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Herington commission approves vacation and quitclaim of Union Pacific right-of-way
Summary
After an additional public hearing to include five legal descriptions, the Herington commission approved vacating several right-of-way strips to Union Pacific Railroad and authorized a quitclaim deed; a public commenter raised concerns about adjacent owners not being personally notified.
The Herington City Commission reopened a public hearing on Feb. 17 to consider vacating portions of street right-of-way to Union Pacific Railroad after staff said earlier notices lacked full legal descriptions. City staff said the five legal descriptions are now included and the hearing offered a chance for public comment.
Kim Diddle Bell, of 801 West Trapp, asked why adjacent property owners had not been personally notified and said some neighbors learned of the petition only by chance. Staff (Brad) explained that statute and customary practice rely on published notice and that when a city vacates a strip, contiguous property owners typically acquire half of the vacated area; staff also said the railroad purchased contiguous parcels piecemeal and would own the continuous strip when vacated.
Speaker 2 moved to approve the petition to vacate the listed portions of right-of-way (all five descriptions) and to authorize the mayor to sign; Speaker 8 seconded. The motion carried by voice; the transcript records an exchange indicating the vote count was "14." The commission then prepared an order vacating the identified portions of street/right-of-way to Union Pacific and later authorized a quitclaim deed to complete the transfer and asked staff to send the deed to the title company for processing.
Staff described the quitclaim as administrative once approved and said the deed requires the elected official's signature. The commission approved the quitclaim deed and authorized the mayor's signature.
What happens next: staff will send the authorized quitclaim deed to the title company to finalize the transfer, and the mayor will sign the deed as the elected official.
Representative quotes from the hearing include Kim Diddle Bell asking, "Why wasn't any of the people that it's attached to notified about this?" and staff explaining, "Once that occurs... it will automatically go to the property owners who do own it contiguous to what we're vacating."
