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Atchison County commissioners discuss surveying, platting to clarify lake-area roads and access
Summary
The Atchison County Board of County Commissioners reviewed options to survey and either plat or formally dedicate roads around Atchison County Lake, with staff and surveyors advising that a plat that combines multiple parcels would likely resolve recurring access and title problems; no formal vote was taken.
The Atchison County Board of County Commissioners spent an extended portion of its April 1 meeting discussing whether to commission surveys and a plat to clarify public roads and parcel boundaries around Atchison County Lake.
County staff and outside surveyors told commissioners that the land forming the lake was originally acquired in multiple parcels and that the current road locations are not always aligned with parcel edges. A county planning/GIS speaker explained that commissioners can choose either to survey existing road centerlines and dedicate rights-of-way or to survey and plat the entire lake property into a single parcel with road dedications shown on the plat.
The planning/GIS speaker said platting the multiple parcels together would create a legal description of the overall property and include dedicated roads and any needed easements, which “would suffice for your dedication of those roads as public roads.” The speaker cautioned that surveying will require time and professional fees and said the work could reveal discrepancies in old parcel descriptions: “Some of these parcels around the lake…they don't close,” and a surveyor will need to determine where prior errors occurred.
Commissioners and staff discussed likely costs and next steps. The planning/GIS speaker estimated the professional survey work for multiple parcels and road centerlines could be “somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000,” but said firms were reluctant to provide firm quotes until they had more information. Commissioners said cleaning up title lines and dedicating roads would reduce future disputes and benefit public access whether the county retains or later sells parcels.
County counsel/staff clarified a related public concern: social-media claims that the lake property contains reversionary interests were not supported by recorded deeds the county has reviewed. The speaker said the deeds for the 1934–1935 acquisitions do not include language reverting the land to prior owners if the county ceases to use it as a county lake; there was one historical eminent-domain filing that was dismissed after agreement with owners, but the recorded deeds show no reversionary clause.
No formal motion or vote was recorded. Staff said they have asked two local surveying firms to produce proposals that will include options for surveying only the roads and rights-of-way and for a full plat combining parcels; commissioners asked staff to return with proposals and estimated costs for decision at a future meeting.
Comprehensive surveying and platting would, staff said, let the county: define public roads and rights-of-way, address small slivers between roads and adjacent properties, and reduce recurring title and access disputes that emerge when property is later resold or redeveloped.
