Perhaps it’s running a recycling errand, or receiving a package delivery at your rural address in the county. It could be a more epic event, such as an affordable housing groundbreaking, or cleanup finally taking shape at the blighted Sugar Loaf resort property. In each case, there is a no-nonsense leader behind the scenes helping make the moment possible: Leelanau County Planning Director Trudy Galla.

Her work will be recognized this week (October 28) when the Michigan Association of Planning bestows its President’s Award on Galla at its annual Planning Michigan conference.

Galla is one of Leelanau’s own: She has called Cedar home since childhood and has been employed by the county since 1988. She served for a time as the Interim County Administrator, and today is Director of the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and leads the Damage Assessment Group of the county’s Emergency Operations Center in addition to her role as planning director. She is also a member of the Leelanau County Land Bank Authority, Michigan IMAGIN(GIS) group, and the Michigan Recycling Coalition.

Leelanau County Administrator Chet Janik, who has worked closely with Galla for the last decade, tells the Leelanau Ticker, “I have been in administration, in education, and government for 40 years and Trudy is one of the most professional and dedicated people that I have ever encountered.” He notes that due to her leadership efforts, “Leelanau County established a Land Bank, Brownfield Authority and a strong recycling program during her tenure as the county’s planner.”

Sarah Lucas, president of the Michigan Association of Planning’s Board of Directors who selected Galla for this statewide honor, shares: “The county, its residents, and its incredible natural beauty have all been the beneficiaries of Trudy’s dedication and knowledge of planning. Trudy has always prioritized continuing education, for herself and others, ensuring that Leelanau County officials, planners, and citizens had access to trainings, workshops, and resources that elevated planning practice in the county and brought new ideas and innovation to small towns and rural areas.”

For Galla, the work has always been about creating meaningful benefits for her community. For instance, Galla tells the Leelanau Ticker, as a member of the county’s land bank, she wants to continue to engage nonprofits and property owners in innovative land reuse strategies to create affordable housing in Leelanau County.

Ditto the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, which she launched in 2008 to tackle abandoned or idle industrial and commercial properties — assessing environmental conditions, conducting cleanup and demolition, and moving projects into a state of redevelopment. To date, the authority has successfully implemented over $1.8 million dollars in U.S. EPA grants and state loans and grants for projects in the county. The most complicated of those were the former Grand Traverse Overall Supply Co. — a superfund contaminated site in Elmwood Township — and the former government center in Leland.

Recalls Galla: “Both of these projects involved trips to Chicago to meet with EPA officials and argue our case for using funds on these sites.” Without the use of Brownfield funds, these sites might still be sitting undeveloped. Sugar Loaf is another high-profile site that benefited from the use of these grants.

Another breakthrough came after struggling for years on how to fund the county’s recycling and hazardous waste collection programs. “The county directed me to work with our legislators to develop a ‘per household fee’ instead of a millage for these services. We realized through an analysis of property values that many households in the county would pay hundreds of dollars a year for the same types of services that other households would pay a few dollars through an annual millage.”

Galla worked with then Senator Michelle McManus to craft proposed language to allow for a per household fee which was adopted and has been used for over 15 years for funding all of Leelanau’s recycling and collection events.

Funnily enough, “addressing was by far the toughest project ever undertaken by our office,” says Galla. “When we had to change addresses, you would have thought we were changing the names of some of our residents’ children,” she laughs. That project coincided with a cutover to 911 services in 1991, and took five different addressing systems in the county — and some homes with no addresses — and renumbered the entire county.

Now, Galla echoes other local leaders and community members when she says housing is the biggest issue the county faces. “It's in front of us every day and we know how difficult this challenge is,” she says. “If we approach the problem with creative and new ideas, I’m confident we will develop various types of attractive housing in our communities to meet the needs of those searching for attainable housing within their budget.”

She adds, “Communities can address the NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] resistance by understanding and demonstrating housing is needed for our kids, grandkids, and seniors as well as our workforce and others who wish to live here.”