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Home My WebLink AboutR-2011-04 acquisition of 0.0344 acres by condemnation/from CenterPoint/no action taken 8 REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM Agenda Date Requested: March 28, 2011 Appropriation Requested By: Stephen L. Barr Source of Funds: N/A Department: Parks & Recreation Account Number: Report: Resolution: X Ordinance: Amount Budgeted: Exhibits: Takings Resolution Amount Requested: Exhibits: City Attorney letter to City Council Budgeted Item: YES NO X Exhibits: SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION In December 2009 the City of La Porte sent a request for easement to CenterPoint Energy for a proposed bicycle - pedestrian pathway between the new Pecan Park and the Brookglen community. The easement is necessary to connect the park with the community across the CenterPoint power line corridor. The easement request was rejected by CenterPoint and the City began the process of obtaining a Takings Resolution in July of 2010. At that time, the Council directed staff to continue negotiations with CenterPoint to try to reach a solution. A new, shorter easement route was established, which met the CenterPoint request for a perpendicular crossing. CenterPoint's major concern is that the City cannot legally indemnify a public utility, so they feel that granting the easement places an undue liability burden on them. CenterPoint requested a License Agreement rather than an easement and the City agreed to entertain the proposal. Several draft versions of the agreement have been proposed by both sides. Staff members from both groups have continued to meet to try to resolve the problems associated with the language of the proposed License Agreement. For example, CenterPoint wanted the right to cancel the license with 90 days notice, without cause. The City was not comfortable with this condition, as well as others in the proposed agreement. On March 10 the City Attorney received notification from CenterPoint that they will not grant an easement or a license agreement for our use of the property and asked us to proceed with the condemnation suit (see attached Exhibit). In consultation with the City Attorney and the City Council, the only recourse the City has at this point, is to exercise our right of condemnation for the .0344 acres of land that we need to be able to build the pathway. The City Attorney will be obtaining an appraisal of the property values for the condemnation procedure. Council has recommended that staff present the attached Takings Resolution that will put CenterPoint on notice that the City intends to use condemnation power to obtain an easement on this property. Action ' • ' ired by Council: Con '.er apiroval of a Takings Resolution for acquisition of 0.0344 acres of land by condemnation from C= terPoin Energy as described in the metes and bounds in said Resolution, by the City of La Porte. A rov, "i for i C o nc! / A ends _3 „%i A Ron Bottoms, City Manager Date askins & askins P.C. ATTORNEYS and COUNSELORS Knox W. Askins Clark T. Asldns March 10, 2011 via email Ms. Patrice Fogarty City Secretary City of La Porte Dear Patrice: Please place the enclosed Resolution on the March 28, 2011, City Council agenda. Yours very truly, Knox W. Askins City Attorney City of La Porte KWA:sw Enclosure cc: Mr. Robert J. Montgomery Attorney at Law olteach®hotmail.com Ms. Sharon Harris Assistant City Secretary Mr. Ron Bottoms City Manager Mr. Stephen Barr Director of Parks & Recreation Mr. Tim Tietjens Director of Planning Mr. Clark T. Askins Assistant City Attorney 702 W. Fairmont Parkway, P.O. Box 1218, La Porte, TX 77572 -1218 281.471.1887 phone • 281.471.2047 fax • knoxasldns@comcast.net • ctaskins@swbell.net RESOLUTION NO. 2011-bl_ RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF A TEN (10) FOOT WIDE PEDESTRIAN BIKE EASEMENT, CONTAINING 0.0344 ACRES OF LAND IN THE CITY OF LA PORTE, FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of La Porte has "ound and determined that public necessity requires the loc- ion of rights -of -way for pedestrian /bike purposes on the • described real property, in the City of La Porte, - ris County, Texas; WHEREAS, the City Council of the C • a Porte has found and determined that rights -of -way f• = ten (10) foot wide pedestrian /bike easement over and ac •= •e hereinafter described real property is suitable and n eded ight-of-way purposes, and that it is necessary to acqui`, same • right -of -way purposes; WHEREAS, the City Council he City of La Porte has found and determined that a to •or -" •nstruction easement, twenty -five (25) feet on each side o ` - -nterline of the ten (10) foot wide easement, is suita•le a d't - =:ed for construction purposes; and WHEREAS, the e• ncil of the City of La Porte deems it advisable