BOUNDARY FENCE DIRECTIVE
|
| TO: |
AFFECTED DIVISIONS/OFFICES |
| FROM: |
SAM SPECK, DIRECTOR |
| SUBJECT: |
BOUNDARY FENCE |
| Effective |
December 5, 1999 |
| Purpose |
To identify when ODNR shall share in the cost of a boundary fence. |
| Authority |
ORC 1501.01 ORC 971 (Partition Fences)
Am. Sub. S.B. 187: Requiring ODNR to participate in equal shares only on land "adjacent to land used to graze livestock." |
| Reference |
Attorney General's Opinion No. 86-072 |
| Resource |
Real Estate and Land Management - Real Estate Administrator |
The Department and its divisions have the option of either agreeing to or denying participation in boundary fencing except on Department land adjacent to private land used to graze livestock. On those lands the Department will equally share in costs with adjoining landowner(s) to build, keep up, and maintain all partition fences between the landowners unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.
Procedure
In order to promote continuity and consistency in the handling of requests for boundary fences, the process listed below is hereby adopted to give guidance to the landholding divisions of the Department. This procedure is not applicable to internal fencing which does not separate state lands from private lands.
The Department of Natural Resource shall enter into fence agreements with adjacent private landowners when the following criteria applies:
- The Department or any Division thereof has a contractual obligation to construct, maintain, or repair a boundary fence or a portion thereof by virtue of a previous agreement, lawfully executed, and considered binding on the Department or Division by the Department's legal counsel.
- The Department or any Division thereof determines that the construction of a boundary fence would be justified and cost effective for purposes of protecting state lands susceptible to encroachment or other purposes deemed beneficial to the State.
- The Department or any Division thereof is requested by an adjacent landowner to construct, maintain or repair a boundary fence or a portion thereof, which land is used for the grazing of livestock.
If a request is initiated by an adjacent private landowner to construct or repair a common boundary line fence which is not already subject to a formal boundary fence agreement, the Division so requested shall review said request on a case by case basis using the above listed criteria. If, after review by the Division, the private landowner's request is recommended for a denial, the Division shall forward said request and the Division's recommendation(s) for a denial to the Director through the appropriate Deputy Director for final review and final determination by the Director.
If a Division determines that a boundary fence is desirable to meet division needs, and the adjacent property owner did not initiate the request but may benefit from it, the Division may approach the adjacent property owner in order to determine if the owner is interested in voluntarily participating in the boundary fence installation. Participation by the adjacent private landowner in boundary fence installation is voluntary.
To the extent possible, the Department and its divisions shall utilize boundary signs and markers to identify state boundaries as a more cost-effective and less labor intensive means of securing boundaries than fencing.
Existing boundary fences owned by the State shall not be removed without approval of the appropriate Division and notification of the adjacent landowner. Existing boundary fences owned by an adjacent private landowner in whole or in part, or created under a boundary fence agreement with the State, shall not be removed by any division without the prior written approval of the adjacent landowner and approval of the Director, which approval shall be kept on file in the area headquarters. Said fences shall be retained as a boundary reference until the boundary fence is replaced with signs or other suitable boundary markings.
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