House Built on County Property by Mistake

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Mark Barr's getaway home northeast of the Perry County government building along Rt. 13/127 south of Pinckneyville was built on county-owned property by mistake.

The house was too large to pick up and move onto Barr's own property to the north, so the Perry County Board of Commissioners with the help of county highway engineer Doug Bishop has negotiated the sale of that county-owned property to Barr.

Final approval of the deal resolving the dispute came during one of the May meetings of the Perry County board.

It was definitely a "grin 'n bear it" moment for all , and the only bad taste left in the county's mouth is the fact it had to negotiate an easement back to a recreational lake over property that it use to own.

The sale price to Barr was $5,000 plus an additional $1,000 to transact the sale, modifying a survey done two years ago and squaring the title.

It all began some time back after Barr purchased a land tract north of the government building. The property is accessed by a road that runs east and west just north of the government building. That road is the dividing line between what the county owns and what Barr purchased.

For whatever reason, Barr felt that once you drove through a gate that leads to a county-owned recreational lake and other properties the county has thought about selling--off an on--his property stretched further south.

It doesn't, and the county survey clearly shows that.

While some turned a blind eye to what had happened, others intent on righting the wrong insisted the issue could not be ignored. Selling off the triangular parcel of land compromises the look of what had been a straightforward survey with no need for an easement, but at least it's all lawful now.