In June of 2008, the owners of East Side Shell provided the city of Carroll with a right-of-way easement on a portion of their property for future trail development. The property was sold earlier this year to Al’s Corner Oil Company, and the new owners have requested permission to construct a parking over the trail easement. Director of Publics Works, Randy Krauel said the council needs to consider whether or not they wanted to keep their right-of-way easement, abandon it or accept an alternative.
The current vacant area slated for development requires quite a bit of grading, and the proposal has included construction of a 10-foot graded area for the future trail, while preserving the road shoulder and ditch. Krauel informed the council that no easements have been obtained from property owners to the north or south of this location, however, Mayor Adam Schweers said that completely giving up the easement could easily result in more work in the future.
Council members agreed it was better to shift the trail easements on the north end of that property than lose it altogether. When asked by councilman Jerry Fleshner if this was a fair trade, Krauel responded that it could be considered a reasonable arrangement as not only would they retain the right of way, the land owner is absorbing some of the grading and paving costs for that segment of trail. City Attorney, David Bruner said that ideally, the vacating of the current easement and dedication of the new easement should occur simultaneously. The council approved proceeding with the preparation of the necessary documents to conduct this transfer and will review them before taking any further action.
