Opinion: Tanglewood Lakes road agreement not as simple as it seems

The electronic gates at Tanglewood during a holiday weekend were busy last year before a judge's ruling directed that they be removed. (Journal file photo)

By Roger Sims

Linn County Journal publisher

Dear Linn County Commission:

I was disappointed in your action on March 23 to sign an agreement and quitclaim deed relinquishing all ownership rights and responsibilities for the roads and apparently everything else at Tanglewood Lakes. For 10 bucks the Tanglewood Lake Owners Association (TLOA) was able to take back ownership of the roads throughout the lake development.

The language of the ownership agreement, however, was so broad as to appear that Tanglewood may have seceded from Linn County, absolving the county of any responsibility within the development’s boundaries.

Whatever the case, we’re sure that TLOA and county officials likely knew they stepped up into a whole new round of lawsuits.

The TLOA has been hot to reinstall the electronic card-controlled gates, barring anyone except property owners from accessing the development. Members on that board apparently want to keep the riffraff out of the neighborhood so much that they are willing to chance an extended appeal on last week’s action.

One of the reasons the issues of the gated community arose was because the TLOA refused to activate electronic gate cards for people who had not paid their association dues or for people who they deemed to have violated their club rules, no matter how small. The problem was that it violated state statute by denying property owners access to their homes.

The county commission is hot to ditch the twisty and hilly lake roads that will be difficult and expensive to maintain. The county was unceremoniously awarded maintenance of the roads there after Linn County District Court Judge Andrea Purvis declared the roads public last year in what seemed to be an unrelated criminal case.

Since then, the TLOA and the county have sued each other when, as Purvis pointed out, they both wanted the same thing.

And while the county signing an agreement and a quitclaim deed seems like a no-brainer, Purvis has not, and likely will not, set aside her decision. That decision was further reinforced by Amy Harth, head judge for the 6th Judicial District which oversees court operations in Miami, Linn, and Bourbon counties who said she would not remove Purvis from the case,.

Of course, we aren’t privy to the bargaining between county and TLOA members and their attorneys. It could conceivably be an end run around the district court, but whatever the reasoning is, it is likely to continue in the courts and – as some people have promised – more damage to the development’s gates.

It means more money and resources will be poured into an issue that promises to drag out.

Meanwhile, it is my position that if the commission is going to give away property for $10, I’ve got a crisp $20 bill I’m willing to plunk down on the Tanglewood roads. Of course, I won’t be able to afford to take care of those roads, so I might need to set up cash-only toll gates to levy a maintenance budget.