City of Fort Morgan starts runway eminent domain action

City Manager Jeff Wells told the council that legal action had been filed Friday in Morgan County District Court to condemn the property so that the city could perform surveying and geotechnical testing.

The legal action became necessary after repeated attempts to negotiate for access with the property owners were unsuccessful, according to Wells.

The petition in condemnation action and a subsequent motion would allow the city to gain possession of the property for the purpose of access through the power of eminent domain.

The city was being represented in court by Denver law firm Duncan, Ostrander and Dingess…

Part of the holdup in negotiations was that the property owners wanted $25,000 for the temporary access the city needed for the surveying and testing.

The city had offered $2,000 at first, but upped that offer to $6,000 after additional appraisal work.

Wells said that the city had “essentially been told they will not accept our best offer.”

Because the city could not justify to taxpayers offering any more money for the access, that made the legal action necessary so that the project would stay on course, according to Wells.

“We’re limited by what the taxpayers can pay,” Wells told The Fort Morgan Times. “At this point, we just need to get on the property for a couple weeks for geotechnical surveying.”

The current runway is deteriorating and cannot be rebuilt in its current location because of changes in Federal Aviation Administration standards.

The cost of the runway replacement project is expected to be nearly $6 million, with 90 percent of that funding to come from federal grants and another 5 percent from state funding.

The city would only be responsible for 5 percent of the overall project cost, with the FAA covering 90 percent and the state taking care of the remaining 5 percent.