HomeMy WebLinkAbout710492.tiff �„` - - r'1 x' 'o"
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JUN 5- 1971
)rmcffi Carlson, President ;' ,.
-i,-Ld County Agriculture Council
;crt;=ou1, Colorado 80513
6_:ar :'ir. Lar lac:::
11va have carefully reviewed information in your letter of May 31, 1972, q'
concerning the construction of the Archer-Weld 230-kv Transmission line q .
n Weld County. Your outline of complaints is of rather general nature, t ,
. ut perhaps the following specific instances are some of the items
aasinj, your concern. We regret any misunderstanding or concern that
han occurred due to this construction.
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-: the case of damages to growing crops, we feel it only reasonable to IIE
a allow the construction contractor under the specifications to construct
Ids all year long, not only during the fall and winter season when crops
would not be disturbed. For that reason, right-of-way agreements include
the payment of crop damages. All operations have been contained withinfl
the right-of-way granted and destruction of actual growing crops
r striated to the minimum working area required for the construction. r
Crop damages will De paid for any portion of the growing crop destroyed. tI
We had a complaint from Mr. Frank Baiamonte, Jr. , who does not live on
his land in Section 32, R 66 W, T 8 N, and Section 5, R 66 W, T 7 H. H
de has been contacted by our Chief Inspector, Stan Garella, and a mutual
understanding reached. e One case of the structure location staked over an ierigation at, R 66 e,l line
i 7 N,
is in the Grist and Rachel Schmidt property in
in the second phase of the construction south of Highway 14. Specifi-
cations have not yet been issued for this work, and plans are being
revised to adjust the location of this structure after it was discovered 1
that it had been placed over the tile line. This is in accordance with
conversation by Mr. Stan Garella with a Mr. Carter, who Mr. Garella
assured that the tower location would be adjusted. ,
A destroyed irrigation ditch on the Nels A. and Catherine Benson property,
Section 8, R 66 W, T 7 N, has been replaced, all as agreed in accordance
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leirrrnirerC6TRY67 es.
\COUNTY OF WELD l
i 1 FileU ire Cierk of the c60fd "
� of County Commissioners
JUL'. 01872 , i4
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.urn cL- AND 710492
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with the understanding between Mr. Benson, Mr. Garella, and the Malcolm
Larson Construction Company, contractor for the work. The work was
planned in conjunction with Mr. Benson, and his irrigation was at no time
impaired.
If you have other specific instances, we will be happy to meet with the
owner.
S. following comment is offered on your recommendations for future pro-
oeQm+ee in the are order:
1. The contracts that have been executed by the landowners whose
lads are crossed by the Archer-Weld Transmission Line uniformly in
Article 7 contain the following terminology:
"The United States agrees if damage occurs to drainage tile,
fences, crops, trees, vines, seedlings, or other improvements
within said right-of-way as a result of and during the con-
struction, operation and maintenance of the transmission line,
payment will be made by the United States to the owner or
owners thereof on the basis of an appraisal approved by the
Secretary of the Interior ar his duly authorized
representative."
In those cases where right-of-way has been acquired by condemnation,
the Declaration of Taking contains a virtually identical provision.
It would therefore appear that if construction, operation or main-
tenance of the transmission line causes or has caused damage to any
landowner, the procedures have been established by which compensa-
tion may be paid. To our knowledge no claim for damage has been
dieregwaded. The resident inspector measures the crop area destroyed
as construction operations proceed. Therefore, we can see little
advantage in sending an appraiser into the area in advance of the
occurrence of damage, as is suggested, and the written agreement
relative to the means of settling damage claims is already contained
in the contracts and Declaration of Taking as set out above.
2. Every effort is made to prosecute the construction in such a
way as to not interfere with irrigation systems or other farm opera-
tions that is reasonable from the standpoint of scheduling of con-
struction work, and that it is feasible from an engineering stand-
point in physical location of the work. A contractor needs
• reasonable access to the work at a time that he can schedule his
labor and materials. For this reason, we do not restrict construe-
tiara in situations like the Archer-Weld Transmission Line to specific
times of the year because we feel it is a reasonable approach to
. pay crop damages for the small amount of crops that will be destroyed.
We do, however, adjust our structure locations and require mainten-
toe of irrigation systems by the contractor so that any portions
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of the field not physically affected by the construction will not
suffer. We believe that relations with the farmers along the y''`;'
Archer-Weld line are generally satisfactory, and our Construction rtvi- .
Engineer and his staff are more than willing to work with and advise
the landowners of proposed construction schedules, and adjust them ,
within the limits that can be worked out with the contractor. In
cases where landowners do not live on the land and right-of-way has
been procured, we have not spent additional time trying to find " '
them to work out ordinary construction operations where no special
problem is involved. As stated above, operations will be conducted
i to hold damages to the very minimum required for the physical loca- -
tion of the work. "t
3. I have and will continue to instruct the Construction Engineer's
4. staff to treat landowners courteously and make every effort to work `
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with them. If the owner is in residence, he has been and will be
4, contacted to explain our schedule and work with the owner to the
greatest possible extent. I or my representatives from the Regional
Office or from the Construction Engineer's Office at Cheyenne will
be glad to meet with you or any of the landowners singly or ccilec-
tively at any time to review any complaints that you may have.
I appreciate your continuing concern for these important problems.
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Sincerely yours , • r
YYY i James M. InglesLi
I Regional Director `x
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