|
TO: |
Board of Trustees |
|
THROUGH: |
Mary DeLoretto, Interim Executive Director |
|
FROM: |
David Hancock, Acting Chief Service Development Officer |
|
PRESENTER(S): |
Paul Drake, Director Real Estate & TOD |
|
|
Spencer Burgoyne, Manager of Property Administration |
|
|
Tim Merrill, Assistant Attorney General |
TITLE:
title
R2021-09-03 - Resolution Authorizing the Petitioning of the Utah Department of Transportation to use Eminent Domain for the Acquisition of Property necessary for the Ogden-Weber State University Bus Rapid Transit Project - Parcels 155-158; 130; and 126
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Resolution
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve Resolution R2021-09-03 authorizing the Executive Director to petition UDOT to use Eminent Domain for the Acquisition of Property necessary for the Ogden-Weber State University Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project.
BACKGROUND:
UTA is in the process of purchasing a 5.3-mile corridor connecting the Ogden FrontRunner commuter rail station to Weber State University (WSU) and McKay Dee Hospital for the Ogden-WSU Bus Rapid Transit Project.
While UTA has already acquired much of the transportation corridor, negotiations on three of the properties necessary for the project have come to an impasse. UTA has petitioned each of the owners to sign a Right-of-Occupancy Agreement to allow for additional time to negotiate the final settlement award without causing project construction delays.
A 4-Options letter was sent to each of the property owners via certified mail. Because negotiations have been unsuccessful, UTA staff recommends condemnation to settle the acquisition and obtain a court order of occupancy to avoid project delays. The three properties identified for condemnation are as follows:
Parcels 155-158 (Lex Rex Investments, LLC)
The property located is at 3149-3159 South Harrison Boulevard and is identified as Weber County Tax Parcels 04-016-0005, 04-016-0006, 04-016-0007, 04-016-0008 and 04-016-0010. It is owned by Lex Rex Investments LLC and includes a retail shopping center. UTA needs to acquire five partial fee acquisitions, two perpetual easements, and four temporary construction easements identified as project parcels 155, 156, 157:1/157:2, 158, 155:E, 157:E, 155:CE, 156:CE, 157:CE, 158:CE.
On May 5, 2021, UTA offered to acquire the necessary property rights and impacted improvements for the appraised value of $251,600. The 4-Options letter was sent to the property owner via certified mail on June 10, 2021.
Parcel 130 (The 3500 Limited Partnership)
The property is located at 3502 South Harrison Boulevard, Ogden and is identified as Weber County Tax Parcel 05-050-0012. It will be impacted by one partial fee acquisition and one temporary construction easement identified as project parcels 130:1/130:2 and 130:CE1/130:CE2.
The property is owned by The 3500 Limited Partnership (75%) and L&R Properties 3500 LLC (25%) and is improved with a multi-tenant office building. The acquisition is along the west property line along Harrison Boulevard. On June 2, 2021, UTA offered to acquire the necessary property rights and impacted improvements for appraised value of $23,500. The 4-Options letter was sent to the property owner via certified mail on July 9, 2021.
Parcel 126 (Frank S Blair Family LTD Partnership)
The property is located at 3575 South Harrison Boulevard, Ogden and is identified as Weber County Tax Parcel 05:050:0007. It is owned by Frank S Blair Family LTD Partnership and is improved with a 2,124 square foot bank branch. The property will be impacted by one partial fee acquisition and one temporary construction easement identified as project parcels 126 and 126:CE.
On May 10, 2021, UTA offered to acquire the necessary property rights and impacted improvements for the appraised value of $104,300. The 4-Options letter was sent to the property owner via certified mail on June 10, 2021.
DISCUSSION:
Project construction is set to begin on each of these properties shortly after gaining occupancy. UTA staff will continue negotiating until the acquisition is settled. However, condemnation will ensure final resolution and will facilitate occupancy of the properties.
ALTERNATIVES:
The consequences of not moving forward with the condemnation action include project delays, costly contractor change orders and increased prices for materials.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Ogden-WSU BRT project is included in the UTA 2021 Capital Budget and the approved UTA 5-year Capital Plan. The cost to litigate a condemnation action will be covered by the project budget. These costs are considered significantly less than construction delay costs.
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Resolution-R2021-09-03_Resolution_Auth_Petitioning_Utah_Dept_of_Trans