Utility petitions court for eminent domain power
“The Mid-Kansas Electrical Company is petitioning the Ford County District Court in an attempt to secure the right to use portions of 28 tracts of privately-owned land, roughly 143 acres, to complete an electricity transmission line project.
The company is seeking the use of a strip of land 100-feet wide from North Fort Dodge to a new substation south of the existing Spearville substation. The 38 defendants are primarily individuals and family trust managers, but also named are Winter Feed Yard and Coake Farms Feeders.
A hearing at the Ford County District Court scheduled for Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. will determine if the utility has the power of eminent domain which would force the landowners to sell use rights after payments determined by three court-appointed appraisers.
The telephone number listed by Mid-Kansas Electrical Company, a joint venture owned by six southwest Kansas cooperatives including Victory Electric, was answered by voicemail and the call was not returned. The company is represented by Taylor P. Calcara of the Watkins Calcara law firm in Great Bend.”
Guinn, Christopher. Dodge City Globe 25 August 2014.