Plat work finds land discrepancy issues in Harris

Posted 6/6/01

Plat work finds land discrepancy issues in Harris

By Danielle Strenke

In a report to the city of Harris, Tony Kraska, director of Community GIS, and John Hanson, who completed mapping and plat work for the city, told the council that they discovered several discrepancies over land ownership within the city.
The two made a presentation on the completed maps and the use of a GPS mapping system to the Harris City Council at its meeting Monday, June 4. Hansonís work was funded through a CAP grant awarded to the city. He showed the council and audience a completed plat map of the city, as well as a one-half section infrared aerial map taken by the Minnesota DNR.
Through his process of researching the land use within Harris, Hanson discovered several small parcels of land scattered throughout the cityís 20-square-mile radius that were in dispute. ìThere were a few discrepancies as far as land ownership,î Hanson said.
Several of the unknown ownership parcels were narrow sections along Co. Rd. 30, and some next to I-35. Hanson said some were instances of finding no legal ownership, others were debated between two different owners.
ìWhere did you get your legal descriptions,î councilor David Christianson asked. Hanson told him they came from the county, and it is not uncommon to have mistakes in legal descriptions, or discrepancies between owners. ìWe are dealing with 700 parcels here,î Hanson said.
The second map that Hanson and Kraska showed and gave to the city was an aerial photograph of one half-section of Harris, completed by the DNR in 1995. The photo shows all of the land in detail within a one to two-mile area.
Overlayed on the photo are gridlines of platted land, along with the tax identification number of each parcel.
ìWhatís nice with these is the accuracy. They are very good at determining what the land use is, and with the tax numbers, you can find out quickly who owns the land,î Hanson said.
The council has been discussing obtaining a GPS mapping system for the city for several months, which would be used in conjunction with these maps. GPS technology gives a reading of accuracy down to less than two feet, Hanson told the council.
The GPS and mapping system would be utilized by the city for issues regarding zoning, subdivisions, property disputes, building permits, and cataloging a variety of information on specific parcels. All of the data would be on the cityís computer, with the capability of printing copies of portions of the aerial photos.
ìOnce you get the computer up and running, I think youíll be really impressed with what you can do,î Hanson said.
The next step, Kraska said, was whether or not the city wanted to purchase the rest of the aerial maps, and if the council wanted to wait to resolve the land discrepancies first.
ìItís something that needs to be resolved, especially if someone wants to go in and divide those, but itís probably not that difficult,î Hanson said.
The council agreed that the aerial maps would be helpful. ìI think these would be a lot more helpful, especially with wetland issues,î councilor Dan Walton said.
ìHow expensive would these maps be," Mayor Hanson asked. Kraska told him they would be $50 each, and the city are is contained within 40 of the maps. ìSo youíre looking at $2,000,î Hanson said.
ìI think the sea should calm a little bit before we decide what to spend,î Walton said.
ìWe do our budget in August, we can budget for them then,î Hanson said.
Kraska told them that if they decided on purchasing the additional aerial maps, the turnaround could be within a week.
Mayor Hanson said it would be brought up to the planning commission for discussion as well. Kraska also commended the city for its forthright planning. ìThis is probably the only entity in the county with plats and parcels,î he said.
The council also approved a concept for subdividing land owned by Laura Bowen. She told the council of her plan to divide her acreage into five parcels, the smallest being just over five acres.
She had originally discussed donating 11 acres bordering Goose Creek to the city, but the council felt there were too many legal implications involved, and suggested donating it as a wildlife refuge.
In other business, the council:
ï Approved combining the cityís water and sewer bills, mailed quarterly to residents.
ï Received the Mayorís report that all of the punch list repair items at the fire hall will be completed by the contractor, EnComm, following a joint meeting between the city, fire department, and EnComm.