I agree most of the community is good, i really like your neighbor and most of the others. But this one just keeps being pushy. The fact that he went to the cave after being told not to plus took other people just pissed me off.
I sold 22 acres of land joining him a couple years ago because i could see we weren't going to get along. He told me that I was going to have to pay 1/2 on updating a cattle fence so it would keep his sheep in. I didn't have sheep and didn't have cattle on that land. He offered to buy it if i would hold it for a year and take 70% of what i sold it for a week later.
Think i will go today and try to buy it back.
Here in Minnesota, our current state fence law stipulates that each landowner on a shared boundary is responsible for paying for, installing, and maintaining half the fence, regardless of what kind of fence is desired or required. If ONE of the property owners desires a fence, BOTH parties MUST share in the responsibility for that fence, period. Doesn't matter if the guy even has a justification for wanting it, like he wants to run livestock... sheep, goats, hogs, cattle, ...elephants, doesn't matter, he doesn't NEED to have a reason, he just has to WANT a fence on that property line. (Pretty much NONE of the townies that want to move out into the country are aware of this STATE LAW required responsibility). If there are "property boundary or application of fence law disputes", the town board is the fence authority that decides what is required, and their decision is final. If a property owner refuses, the other property owner can hire the designated fence installed on the property line, and bill the beligerant property owner through the town board. If he doesn't ante-up, he can be sued, or the cost is added onto his property taxes, and eventually recovered by the property owner who had to install the fence. If he refuses to pay his taxes, his property eventually can be sold to recover them at a sheriff's sale. "Force of Law" stuff.
In this case, if your neighbor wants to keep sheep, you'd have to pay for, install and maintain your half of the fence on the shared property line. Meet at the middle of the shared property line and shake hands... the half that's on your right is your responsibility, TO THE DESIRED SPECIFICATIONS. Used to be that a specific TYPE of fence was minimum... woven wire up to 32", with two strands of barb above that, top wire at a minimum of 42".. support posts set at a required maximum distance, etc. Essentially, it was required to be reasonably good enough to hold in about any of the commonly kept farm critters. THIS was one of the minimum "improvements" that were required to qualify for the homesteading of a place. Today, it's more a matter of "mutual agreement", and if that isn't achieved, the "fence authority" is the determinant of the type of fence required.
These "fence laws" and the "good fences" they required made for "good neighbors"... permanently defining where the property line was at, resulting in relatively few property boundary disputes... RIGHT UP UNTIL NOBODY FELT IT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO ENFORCE THE FENCE LAW ANYMORE, and most all of the fences disappeared when the livestock did, and then nobody wanted to "upset the neighbor" by "requiring" them to build a property line defining fence... and over time, the "livestockless farmers" got greedy, and got bigger and bigger equipment, and intentionally plowed "right up to the property line" (Earl Butz fencerow to fencerow farming"... except there was no more fencerows!), which in most cases then meant "a few feet over" the property line as long as you can get away with it, and in some cases that I've seen on mine and some of my neighbors properties... as much as 6 rows and more OVER the property line. And if they've gotten away with this for a number of years, and all the property boundary lines have been eradicated, they then feel "entitled" to those extra few feet, even if a survey determines that they're in the wrong... in that case, THE SURVEYOR and his survey "are wrong"... it's always been whereever they're plowing to.
The fence law is "good", and has a purpose. It avoids property line conflicts between neighbors. In my case, I just install the whole fence on these property lines, and I maintain them... and don't bother the neighbor who doesn't have livestock. I don't want to ruffle any feathers... BUT THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT
THEY ARE LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THEIR PORTION OF THAT FENCE ON THAT SHARED PROPERTY LINE!