MENTONE – Seeing “both sides”, the Mentone Town Council Monday night approved to pay $656 to Miles Nellans for an easement that the town will use for the storm water project. Nellans brought the matter to the council at its April meeting, but the council tabled it until Monday night. Nellans purchased the Tucker property on the edge of town during an auction in February. Prior to the auction, Lake City Bank had signed off on the easement for the town to use. Nellans said the storm water project will tie up almost 2 acres of his land the first year. While he’s not farming it, he is cash renting the property. The trench that will be dug for the project will be 10 to 11 feet deep, Nellans said, and the easement is 100 feet. All the soil will be stirred up and turned over. Nellans estimated it will take five years to bring the open field back to the way it was before the project. He said he pro-rated his loss at $175 for the acres being lost to come up with the $656. He said it wasn’t a huge amount of money, but it will be turned over to his tenant. “I’m just trying to protect my own interest,” Nellans said. While he said he knew Lake City Bank signed off on the easement, when he asked a bank official why, he said he was told it was just something that was done. Nellans was not at the auction but his son was and Nellans was on the phone during the auction. When councilman Kent Ganshorn asked Nellans if he was aware of the easement and project, Nellans said his son didn’t look at the posting that was there at the auction. Nellans said it was mentioned at the auction, but not in great detail. “Lake City Bank had already signed off on it,” Nellans said. Town attorney Larry Beeson said the town knew it needed the easement ahead of time. Since Lake City Bank was the personal representative of the property owner and had created a trust, the town had to get the bank to sign off on the easement before the grant deadline expired. Someone who had attended the auction where the Tucker property was sold told Beeson it was clear what was said at the auction, Beeson reported. Jill Gross, councilwoman, said she felt if the town pays one person, it opens up the town to others who request the town pay them. It sets a precedence, she said. Utilities Superintendent Eric Carlin said after looking into it, he found the town couldn’t pay anything out of the grant money for easements. “I see both ways,” Gross said. Tim Croy, council president, said he sees Nellans’ point, but he also was concerned about the precedence being set. “I’m sure if I had owned the land before you started the project, I would have asked for compensation and I would have asked for more than this,” Nellans said later. Gross made the motion to pay Nellans his request, and the full council approved the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Barb Ross requested an invoice from Nellans, who agreed to provide one.
