Power line easement questions...what are the landowners rights?

[archer66]

I recently found out that there is a plan in the works to put a powerline across our family farm. I don't have all of the details so I'll just break down what I know....

--someone sent a letter to my uncle telling him of the plans and the intention to study the area.
--an environmentalist, survey crew, and archeologist came to the farm.
--the route of the easement was marked out with survey tape.
--the environmentalist evaluated the layout and gave his ok.
--the archeologist did some digging and sampling and said "no go" due to the big field the easement was to cross being an "ancient american burial ground" We don't know what exactly the archeologist found...I don't think anyone from my family was present...which stinks. (as some of you may remember we find artifacts on the place and there are burial mounds present)
--the power company then proposed they build the line to the south of the place skirting the edge of the big field that contains the mounds.
--my family has said that if the line MUST cross our place they would prefer it on the North side of the field so that it lines up with the lane that leads off the farm.
--either option that skirts the field will involve clearing timber, crossing ridges, and the easement will be on a hillside so that could also involve leveling.
--not sure where things stand now.

Obviously my family would prefer there be no powerline. Aesthetically it will make a difference. Hunting wise...no big deal. The neighbors who are also affected are sayin they don't want it either so it's unanimous. Has anyone here successfully said NO to something like this and avoided it? From what I've seen over the years it seems to me that if they want to put it in then they will...agree??

 

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[Tnmountains]

Keverett posted at the same time I did and did not see it so I am modifying my response. He has great advice and I would pm him. I would suggest a proffesional help you all in these negotiations......... Here is my original post below~

Yes I agree if they want them they will go in. You loose rights with any type of easement. The word easement means exactly that the right to ingress and egress (come and go). They will require keys to any locked gates as well. It also follows that they maintain that right of way. If you have it in pasture you mow around it if its crops you plant around it if its cleared thru timber then it will grow up and standard practice for them is to come in when it reaches a certain height and spray it with a product similiar to round up for brush.
You do have legal rights. I would suggest hiring a lawyer that is familiar with right of ways and easements.
Whatever you do keep them off the burials because they will send out a team to excavate and though the items are yours except bones and burial goods you could loose many artifacts to the Archeological firm hired to do the excavation. They have x amount of time to do the work and then the actuall work proceeds. Your area in theory could possibly have years of excavations under normal Archeological procedures but with big business pushing it will be a crappy fast sampling outcome guaranteed.
I would get legal advice with all people affected/involved including your neighbors.
On a positive note in a perfect world they bypasss the burials give you a good clear cut to hunt and plant food plots and compensate your family handsomely.
Good luck and keep us posted.
TnMtns

 

[archer66]

Thanks for the replies guys....

The amount of information I have at hand is maddeningly slim. I am the 43....my dad and his brothers are in their 60's. They just recently inherited the place with the passing of my grandfather. They have decided to keep the farm in the family at least for now. My grandfather bought this farm in the 1930's and we have known about the burial mounds on the place since then.....my grandfather farmed around them his whole life and never touched them. However someone did dig them before he purchased the place....we don't know who dug and we don't know what was found. I honestly don't know what the archeologist found or if he found anything...all I know is that he deemed the entire field that they wanted to cross "burial ground". He may have just taken a look at those mounds and made that statement.....I have no idea. As far as I know, no one from my family went out there while the study was going on....I would have but no one bothered to tell me about it until it was over. Obviously I'm out of the loop here....I am one of 20+ adult grandkids and our parents are in charge. I have no idea what kind of power line structure they are wanting to put in. I imagine it is a transmission line of some sort as it is going cross country...the nearest roads to the center of our place are almost 1 mile in any direction.

The red line is the proposed route...the alternate route their engineer suggested is thru the timber to the south of the big field the red line crosses. My uncles prefer using the north edge of the field so that it leaves the place next to the 4 wheel drive road marked on the map as double dashed lines.

