HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 2001-08 - Board DONNER
r Public Utility District
Resolution No. 2001=08
Authorizing the provision of notice of intent to consider adoption of a
resolution of necessity in connection with the acquisition of certain
properties, being the water system of the Donner Lake Water Company,
and authorizing the scheduling of a public hearing
WHEREAS, as lead agency this District approved a Negative Declaration pursuant to the provisions
of the California Environmental Quality Act for the Donner Lake Water System Acquisition and
Rehabilitation project on February 12, 2001, and filed Notices of Determination with the County
Clerk of the County of Nevada and with the Office of Planning and Research of the State of
California, finding that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment; and
WHEREAS, the condition of the water system of the Donner Lake Water Company is such that,the
owner thereof has publicly described it, in the company's Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive
Relief filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Nevada, in Case Number T00/0367C,on
December 18, 2000, as creating a clear and increasing threat to public health; and
WHEREAS, Code of Civil Procedure section 1245.235 provides in part that before a governing body
of a public entity may adopt a resolution of necessity it must have given each person whose property
is to be acquired by eminent domain a reasonable opportunity to appear and be heard on the
matters referred to in section 1240.030 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if such person makes a
written request to appear and be heard within 15 days after the notice is mailed; and
WHEREAS, the right to be heard on the matters referred to in Code of Civil Procedure section
1240.030 includes the right to be heard on the questions of whether:
(1) The public interest and necessity require the proposed project.
(2) The proposed project is planned or located in the manner that will be most
compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury.
(3) The property described in the resolution is necessary for the proposed project; and
WHEREAS, as provided in Government Code sections 7267.1 and 7267.2, certain interests
in property of the Donner Lake Water Company have been appraised before the initiation of
negotiations, the owner has been invited to meet the appraiser employed by the District at the
location of the appraised property,the Board of Directors has established an amount believed to be
just compensation, based on the approved appraisal of the fair market value of such interests in the
property, and has made an offer to the owner by letter dated February 23, 2001, to acquire the
property for the full amount so established,and the District has provided the owner a complete copy
of the appraisal on which the offer of just compensation was based, and has begun negotiations
with the owner, and seeks further negotiations; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1240.610 any person authorized to acquire
property for a particular use by eminent domain may exercise the power of eminent domain to
acquire for that use property appropriated to public use if the use for which the property is sought
to be taken is a more necessary public use than the use to which the property is appropriated; and
• WHEREAS, pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 1240.650 of the Code of Civil Procedure, where
property has been appropriated to public use by any person other than a public entity, the use
thereof by a public entity for the same use or any other public use is a more necessary use than the
use to which such property has already been appropriated; and
WHEREAS, if the District were to acquire the property of Donner Lake Water Company by purchase
or eminent domain, the Districts use would be more necessary, not only because of the preference
in the Eminent Domain Law for the perpetuation of ownership in the public over private ownership,
but also by reason of the facts that this District is more proximately located and more capable of
operating, rehabilitating, rebuilding, and maintaining the water system for the greater public benefit,
without the need to return profits to shareholders, and by the proximity of the Districts location, and
because of the depth, skills, and expertise of its water service and management personnel, the
District is able to effect the more necessary public use of taking into and perpetuating the properties
in public ownership for the benefit of those persons the properties should serve, and eliminating the
discomfort, inconvenience, and threat to public health that currently exists; and
WHEREAS, the District is authorized by section 16404 of the Public Utilities Code and the
provisions of the Eminent Domain Law, commencing at section 1230.010 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, to exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire for the purposes of owning,
constructing, operating and maintaining a public water works within or without or partly within and
partly without the District; now
NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner
Public Utility District that the General Manager, in consultation with counsel, shall schedule a public
hearing, and give written notice to the owner of the Donner Lake Water Company that the Board of
Directors will consider for adoption a resolution of necessity to acquire by eminent domain, if not
acquired by negotiation, the interests in the water system of Donner Lake Water Company, and
entertain at the hearing evidence and comments to fulfill all of the obligations under the Eminent
Domain Law, particularly the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 1245.235, and invite the
owner to appear and be heard on the matters referred to in section 1240.030, discussed in the
recitals above, at the earliest possible time; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a courtesy copy of this resolution be mailed to the owner of the
Donner Lake Water Company, and the California Public Utilities Commission, for the purpose of
giving the owner and the California Public Utilities Commission advance notice of the possibility that
this Board may consider a resolution of necessity as provided herein.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District at
a meeting duly called and held within the District on the 4"'day of April 2001 by the following roll call
vote:
AYES: Aguera, Hemig, Sutton, Van Gundy and Maass.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT
By C
James . Maass, President
ATTEST:
Peter L. Holzmeister, Clerk of the Board