Caldwell, Pioneer close to final settlement
“The city of Caldwell’s dismissal of its eminent domain case against Pioneer Irrigation District has brought the two sides to the verge of ending their six-year battle.
Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas and Pioneer board chairman Alan Newbill signed an agreement to dismiss the case March 19.
“We have agreed to dismiss the eminent domain case … for now,” Nancolas said shortly after a brief 1 p.m. news conference. “The intent is that we’re going to get this all settled and we’ll be done here very quickly.”
He said the two sides would work hard to try to resolve their remaining disagreements, which center around stormwater runoff. Pioneer sued Caldwell over what it considered to be illegal stormwater discharges into the irrigation district’s canal and drainage system.
Caldwell filed a counter-suit and initiated an eminent domain action against Pioneer 16 months ago that sought to condemn one-third of Pioneer’s 34,000 acres.
Pioneer recently dropped its original lawsuit over stormwater discharges.”
Ellis, Sean. Capital Press 20 March 2014.