 | Since 1990, the
17,300 acre Conaway Ranch, located mostly within the Yolo Bypass, was
owned by PG&E and was offered for sale last year (2004) by its holding
company, National Energy and Gas Transmission, or NEGT.
|
| In order to scare
other would-be buyers, on July 8, 2004, Yolo County began eminent domain proceedings to seize the property.
|
| The county claims
that the public benefit of this taking is to protect the ranch’s farmland,
50,000 acre-ft of water rights, natural gas and habitat.
|
| Much to the
surprise of the county, a group calling itself the Conaway Preservation
Group purchased the property for an estimated $60 million (not really
known, but estimated on taxes paid) in December 2004.
|
| According to media
reports, the Conaway Preservation Group is comprised of local landowners,
developers, a farm holdings company, a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist
and a non-profit organization. Some members have been involved with the
Ranch for more than 15-years.
|
| The Yolo County
Taxpayer Association, the Yolo County Farm Bureau, Peoples Advocate (Ted
Costa’s taxpayer group) and others are among the county’s most vocal
critics. They argue that the county’s goal of preventing development
and water transfers can be achieved by denying building permits and
enforcing strict water ordinances. The county claims that only they
can be trusted to protect its current use. However, documents acquired by
a public records request, reveal that the county views the acquisition as
a money generating venture.
|
| Until most recently, the county
intended to raise the $50 million or more required to purchase the ranch
through Prop. 50 and other state/federal grants. Several months past their
self-imposed finance deadline, no short-term funding materialized – that
is, until the local Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians offered to cover the
entire cost of acquiring the ranch. Not lost among critics is that the
partnership with the tribe was announced only two weeks after the county
approved construction of a golf course for the tribe’s Cache Creek Casino
Resort! (See
article.)
|
| The Family Water Alliance, among others,
is concerned with the county’s actions and what
precedent it might set for other agricultural communities and
cash-strapped local governments. The danger of Prop. 50 and accepting
tribal money is this – Yolo County could be the first of many communities to seize farmland and those
with water rights in the name of preservation, when in fact, their motive
is profit and securing water for increased urban populations.
|
| In December of
2005, the court ruled in favor of the county’s effort to seize Conaway
Ranch from its unwilling sellers. This ruling demonstrated that
government’s power to seize private property without proving any public
benefit to taxpayers or threat to public safety is absolute. In June,
the judge will determine the fair market value of the ranch which some
project to be worth $60 - $100 million or more. As of January 2006, the
county has not revealed the terms of the Rumsey Tribe’s loan to the
county. The ranch owners may appeal the judge decision to the U.S.
Supreme Court. |