to autho + =nd does hereby authorize, Knox W. Askins, City Attorney of - City of La Porte, or his designated representative, to epresent the City of La Porte in the acquisition of the ereinafter described property; NOW THEREFO• , BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE: Sectio 1. That the said Knox W. Askins, as City Attorney for the City 2f La Porte, or his designated representative, be and he is hereby authorized to negotiate with the owners of the here' after described land, concerning the acquisition by the City of La Porte, of right -of -way for a ten (10) foot wide pedestrian/ bike easement, located in the City of La Porte, Harris County, Texas, said right -of -way being more particularly described on the metes and bounds description, attached hereto as Exhibit "A ", and plat, attached hereto as Exhibit "B ", incorporated by reference herein, and made a part hereof for all purposes, at the fair market value for same, and should said City Attorney, or his designated representative, as the duly authorized representative of the City of La Porte, be unable to agree with such owners as to the fair market value of such pedestrian /bike right -of -way, then, and in that event, said attorney be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to file against all owners and lienholders, proceedings in eminent domain to acquire the above described property, for pedestrian /bike easement right -of -way purposes, and that the proper employees or duly authorized agents and attorneys of the City of La Porte be and they are hereby authorized and directed to perform any and all necessary acts within their respective spheres of official duties toward the final acquisition of the herein described property. Section 2. The City Council officially finds, determines, recites, and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of this meeting of the City Council was posted at a place convenient to the public at the City Hall of the City for the time required by law preceding this meeting, as required by the Open Meetings Law, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code; and that this meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during which this resolution and the subject matter thereof has been discussed, considered and formally acted upon. The City Council further ratifies, approves and confirms such written notice and the contents and posting thereof. Section 3. This Resolution shall be effective from and after its passage and approval. PASSED AND APPROVED this 28th day of March, 2011 CITY OF LA PORTE By: Louis R. Rigby, Mayor 2 ATTEST: Patrice Fogarty City Secretary APPRO Knox W. Askins City Attorney 3 METES AND BOUNDS DESCRIPTION 0.0344 ACRES OF LAND IN THE WILUAM M. JONES SURVEY, ABSTRACT No. 482 IN HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS (10' PEDESTRIAN /BIKE EASEMENT - HOUSTON LIGHTING AND POWER Co,) BEING a 0.0344 acre tract of land situated in the William M. Jones Survey, Abstract No. 482 in Harris County, Texas and being a part of that certain 12.87 acre tract of land described in the deed to Houston Lighting and Power Co. recorded in Volume 2480, Page 600, Deed Records of Harris County, Texas, said 0.0344 acre tract is described by metes and bounds as follows: COMMENCING at a 1 inch pipe on the South line of Spencer Highway, being the Northeast comer of said 12.87 acre tract; THENCE, South 03 degrees 06 minutes 25 seconds East, along the East line of said 12.87 acre trail and the West line of that certain 16.72 acre tract of land described in the Judgment to Coastal industrial Water Authority recorded In Harris County Clerks File No. E165986, Official Public Records of Real Property of Harris County, Texas, 1,863.37 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING of this tract herein described; • THENCE, South 03 degrees 06 minutes 25 seconds East, along the East line of said 12.87 acre tract and the West line of said 16.72 acre tract, 10.00 feet; THENCE, South 86 degrees 53 minutes 35 seconds West, 150.00 feet to a point on the West line of said 12.87 acre tract and the East line of Lot 68 Block 1 of Replat of Brookglen Sec. Two, a subdivision recorded in Volume 167, Page 109 Map Records of Harris County, Texas, from said point a 1/2 inch iron rod for the Southeast comer of said Lot 68 and the Northeast comer of Lot 69 said Block 1 bears South 03 degrees 06 minutes 25 seconds East, 5.00 feet; THENCE, North 03 degrees 06 minutes 25 seconds West, along the East line of said Lot 68 and the West line of said 12.87 acre tract, 10.00 feet; THENCE, North 86 degrees 53 minutes 35 seconds East, 150.00 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING and containing 0.0344 acres of land. Bearings are based on the Texas Coordinate System, South Central Zone (No. 4204) North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) COBS adjustment based from satellite observations. This description was prepared in conjunction with surveys made on the ground in March and April 2009 and in conjunction with the attached survey drawing dated November 9, 2010. November 16, 2010 ay: Huitt- Zoliars, Inc. „ g •.. ' { 1. / „t Y � bY s . . Steven E. Williams, R.P.L.S. li/ � • I, , F Texas Registration No. 4819 , ti t) [' 7 ` ,. Page 1 of 2 l� tlKZ 3J K;lprojl$urvey1021 21331 Waal end%Revised M8$ CenterPoint Esmt.doc EXHIBIT •A• R y.N'^+,,serw N.wo ,..4.,.t MJ.M s...,w.