Attorney Mark Brewton speaks at a recent meeting about landowners’ rights and the condemnation process for electric transmission line easements. PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Although electric transmission routes approved by the Public Utility Commission may be difficult to change, landowners do have several options for obtaining fair compensation.

That’s the message attorneys from San Antonio natural resources law firm Cox Smith delivered in a recent meeting at the Hancock Springs Hostess House.

Urging landowners affected by transmission lines to seek professional counsel of their choice, the attorneys provided general information about land condemnation proceedings and payment settlements with utility line companies.

Attorney James Spivey offered a summary of the process of condemnation, or eminent domain — the taking of private land for public use by the government or an authorized private entity.

Authorized electric transmission companies, including Oncor Electric Delivery and the Lower Colorado River Authority’s Transmission Services Corp., may acquire easements for installing and maintaining electric lines, Spivey said. Companies may not initiate eminent domain, the attorney said, until they prepare an appraisal and make a written “good faith offer” to buy easements.

“The condemnation process exists to make sure landowners are compensated fairly,” Oncor spokeswoman Catherine Cuellar told the Dispatch Record in a telephone interview Friday.

Historically, in 90 percent of easement matters, Oncor has reached payment agreements with landowners without going to court, Ms. Cuellar said.

Although landowners retain ownership of easements on their property, they face certain limits to the use of those strips of land — which can be as wide as 160 feet. Property owners may continue to run livestock or hunt on an easement, Spivey said. They may not build houses underneath transmission lines or otherwise interfere with utility maintenance, however, the attorney said.

“Basically, the ownership of your property is subject to [transmission companies’] conditions,” he said.

Property owners retain mineral rights within easements on their land, said Mike Montgomery, a Cox Smith attorney with more than 30 years of experience in eminent domain cases. Property owners generally can negotiate to allow oil or gas pipelines to cross transmission line easements, Montgomery added. The attorney encouraged landowners to specify mineral rights-related matters in written agreements with transmission companies.

Utility line companies pay property taxes on the easements they acquire, Montgomery said. The property owner from whom an easement is taken is responsible for contacting appraisal district officials to adjust tax bills, however, he said.

The condemning entity must provide affected property owners with a “landowner’s bill of rights,” Spivey added.

Officials from Oncor — and LCRA, after the Public Utility Commission’s April 26 announcement of a Gillespie-to-Newton route — will call or visit landowners to seek permission to conduct easement surveys, Spivey said.

Oncor is sending mail by overnight delivery, Ms. Cuellar told the Dispatch Record, to notify affected landowners of an upcoming dinner meeting. During the meeting, property owners whose land will be crossed by transmission lines will be assigned an agent to work with them personally on surveying easements, determining the number and location of transmission structures and mitigating property damage.

“We’ll stay as long as we need to,” Ms. Cuellar said of the upcoming meeting.

Once a landowner grants access to the affected property, the owner’s personal agent will begin coordinating surveys. Agents can dig by hand when testing for archaeological sites to protect, Ms. Cuellar said, and they will work with property owners to mitigate the effects of electric lines on wildlife. Agents also ensure land is restored to its original condition once surveys are complete, Ms. Cuellar said.

Property owners who hope to change electric line placement slightly on their land should communicate their desires when utility company surveyors arrive, Montgomery said.

“When the surveyor is out, that’s the time to determine the minor adjustments and if they [the condemning authority] will accept it,” Montgomery said.

Although property owners may deny permission for utility company workers to survey their properties, companies can obtain injunctions to enjoin landowners from prohibiting access, Spivey said.

Most property owners grant permission to enter their land, Ms. Cuellar said, adding that landowners can address many of their concerns by cooperating with surveyors.

After concluding their surveys and appraisals, utility companies will offer property owners onetime payments for easements, attorneys said at the recent Hostess House meeting.

“Ninety percent of the argument is about the effect on the rest of the property,” Montgomery said of court cases involving land condemnation.

In many cases, Ms. Cuellar said, the easement is the only part of a property to decrease in value. Because lattice transmission towers are spaced a quarter-mile apart, small tracts of land may not have any structures built on them, the spokeswoman said.

“Every case is different,” she said. “In most cases, there’s no impact to the rest of the property, because the easements are aerial only.”

Improvements lost in an easement — anything from goat sheds to potential homes that cannot be built because of electric lines — can be argued as a factor in an outside appraisal a landowner obtains, Montgomery added.

Those who intend to contest a utility company’s easement payment offer, Spivey said, should hire an appraiser whom lawyers recommend as a good witness. That professional not only will prepare an appraisal distinct from the eminent domain authority’s but also can testify on a landowner’s behalf during an eminent domain lawsuit.

Montgomery suggested obtaining references for appraisers from lawyers who have worked with them. Prior experience in condemnation cases is important, he said.

In Lampasas County and other entities without county courts at law, the district judge appoints three “disinterested” county landowners to preside as special commissioners in lawsuits. Commissioners, whom Montgomery said often have some “expertise” in real estate matters, may consider only the damage done to land by utility easements. They have no authority over where utility lines should be placed, the attorney said.

Although landowners will receive an official notice at least 11 days before special commissioners hearings, Spivey encouraged those who plan to contest easement offers to hire counsel soon. Land condemnation processes move quickly, he said, and if landowners wait too long they may not be able to retain the counsel they want.

In land condemnation matters, attorneys who represent property owners generally don’t charge standard hourly rates, Montgomery said. Instead, most work on a contingency and are paid based on the amount special commissioners award above the utility company’s offer, he said. Landowners may represent themselves instead of hiring an attorney.

Montgomery urged property owners to seek legal redress if they are not satisfied with a transmission company’s payment offer.

“You don’t cave in because you’re afraid to go to the courthouse,” the attorney said. “That’s what your lawyer is for — to help represent you. Especially in the special commissioners court — it’s very informal.”

Although Montgomery said appeals of PUC transmission line route selections rarely succeed, his colleague said landowners often obtain favorable payment results by taking their cases to special commissioners courts.

“A jury of your peers is going to tell you what [land damages are] worth,” Spivey said, “and, odds are, they’re mad about it [land condemnation for transmission lines], too.”

A property owner who plans to contest commissioners’ recom- mendation for his property must file a written objection on or before the first Monday following 20 days after commissioners announce their decision, Spivey said.

“It can be something as simple as ‘Landowner objects; value too low,’” Spivey said of an objection.

When filing an objection, a landowner may request a new trial in district court, either by judge or by a 12-member jury, Spivey said.

Electric transmission companies may obtain writs of condemnation to proceed with work on a property pending the result of an objection, Spivey said. Writs are subject to several conditions outlined in Section 21.021 of the Texas Property Code, he told the Dispatch Record in a telephone interview Friday.

Generally speaking, those requirements include depositing the amount awarded by special commissioners and obtaining an additional bond to cover the cost of potential additional awards a landowner may receive.

To help negotiate an agreeable payment, Spivey and his fellow attorneys encouraged area residents to seek professional assistance.

“We encourage you to consult with a lawyer of your choice about your own specific land situation,” Montgomery said.

“The condemnation process exists to make sure landowners are compensated fairly. “ - - Catherine Cuellar Oncor spokeswoman