Objections from supervisors and surveyor delay proposed right-of-way vacation

Opposition from residents and a local surveyor, who says he is licensed and has 59 years of experience, convinced two county supervisors to rethink the terms of a proposed vacation of right-of-way in the unincorporated territory of Newburg and direct the engineer to split half of an alleyway to an adjoining landowner.

Discussions began during a public hearing this past week for the proposed vacation of right-of-way. The county only needed to schedule one hearing before taking any action. The proposed vacation covered two areas: a north-south alleyway and an old, approximately 80-foot extension of Newcomer Avenue.

Initially, the plan was to vacate the alley — located behind the parcels along the east side of Clay Street — and then give it to the two landowners. However, there is an adjoining field owned by Gary and Jean Halverson to the east of the alley. Surveyor Craig Johnstone said the Halversons are entitled to a piece of the alley.

“I believe they should have claim to the east half of the north-south alley as an adjoiner,” he said. “I also believe the parcels as described of north and south Newcomer should not have included the alley because there is not an adjoiner … I think that should be taken out and dealt with after Newcomer is split.”

Johnstone cited Iowa Code 354.23 regarding vacation of streets or other public lands, saying a county may deed a property but if it is not deeded it can be conveyed to adjoining proprietors. Johnstone said the east 10 feet of the north-south alley, which is about 20 feet wide, should be conveyed to the Halversons.

The county engineer later argued the code defines “proprietor” as a person who has a recorded interest in land, including a person buying or selling land pursuant to a contract but excluding persons holding a mortgage, easement or lien interest. It was also argued the residential plats were established before the right-of-way.

Objections mainly targeted the alley rather than extension of Newcomer Avenue. County Engineer Michael Frietsch was adamantly against the comments made by Johnstone. He argued the right-of-way could only be transferred to the property owners to the west of the alley since they reside in the former city limits.

Newburg is one of a number of unincorporated territories in Jasper County, with some others being Killduff, Metz, Ira and Galesburg. Residents living in an unincorporated territory have no form of city government and often lack traditional city services, but they are subject to county laws and county services.

“That Halverson property was never part of the original city plat,” Frietsch said. “So you can see where the lots end on the east side … The problem is, and this is what we’ve done in other ones, too, is that we always look at where the original city limits were. And we consider where the original city limits were.”

However, Johnstone disagreed with Frietsch’s rationale and claimed Newburg had planned to extend its city limits east into what would be the Halverson field. Frietsch argued it may have been part of the community’s planning but it was never recorded as such and has no bearing as far as legal status goes.

“It’s only what was recorded and platted that matters,” Frietsch said.

Johnstone added, “But nothing says you have to stop at the city limit.”

Frietch said it is ultimately up to the discretion of the board and the county engineer acting together to decide where those limits will be because it is county property. Supervisor Brandon Talsma sided with Frietsch and wished to have the county remain consistent with other vacations it had conducted in the past.

The proposal to vacate the county right-of-way was requested by resident Angela Ceasar, whose property adjoins with both the alley and the extension of Newcomer Avenue, which has long been overgrown and used by nearby properties. The county planned to treat the vacations to similar situations in Ira.

In the past, Jasper County vacated rights-of-way and conveyed the land to adjacent property owners; in other words, the county transfers legal rights of the land to residents. Frietsch said Jason Lowry of Lowry Land Services conducted plat services for the right-of-way in Newburg.

“Now these plats were prepared by a licensed surveyor, gentlemen,” Frietsch said to the board of supervisors. “So I defer to his expertise and his license preparing this survey. And I have no reason to not trust what he is showing or what he is reporting.”

Talsma worried about the county enforcing two different standards for vacating. Supervisor Doug Cupples did not agree the county was setting precedent for other standards since, no matter what, the county ends up splitting the property with other nearby landowners. Supervisor Thad Nearmyer had similar feelings.

Talsma was blunt.

“I’ll make this conversation real quick, gentlemen. Do you have any intent on acting on the next three resolutions or would you like time to think about it?” he said. “I’m fine taking action today. To me, we set precedent with how we handled it with Ira. Mike’s logic makes sense to me.”

Nearymer and Cupples did not change their stances, citing that it is ultimately to the discretion of the board. As a result, the supervisors took no action on the proposed vacations and directed the county engineer to split the alley to all adjoining landowners and not just the ones residing in the old city limits.

If the county decides to go this direction, Talsma suggested all other future road vacations in the unincorporated territories be handled in the same manner and be split 50-50. Nearmyer disagreed with that, saying not all situations are exactly the same. Talsma said road vacations need to be handled the same way.

“Otherwise there’s no consistency, no standard,” Talsma said.