Eminent domain proceedings called off

BRIGHTON — Washington County has reached a settlement with L & L Acres LLC, averting a legal battle over access to a stretch of Dogwood Avenue near the McKain river bridge at the border of Clay and Dutch Creek townships, where major construction is planned.

The area near Skunk River was the center of a dispute between landowners and the county starting before April, when the local government first announced plans to exercise eminent domain to acquire the property for a massive grading project that aims to raise Dogwood two feet above the 100-year flood plain. Those proceedings were coming to a head, with a public hearing on the proposed condemnation scheduled for Aug. 22 and a report from commissioners to appraise the property due by Aug. 30, according to a public notice posted by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office last week.

A copy of the settlement agreement became public after its discussion at a brief Board of Supervisors special session on Monday. It spelled out a timeline of threatened litigation from L & L Acres in June, followed by a notice of condemnation from the county in July.

County officials in April had said that “good-faith efforts” to purchase the land conventionally had failed.

“At any point, if the land holder wants to take an offer for the property or settle it, that’s their call,” Interim Washington County Attorney Anthony Janney said at the time.

With legal turmoil apparently resolved, both parties said they “desire to settle all outstanding claims,” related to the lawsuit and condemnation in the settlement document.

With the settlement now signed by elected officials, the runway looks open for the county’s planned grading project in the area. Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius said it was a long time coming, after the local government received state and federal grants worth $260,000 for the work announced in 2021.

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“This entire project is one of the largest, if not the largest, overall road improvement project Washington County has undertaken,” he said. “It took working with the landowners to reach an agreement to be able to move forward with improving this road corridor.”

Thorius said the months of contention over so much roadside property made sense for a project of such scale. The plan involves making a new road crossing over the nearby railroad, added elevation to the roadway itself, and construction of a new bridge over the water, outside the Skunk River’s flood plain.

“All of these add a complexity on their own to a project and, when combined together, create additional complexities that needed to be reviewed and considered as we looked to see how one aspect or change impacted the other parts of the project,” he said in an email Tuesday. “This needed to be done for the various aspects of the project and concerns that were raised by the landowner as we worked on negotiating the agreement for the additional right of way.”

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The county agreed at Monday’s meeting to pay $241,330 for the permanent easement, which covers 16.49 acres of farmland adjacent to the road. That price tag covers not just the land itself, but the price of driveway maintenance and potential damage to the remaining L & L Acres property.

After a closed session last week, supervisors voted unanimously to offer a settlement they’d discussed in private. Thorius said documents presented on Monday of this week were L & L’s counteroffer, with only slight modifications from the county’s proposal.

Representatives from L & L Acres LLC could not be reached for comments.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com