Warrenton’s Board of Aldermen has approved the use of eminent domain to purchase construction easements for sidewalks along North Highway 47.

With a series of unanimous votes Aug. 18, aldermen authorized the use of court proceedings to settle easement prices on five properties. The easements are necessary to build a sidewalk from Interstate 70 north to Hickory Lick Road, traveling across 2 1/2 miles of private properties along the way.

City Administrator Terri Thorn explained that these are the remaining properties where a firm hired by the city hasn’t been able to negotiate the easements.

“In some cases, it was not possible to obtain a response from the property owner. In other cases, the company handling the right-of-way acquisition was unable to agree on terms with the property owner,” Thorn explained.

Thorn also told the board of aldermen that it is still possible to settle with the property owners without going to court.

Thorn said possible court proceedings would only create a minimal delay in the sidewalk construction, which is hoped to begin early next year. However, if the court process is delayed by COVID-19, the entire project could be delayed.

Court would set price of land

Through the eminent domain proceedings, legally referred to as “condemnation,” Warrenton will seek a court order to set a fair price for the easements, explained City Attorney Christopher Graville.

He said the process starts with a small commission, appointed by a judge to hear each side’s arguments about how much the land within the easements is worth, and then make an assessment.

Once the price is set, the city pays that money for the court to distribute to owners, and is then legally entitled to use of the land within the easements, Graville said.

Property owners can dispute the commission’s price evaluation, in which case it would go to a jury trial and the jury would decide the final price for the easements.

Terri Thorn clarified that even if the property owner seeks a jury trial, the city only needs the initial commission’s ruling to take possession of the easement. The jury trial would simply determine the final price to be paid for the property.

Graville said Warrenton has used the ultimatum of going to court to settle easement disputes in two other recent projects — sidewalks on South Highway 47, and expansion of Warrenton’s sewer network.

“In both of those circumstances, we ended up settling the case with the property owners. So we will continue to try to negotiate and get a settlement reached,” Graville said.

Below are the five properties where Warrenton has authorized eminent domain to acquire permanent rights-of-way and/or temporary construction easements for sidewalks.

• 1201 N. Highway 47, a residential property opposite from Dogwood Drive, owned by Charlene Smith.

• 1719 N. Highway 47, a residential property adjacent to Fairgrounds Road, owned by Kristine Drehkoff.

• 1900 N. Highway 47, an agricultural property owned by Leander and Mallissa Lee.

• 2100 N. Highway 47, another agricultural property owned by Leander and Mallissa Lee.

• 2269 Pinta Drive, a residential property in the Andorra Estates subdivision, owned by Gloria and Michael Zeiss. The sidewalk would cross this property’s backyard.