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Supervisors adopt new road vacation policy

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - This road at the intersection of Taylor Avenue and 310th Street in southern Marshall County is an example of a road that was vacated by the county and turned over to private ownership.

When a road is no longer deemed to serve a public purpose, it may be dropped by county officials and given to private landowners.

A new Marshall County policy adopted at the board of supervisors meeting earlier this week is meant to help streamline the process of vacating all or a part of a roadway.

“There may be places where people have this but they don’t want the extra expense of the $100-$200, or in that range … for something that isn’t really doing them harm,” said county engineer Paul Geilenfeldt.

Previously, he said it was the responsibility of the the person requesting a road vacation to cover the costs of publishing notice of a public hearing, mailing notifications and more. Now, the county will cover those costs.

“I would just like to streamline that process a little bit,” Geilenfeldt said.

Some roads that are vacated by the county and put back into private hands are field access roads. Others may be small alleyways in unincorporated downs.

Geilenfeldt said some historic public roadways are in unexpected places.

“I recently found one, I think it’s south of (U.S.) Highway 30 east of Marsh (Avenue), it’s in the middle of a field,” he said.

Board Chairman Bill Patten, a farmer from the northern part of the county, said many roads were built historically but now serve no public purpose.

“Wherever the cow was walking, they put a road,” he said.

Geilenfeldt said it is in the county’s interest to drop some such roadways from the official books.

“Any place we have a landowner that would like to take over the right-of-way of a dirt road, of level B maintenance, level C maintenance roads, they serve no real transportation purpose other than land access, so if the adjacent landowners want it vacated, so do I,” he said. “They are a liability, they are an attractive nuisance for people who like to have fun with four-wheel-drive vehicles and people who want to dispose of garbage.”

County officials have been trying to combat illegal trash dumping on remote roads. Board Vice Chairman Dave Thompson said eliminating some of those non-publicly-used roadways from the county books would save the county from having to pick up illegally-dumped trash.

The process for a road to be vacated was not changed with the new resolution. A public hearing must be held before the supervisors can vote on whether to grant a road vacation or not.

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Contact Adam Sodders at

(641) 753-6611 or

asodders@timesrepublican.com

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