Thursday, February 16, 2012
Eminent Domain Abuse
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Letter to the Mayor
This is a copy of our last email update. It is clear that we have worked hard to be good neighbors to the city and help them find a solution to reliable power for their needs. Unfortunately their focus has been only on the loop design which was conceived in 1973. They have never tried to find another solution, they have only built a case to support using the county for their transmission and distribution lines.
APR Group,
We had standing room only on Monday night as we met with Shawn Weingarner and Bear Prairie. I am glad that we had such a good show of strength and support. I believe the meeting was somewhat productive in a few ways. First, we demonstrated how well prepared and supported we are and that we would not splinter in our resolve to keep our property. The questions that you all asked and the points you made were very good. Next, we were able to get a working dialog with the second in command at Idaho Falls Power. Bear Prairie seemed much better to work with than Ms. Flowers and he promised to get some needed information back to us. Also we were able to learn that Idaho Falls has not been able to purchase any property along the west side of the route and in fact they have been met with strong resistance that they are unsure how to deal with. Perhaps one of the last things we learned is that Idaho Falls is not considering any other options and we are nearing the point where we will need to file an injunction to stop work.
At the conclusion of the meeting we passed a motion by majority vote that directs us to hire a electrical engineer to find some answers on cost and design of other routing options. It seemed that the best option that came to the table on Monday night is to follow the freeway north to the intersection with Hyway 20, (John Holes Bridge) at that point it would come very near their existing 44kv transmission line. They could then upgrade that 44kv line to carry both the 161 and the 44 to the sugar mill sub station. It would also be a short distance from there to go north to the proposed sub station that is on the east side of the river. From Hyway 20, city home density is much less and there is area to give them right of way for the larger 161 line. We will work hard this month to find the information that we need.
We have written a letter to Mayor Fuhriman with our thoughts from the meeting and what we need at this point. The copy of the letter is as follows;
Mayor Jared Fuhriman,
I am writing in behalf of the Alliance for Property Rights and Fiscal Responsibility. As you know we are an association formed by various citizens of the community who are concerned by the current route chosen for the North Loop project. We had the opportunity to meet last night with Ms. Shawn Weingarner and Mr. Bear Prairie. We had over one hundred people in attendance and spent nearly one and one half hours discussing the concerns and questions we have with the current proposal. I felt like it was somewhat productive and we appreciate the time of your employees. There were some items that came out of the discussion that I wanted to bring to your attention.
It seems that Idaho Falls and our Alliance are both at somewhat of an impasse. The Alliance has the full support of all affected land owners on the west side of the river and I am confident that you will not be able to acquire any property easements or purchases from those landowners on a willing seller basis. The Alliance was told last night that the minds of Idaho Falls power are also made up and that there will not be any changes unless the Alliance can bring another viable route option. We both know that litigation will be long and costly and that if the city is denied the right to condemn it could have negative consequences for years to come when the city is again in a growth stage of development. If the Alliance loses this court battle land owners affected will lose millions of dollars in future land value. The stakes are high for us both.
Ms. Weingarner told us last night that she agreed to meet with us with the hope that we had another good route option. It is difficult to understand why finding a better route is not the responsibility of Idaho Falls. It is our firm belief that Idaho Falls power has overlooked other viable options due to the singular objective of an outer loop which was envisioned nearly forty years ago. In a desire to be a working partner we are in the process of finding that other good option that will satisfy both of our needs. It will obviously take more time to accomplish that goal. Last night's discussion has helped us understand the needs and criteria of the city and we believe that we have one or two options that will meet both. One of the options has not been discussed and when we have better data we would like to have the opportunity to present what we find.
Mr. Mayor, we need you to give us the time necessary to complete our study. We will not drag this out and hope to have an answer in a very short period. When our questions are satisfied we will all have a better idea of our options. This short delay could turn out to be a time saver for you in the long run and prevent a monumental mistake. When we last met, Mr. Lehto made the comment that he did not want to get down the road and have an 'ah ha' moment, a time when we all realize that there was a better answer. We will attempt to have these other route options seriously studied so that we all can be sure that we have not missed that better answer.
If you have any questions or needs from us please do not hesitate to ask. A response to our needs and your thoughts and ideas are respectfully requested.
Sincerely,
APR
We are very disapointed that the Mayor did not respond to our open letter.
This letter will also be sent to Mike Lehto. I would like to also mention a great letter that was in the paper this morning from Rita Carlson. The letter was very well done and makes some great points. We need to continue to work for the understanding and sympathy of the community, these letters help accomplish that need. Please continue to write letters that explain our points. If any of you have ideas or see any immediate needs please call. If we see any work begin or know of any property that is purchased we will need to file an injunction at that point so let us know if you see that happening.
