Does grocery-less Empire need municipal wastewater?
Citizens, officials disagree on whether village faces existential crisis
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
A dark cloud hangs over Empire this year. The village’s signature events—the Asparagus Festival in mid-May, the Anchor Day parade in mid-July, the Empire Hill Climb on Sept. 15, and the Hops and Harvest Festival on Oct. 6—are taking place with the backdrop of a dark and empty grocery store that was once the lifeblood of the community.
Deering’s Market, which anchoring the business district for decades, closed this spring when owner Sue Carpenter retired. A realtor’s for-sale sign hangs in the window. Shelves inside are barren. Deering’s is currently listed for $325,000 (with the liquor license sold separately), down from $400,000 for the 6,200-square-foot block building. One deal to buy it fell through in late spring.
The grocery was a testament to hard work and family tradition. The late Mark Deering, Jr., and his brother Warren built the current grocery store and bar (now the Friendly Tavern) after they returned home from World War II; Mark’s son Phil Deering took over the store in 1968 after coming home from Vietnam, and ran it until recently, when he handed it over to his wife, Sue. Phil’s father, Mark, reportedly checked in for work on his 100th birthday.
Though tourists still fill downtown Empire during the high-summer months, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore visitor headcount remains near record levels, some fear the lack of a grocery store will hurt the local economy in the long run. Paul Skinner, owner of the Miser’s Hoard and former Empire Chamber of Commerce president, worries that people will be less likely to visit this quaint and quirky community surrounded by the National Park if they can’t stock up on grocery provisions.
“It was mentioned to me five times a day this summer by people who’ve been coming here for decades,” said Skinner. “The closed market might not impact us this year, but it might impact us next year. Some people make the trip to the grocery store and stop and wander around. Next year they might not make the trip at all.”
Heart of the problem
A big drawback for potential business owners is Empire’s lack of adequate wastewater treatment.
Amidst the specter of a shuttered grocery swirls an impassioned, at times contentious, debate over whether the village should invest in a municipal sewer system—either to benefit the core business district or, more broadly, to cover the wastewater needs of most residents.
The Empire Village Council will hold a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at the Township Hall to discuss and debate the need for a municipal-owned wastewater treatment plant, the scope and cost of such an investment, who would benefit, and potential drawbacks. The council will discuss a Wastewater Feasibility Report that a committee unveiled in late April. That report estimated the cost of a municipal wastewater system at between $2 and $6 million, depending on the type of system and whether it covers just the business district along Front St. and M-22, or larger residential areas, too. The council will also hear from Leelanau County Health Department regulator Clay McNitt.
Septic would boost business
One item of disagreement in Empire is whether a municipal wastewater system is necessary to ease a potential sale and reopening of the grocery store. Deering’s had an old, pump-and-haul septic system and pumped it as needed, said Leelanau health inspector McNitt. Prior to closing, the business applied for and obtained a permit for a replacement septic system in the lot behind the store. The permit would transfer to a new owner, who would have 150 days to comply.
The problem was that the potential new owner, a Traverse City restaurant owner, wanted to add a bakery and customer seating to the existing grocery store, numerous sources told the Sun. McNitt would not have allowed that, and once the buyer learned of that hurdle in May, his interest in the deal vanished.
“Any restaurant seating or increased usage changes the sizing of what’s required,” McNitt said. “Bakery wastewater is tough to deal with, as is restaurant wastewater. If you turned it into a bakery with seating, and making dough from scratch, that’s a whole new (type of) use.”
On the other hand, McNitt added, a new owner could use the septic replacement permit and continue to operate the grocery just as Carpenter and the Deerings did—so long as the business usedidn’t change.
“The short answer is ‘yes’ a property can sell, and the system doesn’t have to be upgraded,” he said. “The Health Department made the decision not to complete an inspection if there wasn’t a mandatory conformance with code requirement. … It needs to be functional. Systems are required to be upgraded (only) when there’s a change of use.”
