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Regular-General Government # 36.
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| Board of Supervisors |
County Counsel |
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| Subject |
| Adopt resolution amending the legal description for the Bryte Landfill Remediation Project eminent domain action and authorize County Counsel to take other related actions. (No general fund impact) (Pogledich/May) |
| Recommended Action |
Adopt a Resolution (Att. A):
- Authorizing the County Counsel to amend the legal description of the real property that is the subject of an eminent domain action—that is, the fee simple interest in an approximately 18.047+/- acre portion of a 1,327-acre larger parcel of land commonly known as 21788 County Road 124, West Sacramento, CA 95691, Yolo County Assessor’s Parcel Number 042-340-004 (“Property”)—to reserve an easement for an existing main irrigation pipe to Lexington Ranch, LLC (“Landowner”), so that farming operations on the remainder of the parcel may continue without interruption if the County takes immediate possession of the Property; and
- Authorizing the County Counsel to make other minor changes to the legal description of the Property and to take other such actions as may be necessary to implement the Resolution of Necessity adopted by the Board of Supervisors as Resolution No. 18-155 on December 11, 2018, which authorized the eminent domain action.
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| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
Safe Communities
Sustainable Environment
Flourishing Agriculture |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
Background
On December 11, 2018, the Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 18-155, a Resolution of Necessity authorizing an eminent domain action to acquire an 18.047+/- acre portion of the real property commonly known as 21788 County Road 124, West Sacramento, CA 95691, Yolo County Assessor’s Parcel Number 042-340-004 (“Property”) to complete the Bryte Landfill Remediation Project (“Project”). In the Resolution of Necessity (Attachment B), the Board of Supervisors found that (1) the public interest and necessity require the Project; (2) the Project is planned and located in the manner that will be most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury; (3) the Property is necessary for the Project; and (4) the Board has made the offer required under section 7267.2 of the Government Code to the owners of record or representatives of the owners of record of the Property. The current legal description of the Property is attached as an exhibit to the Resolution of Necessity.
A summary of the Project, a cooperative effort by the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (“SAFCA”), the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (“DTSC”), and the County of Yolo to remediate contamination at the Old Bryte Landfill (“Landfill”), is contained in the staff report associated with the Resolution of Necessity. (Attachment C)
One week after the adoption of the Resolution of Necessity, the County filed an action in eminent domain to acquire the Property. The Complaint in that action, was filed December 18, 2018. On December 20, 2018, the County filed a motion requesting an order granting it immediate possession of the Property. An order of immediate possession would allow the County and SAFCA to begin construction of the Project, and likely to complete it, before the start of the rainy season in 2019. Without such an order, the Project could be delayed by at least one year, prolonging the period of time during which the public is exposed to a risk of toxic materials from the Landfill leaching into groundwater and contaminating local waterways.
The Landowner opposed the County’s motion for immediate possession. The Landowner asserts that, if it cannot continue using its current existing mainline irrigation pipe, which runs across the Property the County seeks to acquire, the Landowner would need to reconfigure its irrigation system and perform other tasks to avoid interrupting its farming operations on the remainder of the parcel if the County and SAFCA take immediate possession of the Property.
The continued operation of the existing mainline irrigation pipe in its current location would not interfere with construction or completion of the Project. Further, a reservation of an easement for the existing mainline irrigation pipe to the Landowner would not change the boundaries of the County’s acquisition approved in the Resolution of Necessity. Nor would a reservation of an easement constitute an abandonment of any interest sought to be acquired in the eminent domain action or an admission by the County that, absent the reservation, the Landowner would suffer a hardship as a result of the County taking immediate possession of the Property.
Outside Counsel has prepared a revised legal description of the Property reserving an easement for the existing mainline irrigation pipe to the Landowner so that farming operations may continue without interruption should the County take immediate possession of the Property. The revised legal description is attached as Attachment D. The revised legal description also contains a minor change to the location of an existing easement for irrigation pipeline purposes to more accurately reflect the location of the Landowner’s irrigation infrastructure.
Staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve the Resolution authorizing the County Counsel to revise the legal description to reserve the easement and take other action necessary to implement the Resolution of Necessity. Reserving the easement to the Landowner would avoid expenses associated with reconfiguring the Landowner’s irrigation system as a result of the County taking immediate possession of the Property. Further, it would address the Landowner’s objections to the County’s motion for immediate possession, minimize the disruption to the Landowner’s farming operations on the remainder of the parcel, and reduce the County’s litigation costs.
Fiscal Information
Pursuant to a cost-sharing agreement between SAFCA and the County, SAFCA will reimburse Yolo County for the costs of acquiring the Property, including costs associated with the eminent domain action.
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| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| The County Counsel's Office has collaborated with outside counsel and staff for the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA). |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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