| Grady McEvoy kneels by a wooden stake which has been supplanted by a metal capped stake next to it. He and his wife, Jeanne felt that when the metal stake appeared, things changed in the negotiations over the property line differences. |
For Grady and Jeanne McEvoy the new ambulance garage Carbon County wants to build by their home is not all bad.
“Emergency service will be right next door,” says Grady with a smile on his face. “However the problems with the property they want to build it on is another thing.”
The two have talked with the county governing board at the two last commission meetings about a problem that has arisen over the surveying that is being done for the structure. It seems their warranty deed on the property where their house is located says one thing while the recent surveys say another. That problem amounts to about 16 feet of property that they feel they purchased and own, while county civil engineers see it differently.
“We’d like to see that lot developed,” he says as he looks over the field. “It has been nothing but weeds. I think others around here feel the same way.”
But both of them feel the way the project has been laid out is not right.
The two have been in constant communication with the county and felt things were going well until one day one of the temporary wood stakes turned into a metal end cap stake. Somehow that seemed more permanent and something else too.
“We just are feeling this is not in the good faith effort we have all talked about concerning this problem,” Grady stated at the last commission meeting on June 2. “It’s not the friendly manner in which we were trying to work.”
To commissioners it’s a dilemma. They are caught literally between survey stakes that denote the McEvoy’s property on one side and the Calder Brothers, owners of the Gas N Go station, on the other.
“From a surveyors point of view it’s clear cut,” stated Commissioner Steve Burge during the meeting. “According to recorded records it’s cut and dried. The actual north boundary of the property you own is in the middle of the street (200 north).”
The county has discussed trying to work with the McEvoy’s by asking them to consider buying some property on the south (Calder Brothers) and then doing a trade for the property they thought they owned on the north.
“It just seems to us we’d be paying for the land twice then,” says Jeanne.
And that’s assuming the Caulder Brothers would want to sell.
“Besides, exchanges of public property with private property owners is problematic,” said Commissioner Mike Milovich.
There was also some discussion at the meeting about the actual right of ways in the area but as the McEvoy’s point out on plans they have in their home, right of ways on the documents have changed over the years on 100 North. In one case the right of way appears to be almost 90 feet while on another set of plans it is between 70 and 80 feet.
“I think we still need to work out what we both need from this,” stated Commission Chair Bill Krompel before the issue was set aside for the night for more study and negotiation.
The county’s plan for the million dollar plus project had been kicked around for a long time because the old garage near the county courthouse is literally falling down. The building is so old it has cracks in the walls one can see through. But when money came from the CIB this past year to build a structure the search for the right piece of property began. The planned site (100 West between 100 and 200 north) seemed ideal because of it’s central location and the fact that the county already owned the land.
“We met with a representative of Calders this last week,” said Milovich on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m not sure what they want to do so we just have to go ahead with our plans. We have enough room to build it on that piece of land.”
Milovich said that according to the county engineers, everything in the area lines up perfectly.
“It looks as though the McEvoy’s thought they bought 80 feet when they actually only got 64,” stated Milovich. “I feel bad about that but everything has be done above board and within what the lines are. They are what they are.”
Obviously the garage being built there will create some differences in the neighborhood. Ambulances just don’t run during the day or evening but 24 hours per day.
“We are not against this project being built at all,” says Grady. “We have also talked to some of the neighbors and they don’t mind it as long as their needs are taken into account. We just want to be treated fairly without feeling we had to pay for the same piece of property twice.”