Thanks for the help,
APR Group,
We had standing room only on Monday night as we met with Shawn Weingarner and Bear Prairie. I am glad that we had such a good show of strength and support. I believe the meeting was somewhat productive in a few ways. First, we demonstrated how well prepared and supported we are and that we would not splinter in our resolve to keep our property. The questions that you all asked and the points you made were very good. Next, we were able to get a working dialog with the second in command at Idaho Falls Power. Bear Prairie seemed much better to work with than Ms. Flowers and he promised to get some needed information back to us. Also we were able to learn that Idaho Falls has not been able to purchase any property along the west side of the route and in fact they have been met with strong resistance that they are unsure how to deal with. Perhaps one of the last things we learned is that Idaho Falls is not considering any other options and we are nearing the point where we will need to file an injunction to stop work.
At the conclusion of the meeting we passed a motion by majority vote that directs us to hire a electrical engineer to find some answers on cost and design of other routing options. It seemed that the best option that came to the table on Monday night is to follow the freeway north to the intersection with Hyway 20, (John Holes Bridge) at that point it would come very near their existing 44kv transmission line. They could then upgrade that 44kv line to carry both the 161 and the 44 to the sugar mill sub station. It would also be a short distance from there to go north to the proposed sub station that is on the east side of the river. From Hyway 20, city home density is much less and there is area to give them right of way for the larger 161 line. We will work hard this month to find the information that we need.
We have written a letter to Mayor Fuhriman with our thoughts from the meeting and what we need at this point. The copy of the letter is as follows;
Mayor Jared Fuhriman,
I am writing in behalf of the Alliance for Property Rights and Fiscal Responsibility. As you know we are an association formed by various citizens of the community who are concerned by the current route chosen for the North Loop project. We had the opportunity to meet last night with Ms. Shawn Weingarner and Mr. Bear Prairie. We had over one hundred people in attendance and spent nearly one and one half hours discussing the concerns and questions we have with the current proposal. I felt like it was somewhat productive and we appreciate the time of your employees. There were some items that came out of the discussion that I wanted to bring to your attention.
It seems that Idaho Falls and our Alliance are both at somewhat of an impasse. The Alliance has the full support of all affected land owners on the west side of the river and I am confident that you will not be able to acquire any property easements or purchases from those landowners on a willing seller basis. The Alliance was told last night that the minds of Idaho Falls power are also made up and that there will not be any changes unless the Alliance can bring another viable route option. We both know that litigation will be long and costly and that if the city is denied the right to condemn it could have negative consequences for years to come when the city is again in a growth stage of development. If the Alliance loses this court battle land owners affected will lose millions of dollars in future land value. The stakes are high for us both.
Ms. Weingarner told us last night that she agreed to meet with us with the hope that we had another good route option. It is difficult to understand why finding a better route is not the responsibility of Idaho Falls. It is our firm belief that Idaho Falls power has overlooked other viable options due to the singular objective of an outer loop which was envisioned nearly forty years ago. In a desire to be a working partner we are in the process of finding that other good option that will satisfy both of our needs. It will obviously take more time to accomplish that goal. Last night's discussion has helped us understand the needs and criteria of the city and we believe that we have one or two options that will meet both. One of the options has not been discussed and when we have better data we would like to have the opportunity to present what we find.
Mr. Mayor, we need you to give us the time necessary to complete our study. We will not drag this out and hope to have an answer in a very short period. When our questions are satisfied we will all have a better idea of our options. This short delay could turn out to be a time saver for you in the long run and prevent a monumental mistake. When we last met, Mr. Lehto made the comment that he did not want to get down the road and have an 'ah ha' moment, a time when we all realize that there was a better answer. We will attempt to have these other route options seriously studied so that we all can be sure that we have not missed that better answer.
If you have any questions or needs from us please do not hesitate to ask. A response to our needs and your thoughts and ideas are respectfully requested.
Sincerely,
APR
We are very disapointed that the Mayor did not respond to our open letter.
This letter will also be sent to Mike Lehto. I would like to also mention a great letter that was in the paper this morning from Rita Carlson. The letter was very well done and makes some great points. We need to continue to work for the understanding and sympathy of the community, these letters help accomplish that need. Please continue to write letters that explain our points. If any of you have ideas or see any immediate needs please call. If we see any work begin or know of any property that is purchased we will need to file an injunction at that point so let us know if you see that happening.
Thanks for the help,
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