National Eminent Domain Blog : Eminent Domain Lawyer & Attorney : Ackerman Ackerman & Dynkowski : Michigan and Washington, DC

Canton Rep

“The Court finds that there is no public necessity for the appropriation,” Park wrote in her 12-page ruling.

The drainage issue didn’t exist until the business park was created, and “...the public use is limited to the drainage of a street that will be used primarily by tenants of the industrial park or private entities that will build there,” Park wrote.

Irwin declined to comment on the judge’s ruling until she had a chance to review it with her attorney.        

    In the situation described above, but for the development of the business parks, there would be no issue of drainage.  The question then is what happens when there is development?  
    The law truly diverges when there is a situation in which the end use is a public use, but it is only necessary because of a private desire.  A few cases, such as Los Angeles v Rindgee, maintain when the benefit is only for one user, that the taking is not a public use.  Other cases, such as Grosse Ile v Grosse Ile Bridge Company in Michigan maintain that when the end use is a public use, that, in and of itself, is enough to allow the taking to occur.

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 Columbus Dispatch

Assuming all the paperwork is in order, Ohio regulators will approve Ohio American Water's latest rate request -- an average 23 percent increase across 16 service areas in nine counties.

That's the way state law works. When the regulated utility can prove and justify the expense, a rate increase follows.

OAW's parent company, American Water Co., started buying up small water companies across the state in 2002. Since 2005, OAW rates have gone up three times.

Ohio American rate increases have averaged 21 percent every two years, including a 30 percent increase in November. OAW sewer rates have gone up an average 19 percent every two years, including a 37 percent increase in November.

Ohio American President Dave Little said that the rate increases were needed to update the water- and sewage-treatment systems.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio also negotiates profit margins for regulated utilities. For Ohio American, that margin has hovered around 8 percent. "You can't expect a company to work without profit," Little said.

Kennedy said Ohioans shouldn't have to choose between decent water and affordable rates.

Ohio Consumers' Counsel spokesman Anthony Rodriguez said state law is the problem. "The law says that they are allowed to get a return on their investment as a private utility serving the public and that they are allowed to recover their costs," he said.

For now, Marion fights the increases by pooling legal resources with Tiffin, another citywide OAW service area. That costs, too, Schertzer said, but it's necessary.

"As near as we can figure, Marion has had a private water supplier for many, many years," he said. "A lot of people refer to it as city water, and when rates go up, a lot of times the municipality gets blamed for it."

Taking over the local private water company sounds simple until the stability of the community is shattered by the political brawl. If the community wins,  all the problems of poor administration will follow.

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 Marion Star

All of the Northwest Industrial Connector except an overpass will be done by approximately fall of 2010, Marion County Engineer Brad Irons estimated.

The $17 million project, which once completed will link Ohio 95 West to Marion-Williamsport Road with a 2.65-mile road, likely will break ground this fall, Irons said. Local officials sought construction of the road to expedite shipping for Whirlpool Corp., the county's largest employer, alleviate heavy truck traffic downtown and open up land along the route to industrial development.

Federal stimulus money totaling $5.1 million awarded for the 4 1/2-year-old project includes a deadline requiring the money to be spent by March 2010, but Irons said the county is ahead of schedule.

"I'm not worried about that date because we're so far ahead," he said, adding that the Marion County Board of Commissioners' adoption of a resolution May 12 moves the project ahead the next step toward acquiring the land needed for the road.

He estimated the entire project including the overpass might be done in fall of 2011.

The resolution moves to appropriate property for the Northwest Connector for real estate owned or used by Ohio American Water Co., Richard A. and Constance L. Sheaffer, R.A. Shaeffer Inc., William and Sandra Bates, Carl and Karen Hamm and Harriman Family Partnership. The county has made offers to those property owners, but been unable to negotiate a purchase price. If unable to reach purchase agreements through negotiation with individual land owners, the county will file an eminent domain action in Marion County Common Pleas Court and proceed with the project as the court sets a purchase price, County Prosecutor Brent Yager said.

Yager said the county will send the land owners a "good faith offer" based on appraisals the county had done by M.E. Companies of Columbus. The land owners will have 30 days to accept or counter the offer.

The agency takes a cavalier attitude about; the ability to utilize eminent domain to acquire and the values of the properties involved. The arrogance in the condemnor could hurt both the owners and the government.

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 Vindy

The city seeks to demolish the machine shop for a street extension for a YSU project.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city law director wants a magistrate to hand over a small machine shop to the city under eminent domain, and then let a jury decide what compensation the shop owner should receive for his property.

A hearing will be at 9 a.m. Dec. 10 on the city’s motion to seize and demolish the business for a street extension in conjunction with Youngstown State University’s new $34.3 million business school.

Magistrate Dennis Sarisky of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court set the hearing on this and other motions in the city’s lawsuit that seeks to take the Grenga Machine & Welding Co. machine shop and storage facility at 128 W. Rayen Ave.

The city plans to tear down the Grenga building to make way for a northward extension of Hazel Street designed to link the university with the city’s downtown.

The university broke ground for the new business school this fall.

Iris Torres Guglucello, city law director, said the city’s position is that the law requires Sarisky to order the property turned over to the city.

After the Dec. 10 hearing, the only issue that should remain for a jury trial is how much compensation Joseph Grenga should receive for his property, Torres Guglucello said.

Here is all that is wrong with individuals representing themselves in condemnation cases. Without knowing whether his defense is valid, Mr. Grenga relied upon a non-lawyer to file a 'friend of the court' pleading in Mr. Grenga's defense. Does the owner not have a valid claim? There are any number of outstanding lawyers in Ohio who would have represented him. This is not good for the individual owner nor our democracy.

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North Central Ohio

The organization OPORR, Ohioans Protecting Our Resources and Rights, is fighting an attempt by Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. to take control of property rights in southern Richland County.

The group held a public awareness meeting Thursday night at the Clear Fork Adult Center to discuss Columbia's proposal to expand its Weaver Gas Storage Field to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The expansion encompasses 3,000 acres plus a protective boundary of 9,000 acres of land. OPORR President Van Wade said property owners may lose control of their land to the company through eminent domain which could result in a financial loss to property owners.

Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. said the proposal seeks no change in the volume of gas to be stored in the field and no new wells or pipeline facilities. Columbia says the sole purpose of the request is to protect the natural gas that it stores in the field for its customers.

 

-The utility does not raise a safety issue. It is hard to imagine the need for an expanded take premised upon the comments of the attached article. It will be interesting to see what the utility provides to the Ohio Public Utilities Commission as the basis for its need to affect the title to so many acres of privately owned land.

The owners in the affected area have done an unbelievable job of uniting in their opposition to the project. One need only look to the website established by the aggrieved owners at www.oporr.com in order to find how to protect individual rights by making a community effort to propound a reasonable position.

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