Paul Skinner, who also sat on the Wastewater Feasibility Report committee, understands the desire to expand the grocery store. He worries that without upgraded septic capacity, a new buyer might not materialize.
“If you’re gonna make a grocery store of that type viable in a community as seasonal as ours, one needs as many strings and bows as you can get,” he said.
The lack of a municipal wastewater system has stymied potential growth at Deering’s, at Shipwreck Cafe on M-22, at Sleeping Bear Gallery, at the now shuttered laundromat, and at the old schoolhouse, which has been unable to reopen as a functioning business. That’s the rally cry for advocates of Empire taking steps toward investing in municipal wastewater.
Who pays the bill?
Empire has its bright spots in the business district. Peter and Megan Schous, owners of the Lakeshore Inn, have broken ground on a new hotel near the National Park headquarters that will likely open next year; Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate enjoyed a booming summer after moving to a more central location in June; and Steve Nowicki’s Shipwreck Cafe has quickly become a regional lunch favorite after opening in summer 2017.
Meanwhile, the E-Z Mart station at the corner of M-22 and M-72 has stepped up and attempted to fill the void left when Deering’s closed. This spring the gas station added a shelf of daily essential items for Empire’s year-round elderly residents, many of whom live on fixed incomes and have no cars to transport them to neighboring towns to buy groceries. Those products include canned soup and vegetables, instant lunch, Spam, pickles, beans.
Those retirees have seen one Empire staple after another close their doors in recent decades: the old Taghon’s garage, the schoolhouse, the hardware store on the west end of Front St., the pizzeria, the laundromat, and now the grocery, too. With nary a dollar to spare from their monthly budget, they worry about paying more money if the Village Council commits to a wastewater system.
How much Empire residents would pay is unclear. A wastewater study in 2007, when Empire applied unsuccessfully to the State of Michigan for debt funding for a municipal “opt in” system, estimated an average user cost per month of $90 per equivalent dwelling unit. The application was ultimately turned down due to a lack of available loan funds. Federal and state funds vary from year to year depending on need and Congressional appropriations.
“I’ll be frank, I worry about infrastructure costs,” says Village Council member Maggie Bacon. “Not for myself, but for people who may not be in the same situation as me. If they have to pay $75-$100 extra a month, are we kicking people out of Empire? Are we making it even more unaffordable than it already is?”
Opponents of paying for municipal wastewater point to Northport, which invested in a $12 million “super sewer” system in 2005 that went online in 2009. Homeowners paid a $10,000 per lot assessment and a $5,000 per customer assessment fee, and the village at the tip of the Leelanau peninsula is still paying tens of thousands annually from its general fund to make bond payments. The village council narrowly survived a recall vote.
But Northport has experienced a downtown comeback in the past decade, attributable in part to the municipal wastewater system that allows new businesses to grow there. The resurgence includes Tucker’s of Northport bowling alley and restaurant, the Tribune Ice Cream and Eatery, Northport Inn, Mitten Brewing, and Leelanau UnCaged, the annual free block party that started in 2013 and will be held this year on Sept. 29.
“Northport has been an example of how notto do things,” said Empire Village Council member Chris Frey, who also sits on the Wastewater Feasibility Committee and is seen as a proponent for considering the investment. “They have nice things downtown, but it’s come at great cost. Our feasibility study sought not to make the same mistakes as Northport. We’ve got to be efficient. Our cost is a fraction of what Northport paid.”
Businesses need septic more than residential area
Environmental concerns are not driving the push to consider a public septic system. “There is no regulatory environmental need compelling a village wastewater system,” the report states. “Although many existing systems in the village do not meet current standards, they are ‘grandfathered’ and operate in legal compliance.”
That’s important to Village Council president Sam Barr.