 

[keverett]

Maybe I don't understand the drawing.....it that the entire proposed new line, or just the segment that crosses your property? The reason the line is designed the way it is, is because of cost.....overhead lines can cost up to a million dollars a mile to construct....Angle points add $10,000 per turn at a minimum. The are going to try to run the thing as straight as possible. Keep in mind if you try to have them bend this line around your property, you will inevitably end up with guy wires going everywhere into your woods or farmland. Find out what voltage the proposed line is, find out the type of structures, find the spacing between structures, find out the width of clear cut of vegetation, and the danger tree area as it applies to your property. Large trees are an obvious problem to overhead power lines. Legal advice isn't a bad idea at all, but don't waste your money until you have tried to negotiate yourself...the lawyers will chew up all the money you will get from the power company if you let them. Bring the law dogs in when you have the easement document in front of you to review...then make them earn their money. Most easement documents are only a couple pages, unlike options to purchase, or PSA's. If you have any questions or would like any other information please feel free to PM me.

KEverett

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Your going to need a lawyer and good luck, Eminent Domain is hard to fight....

 

[archer66]

Our property is the part that is mostly timber. The line I drew is only where it will cross our place.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I've passed them along to my dad...it's up to him to follow thru...like I said I'm way down the line on decision making for he place.

 

[Tnmountains]

It seems like he said the path of least resistance up that notch in the field. I was way down in South Alabama on a huge power line right of way. They had platforms up in the structures to hunt from. You could feel and hear the buzzing but see a country mile.

 

[joshuaream]

As the old saying goes "you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate." I handle international real estate development for large restaurant chain, but my colleagues in the US deal with easements and the like all the time (road widening projects, sewer lines, etc.) We know what every square foot of land in a parking lot is worth, and I've seen prepared negotiators get several times more than the small mom & pop business on the same block get.

At this point keverett has given you some darn solid advice, the one thing I would change is when to seek professional help. You need to have a basic understanding of how much money the potential ROW is worth prior to talking about an offer. A real estate attorney could help you with that, or maybe even a decent commercial real estate agent. Try to find out how much they paid neighbors up the line.

A lot of people worry about eminent domain, but it only comes into play when reasonable attempts to work something out have failed. If you go the NIMBY route with no other reason, they can invoke it pretty quickly and force you into something. If your family and an attorney are prepared and show how the wires will impact the future value of your property, you can keep it going for a long time. Understanding the value of your land and ways the ROW can and will decrease the potential value of your land is critical. That high dollar subdivision and golf course to protect the mounds? Probably not going to happen with wires there. That ginsing/morrel mushroom business you had planned out in the wooded area, not going to happen with the wires. That free range chicken farm and organic apple orchard, down the drain. Missouri used to produce more wine than California, restarting a winery isn't going to happen with high wires buzzing overhead. Heck, go out and apply to have it re zoned to be subdivided as residential lots for you and your cousins. Some of those ideas are meant to be funny, and don't present 30 ideas or plans, but you should show that the land has more value than just cow pasture or corn fields, and negotiate based on that potential value.

You probably can't stop it from going forward, but if you want to fight it, your best bet is to focus on the mounds/indian burial ground aspect and get some tribes involved. Say that your grandfather found and reburied remains along that entire route. Insist on a full archaeological dig not just a survey to preserve/protect/repatriate the remains, make it noisy and expensive. As the land owners, any relics (not remains) would be yours, demand a fully inventory and recover everything. If you really want to complicate things, burn and break up pig bones and scatter/bury them with red ochre everywhere. (I'm not making that up, a group of people in northern indiana did it to alter a highway bypass.)

 

[Tnmountains]

I agree with what everyone is saying. For kicks I hold a real estate lisc and work for a firm in my spare time in the purchasing and selling and leasing of large tracts of raw land. Usually over 500 acres + with values ranging in the millions. Have a current listing at over 4.5 mil.(great economy huh?) My broker is a forester as well and also does timber appraisal's and sales. I personally hold and lease over 4000 acres for personal use and business. I acquire all archaeological/wildlife rights in my leases and have even retained a little in some sales that I enjoy wandering around.
The impact and possible depreciation of this easement could certainly affect future values.
On a side note I have seen things come to a screeching halt due to an endangered item,plant and animal for future developments. Up and over the ridge they propose.
I wonder upon close inspection if there are and signs of ancient habitation there or the possibility it holds a certain plant or animal specie that is endangered.
Information can be power and the posters above have given you great information to pass along. Just adding some food for thought.
This could be a very worthwhile agreement for your family as well.
Best wishes to you and your family.