POLAND Council votes to mark forest land
The markers will be in place this summer.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- Village council has taken steps to end a minor dispute over property boundaries involving six homes on Poland Manor Drive and the Poland Municipal Forest.
Council has voted to place property markers behind six homes in the 20 and 30 block of Poland Manor to designate where the woods begin and the private property ends. The markers should be in place sometime in the summer.
The property lines came into question in late 2000 when the Yellow Creek Walking Path, now under construction, was in the planning stages. The path was initially planned to run along the rear of the homes several feet away from the property line, making it necessary to determine where the lines are.
Less footage: For years the homeowners thought their property lines started about 20 feet farther into the woods than a more recent survey has shown. The small stretch of land in question was maintained by the homeowners, often complete with landscaping and other furnishings.
Plans for the walking path have since been moved from the rear of the homes to a sidewalk in front of the homes. The property issue, however, remained in question.
Mayor Ruth Wilkes, during a council meeting Tuesday, said it is the responsibility of village officials to know and mark where the boundaries of the woods are for the benefit of residents. That, she said, is the reason for the markers.
"We are constantly surveying the woods, which we are the custodians of, and the markers are often lost, moved or ignored. We must then go and resurvey," she said.
Against markers: Councilman Bob Limmer, who is also a Poland Manor resident, thinks the markers are not needed because the lines are marked with natural landscaping. He also said the 2-feet high markers are intrusive and an eyesore.
"Aesthetically, they just don't look good, and we do not need them," he said.
Council, after a motion by Limmer, also discussed placing markers adjacent to the mayor's house at Poland Manor and Yellow Creek drives, but the motion failed to gain a majority of support from council because her property is separated from the woods by Yellow Creek Drive.
Limmer said he made the motion because it is unfair to mark some of the property adjacent to the woods on the street and not all the homes.
jgoodwin@vindy.com