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Home My WebLink AboutYellowstone County Attorney dZ . YELLOWSTONE COUNTY ATTORNEY e 217 North 27th Street 7 01 P.O.Box 35025 Daniel L. Schwarz , /r Billings,MT 59107-5025 Chief Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney (406)256-2870 (406)256-6931 -Fax �,pwaontE �o October 23,2009 Kristin L. Omvig Crowley Fleck PLLP OCT 2 6 2009 490 N.3 F"Street,Suite 500 Billings,MT 59101 Re:-GeorgeM.Fox C;M �Y �Nli1.�CL Your File#: 35-172-002 Dear Ms. Omvig: Thank you for your October 13,2009 letter sent to the Yellowstone County Board of Commissioners regarding the County's responsibility for the Nutting Drain. I will address your concerns separately. 1) Cause of Flooding, Apparently, it is your client's belief that flooding on his property is caused by"an inadequately sized culvert". I would point out a number of things in response to this conclusion. First,Yellowstone County apparently installed a culvert under the highway and a set(or maybe two sets)of railroad tracks in 1909. It is not clear from the original drawing whether this was a continuous culvert or two separate ones; in any event. The entire original length of the Nutting Drain from the road to the paint where the drain turns to the east is 400 feet. However, it is likehetoh��there were short �ri sections of the railroad tracks.e road and railroad tracks with an open ditch in between and at t Therefore, it is likely the County's culverts(s)are very short in length. The purpose of the Nutting Drain was to ely drain away surface water from some of the adjacent reasonable uproperty of the land. In other drain. wordst is this drain that without the drainikmost keeps the surface water to a level that allows of your client's land would experience serious and repeated surface flooding. You have indicated that the culvert runs for"approximately 900 feet". My inspection with the Public Works Director indicates that this is likely a fact. However,I have previously explained the limited role the County has in the original installation and maintenance of this culvert(s). The County has not been able to determine who extended the culvert and when,but observation reveals that the outlet is now located much further to the south and the east of the original outlet. How the extension was engineered and what debris may be located in the extended portion is beyond my knowledge (although the Public Works Department is making a diligent search to see if any record of the extension exists). My guess is that as the railroad expanded the area of its right-of-way and also the number of tracks the culvert was extended and the outlet modified to serve the needs of the railroad. Because this was not a County right-of-way and the County did not need a modification of the culvert for the public's need, I would doubt that the extension would have been constructed by the County nor would the County have had any role in permitting the extension. In other words, the culvert installed by the County in 1909(as unmodified)was properly designed and benefited your client's property by assisting in its proper drainage. Second,your client's property lies in the Yellowstone County floodplain. I have obtained a copy of the floodplain map encompassing;your client's property from the County's Floodplain Administrator,Jim Kraft. I have enclosed a copy of this map with this letter. As you can see from the map,your client's acreage is located almost completely within the mapped floodplain. One would expect to see surface water in such an area(again, this surface water runoff is mitigated by the existence of the Nutting Drain). 2) PropeM Value. You indicate that the Montana Department of Transportation has calculated your client's 60 acres to be valued at"$2,336,819.76". You further indicate that this value was determined in an August 21, 2007 letter from the Department and that such is enclosed with your October 13, 2009 letter to the County Commissioners. I have checked with the County Commission's staff and it has indicated that no such attachment was sent to the County. Accordingly,please send a copy of this letter to me for my reference. I would note that I did go out and look at the property last Friday with the County Public Works Director,Tim Miller. A naked eye examination revealed the 60 acres is bordered by a mobile home park to the northwest and the railroad to the south. There is a ridge to the north and the highway(a raised curve)to the east. The property appears to be consistent with high ground water in that the plants on the place appear to be those usually associated with high ground water areas. Again,the land is in the County floodplain. I also took the liberty of obtaining the tax records on the property. I am enclosing a copy of this tax assessment with this letter for your convenience. As you can see,the total assessed value for your client's property is$75,753.00. Either the Montana Department of Revenue is way off in its assessment of the place,or the party assessing it at$2 million plus is a bit high on valuation. 