Surveying snafu nearly 50 years ago results in ‘no-man’s land’ today

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

A “sliver of land” that currently belongs to no one in particular will soon have an official owner.

“All this is due to a surveying error that happened back in the 1970s,” said City Engineer John Fallis.

Fallis explained to the Charles City Council at Monday’s meeting that a recent property boundary survey determined the north line of property owned by DeLaine and Jane Freeseman, south of Riden’s Addition and north of the Charley Western Recreation Trail, officially belongs to no one, the result of prior surveying errors.

Fallis said that because of an error made in establishing property lines, there is a parcel of land that Fallis said was “truly a no-man’s land.”

“Nobody owns it, it’s just a property area that should not have even existed,” he said.

The Freesemans’ property does not directly abut the south line of the Riden Addition and Cedar Street. DeLaine Freeseman is an elected City Council member, and abstained from voting or discussing the issue on Monday.

In order to obtain marketable title to the land and help eliminate future boundary disputes for the two abutting lots in Riden’s Addition, the Freesemans are seeking to acquire quit claim deeds from the owners of 3 and 4 Riden Circle and the city of Charles City at the abutting Cedar Street right-of-way.

This will match the use of the property, as the property owners use the north line of the land as the adjoining property line. The city will be reimbursed by the Freesemans for legal fees and costs associated in preparing and recording a quit claim deed.

“The quit claim deed will merely indicate the city has no interest in any of this property” and is transferring any interest to the Freesemans, Fallis said.

The council will hold a required public hearing on May 17 at 6 p.m. prior to approving the quit claim deed.

In other action on Monday, the council approved a letter of intent with MidAmerican Energy Co., which is designing a project for a fiber line to communicate with and between the company’s existing substations. MidAmerican recently informed the council that most of the fiber will be placed in street right of ways, and two easements from the city are needed.

One easement is on city property immediately north of the Charles Street water tower between the Zoetis property and the Charley Western Trail. The second easement is at Victory Park between the Cedar River and Clark Street. Approval is non-binding and will allow MidAmerican Energy to proceed with final design and construction of the fiber lines. The council will need to schedule and hold a public hearing prior to approval of the easements.

In other business on Monday:
— The council ratified payment request number 18 to Portzen Construction for the WRRF project, which was approved on the claims list at the last council meeting. The amount of the payment was $941,487. A total of $11,638,297 has now been paid to Portzen. Work associated with the April payment included construction on the headworks building, reinforced concrete slabs for the oxidation ditch, and equipment for the oxidation ditch, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning), and electrical distribution.
— The council approved a request for the closure of a portion of Salsbury Avenue for the Comet Rodeo on May 14. Hannah Jones explained to the council that the “rodeo” is a day of fun that the Charles City High School Comet Council traditionally puts on toward the end of the school year. Events will include relay races, eating contests, and a sponge toss, among others, and Comet Council asked for the city to close off a portion of the street that is in front of the stadium for four square and bean bag tournaments.
— Mayor Andrews issued official proclamations in recognition of Historic Preservation Month in May and in recognition of Municipal Clerks Week, May 2-8.