The Iowa Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal filed by local Clarke County landowners against Clarke County Reservoir Commission (CCRC).
The appeal is about if CCRC has the right to the power of eminent domain with its ongoing reservoir/watershed project. Eminent domain is the government’s power to take private property for public use by a state.
The appeal could have been heard by two different legal entities — the Iowa Supreme Court or District Court of Appeals.
“They (Iowa Supreme Court) have decided to keep it here themselves,” said Dave Beck, project coordinator for CCRC’s watershed project.
Reservoir project
CCRC’s ongoing reservoir project in northern Clarke County could provide a water supply for Osceola and Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) with an 816-acre lake, which could provide 2.2 million gallons of water per day.
West Lake, the current water source, doesn’t meet the needs of Clarke County and SIRWA.
The total project cost for the reservoir in the CCRC reservoir project is estimated at $37.6 million. Funding for the project includes many sources, especially funding from the local-option sales tax.
On April 8, Judge Sherman W. Phipps of the Fifth Judicial District of Iowa ruled CCRC’s ongoing Squaw Creek Watershed project is for a public use, public purpose or public improvement as defined in the Iowa Code.
Therefore, CCRC may use the power of declaratory judgment and eminent domain in the reservoir project.
Declaratory judgment is a court review for acquiring land for a public project. It authorizes CCRC to purchase land from voluntary sellers and exercise eminent domain for involuntary sellers within the area of the watershed project.
An appeal from local landowners was filed May 6 in Clarke County Courthouse on the judge’s ruling in the CCRC court case.
The case had the direct possibility of ending up before the Iowa Supreme Court, which is what is now going to happen.
However, the CCRC has the power to purchase land during the appeal process. Purchase agreements from local landowners are currently being worked out.
Iowa Supreme Court process
According to Beck, the legal notice the CCRC received said a court order would be issued within about 30 days, mostly likely by early January, to set a court date for the appeal.
However, since the legal process takes a lot of time, an actual court date for the appeal probably won’t be scheduled with the Iowa Supreme Court until 2016, or late 2015 at the earliest.
“It would probably be one to two years before we’re actually in court for presenting the case,” Beck said.