Methods explored:

1. Searched the County Clerks Records; and consulted with the Cortland Planning and Real Property offices. (See how to search clerks records below)**

2. Tracked the easement using Google Earth and layering that with tax parcels. This is how Eric at planning created the Virgil map, as the ROW is clearly visible thru southern Virgil and Lapeer**

3. Spoke with one surveyor who prepared a survey that showed the easement to ask if he had more surveys showing it. He did not. But these surveys are in the Real Prop Office. You just have to physically go there and search using the books, after identifying the properties through the Clerks records.

4. Drove east/west on the likely cross roads to locate the yellow markers where the north/south running SUN pipe line crosses those roads. I  emailed pics yesterday of what these markers look like. Don’t confuse the yellow SUN line with NYSEG (also yellow), DOMINION (white with red and green bands), and others.

There is no available map showing this pipe line that is known to the surveyor or staff at the County offices mentioned. The surveyor said he would use all of the above methods to find the line if he was hired to find it. So that’s what I did!

The SunLogistics map I emailed previously shows this old pipe line going to Van Buren, west of Syracuse, but the proposed new line, we think, is going to connect to the Tennessee line. I think this means the new ROW will branch off from the old SUN ROW. I am not clear on this aspect.??

My recommendation: I was able to put together an accurate map covering from the Broome County Line northward to the Rte 41/rte 81 interchange (McGraw), using info gleaned from particular deeds found in the clerks records, google earth, by connecting the dots of known road crossings and projecting that line northwards, and finally driving the crossing roads looking for the yellow markers. I initially lost the trail near Blodgett Mills but found a deed that identified Kellogg Rd (Cortlandville), so I was able to fill in that missing spot.  I again lost the trail north of rte 41, but the pipeline must cross large roads like rte 13, probably farther east than I looked. I think by searching the Clerks records and finding deeds that have a useful location description will give us clues where to drive/look. Focus our efforts on Homer and Preble. I think tracking it thru northern Broome won’t be too tough; Stan said he was able to track it with Google earth. Use the GPS coordinates I sent out yesterday as the starting point from Lapeer.

**   To search the Cortland County Clerk’s records I tried two approaches:

a. on the main search page I entered in the “Party 1” field “Sun Pipe Line” and under both the document group and document description I explored choosing searches like “easement”,  “agreement”, “real property”, “corporations”, “affidavit” , “misc recording” until the same listings and pages started coming up. Came up with some info.

b. The Clerk instructed the best way to find the pipe line was to search using the “INFODEX” tab, located at the top of the main search screen. This is a little complicated, but goes something like this:

select: SEARCH BY NAME tab; select from the menu “1910-1939 grantee corps”; enter SUN PIPE LINE in the NAME field; this brings you to book “S” and indicates Section 185 after the Sun listing;

Look back up top of the page and select the tab “GO TO SECTION” (next to the SEARCH BY NAME tab). Select GO TO BOOK “S”, enter SECTION 185. There are four pages of listings for all of Cortland County from the 1910-1939 period, and they are attached in this email. You can select a more recent index and it might give you more recent info. 1930’s seems to be the start of this pipeline project and  looks complete, though there are earlier references. Later listings are sometimes amendments, like adding a pumping station (Drake, 1989, Lapeer)

Take for example one of the listings from page 4, FD Cummings & others to SUN PIPE LINE; liber 166 page 545. Go back to top and click GO TO DOCUMENT; GO TO BOOK 166, PAGE 545. (The SELECT BOOK TYPE tab should automatically reset to DEEDS).

That’s the easy part.

Now you have to search forward from 1939, using the books, moving from grantor to grantee to grantor to find the current owners. And, try to get an idea of the location from the description in the deed! Some of these old descriptions are a hoot! “passes by the old oak tree behind Jeb’s barn”.  We will all be gone before we could finish this task.

My thinking is to search a few of these deeds and look for clues in the location descriptions and try to find a few reference points. Then connect the dots; the pipeline generally runs pretty straight.  For example, one deed identifies the pipe line running on the west side of Homer/Baltimore road in Preble (Fisher, liber (book) 462 pg 303, attached), and another actually names Snyder Hill road in Virgil (Liber (book) 166, page 1). (I found Liber 166 on a survey I stumbled on) See also DEED book 166, pg 75, my neighbors property.

Many of these listings are in one index, like the mass lease assignments. For example: Liber 166, page 1. Go to INFODEX, select GO TO DOCUMENT, GO TO BOOK  166, PAGE 1.  Around page 17 begins many pages of easement listings. Another on page 260. It’s worth exploring liber 462, which I did not.

Using the image drop down menu, go forward one page at a time. My Safari program crashes if I jump too far!!

You will see a reference to the deed with the book and page #. You may find a more useful description here, not always!

The tax ID numbers that Dept of Planning put on the Virgil map are not all up to date, so to find the current owners it is necessary to get help from the Real Prop office or Betsy. Betsy said she could help with that part. She really is a great asset. We are very lucky.

The records search process in Broome and Onondaga Counties is unknown to me.