MIDDLESEX TWP — The tract of land along Ferguson Lane isn’t much — a 50-by-400-foot strip that’s mostly covered by grass.

Yet at the center of that tract, a roughly 900-sqaure-foot space has cost five year’s worth of time and tens of thousands of dollars for three township families.

Ferguson Lane is a private driveway off Route 8, with the Tisdale farm to the north, and homes owned by the Bonifate and Pracht families to the south. Oakwood Drive, which is in the Dwellington plan, ends at the unowned land. There sits the space in contention, adorned by mailboxes and, most recently, spray painted boundaries, railroad ties and orange barrels.

How It Began

The farmer who owned the property around the land subdivided it in 1959, with that piece intended to become a public road. The township never adopted it, however, and the land has turned into a green space in between property lines.

The land dispute began in 2013, when Jeff Bonifate and Craig Pracht asked township supervisors to close the end of Oakwood Drive to prevent unlicensed vehicles from accessing the Tisdale property on Ferguson Lane.

Bonifate said at the time that he had been maintaining the grass in the area, which runs into his front yard, but said the Tisdales told him to stop cutting it because the property belonged to them.

Township solicitor Mike Hnath told the families at a June 2013 supervisors meeting that it is not the township’s duty to decide who owns the land. Then-township manager Scot Fodi told the families that the dispute could be settled in court.

The Bonifates and Prachts did just that, suing the Tisdales and the township over the land, for which a title had never been recorded in Butler County. The township lost claim of the land in 1980, documents state.

The Bonifates and Prachts asked for the land to be divided lengthwise, with 25 feet going to the Tisdales on the north, and 25 feet divided between the Bonifates and Prachts to the south.

The Tisdales, however, said the land should have been given to them according to a state code that says untitled land goes to the property owner who used it after 21 years. Attorneys for the plaintiffs also argued that statute requires land to be given to adjoining property owners.

In the fall of 2015, Butler County Judge Michael Yeager ordered the Tisdales to build a barrier around a People’s Natural Gas meter after the Pracht family shared concerns that a vehicle could strike the line and cause a major explosion. The structure was erected, but later ruled to be insufficient. Since then, large yellow posts have been put in place to protect the area.

2018 Issues

Since then, the dispute has lingered in Yaeger’s court.

According to court documents filed by George C. Miller, attorney for the Bonifate and Pracht families, a tentative settlement was reached among all parties Jan. 24. in court and during out-of-court discussions Jan. 26.

However, documents state the Tisdales, as well as the township, “refused to memorialize and proceed forward with their end of the existing agreement unless matters outside the existing agreement were included in the formal memorialization.”

During a March 29 hearing, documents state, Yaeger ruled the agreement was enforceable despite not being signed. Subsequently, additional surveys were completed, with stakes and other markers put in place outlining the property lines.

As part of the agreement, the property was to be split among the parties.

Members of the Tisdale family are permitted to drive on the Oakwood Drive tract to get mail from the mailboxes. Jeff Bonifate said the agreement also calls for a fence to be placed at the access point, with keys given to those who are permitted to access the area.

Joanne Tisdale acknowledged the agreement and the ruling declaring it enforceable. However, she said her family has not signed the agreement because changes were submitted to the final order and were not addressed by the plaintiffs. Additionally, she said the township is now working to determine the status of the easement.

“We’re not dragging our feet on this,” she said. “Our position is we just want to wait and see what the township does.”

According to Bonifate and Tisdale, township officials have indicated they want that portion of the land to be open to everyone so mail can be delivered, trash can be picked up and emergency vehicles have access to the surrounding properties.

The township could also use that area to place snow cleared in the winter, and would maintain Oakwood Drive, including snow removal, paving and maintenance. The land also could be used by the public for turning around at the dead end.

However, Tisdale said, the plaintiffs contend they have full ownership of the area and are not willing to allow that access. She added that it seems the terms of the agreement are ever-changing, and it has been a cause of worry and confusion for her and her family.

“(The plaintiffs) got the property they wanted that they sued for,” she said. “Why can’t you just be happy with that?”

Bonifate said the agreement calls for a limited easement for the township, but not for the public. He said Yeager’s ruling calls for that limited easement, and for the township to pave and maintain it, but no such work has been completed or scheduled.

Because of that lingering issue, Bonifate said he has taken further action to block access to the property, which he believes is clearly defined. That includes railroad ties, orange barrels and surveillance cameras, which court documents allege have captured more than 50 instances in which the agreement has been violated by the Tisdales.

“If you have an agreement and you aren’t honoring it, you don’t really have an agreement,” he said.

It also included rope, which had been hung in front of the mailboxes at the end of the lane. That rope was ordered to be taken down by postal service officials, and occasioned a visit from federal postal inspectors, Bonifate said.

While Tisdale said the matter of the mailboxes has already been considered and ruled on in court, Bonifate believes a simple ruling to move the mailboxes off the property would end the matter immediately. He said moving the boxes to the end of Ferguson Lane on Route 8 would eliminate any reason for anyone else to access the tract of land.

“I’m hoping the mailboxes are the solution,” he said.

No End In Sight

On Tuesday, during a meeting of the township supervisors, Tisdale presented officials with a letter further outlining her family’s case and indicating the entering of the oral agreement on the matter.

However, she wrote that the oral agreement has “morphed” into a situation where the Prachts and Bonifates own the land in question, which would allow them to limit access to anyone, including the public. She further wrote that her family would have never agreed to such stipulations.

The letter asks the township to, “create a hammerhead, if nothing else, so trucks can turn around safely as well as anyone from the public who finds it necessary to do so.”

Pracht and Bonifate both spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, with Bonifate telling supervisors that he estimates the cost of the lawsuit to the families involved to be nearly $100,000 in total.

He asked Hnath if he would be willing to sign the agreement, “within the next 48 hours.”

“You have an agreement before you ... and from what I understand, we are waiting for you to make a move and sign this so we can bring it to Judge Yeager for finalization,” he said.

Hnath responded that information presented was “not accurate” and that township officials, not him, sign off on any agreements. He advised Bonifate to let his attorneys work out any issues.

Bonifate began to read from a court transcript and questioned the use of tax dollars in the case, which eventually drew a response from township supervisors.

“You’re not going to sit there and bash us, we are trying,” supervisor Donald Marshall said of the ongoing dispute.

Bonifate continued, saying court discussions addressed the limited easement, with the township being granted access for snow removal, paving and maintenance. He reached the time limit allotted for a person speaking during the public comment portion, and was told by supervisors his time was up.

An audience member attempted to let Bonifate use his allotted time to continue, and Bonifate continued until Marshall called for a police officer. Bonifate conceded the microphone at that time.

Following the meeting, Hnath said neither he nor other township officials could comment on the matter, as it is ongoing litigation.