"A judge has ordered a Clare businessman to clear his property off a piece of land that was determined last month to be owned by Isabella County.

Isabella County Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain last week denied a motion by Tom Kunse, Ron Kunse and Steve Stark that would allow them to keep their property on the land while they appeal Chamberlain’s June ruling that the county owns the parcel adjacent to Northern Dry Bulk on Industrial Drive in Clare.

Stark and the Kunses had planned on building a fueling station on the property.

While the Kunses and Stark plan to appeal Chamberlain’s ruling on last week’s motion, they must take down infrastructure they began building on the property before the dispute between Northern and the county went to court, Isabella County Administrator Tim Dolehanty said. Tom Kunse, however, said any order to move the infrastructure – concrete fuel station pads – will be put on hold while the judge’s decision is being appealed. 


Meanwhile, county officials will work with the county’s attorney, Timothy Perrone of Cohl, Stoker, Toskey and McGlinchey, on a timetable for the Kunses and Stark to remove the infrastructure, Dolehanty said on Monday. Kunse, who said he had worked out a deal with the county last year that fell through, said he is disappointed that the matter ended up in court. “It just continues to amaze me that we can’t work this out,’ he said, adding that technical real estate disputes “need to be looked at twice,’ so he and his business partners filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals shortly after Chamberlain’s ruling in June. 


Kunse also said that any future plans for the Pere Marquette Rail Trail to be extended through the city of Clare could be in jeopardy. Kunse, who said he is not surprised by Chamberlain’s ruling last week, owns a parcel next to the land that the county owns that the rail trail would go through if plans to extend it come to fruition. 


But Kunse said he won’t sell the parcel to Isabella County. “It’s difficult not to be bitter at Isabella County,’ he said. Although Kunse said it is conceivable that he would sell the parcel to the city of Clare, the cost would be exorbitant. Kunse also said he still must recoup legal expenses for the civil suit with the county over ownership of the land on which he planned on building the fueling station. Stark and the Kunses believed that Chamberlain would grant their motion because they have already appealed Chamberlain’s June ruling that the property belongs to Isabella County, Dolehanty said. However, Stark and the Kunses took a chance when they began building on the property, Dolehanty said. 


When Chamberlain ruled June 21 that the piece of property in question is owned by Isabella County, he indicated that it appeared that the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway’s deed to Stark included a portion of property that the railroad didn’t own. That apparently happened because of the use of two different methods for drafting legal descriptions of the property, Chamberlain said in the June ruling. Midland County had deeded the property to Isabella County with a provision that it must be used for parks and recreation. Kunse said Monday that Midland County officials had offered to amend the restricted use provision. A date for the appeals court to hear the case has not been set."