Thanks to the generosity of the great- great- grandchildren of the own-time owner, the village now holds title to a 2.5-acre parcel of land at the end of Linden Avenue where its trolley barn, streets garage and storage building are located.

Village attorney John Lambert last week filed paperwork in the county clerk's office to make it official after working for more than two years to locate the heirs of John B. Hooker and negotiate a deal to acquire the land.

The village discovered it did not own the land when it had the Linden Avenue extension area surveyed in attempt to determine who owned what. What it discovered was that it did not have title to the parcel on which it had recently built three buildings.

In 1891, the village entered into a 99-year lease agreement for the property arranged by Horace M. Hooker and Delos L. Bridge, executors of the estate of Ransome Spafford, at a price of $500. The lease agreement included the provision that the village could request to take title of the land during the period of the lease for no additional cost. However, there was no record the village ever exercised its right to do so.

In 1892, Horace Hooker and Bridge, still acting as executors, conveyed the land to John B. Hooker. His estate left no provision for the disposition of the land and over time the village came to believe it owned it.

When the discovery was made, Lambert was given the task of obtaining the land for the village because not only were village buildings on it, but it was also a key piece of what has come to be known as the Linden Avenue project.

Fly Creek resident Carol Goddard Hanlon contacted Lambert following an article she read in the Town Crier about his search for heirs to the Hooker estate. Hanlon and her sister and brother eventually decided to donate the land to the village and late last month conveyed any interest they had to village.

Hanlon could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Lambert said Tuesday that the property had been appraised by George Cade and was valued at $90,000.

"I'm thankful for Carol Hanlon and the rest of her family for their generous gift and cooperation," Lambert said. "It's been a long process and hopefully now we can move forward."

"I'm thrilled. It's a nice Christmas present for the village," said mayor Carol Waller Tuesday afternoon. "It's wonderful the family decided to do that. I think it's great that we finally own the property."

Waller said she now feels better about going ahead with the planning for the more than $4 million Linden Avenue project.

The board of trustees has identified two firms interested in doing site assessment; planning and design work on the project. Those two firms, she said will be interviewed in January.

In addition to the federal appropriation, the village also received a $200,000 state grant which will be used for the planning.

"It's going to be exciting," Waller said. "We will be bringing together all the stakeholders and go from there."

Waller said the Linden Avenue property was not the only one which has been a surprise. A recent survey of a piece of property which runs from the left field fence in Doubleday Field to Elm Street was not exactly what officials had believed. Those two experiences, she said, have lead her to believe the board should include money in the budget to have all village property surveyed and not risk being confronted with another surprise in the future.