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Friday, October 08, 2004

Indiana Law - Retention ponds secretly may have been deeded to town

"Land ownership in question: Retention ponds secretly may have been deeded to town." That's the headline to this story today in the Munster Times. The town: Lowell. Some quotes:

LOWELL -- The Town Council thinks the town may own more land than it knows, and that's not a good thing.

The land in question makes up 12 of 26 retention ponds scattered throughout the town that town ordinances required of the developers.

Lowell Director of Public Works Greg Shook has been directed by the Town Council to determine whether any of the ponds have been deeded over to the town without its knowledge and to ascertain ownership otherwise. * * *

Concerns over retention pond ownership arose Sept. 27 when the council faced a quit claim deed for a retention pond that local developer John Black had signed over to the town without its knowledge.

"It's a wild deed," Town Attorney John Kopack said at the time, advising the council to deny acceptance of the property.

In declining to accept the property, Lowell Town Council President David Gard, D-5th, said, "Basically, the developer would like us to take it over, so he doesn't have to mow it and he doesn't have to pay taxes. ... He went to the county unbeknownst to us and gave it to us."

Kopack cautioned that there may be other instances in which retention pond property has been deeded into the town's name, but not transferred officially to the town. For that reason, Shook will be checking on the deeds for retention ponds in Lake County records.

Interesting. What about abandoned underground storage tank sites?

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 8, 2004 06:26 PM
Posted to Indiana Law