Bingham Township will offer to split the cost of taking down a tree at Bingham Park on South Lake Leelanau with a neighboring cottage owner who is worried that the tree will fall on his property.

Township supervisor Ross Ard said Monday that he’d consulted with a local tree service and learned that it will cost $520 to take down a white pine that straddles the property line and is growing over a cottage owned by Bill McGee. Ard proposed the township split the cost 50/50 with McGee, and pay an additional $210 to take down a white birch more clearly on township property that is also a threat to the neighboring structure.

At their regular monthly meeting Monday evening, members of the Bingham Township Board voted 5-0 to authorize Ard to make the offer to McGee and expend $470 as the township’s cost-share for the tree-removal project.

In other business at this week’s meeting, the Bingham Township Board:

• Agreed to expend an estimated $104 to have Cleaning by the Bay clean the basement in the township hall, which clerk Peggy Core said was full of “bat guano and mummified bug bodies.” The cleaning firm will also dust and vacuum the main floor of the township hall.

• Declined to support a request from Bill Perkins of Suttons Bay for a $500 appropriation from Bingham Township to help pay for snowplowing of an outdoor ice skating rink at Lincoln and Broadway streets in the Village of Suttons Bay. Perkins noted that many youngsters from Bingham Township use the ice rink. Board members acknowledged that Bingham Township supports summer sports leagues for Bingham Township youngsters in the Suttons Bay school district. Ard urged Perkins to approach the board about funding for the ice rink when the board is working on next year’s budget.