This is a continuation of the post here.
I called Sharon Swan about the survey I'd had completed, and was told initially that the encroachments by the county on my land were covered by an easement. After checking, I wasn't able to find any easement, and asked the county to produce a copy of the relevant easement.
Diane Bailey then said that there wasn't an easement, but that there was a survey that they'd had done, and that survey didn't agree with my survey. We scheduled a meeting to walk the property so that I could show them my survey marks, and see if we could find theirs. At this point they claimed that their survey had put rebar with caps and stakes in.
Meeting at the property a few days later, Ms. Swan and Ms. Bailey were both surprised that they could not locate any survey stakes. So I showed them mine, and gave them a copy of the survey I'd had done, and explained that I was planning on running cattle on the property, and was going to fence it in the next two weeks. Ms. Swan asked that I have my survey rerun, and I pointed out that I had every reason to believe it was accurate; and that they would be well advised to have their own survey work done to verify my marks, but that I'd be working on the basis of my survey as drawn, and that this meant that recent improvements would have to be removed, particularly a gate. I offered to move the gate at my expense as a courtesy, but they declined that.
Ms. Swan then asked that if the survey was in error, that I would remove any fence that encroached. I clarified to her that if the rule she was proposing was that the party encroaching would have to remove the encroachments, that I would expect her to remove the bridge (which apparently cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete, given permit, construction and other costs) and she backed down, claiming that she had no authority to authorize any such deal.
I offered to trade an easement over the portions of my land encroached on for an easement and rights to use a parking area to help load and unload cattle. She offered a right of passage, which I declined -- I'd rather settle the entire matter at once, and I think that the county has some work to do before they will believe the encroachments.
At this point I have no agreement with the county and plan on fencing my property line.
If you have a survey done, and they disagree (and can't show any proof of their own survey), why do they think you should have another survey done at your expense? Sounds to me like they'd better get out there and do some surveying themselves.
ReplyDeleteSo does this mean they are going to expect the public to have access to your land when you have cattle on it? Where does that bridge go?
I wish you luck with this.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever figure out why that one bureaucrat has it in for you and keeps making citizen complaints?
Heath
If you want help with that fence I got some free time and would love to put in a few days work with you and see your new farm. I wonder the same thing as Heath. Who keeps messing with you?
ReplyDeleteDunno if this helps, but here it is:
ReplyDeletehttp://yannone.blogspot.com/
How's your corpus delicti?
PrisonerWhat Crime?
by Mark Yannone
Have you been accused of a crime in the United States? If so, there are a few things you need to know before you can walk out of the courtroom a free man or woman:
1. Governments were established to protect and maintain individual rights.
2. Crime requires unlawful injury, loss, or harm, and unlawful behavior that caused the unlawful injury, loss, or harm (see corpus delicti).
corpus delicti: the substance of a crime that the prosecutor must prove and that consists of an injury or loss (as death of a victim or disappearance of property) and the criminal act that resulted in it
Marc Stevens, who will be the first to tell you he is not an attorney, explains two elements that are required of every crime. Consider these required elements when serving on a jury or defending yourself against prosecution by the state.