By Marcy Stamper
After five years of legal wrangling, the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD) and the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have agreed on the value of easements to allow the utility district to build a new transmission line across 11.6 miles of state land.
The settlement was filed in Okanogan County Superior Court on Monday (July 27).
The PUD has already deposited the payment of $540,000 to DNR for a 100-foot-wide strip that it obtained through eminent domain, said PUD General Manager John Grubich.
Both parties did new appraisals, which were much closer than those presented in 2011, which differed by a factor of three. The PUD’s new appraisal for the value of the land came in at $357,000, while DNR’s was $365,000, said Grubich.
In 2011, DNR’s appraisal, which was close to $1 million, included an assessment of damage to the viewshed and other values, according to Grubich.
After the Washington Supreme Court ruled in favor of the PUD this January — agreeing that the powerline is compatible with other activities on state land — negotiating compensation for the easements was the last remaining step in a 15-year battle in the courts over the Methow Transmission Project, which will run from Pateros to Twisp.
The PUD began condemnation proceedings against DNR in 2010, after being unable to negotiate an easement with the agency to build the powerline. DNR had argued that the land was already leased for grazing and that the commissioner of public lands had the authority to manage the land, which is held in trust for schools.
The property being transferred in the settlement is an easement for the PUD to construct, maintain and operate the powerline on the part of the transmission-line route that crosses state land.
DNR has also agreed to expedite permits for minor construction and road usage, with a goal of issuing the permits by the end of July, said Grubich. The agency also agreed to allow the PUD to string fiber-optic cables, which are used to transmit data, on the powerline.
The PUD previously reached an agreement with private property owners whose land it also condemned for the powerline after courts determined the transmission line constituted a public use. That agreement allows the PUD to take possession and begin construction, although the value of the private-property easements has not been established, said Grubich.
The PUD will issue a request for construction proposals in early August. The utility hopes to begin building on the powerline this year but, because of the time required to evaluate schedules and costs, it is too early to say when it can start, said Grubich.
When completed, the 28-mile Methow Transmission Project will create a second route to supply power to the Methow Valley, which is currently served by the powerline over Loup Loup Pass. The Loup line was built in 1948.
