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Emminent Domain Lawyer

Not hunting related per se, but I live on a rural place in Dickinson County and found out recently (by accident, from a neighbor who found out by accident) that the city near us has been planning and already has had an engineering firm draw up plans for a new sewage lagoon that will end up being close to my place and will run a pipeline out from town about three miles right down the county dirt road I use to get in and out. Worst is they plan to take 56 acres from an old farmer adjacent to us to build the lagoon. Beginning to mobilize the defense against this, does anyone know of a good lawyer who has experience fighting things like this? I am not an engineer, but it sure seems to me like it is going to be a lot more expensive to build a new facility and pipe stuff three miles than to fix the current facility, especially for a town that is small and there is no possible reason it will grow substantially any time soon. The fact that they never told anybody who lives out this way (I've had a mailing address here more than three years now) suggests to me they haven't done all the required public information and probably environmental impact studies required of such a project. Any advice is welcome, but I really would like to get a lawyer with experience on such things, not somebody who handles divorces, DUI defense, etc., need somebody who can fight city hall. Thanks in advance.

Richard, I don't know if you are on face book or not, but I think that would be a better venu for a much bigger audience.

Most good lawyers dealing with land issues of condemnation, easement access rights etc run about $500-$650 per hour for starters. Do as much as you can yourself and get the real scoop on what’s happening before hiring an attorney. Once he is on board land issues can be lengthy and costly. Good luck.

Do you actually think your gonna stop this? Do you think they will give up and not have a lagoon? Maybe take it another direction until those landowners don’t complain? Save your money it’s gonns go where they want to put it.

1boonr, I never have been, nor do I intend to ever be the kind of moral coward who rolls over and takes it, not a quitter like you obviously are. You have my sympathies as you are obviously a miserable person who's led a pathetic life.

Deerplotter, good advice, thank you. I did get one recommendation for a lawyer via private message who I will contact.

If they are doing the engineering already and there is federal money involved there will be an Environmental Assessment or Envirnmental Impact Statement (as you pointed out) per the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) already written. Go ask the city for a copy and the have to give you one or tell you where to get it. The EA or EIS will have figures/maps showing the preliminary design. That might help you understand what is real and what is rumor. The federal register has to inform the affected public of the NEPA document. You might do a search on the federal register.

If there isn’t any federal involvement then there will not be an EA/EIS.

FYI- the Trump administration is trying to severely weakened laws like NEPA. One of the major functions of NEPA is to inform the public for situations just like this.

My ag lawyer charged $200/hr and $75/hr for his paralegal. Pretty sure his prices doubled during the fence trial though.

I actually live close to a municipal lagoon that was put in 10 years after I built my home and it ain’t bad.I enjoy watching the flights of geese coming on and off the 25 ac body of water.

So,before you spend a bunch of money trying to stop something you probably can’t you may want to consider you may like it

I think it would be a lost battle before it even started due to the fact it's not your land. Imminent domain is when they actually go through your property. I spoke to a negotiator once that specialized in pipeline property acquisition and he basically said the landowners have to accept the fact it's going through their property.

Thornton is correct. Phillips Petroleum put a pipeline through my parents' property just E of Andover. My father had one of the best attorneys in town (represented Charles Koch in the Koch Family lawsuit) in an attempt to get more money for damages. The irony is that they said the land wasn't ideal for future development. Meanwhile, the appraiser who stated this during the trial was negotiating the purchase of the girl scout camp 1/2 mile down the road for a city park, library, and new school at the same time as the trial.

The "jury of your peers" was not a jury of peers. It was people who thought the amount of money for damages and the easement was really good, as it was more than they made in a year. The potential jurors in the pool who were from the area were immediately struck; therefore, no one in the area really understood the future development potential.

Yes, they got some extra money out of the deal but it was a far cry from the actual damages to the land and the development potential of the property.

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