The Withee Planning Commission met on Wednesday, January 29 to discuss property line issues involving the Withee Water Treatment Plant. Storage sheds and part of a garage are on village property. The assessor discovered the problem last year when they were working on a revaluation of the village. According to village clerk Ellen Niemi, the one storage building was built in 2009 or 2010. She wasn’t sure when the other one was built, but the property owners thought the property was theirs.

Commission member Everett Lindgren suggested squaring off the property. Niemi said each of the three property owners would gain about a tenth of an acre of land if this was done. The cost of getting a certified survey map would be about $875 per property owner, including a portion paid by the village. The property owners will also have to pay for a quitclaim deed. Niemi had spoken with the three property owners and they were interested in purchasing the property as long as they only had to pay the cost of surveying and the deed.

Director of Public Works Derek Schad said squaring it off would involve a piece of land 310 feet long by 57 feet wide, so each of the three property owners would gain 57 feet of depth for their property. The third property doesn’t have buildings encroaching on village property, but not to include it would leave a small landlocked parcel that couldn’t be used by anyone. Schad also said there would be no concerns for the Water Treatment Plant if the property was transferred as it is mostly wetland.

Commission members Terry Pawlukiewicz and Lynn VanWinkle also felt that the simplest way to correct the problem was to have the property owners pay for the survey and their deeds and to give them the land.

The Planning Commission voted to give the property to the adjacent land owners with them paying the cost of surveying and their quitclaim deeds. The issue will now go back to the village board for a final vote.