Antelope County Court employees arrived at work Tuesday morning and were greeted in the hallway by legal representatives of TransCanada Corp.
As reported, they were there regarding land easements along the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route that they have been unable to secure from landowners. In total, twenty-seven petitions for eminent domain were filed in Antelope County. Neighboring Holt County received thirty-five petitions.
According to Barb Finn, Clerk of the Antelope County Court, the next step is for the court to secure at least one certified appraiser along with two other Antelope County landowners to form a committee that will be responsible for determining the value on the easements being sought by TransCanada Corp. The committee will also consider crop damages/losses that the landowner would incur due to the easements. The court has three days from the filings, on Tuesday, to have a committee in place. Finn said they would need to have the committee established on Friday, January 23.
According to published reports, less than 90 landowners in Nebraska have come to terms with TransCanada Corp. Under the permanent easement terms, TransCanada Corp would control the rights to a fifty foot wide strip of land solely for the purpose of operating a single underground oil pipeline. Property owners would retain ownership of their land.
