BOCC to investigate property along St. Joe
Shoshone County is set to begin negotiations with Buell Bros. Inc. concerning the mutual interest of a piece of property near Herrick Park at the mouth of Big Creek where it flows into the St. Joe River.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE — In the aftermath of the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners’ (BOCC) decision to deny a petition to vacate or abandon a parcel of land, several pieces of misinformation have been circulating that the BOCC and other county officials hope that they can address.
The section of land that was being requested for abandonment by the county is in the Herrick Park area of southern Shoshone County, just a few miles east of Calder.
The property that was being petitioned for was roughly 100 feet and lies directly between the road and another portion of allegedly owned land on the corner of the mouth of Big Creek and the St. Joe River.
It is this parcel of allegedly owned waterfront land that has been the subject of the misinformation.
The private owners of Lot 1 of the Herrick Park subdivision, Buell Bros. Inc., have filed quitclaim deeds on the section of property in question, which lies directly across Big Creek, but is technically next to their currently-owned property.
A quitclaim deed in the state of Idaho is a legal document that conveys a property from a grantor (the person selling the property) to the grantee (the person purchasing or receiving the property).
This deed is without any form of guarantee that the grantor has the legal authority to sell or transfer the property or that the property has a clean title.
Shoshone County Assessor Jerry White explained the history of the Herrick Park subdivision, including its original owner William Schofield — who owned much of the land in the area and created the subdivision.
When Schofield platted the subdivision in the 1960s, he didn’t include the section of property that has been claimed in the quitclaim deed according to White, which almost nullifies any sort of claim or interest on the land in question.
“These two, well they’re not parcels, they’re pieces of land, were not subdivided so I think in essence the Schofields would still be the owners,” White explained.
White explained that in their quitclaim deed, Buells Bros. Inc. signed over the interest in the property from themselves to themselves and are thus claiming interest in the land.
“We didn’t show that he had any interest,” White said. “So it will be a post only (due to his recorded “interest” in the property), but he won't be assessed for that property. We would not change that until such time that the courts tell us to and we can prove who does have the interest in that property.”
This quitclaim process is one that the BOCC in particular had no knowledge of and essentially wouldn’t unless it was specifically brought to their attention.
The fuss over this land has hit near fever pitch in recent weeks, due largely to multiple public hearings and then the subsequent spread of misinformation.
It has been alleged by several groups that the land was part of a previous vacation in favor of the Buell Bros. Inc., as well as an extension of their adjacent property.
And armed with this misinformation, had the BOCC approved the petition for vacation or abandonment last month, it would’ve appeared as though they had given the property owners a massive chunk of waterfront property that already has county-built and county-maintained access down to it from the road.
Except that isn’t the case at all.
Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Allen explained that multiple maps being passed around and shared digitally have been altered from the original maps from the county, specifically one that improperly ascertains ownership.
He also explained that the dates on the circulating maps showing when these properties were vacated were actually the dates of different vacations that happened miles from this location.
Even with the claimed interest by Buell Bros. Inc., the BOCC and the county do not recognize that interest.
“The county recognizes Jack Buell’s ownership of Lot 1 in Herrick Park,” Allen said. “The county does not recognize any ownership (by the Buells) beyond Lot 1.”
The property itself has value to the county, both from a public use standpoint where it is a popular spot for water recreators to access the St. Joe River, as well as from the standpoint of the county having access through the property for the purposes of filling up water trucks to use for dust control.
Shoshone County is planning a fact finding mission, including potential surveying and title searches in hopes of determining who — if anyone — has interest in the property.