One reason people don’t trust governments

 Once upon a time we lived on a township gravel road. Against our wishes, the township elected to pave the road. I presume that means that the likelihood of the township deciding to abandon our road is  very limited, but who can tell these days. Although I haven’t reviewed the file recently, I don’t recall anything in the seller’s disclosure form hinting at the possibility that the roadway ever could be abandoned. In fact, years before we bought our property in a township, I read the book Country Living: A Guide for City People. I find not a hint of possible problems with road abandonments.

a township gravel road in winter

Photo by J. Harrington

In Minnesota, the Minnesota Association of Townships has an information library on resources regarding:

Township Roads

Overview and statute reference, minimum maintenance, ditches, Snow/Ice, town road flowchart, drainage, lines, cartways, and more

There are several resources on vacating or abandoning a townships interest in a road, but there doesn’t appear to be any requirement for townships to maintain an official map, comparable to a zoning map, of which roads are the townships and which are private. Lack of such a map makes it difficult for a potential property owner to determine if access to a property is public or private.

The information problem appears to be compounded by a potential oversight on Minnesota’s required seller’s disclosure form [M.S.B.A. Real Property Form No. 15 (2005, 2016, 2017)]. To quote:

The disclosure must include all
material facts of which the seller is aware that could adversely and
significantly affect: (1) an ordinary buyer's use and enjoyment of the
property; or (2) any intended use of the property of which the seller is
aware. (b) The disclosure must be made in good faith and based upon
the best of the seller's knowledge at the time of the disclosure.

All of the preceding has been triggered by news coverage, yet again, of an ongoing battle between a resident family and Hillman Township. One aspect the news stories haven’t mentioned, as far as I recall, is whether the family knew the status of the road before they purchased the property. A check of the Hillman Township section of the Kanabec County web site is not helpful to any potential property owner in identifying whether a road is public or private. The state law(s) in question seem to have a number of requirements, none of which provide ongoing public notice of the status of a roadway in any township.

The purpose of today’s posting isn’t to take sides or find fault on the case in question. It is a reminder that, all too often, “It’s the system that’s at fault.” Perhaps the township association, the bar association and the legislature could, and should, visit the statutes in question and revise them to limit the number of times such contentious issues may arise in the future.

Gravel

David Baker - 1954-

Weed-wrack and wild grape 
                                                       hanging from the dusty trees 
that touch above the narrow road. 
                                                       I’m driving my way back 

—rough passage over gravel— 
                                                       back the slow miles over 
the creek, the lapsed meadow 
                                                       we walked for arrow points 

until the road narrows to path. 
                                                       I park the car.  I pick my step           
past rusty barbed wire through 
                                                       a clearing to the house. 

Back the house. Back the years. 
                                                      Back with him now with me 
over broken floorboards,      
                                                      stone footers, the pot stove—  

a whippoorwill, years distant 
                                                      through the paneless frames. 
Half a staircase leading up 
                                                      over the century of beams. 

Back now again the old road 
                                                      disappearing through white woods, 
where he lay down and breathed 
                                                      no more. 

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