Item 2.3 Consider having the County Attorney write a letter requested by Dan Spenrath on the County Road known as Knott Road. Frankling Johnston, County Engineer addressed the Court stating on June 24, 1994. He and Mr. Odom met with Mr Spenrath and Mr Bierman to discuss the access of the road They drove out to the location in question and at the time Mr. Spenrath stated he would give an easement to the County to correct the road. Mr. Johnston stated at a later date Mr. Spenrath stated he didn't want to give the counth the easement and he also wanted a letter written from the County Attorney's office stating that this was a County Road. Ilsa Bailey, Assistant County Attorney stated a letter was written to Mr Spenrath that there would be o obstructions on this and if there was that he was to remove them. Mr. Spenrath stated he had put a lock on the gate bu all parties involved new exactly where the key was kept in the event of an emergency. The Sheriff's Department knew where the key was also. Mr. Dorado's property is between Mr. Spenrath and Mr. Bierman's property. They have an access to Hwy 27 directly. They have there own easement. My hous is not far from the road and Mr. Dorado's kids pass by my house just for pur meanness. They do obscens jeters to my wife as they drive by the house. I have reported it to the Sheriff but here is nothing she can do because they don't do anything when she is around I'm so afraid ob a drvie by shooting. These people come from California and respect no one. Mr. Spenrath has agreed to put the road down below and Mr. Odom was going back to ask the Dorado's for an easement to move the road. Mr. Spenrath stated he doesn't want to have to take money out of his pocket to get this done. Mr. Johnston is to talk to Mr. Doraod to see if the road can be moved. ---- COMMISSIONERS' COURT AGENDA REQUEST * PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND FIVE COPIES OF THIS REQUEST AND DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT MADE BY: Franklin Johnston. P,E OFFICE: Road & Bridge Department MEETING DATE: Julys, 1994 TIME PREFERRED: SUBJECT: (PLEASE BE SPECIFIC):Consider having the County Attorney write a letter requested by Dan Spenrath on the County Road known as Knott Rd EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: YES N O XX PLEASE STATE REASON : A letter from County Attorney to Spenrath _ ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION: 10 Minutes PERSONNEL MATTER -NAME OF EMPLOYEE: NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: Franklin Johnston. P.E. Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted in accordance with Article 6252-17 is as follows: ' Meetings held on second Tuesday: 12:00 P.M. previous Wednesday ` Meetings held on Thursdays : 5:00 P.M. previous Thursday THIS REQUEST RECEIVED BY: THIS REQUEST RECEIVED ON: All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine if adequate information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at time of Court meetings. Your cooperation will be appreciated and contribute towards your request being addressed at the earliest op~Qrtunity. See Agenda Request Guidelines. ~~ ~ 1t~IemoYandum To: ('ommissioğers ('Dort I ionr: I,eoi~ard (~donr, Jr. Dafe: 06~29,~199,1 Subject: Letter to Dart S'pefarath We met with Mr. Dan Spenrath and Mr. Joe Biermann Friday, June 24, 1994, to discuss the right-of--way on Knott Road. After several hours of meeting in the office and on location I wrote Ilse Bailey the attached memo and we felt there was an agreement on how the situation would be handled. Mr. Dan Spenrath called our office June 29, 1994 at 8:00 a.m. He is no longer in agreement with the things we discussed and he has requested a letter from the County Attorney outlining exactly what the County's position on this public access road will be. At this time we ask the Court to authorize the County Attorney to write a letter to all parties concerned. When the Court has resolved all right-of--way disputes, Road & Bridge will be happy to help with any realignment the Court authorizes. Memorandum 70: Ilse D. Bailey, Asst. Corarty Attorney From: Franklin Johnsto~l, P.L. Date: 06/24/1994 Subject: Re: Joe Biermann's road easement We conducted a meeting today concerning a road easement from Joe Biermann's house to Wilson Creek Road . Present were Glenn Holekamp, Len Odom, Joe Biermann, Mr. & Mrs. Spenrath and Franklin Johnston. From the information presented and from a visit to the actual location, I would make the following comments: 1. An Affidavit from Mr. Adolph Bartel, former Kerr County Commissioner from Precinct 3, states this road has been considered a "neighborhood road" since 1951. Section 40.9, Road and Bridge Act, states a "neighborhood road" is a special class of county road to give an individual landowner access to his property. ( Art. 6702-1, Sec. 2,.006, VACS) Once ,_ a "neighborhood road" is opened, the county is required only to put it in an initial usable condition, further maintenance by the county is not required. The Texas Supreme Court in 1962 held that the "neighborhood road " statute was unconstitutional because it permitted a public taking by the county for private as opposed to public use. (Maher v. Lasater, 163 Tex. 356, 354 S.W. 2d 923 (1962). The court found that granting individual landowners access to their property was not a public function (See, Vernon's Ann. Tex. Const. Art 1, sec. 17 } 2. Once a recorded easement exists, as indicated in letter from Arlene Biermann Konde, it remains in effect without any statute of limitations. ( Art. 5517, VTCS ) 3. I conclude this road is a public road easement, 12' wide, not maintained by Kerr County Unit Road System and should not be blocked by a locked gate. ( See Attorney General's Opinion No. H - 111) This conclusion represents a logical interpretation of the facts presented and in no way should he construed to be a legal analysis. Mr. Spenrath seemed to entertain the idea of moving this easement to his property line instead of '-' next to his house, which would require significant construction work to rebuild this road . This leads me to my question - 4. Can Kerr County Road & Bridge expend money on this road easement, which is not maintained by Kerr County ? According to our guidelines, the minimum ROW for a county road is 40' and this easement is 12'. This existing easement is adjacent to a huge pit, similar to Burney Road, across from Mr. Spenrath's house. Please give us your Legal Opinion of this question.