Council seeks attorney's advice on Sanders land

Shelbyville's city council will wait for advice from the city's attorney before deciding how to compensate a man who bought property from the city, only to later learn it actually belonged to the railroad.

In December 1995, Bobby Sanders purchased land from the city on East Lane Street. Last year, officials with Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad learned that another piece of property owned by Dwayne Sullivan, who was building an apartment complex, was actually within the railroad's right of way.

That prompted railroad officials to check for other properties that might lay in the right of way, and the land that Sanders bought from the city was one of them. But Sanders was already starting a building pad on the lot.

The railroad had a broader right of way on Sanders' land than with Sullivan's property, and the railroad contacted city manager Ed Craig to tell the city there was a problem.

"We did the research and determined that the railroad in fact owned most of that property," Craig said. "The railroad has 100 foot right of way on either side of the track, so we put a stop to his (Sanders') construction activity until all this could get sorted out."

The matter was considered by the Bedford Railroad Authority and it determined that it "had a need for that property for storage of materials during times of track construction," Craig said, adding that it was the only piece of land usable for that purpose.

The Authority declined to sell Sanders the property or give him an easement, therefore, he can't use it, Craig said.

According to figures Sanders presented to the city, a total of $22,768.96 was spent buying the land and paying property taxes. An additional $6,399 was spent in "development expenses" and "uncertain materials" listed by Sanders adds up to $40,922.80, most of which are a summary of expenses for the land for the last ten years.

Sanders told the council that he bought the property on yesterday's market and wants to sell it at today's value.

To settle the dispute, Sanders wants the city to hand over their half interest in a house co-owned with the county on North Main Street near Kentucky Fried Chicken that was once used to house children who were victims of abuse.

Craig said there is concern about this proposal because members of the council feel uncomfortable with giving half interest in the building to a private citizen. Also, the council don't know anything about the property's value and the city is also not clear of what their liability is in this matter.

"We sold him (Sanders) that property on a quit claim deed," Craig said, explaining that neither Sanders or the city did a title search on the land.

The matter has now been referred to city attorney Ginger Shofner to review all of the various legal issues. After that the council will look at Shofner's final report and will then make Sanders an offer.

When the matter of Sullivan's land came before the council in September of last year, it was explained that no one with the city knew about the right-of-way issues. When a developer brings in a site plan for approval, the city checks the ownership records to see who owns the property.

During the design process, the developer's surveyor or engineer is responsible for identifying all easements or right-of-ways on the property, Craig explained to the council last year, but in this case, the surveyor did not identify where the right-of-way was located.

Craig added that the deed of the Sullivan property stated it was subject to the railroad's right-of-way. He also added the railroad right-of-way varies as it goes through Shelbyville, being 30 feet from the tracks at some points, while extending 200 feet at other locations.

"The only way we would know that the right-of-way existed there (would have been for it) to be identified by the people presenting the property documents to us," Craig said.

Since the issue arose last year, the city has obtained all of the drawings from the railroad showing where the right-of-ways exist so they will know if there is a potential problem, but Craig stressed that a property owner must identify what he owns.

"We can do no more than go to the property tax records and assure ourselves that he is the owner of the property," Craig said at the time.