“There is inaccurate information being passed around that we’re in desperate need of a wastewater system because there are so many failing systems,” said Barr. “The study does not pinpoint a residential need for wastewater. Empire is an anomaly because we sit on a natural filter between the dunes and the Empire bluffs.”
The iron-rich soil filters out toxins before they reach South Bar Lake or Lake Michigan.
“There’s a faction within the village who just by saying there’s a need, they feel they’ve created the need,” Barr continued.
Fellow council member Maggie Bacon says that Empire’s water testing results have improved over the last 15 years.
The argument is largely an economic one. Of 35 parcels examined in Empire’s business district, 24 are considered nonconforming with current septic regulations.
“Most existing [commercial] businesses are ‘grandfathered’ utilizing systems that do not meet current standards,” the report states. “Regulations and small lot sizes prevent these ever meeting the current on-site standards. A few businesses are forced to ‘pump and haul’ waste to off-site treatment facilities. Development of vacant property requires site-specific wastewater solutions which can require additional land, costly treatment systems or limit potential uses. … A wastewater system would eliminate barriers to development currently imposed, not by zoning, but by wastewater requirements.”
Tom Fountain, outgoing director of environmental health for the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, agrees that Empire’s choice is about business growth not about the environment.
“We agree that a public sewer system would be beneficial,” said Fountain. “But there’s no public health emergency because of inactive sewers. This is more about the direction and future growth of Empire. And the community is divided on that.”
Part-timers who want septic
Village Council member Maggie Bacon has her constituents in mind when she considers whether to support or oppose a public septic system. Ironically, several of her cousins own second homes in Empire but don’t get to vote in local elections. “Every single one of the second-home owners in my family thinks that investing in village sewer is a good idea.”
According to some estimates, more than half of the homes in the village are second homes, perhaps leaving out a critical constituency.
“My mother used to say, ‘taxation without representation up in Empire!’” Bacon laughed.
Ann Arbor resident Carol McCabe’s family spends 3-to-4 full weeks at their second home in Empire each summer and many long weekends throughout the year.
“I believe the village needs to be thinking about the long term. I don’t think it’s sustainable the way it is now,” she said. “I’m happy to pay a share toward that. I think Empire’s at a critical juncture now.”
Chicago resident and Empire part-timer Tim Carpenter agrees.
“I think we all share the consensus that we’re willing to contribute to have a sewer system,” he said. “That’s a logical development for Empire to maintain long-term viability. I can’t see it getting a new grocery store or any other development until this gets decided. We are willing to invest in the long-term future of this community that we love.”
“We’re not Glen Arbor”
But an undercurrent of resistance to too much growth in Empire is strong. Some fear their quaint and cozy town will grow to “become another Glen Arbor” which they see as overrun each summer by tourists and shops.
“We love Empire because it has no development, which is why we like it more than Glen Arbor,” said septic supporter, but non-voting resident, McCabe.
“None of us ever want Empire to come close to being like Glen Arbor,” said Carpenter. “That’s not our vision.”
Maggie Bacon recalls an Empire-wide survey that was done a year ago. The top vote-getter, she said, was “how do we keep Empire’s small-town charm?”
“I want our businesses to succeed,” she said. “I just want it to be done thoughtfully. We need to look at what’s in the best interest of our village as a whole.”
“There’s no need for [village septic]. Individual systems are better than a municipal one,” said resident Bob Scott. “People want Empire to stay the same. They don’t want another Gatlinburg, Tenn., lined with fast food restaurants.”
The path forward
Amidst an acrimonious debate that has divided local government and much of the village, Village Council member, and Empire native son, Soni Aylsworth wants to slow down the debate about municipal wastewater and get the community more involved in this process. Aylsworth, who opened Empire Outdoors in 2014, is running for Village Council president in the November election.
“The community as a whole needs to be involved in this,” he said. “This is a major issue for our small village. It really needs to be put out to the public. This isn’t whether or not the beach has enough trash cans. It’s bigger than that. The whole community has to come together. It’s all about process.”
