Road builder wants to rent a yard

[jsasker007]

My opinion would be to see if you can get a huge pay day and sell your land to them at triple what you think it's worth. Hopefully they can't force you to sell to them and give you what they consider to be fair market value. That usually benefits the buyer and not the seller. If a monster sewer was on my property I don't think I would trust the water I'm drinking. jmo

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Looking for opinions on a different matter concerning this same piece of farmland, if anyone has one to give! The town needs to install another deep trunk sewer to service a separate area. 5 years ago they approached us and other neighboring landowners. They were applying for a grant, time was of the essence, they sold it as having a valuable sewer on our property, they pushed to sign quickly and we would all meet again down the road to satisfy all of our demands, mostly addressing crop damages and reclamation of the area. Now 5 years have passed and they finally secured their grants totaling over 6 million. The route has changed since then, now going through different areas of the farm. A new contract needs to be signed. We have soured to this idea. Seems nothing is in it for us, just a massive favor to the city. But is that where I'm wrong? Can a 30 foot deep trunk sewer service any future development that may come to our land? Or is that not even possible? 15 years ago we allowed a different deep trunk sewer along our farm, on a different road (the road in the original post of this thread). It was sold to us as being "a million dollar sewer for free" and we'd be fools not to allow it. Since then we've basically been told that sewer is already overloaded. I'm not sure if our attorney is being duped by the city, or is he not qualified to legally advise in such specialized matters? I wonder if I should seek out counsel from a specialist in a bigger city. Seems since these 5 years have passed, they're hyping it less as something that would directly benefit us. No compensation being offered other than what we determine damages will be. Is this a project that usually offers compensation? Will this place restrictions on our land? The route is directly along two roads with high traffic volumes (valuable lots in my opinion). Thanks!

I'm not well versed on sewers. Conceptually i'd explore the option of them installing a service to the sewer that is capped for easy tapping into at a future date if necessary. Not sure if that is possible or fitting of the parcel..

I live on a county road with 300' of road frontage. When they improved the road they asked for an additional 11' or something of ROW easement into my yard. There was some small trees removed and the removal of a defunct 3 strand barbed wire fence for part of it. I was at first quite happy with the $14k they paid me. Then they cut down trees they werent supposed to and put a fiber pedestal in the middle of my lawn (could have easily moved it out of the way 50-100' in a different direction) and it dawned on me that they can now put whatever the F they want further into my front yard. My neighbor was familiar with such things and played hard ball and got significantly more $ out of them. Basically, additional easement, even if at first it seems like not much of a change with current plans, entitles them to do further changes in the future that can notably impact value of your property.

 

[Tree Spud]

Looking for opinions on a different matter concerning this same piece of farmland, if anyone has one to give! The town needs to install another deep trunk sewer to service a separate area. 5 years ago they approached us and other neighboring landowners. They were applying for a grant, time was of the essence, they sold it as having a valuable sewer on our property, they pushed to sign quickly and we would all meet again down the road to satisfy all of our demands, mostly addressing crop damages and reclamation of the area. Now 5 years have passed and they finally secured their grants totaling over 6 million. The route has changed since then, now going through different areas of the farm. A new contract needs to be signed. We have soured to this idea. Seems nothing is in it for us, just a massive favor to the city. But is that where I'm wrong? Can a 30 foot deep trunk sewer service any future development that may come to our land? Or is that not even possible? 15 years ago we allowed a different deep trunk sewer along our farm, on a different road (the road in the original post of this thread). It was sold to us as being "a million dollar sewer for free" and we'd be fools not to allow it. Since then we've basically been told that sewer is already overloaded. I'm not sure if our attorney is being duped by the city, or is he not qualified to legally advise in such specialized matters? I wonder if I should seek out counsel from a specialist in a bigger city. Seems since these 5 years have passed, they're hyping it less as something that would directly benefit us. No compensation being offered other than what we determine damages will be. Is this a project that usually offers compensation? Will this place restrictions on our land? The route is directly along two roads with high traffic volumes (valuable lots in my opinion). Thanks!

They will definitely have a right away along the sewer line across your land. Essentially you will be granting an easement across your property. You need to look at compensation, who owns what rights on the easement, restrictions to the property, liability in the event of a system failure, etc.

Do any of your neighboring farmer friends have experience with power line or gas lines?

A local attorney who handles divorces & DUI's is probably not the best one to handle. A specialists who deals with type of issue would be good, but can be expensive, probably $400/hr.

The only thing that matters in the end is the contract. Get a copy and start to review it. I wouldn't trust what the city has to say, their only objective is to get the landowners to sign so they can move forward.

Make sure the design layout on the sewer line is in the contract. You may want to considering them to get a Surety Bond to insure that work matches the contract.

You alone probably cannot stop it, but getting terms and compensation you can live with is important.

 

[buckdeer1]

You have the public utility easement along the road that utilities don't have to pay to use but have to do work according to whatever entity has the R/W,state, county,township etc.A utility can ask the landowner for an easement which we are seeing more and more once again for power poles.There are 2 reasons utilities sometimes want to move back on private. First is along roads they think will be widened. If utility is on private and entity wants them to move they usually have to pay full cost where if on public the utility has to move and burden the cost.They are some of the power companies that had easements for electric in their landowner agreements from 50 years ago and now they want to hang a fiber line and because the old easement said electric the landowner can stop them from hanging the fiber.

 

[westonwhitetail]

The 30' deep sewer would be able to serve your land, they would just put in a riser on your lateral. If the elevation goes down on your land as you get further from the road, the deeper sewer actually helps you serve more of your land without a lift station, should you ever develop it or sell it for a development.

I would not sign an agreement without seeing the plans that show details. A 30' deep sewer will make a damn huge hole during construction, and they will probably need 50-100' on both sides of the sewer, just for installation. Keep in mind, if they ever need to connect to this again or make a repair, they will also need that much space to excavate. The easement or Right of Way area they are purchasing should include this area for construction and you should be compensated for as well. Any trees removed, fences relocated, etc. your should be compensated for.

Municipal sewer service likely would increase the value of your land if there is future potential for commercial/industrial development. There is a Village near me that chose not to develop a sanitary sewer in the 1960's when most Wisconsin Villages began to develop these systems. Now that Village loses out on some development projects because the cost of a large septic system/mound systems can prohibit development.

If they are obtaining Right of Way, they are buying your land. They can allow other utilities on it, water, electrical, fiber, gas etc. If they are obtaining a permanent easement, the land is still yours, but they have the right to construct and maintain the sewer on your property. The easement should have detailed language that says what they can do and they shouldn't be able to allow additional utilities in there, unless the easement states that is allowed. You probably should have a lawyer review any easement language before your sign it so you know what it means.