Sewer District continues forth thanks to $33,000 lakebed purchase
The Town of Inlet Board passed a resolution Tuesday, announcing the purchase of a number of plots, pieces or parcels of underwater land from the heirs of James Galvin—a decidedly tricky transferrance, but one that was necessary as a result of the formation of Sewer District #1 in the Town of Inlet.
In short—if there is such a thing in a case like this—the grant funding process for Inlet’s sewer project requires certain aspects of land ownership and rights to be documented and precise.
Specifically, easements and ownership must be established for each piece of property which will be served by the sewer plant.
This includes lands and lakebeds where the sewer plant will be located.
The assessment records show that multiple parcels which contain the lakebeds under Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Limekiln Lakes are owned by the State of New York.
That’s according to Inlet Assessor Tim Durkin, who has been active in the research process.However, according to Durkin, no deed for these parcels could be located in the Hamilton County Clerk’s Office. Further research showed these lakebed parcels to be the property of “Unknown Owner.”
Enter James Galvin.
James Galvin was born in Carthage, New York on March 6, 1835. He worked in several positions throughout his life. He was the supervisor for the Town of Wilna for six years and he was superintendent of the Black River Canal for many years.
However, he spent most of his early years as a dealer purchasing and selling horses and cattle.
This must have been a very lucrative business, as in the 1890’s Galvin purchased approximately 6,500 acres of woodlands and lakes most of which was located in what now is the Town of Inlet.
Galvin married Jennie Carroll on May 2, 1890. The couple never had any children.
Jennie worked with James in managing his many enterprises. James died on April 8, 1911, and Jennie continued to oversee the Galvin properties in Inlet.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s Jennie sold multiple properties which James owned to private individuals. However, these sales largely did not include the lakes fronting these properties.
Jennie Galvin died on March 10, 1947 at the age of 94. At the time of her death she was one of two trustees for the estate of James Galvin.
No evidence was obtained that the major lakebed properties held by the Galvin estate ever changed ownership.
So there you go.
Fortunately, Inlet conducted extensive abstract work on the underwater parcels comprising the Moose River Track Township 3—the Galvin holding from the 1890’s.
Utilizing the abstracts and some genealogical research, the town was able to locate several living heirs of James Galvin.
After some negotiation the Town was able to come to agreement with the Galvin heirs on the purchase of these lakebed properties for $33,000.
And Inlet’s Sewer District #1 continues forth.
At the Town of Inlet Board Meeting on June 12th the town was able to grant the use of the lands under the Fifth Lake Outlet for use by the sewer district.
Additionally, the town owns the lakebeds included in the Moose River Track Township 3 purchase under the waters of Fourth Lake, Fifth Lake, Sixth Lake and Seventh Lake.
