toward legal action. According to Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg, TCFF did consult with her office and was “referred to the City Police to make a complaint” on the matter. Traverse City Police Department Chief Jeffrey O’Brien tells The Ticker his department has received no formal complaint from TCFF.

Neither TCFF nor Lake have commented further.

2. What’s in store for the Boardman River?

A slew of projects involving the Boardman River are either in the works or set to begin this summer:

 - The Unified Plan for the Lower Boardman: Last year, the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) formed a new committee called the Lower Boardman River Leadership Team. According to Harry Burkholder, a DDA board member who sits on the committee, the Leadership Team is looking to have “an extensive conversation with the community about what people want to see for the river in the future.” Those conversations will inform the development of an ultimate Unified Plan for the Lower Boardman, which will likely be the guiding light for future projects.

 - Boardman River Water Trail: Two years ago, Burkholder proposed the development of a formal Boardman River Water Trail as part of his role as Executive Director for Land Information Access Association. The project received $42,000 in grant funding, earmarked for the development of signage standards for the trail. Burkholder says the Water Trail signage will combine safety recommendations, navigational markers, and educational elements that “tell the story of Traverse City from the perspective of the river.” Burkholder expects that the signage strategy will be ready to go by the end of June, at which point he and his team will begin seeking funding for construction and implementation.

 - Riverwalk Expansion: A $500,000-plus extension of the Boardman River Riverwalk is set to have a ribbon-cutting at the end of May or in early June, according to Traverse City DDA CEO Jean Derenzy. The new section of the Riverwalk runs from the South Union Street Bridge to the Uptown development on West State Street.

 - FishPass: The DDA is purchasing a property located next door to Central United Methodist Church with the goal of converting it into a research center for the FishPass project. That deal is set to close this month. As for the rest of the FishPass project, Derenzy says she still expects the project design to be finalized sometime this year and for construction to commence in 2020.

 - Boardman Lake Loop Trail: TART Trails Executive Director Julie Clark says TART, the City of Traverse City, Garfield Township, Grand Traverse County, and the design firm Prein & Newhof are working together to secure final permits for the Boardman Lake Loop Trail. Existing portions of the trail are included in the course map for this summer’s Ironman race, but TART has also been working toward finishing the full loop for years. Clark expects permits will be in place sometime this spring, at which time the project will go out for bid. She says the project should break ground before 2019 is over.
 
3. Will scooters come to Traverse City?

In cities throughout the country, companies like Bird and Lime have made a splash by implementing electric scooter sharing programs.

E-scooters will be more prevalent on the streets of Traverse City this summer: Last month, Kayak, Bike & Brew purchased 30 e-scooters – though Owner Troy Daily says the goal is not to turn Kayak, Bike & Brew into a scooter-share business. Rather, the scooters will be used for the business’s Traverse City brewery tours. Customers will also have the option to rent scooters in two-hour increments on non-tour days. Unlike with most urban scooter-share programs, though, all scooters rented at Kayak, Bike & Brew will be picked up and dropped off at the business location on Garland Street. With scooter shares, a customer can rent a scooter in one part of the city and drop it off somewhere else.

While there has been some speculation that the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities might bring an e-scooter rideshare program to Traverse City, Groundwork Deputy Director Jim Bruckbauer says that’s unlikely to occur this summer. “We are exploring [e-scooters], but no plans in place just yet,” he told The Ticker in an email.

4. How will Eighth Street construction affect the season?

Team Elmer’s will begin construction on Eighth Street this coming Monday, and the project will completely shut down the road between Boardman and Woodmere until October.

In addition to posing a challenge for locals who live near or have businesses on Eighth Street, the construction will also mean a big disruption of traffic flow during peak tourist season (see official detour routes here). While City Planner Russ Soyring acknowledges the construction will force adjustments, he predicts that travelers and locals alike will be “resilient and creative” about handling the issue.

“Fortunately, Traverse City has a tight grid of streets, alleys, and sidewalks, which provides options to avoid the four blocks of Eighth Street that will be closed,” Soyring says. “As a resident of Fifth Street one block south of West Front Street, I saw firsthand how travel routes were changed when West Front Street was closed a few years ago. The alternative routes worked remarkably well.”

5. Will tourism stay strong in light of gas prices and economic uncertainty?

National averages for gas prices are pushing $3, in part because of the Trump Administration’s decision to tighten sanctions on Iran energy exports. Could this factor, combined with the possibility of a new gas tax in Michigan and fear about an impending economic downturn, slow travel and tourism this summer?

“We’re always sensitive to those variables, 100 percent,” says Trevor Tkach, president of Traverse City Tourism (TCT). “Gas prices have bit us in the past in northern Michigan. We all felt the pain with the last recession, and I think it’s still fresh on a lot of our minds.”

Tkach says TCT is cautiously optimistic about what this summer will look like from a tourism perspective. In the future, though, Tkach says that keeping Traverse City a tourist destination will be all about staying flexible.

“Our target audience, geographically and demographically, might change quickly as things move forward,” Tkach says. “But we have the ability, with digital campaigns, to shift from one part of the country to another very quickly. We can change our messaging quickly. We can go from talking about amenities to talking about deals. You can shift the story if you’ve got the resources, and we are in a position to do that.”