After all the grumbling from some city officials and citizens, the inevitable is happening.
Leonard Fleming of the Detroit News reports that Mayor Dave Bing and Gov. Rick Snyder appear to have reached a tentative agreement to lease the aging Belle Isle to the state, a move that will provide an infusion of cash to improve the park.
The deal must get the stamp of approval from the City Council.
The News reports that one option may be for the state to lease the island for nearly 30 years with the options to renew.
That would be about a third of the time of the 99-year lease that had originally been mentioned.
Council president Charles Pugh told the News: "I just want a functioning Belle Isle, because we all love that place and dream about how it used to be when we were kids when there were horses and canoes, and there were places to eat and go to the bathroom.
In July, the council voted 5-4, in a non-binding vote, to keep the park under city control. City officials had become very sensitive to a state takeover of anything in the city during talks of a consent agreement between the city and state.