3) Conclusion. The County's position is that the culvert installed inl909 was properly designed and has greatly assisted in the drainage of your client's property for a great many years. The culvert has apparently been extended to over twice its original length and the outlet has been moved. I don't believe the County was responsible for this redesign. The claimed fair market value of your client's property appears to be quite high given its location in a floodplain and the current use and location of the property. Therefore,unless you have further documentation of the County's responsibility to make modification to the culvert,the County will not be modifying the design. Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me(256-2880,direct line)or at dschwarz c).yell wston :.mt- ov. Sine y aniel L. Schwarz Yellowstone County C ' uty Attorney cc: Tim Miller Jim Kraft Board of County Commissioners Stefen Streeter,DOT-District Administrator Dr.Ronald Benner,Nutting Drain Mayor Ken Olson-City of Laurel Yellowstone County Property Tax Information Page 1 of 2 lost so Disclaimer: Not all fields are currently maintained.The accuracy of the data is not guaranteed. Please notify the Appraisal/Assessment Office of any inaccuracies. Back.to Search Form Full Orion Detail Owner Information Tax ID: D02681B Primary Party Primary Owner Name: FOX, GEORGE MELVIN Mailing Address: FOX, GEORGE MELVIN 1366 CLARHILL RD LAUREL, MT 59044-8334 Property Address: Township: 02 S Range: 24 E Section: 11 Subdivision: Block: Lot: Full Legal: S11, T02 S, R24 E, TR IA3 COS 975 AMD TR lA 60.622 AC (OLD D02681) (05) (LESS VILLAGE SUB 1ST&2ND PH& 3RD FIL) GeoCode: 03-0821-11-2-01-60-0000 Show on Mai Property Assessment Information Levy District: LAUREL OUTSIDE W/PLANNING Assessed value Assessed Land Value = $ 61,096.00 Assessed Building(s)Value =$ 14,657.00 Total Assessed Value = $ 75,753.00 Taxable Market Value* Tax Year: 2009 Class Code Amount 1701 -Non-Qualified Ag Land 20-160 Acres= $ 2,871.00 2107 - Commercial Tract Land= $ 25,473.00 3301 - Improvements on Rural Land= $ 7,605.00 Total = $ 35,949.00 * The values shown are for the given tax year as supplied by the Department of Revenue.This value is used to calculate the property tax and is not the true market value of the property.The most recent market value is not allowed to be used by the Legislature. For questions regarding how the taxable market value is derived, please contact the Montana Department of Revenue, Appraisal/Assessment Office at 406-896-4000. Rural SID Payoff Information NONE Property Tax Billing History Pay Taxes Online Year 1st Half 2nd Half Total 2005, 257.27 P 257.27 P 514.54 2006 410.32 P 410.31 P 820.63 http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/gis/csaprop.asp?lid=251953 10/16/2009 Yellowstone County Property Tax Information Page 2 of 2 2007 406.52 P 406.49 P 813.01 2008 387.81 P 387.79 P 775.60 (P) indicates paid taxes. Click on year for detail. Jurisdictional Information Commissioner Dist: 1 - John Ostlund-(R) School Attendance Areas Senate: 29- Daniel McGee(R) High: LAUREL House: 58 - Kra on Kerns R Middle: LAUREL Ward: Outside City Limits Elem: GRAFF Precinct: 65 Any comments or questions regarding the web site may be directed to the webmistress. http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/gis/csaprop.asp?lid=251953 10/16/2009 Department of Revenue Orion Data Detail Page 1 of 1 a.. si ,.,,r s Orion Detail Disclaimer: Not all fields are currently maintained.The accuracy of the data is not guaranteed. Please notify the Appraisal/Assessment Office (406-896-4000)of any inaccuracies. Back to Search Form Property Tax Detail Owner Information Primary Owner: FOX, GEORGE MELVIN Tax ID: D02681 B Geo Code: 03-0821-11-2-01-60-0000 Property Address: Legal Description: S11, T02 S,R24 E,TR IA3 COS 975 AMD TR IA 60,622 AC(OLD D02681)(05)(LESS VILLAGE SUB I ST&2ND PH&3RD FIL) Property Type : VR-Vacant Land Rural Deed Documents: Recording# Document type Recording Date Book Page SP3298233 7/29/2004 SP32 98233 Site Data i View Cods . 03-2970-07L Location: 0-Rural Land Neighborhood Code: 500.0 Fronting 0-None% Parking type: Parking Prox % Utilities: 0 Access: 0 Lot Size: 1 Acres Topology: I Ag Land Data Cont Crop AC: 0 Fallow AC: 0 Irrigated AC: 0 Grazing AC: 0 Wild AC: 0 Timber AC: 0 Farmsite AC: 0 NonQual AC: 59.622 Total AC: 59.622 Other Building and Yard Improvements Code-Type Quantity Area/Unit Classcode AAP1 -Pole Frame Bldg,4 sides 1 3840 3301 closed,metal Any comments or questions regarding the web site may be directed to the webmistress. http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/gis/csacama.asp?pid=251953 10/16/2009 i p a 0 w U U. 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