∎ 4..4 1.0 4 a •lFi M., ,....11 b d lf Mi AN.Jl r t �` m ti :4 P C7 J. SA N g o .n 92 00, -00 z o r a t 0 m >m i:its ca z iD 0 M 2 c�V o > y 'D -1 -i ? 1 Q 8 A m PI f Q C 8 N W 1 1 2.1! H xI y N0 A t f� i n P n 0 ..-, c � R $ 4 z �O Z R _ 8 "12,;° Q � c o ® GLADWYNE LANE ° Erz �+ Di rn n u F N 2 . 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REVIS10N DATE CHE ar:w wwANTM J411E681i,'YEY, CITY OF LA PORTE = _______ ____ COUNTY TEXAS 804 ,1t.S FAIRMONT PARKWAY *0 2 E i00Frr FASH"" ASI .11111111111111111•1111MENI MIN naPeOl.STRUMMIKE LA PORTE, TEXAS 77571 S EASEMENT- C @NTERPOINT 261- 471 -5020 P14HAN,, 2e 4 % -C i Mil 111■11111111111111111=11 MIME PAC£. 2 OF 2 ENERLM FAX 28-4816-3722.3 IMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIII N.. 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111=1111111•11, EXHIBIT "BR askins & askins P.C. ATTORNEYS and COUNSELORS Knox W. Askins Clark T. Askins March 10, 2011 via email Hon. Mayor & City Council City of La Porte City Hall La Porte, Texas Mr. Ron Bottoms City Manager City of La Porte Re: CenterPoint Hike & Bike Trail Easement Gentlemen: I had a telephone call from CenterPoint Energy's attorney on Thursday morning, who advised me that a decision had been made at a high level at CenterPoint Energy, that it would not agree to a permanent easement with the City of La Porte. CenterPoint instructed its attorneys to ask the City of La Porte to proceed with its condemnation suit. Accordingly, I will request that the formal condemnation resolution be placed on City Council's agenda for March 28, 2011. The CenterPoint attorney and I agreed to stay in contact, and try to reach agreement on as many of the matters in controversy as possible. Please call me if you have any questions. Yours very truly, Knox W. Askins City Attorney City of La Porte KWA:sw cc: Mr. Robert J. Montgomery Attorney at Law olteachOhotmail.com Mr. Stephen Barr, Director of Parks & Recreation Mr. Tim Tietjens, Director of Planning Mr. Clark T. Askins, Assistant City Attorney 702 W. Fairmont Parkway, P.O. Box 1218, La Porte, TX 77572 - 1218 281.471.1887 phone 281.471.2047 fax knoxaskins @comeast.net ctasklns @swbelLnet CONFLICT OF INTEREST AFFIDAVIT THE STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF HARRIS § I, ail as a member of the City of La Porte 6o‘-'uc r� , make this affidavit and hereby on oath state the following: I have a substantial interest in a business entity or real property as defined in Chapter 171, Texas Local Government Code, and a vote is to be taken or a decision is to be made that will have a special economic effect on this business entity or real property. The agenda item on nk N Z , 20 / / , affecting this business entity or real property is: i 7 .44 � A A/ i 13 " e (Ee,c,L fro.„ 1(Z-e5 Z oe / -44 ) COMPLETE (A) OR (B): (A) The business entity is Oe.. ,e.� 44ri ex (name); or (B) The real property is located at: I have a substantial interest for the following reasons: (check all which are applicable) Ownership of 10% or more of the voting stock or shares of the business entity. Ownership of 10% or more or $15,000 or more of the fair market value of the business entity. Funds received from the business entity exceed 10% of gross income for the previous year. Real property is involved and I have an equitable or legal ownership of the property with a fair market value of at least $2,500. A relative of mine has a substantial interest in the business entity or real property that would be_affected by a decision of the public body of which I am a member. Upon filing of this affidavit with the City Secretary, I affirm that I will abstain from voting on any decision involving this business entity or real property and from any further participation on this matter by discussion or debttt Singed this Z- day of (44.4 /1-c 6 20 //' .' Signature of Official THE STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF HARRIS § fore me i ie ,� on this day personalty appeared - t /PM • , • ! I to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing and acknowledged to me that he/she executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed. Given under my hand and seal of office this __ day of LL 20 1/ . Notary Public in and r the State e exas •