Though septic advocates once considered introducing a ballot referendum to bring an up-or-down vote on the issue, Aylsworth shook his head at that suggestion.
“The Village of Empire is not even close to putting it on the ballot at this time,” he said.
Soni’s mom, Diane Aylsworth, who owns Diane’s Hairstyling on M-22, laments that some in the community oppose the discussion outright because they’re hung up on the prospective amount of paying an extra $100 per month.
“That stat gets people up in arms,” she said. “But there are other avenues to fund it, and they haven’t been looked at yet. It’s the council’s job now to take it on and find the means to pay for it.”
Bacon hopes a respectful community discussion about Empire’s future will help calm the rhetoric she’s witnessed on the Village Council since she was elected to office in November 2016.
“I think this is a horrible divide, and that breaks my heart.”
Fellow council member Chris Frey suggested that, were Empire to approve a public system, it could do so by forming a special assessment district, or a rates and revenue stream for specific infrastructure.
The Bagaloff factor
Empire Associates owner Jim Bagaloff might be the guy who, with a few strokes of good luck, could change Empire’s commercial fortunes almost overnight. He wants to build a restaurant and brewery on his property that encompasses the old Wolohan Lumber hardware store and barn on the west end of Front St. Imagine a gastro brewpub whose indoor and outdoor views included downtown Empire and the Lake Michigan beach and South Bar Lake. Bagaloff hopes he could do for Empire what Stormcloud Brewery did for Frankfort when it opened in 2013.
Bagaloff doesn’t yet have the investors he needs to launch an Empire brewery. But he did get approval last year from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for a wastewater treatment plant that would serve Empire Associates and allow 20,000 gallons per day—enough for a restaurant and brewery.
If those brewery investors don’t materialize, a tantalizing question lingers. Could Bagaloff lease his wastewater operation (not yet built) to the Village, get local government to foot the bill and accept legal accountability? Perhaps the grocery store would rise like a phoenix. Perhaps Shipwreck could grow its footprint. Empire could enjoy the downtown renaissance that Northport discovered—and without putting it in financial distress for years to come.
It’s a question for which MDEQ officials don’t have an easy answer. The officials the Sunspoke with haveno example in Michigan of a private player leasing his wastewater plant to a municipality. But they wouldn’t rule it out. Bagaloff hasn’t yet built his facility and so he could still appeal to regulators, who would evaluate the system differently for municipality use.
“I’m putting feelers out there to learn about public-private partnerships,” said Bagaloff. “It’s early in process. From my understanding, when you move outside the realm of private business , you have different monitoring and design requirements.”
What would Bagaloff like to see in Empire 10 years from now?
“I want do something with my property that creates a destination draw, that includes entertainment, dining, drinking, and fun activities. Perhaps I could equip the barn to show movies one night a week, or host wedding activities.
“I see it primarily as doing something positive for the village, and secondly making a profit.”
Click here to read Empire’s Wastewater Feasibility Report, which will be discussed in earnest at the Sept. 18 public meeting.
Is Empire a dying town?
Diane Aylsworth, owner Diane’s Hairstyling:
“The village is dying. It’s sad to see it. It’s basically because of the septic situation. I did some research. The water came in back in 1913. Cable in 1980. Natural gas in ‘95. WiFi in 2007. They were controversial in their time, but now we’re free to not have to worry about them. With septic we do have to worry. There’s a lot of anger about Deering’s being closed. It’s coming from people around the lake, not just village people who’ve been hurt by this. People are disappointed.”
Maggie Bacon, Village Council member:
“Are we going to die? I don’t think we’re going to die. Would it be great to have grocery store? Yes. But Empire has 40 businesses. What I’ve noticed this summer is that there are still no parking spaces [available] on Front Street. People are still stopping. They’re visiting the bank, the Friendly, Tiffany’s, or the Secret Garden. Empire is still full of people.”
